Place Value Chart

Ways to use it in class

• What is this digit worth? Type 5,555 and compare the four fives: each is worth ten times the one to its right.
• Build it with blocks. Press + under the tens until there are more than nine: the blocks regroup into a hundred, as they do when you carry.
• Expanded and word form. Students write both forms for a number, then type it in to check.
• Decimals. Tick Decimal places and type 3.07 and 3.7 to see why the zero matters.

Printing a place value chart

Press Print for the chart with the current number, or tick Blank chart first for an empty chart students can fill in.

Questions teachers ask

What is a place value chart?

A table with one column for each place in a number: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands and so on, and tenths, hundredths and thousandths after the decimal point. Writing a number into it shows what each digit is worth.

What is expanded form?

A number written as the sum of its digits' values. 4,325 in expanded form is 4,000 + 300 + 20 + 5, and 2.75 is 2 + 0.7 + 0.05.

How do you read a decimal in words?

Read the whole number, say "and" for the decimal point, then read the digits after it as one number named by the last place. 3.25 is three and twenty-five hundredths.

What are base ten blocks?

Blocks that show place value as size: a small cube is one, a rod is ten ones, a flat is ten rods or one hundred, and a large cube is ten flats or one thousand. The tool draws them for any whole number up to 9,999.

Why does each place matter?

Each place is worth ten times the place to its right. The 5 in 50 is worth ten times the 5 in 5, which is the idea behind carrying, borrowing, and multiplying by ten.