CCSS.Math.Content.4.NBT.A.1
The standard
Recognize that in a multi-digit whole number, a digit in one place represents ten times what it represents in the place to its right.
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · Number and Operations in Base Ten
What this standard means
Students need to explain how place value changes as digits move left or right. They should see that a 5 in the thousands place is worth ten times a 5 in the hundreds place, not just “one spot over.” They should connect this to multiplying and dividing by 10.
Mastery looks like students using words, base-ten models, place value charts, and equations to justify comparisons. Common trouble spots are saying digits “get bigger” without naming value, confusing a digit with its value, and treating zeros as placeholders only instead of part of the value.
Ways to teach it
- Give pairs place value disks and have them build 4, 40, 400, and 4,000, then write a comparison sentence for each step.
- Ask students to explain in writing why 3,000 is ten times 300 using the words digit, place, and value.
- Show 600 and 60 on a place value chart and ask students to complete: 600 is ___ times 60 because ___.
- Use population numbers from nearby towns and ask students to find two numbers where one place value is ten times another.
Plan a lesson for CCSS.Math.Content.4.NBT.A.1
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Related standards
- CCSS.Math.Content.1.NBT.B.2
Understand that the two digits of a two-digit number represent amounts of tens and ones. Understand the following as special cases:
- CCSS.Math.Content.4.NBT.A
Generalize place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers.
- CCSS.Math.Content.2.NBT.A.1
Understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent amounts of hundreds, tens, and ones; e.g., 706 equals 7 hundreds, 0 tens, and 6 ones. Underst...
- CCSS.Math.Content.5.NBT.A.1
Recognize that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one place represents 10 times as much as it represents in the place to its right and 1/10 of what it represen...