Goal: recognise one tenth and write 1/10 = 0.1. Materials: equal-part ten strip and an intentionally unequal teacher sketch, digit cards; music-loop card.
- Notice, 3: Show both strips. “Can each shaded part be called one tenth?” Key: only the strip with ten equal parts; neither number of marks nor colour alone guarantees equality.
- Model, 5: Point across all ten equal cells: “This is one whole. I shade one of ten equal parts: one tenth, 1/10. In decimal notation that is 0.1: zero whole units and one tenth.” Put 0 and 1 in labelled whole/tenths columns.
- Together, 8: Children shade 1/10, unshade, then shade 3/10 on a fresh or erasable strip. Count equal cells, not drawn lines. Use music-loop card: 3 of 10 beat segments = 0.3. Say that the music is a fictional diagram, not measured time.
- Try, 6: Learner chooses a strip with 1 of 10 marked or 1 of 8 marked; selects the true tenth, then writes/selects 0.1. Large tactile/keyboard/AAC route available.
- Check, 3: “What fraction and decimal is one of ten equal cells?” Key: 1/10, 0.1. If 0.01, label tenths/hundredths places without teaching a false rule about digit length; revisit at Day 6.