Teaching Place Value {Great Ideas, FREEBIES, and More!}

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It seems like most math curriculum and teachers start the year teaching place value. It makes sense. After all, students need to understand how to break numbers apart before they can learn to do much else with them. And regardless of how many times they’ve learned place value in the past, there will be at least a couple who act as if this is a foreign concept. That’s ok! They’ll get it. =)

Today I want to share some great place value ideas that I’ve gathered from around the internet. So grab a cup of coffee, that Diet Coke, or another beverage of choice, and enjoy these place value ideas!

This little song is ADORABLE! Tessa from Tales Outside the Classroom shared this freebie, and I absolutely fell in love with it! Click here or on the picture below to go download your copy from her blog.

This YouTube video is another great way to help students understand how place value works.

Ashley Benoit from The Teacher’s Treasure Chest has these FREE Place Value Sorting mats. Print (and laminate if desired) and have your entire class break apart numbers using base tens blocks. Click here or on the picture below to get your free copy. These mats would be great to use as a group activity where the teacher tells the students what numbers to create and is able to give immediate feedback. Or I could also see this working well for guided math or center work. It’s that versatile!

Ashley has another great idea for teaching place value on her blog. This DIY flip chart is an awesome idea! Click here to learn how she did it. {And if you’re not a DIY person, you can buy something similar here. Or use these dice instead!}

This flip book is another really great idea! You can create your own, but I think I would do mine sideways so it’s more realistic of how numbers really look. This great idea came from the Parenting Passageway.

Needs a more hands-on approach for teaching your students place value? Then try this activity by The Curriculum Corner. She’s got free cards you can print off so groups of students can visually move to where they are supposed to be. Students who need a kinesthetic learning approach will love this one!

Here’s another activity for the student who is hands-on. This idea comes from Parents.com. You can print out the little number cards when you get the link from them.

If you want a game for your students to practice their place value, how about some Magic Square Puzzles? There are three of them available in my TpT store, so your students can slowly master the concept! Start with two digit number puzzles, then move on to three digits, and end with four digits numbers. By then, they’ll be pros! =)

Want to make sure you’re fourth graders are really understanding place value the way they should be? This FREEBIE from Wild About Fifth is a great tool! Simply give the students this exit slip, quickly check them over, and you’ll know if your students have mastered the concept or need a bit more practice.

Here’s another game from Teaching in Room 6. Students can play this game with a simple dice and sheet of paper (or a whiteboard). Head over to the blog or click the picture below to learn more about how to play.

Need even more place value ideas and freebies? Then how about this Expanded Form Roll a Di ce game from Sparkling in Second Grade! Or this Roll It, Make It, Expand It freebie from Teaching First is great also!

And if that’s still not enough, Alyssa has more great ideas over at her blog post. You can check them all out here or by clicking on the picture below!