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Grade 4 Math Units

Unit Plan 25 (Grade 4 Math): Tenths and Hundredths—Making Equivalents

Rename tenths as hundredths (e.g., 3/10 = 30/100) to add tenths + hundredths accurately; justify with 10×10 grids/number lines while keeping the same whole.

Dr. Michael Kester-Haynes

• 5 min read
Unit Plan 25 (Grade 4 Math): Tenths and Hundredths—Making Equivalents

Focus: Express tenths as hundredths and add tenths and hundredths using fraction equivalence; maintain a consistent whole and justify with models and number lines.

Grade Level: 4

Subject Area: Mathematics (Number & Operations—Fractions)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

Students connect tenths and hundredths by building equivalent fractions (e.g., 3/10 = 30/100) and then use this equivalence to add tenths and hundredths (e.g., 3/10 + 4/100 = 34/100). They explain why the value stays the same when we rename fractions and show work with 10×10 grids and the number line.

Essential Questions

  • How do I rename a tenths fraction as hundredths without changing its value?
  • Why does expressing a fraction with a different denominator help me add more easily?
  • How do models and the number line prove that the fractions represent the same whole?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

  1. Rename tenths as hundredths using equivalence (multiply by 10/10) and justify with grids and number lines.
  2. Add a tenths fraction and a hundredths fraction by first renaming the tenths as hundredths and then combining parts.
  3. Explain, in writing and orally, why 3/10 and 30/100 are equivalent fractions (same amount of the same whole).
  4. Solve and check word problems involving tenths and hundredths; write answers in simplest form or hundredths as appropriate.
  5. Evaluate reasonableness of sums using benchmarks (0, 1/2, 1) and estimation.

Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 4

  • 4.NF.5: Express a fraction with denominator 10 as an equivalent fraction with denominator 100, and use this technique to add two fractions with respective denominators 10 and 100.

Success Criteria — Student Language

  • I can change tenths into hundredths and show it with a model.
  • I can add a tenths fraction to a hundredths fraction by renaming first.
  • I can explain why the value stays the same when I rename a fraction (same whole).