Virginia SOL 5.CE.3.d
The Standard
Solve single-step and multistep contextual problems involving addition, subtraction, and multiplication of decimals by applying strategies (e.g., estimation, modeling) and algorithms, including the standard algorithm.
Virginia Standards of Learning for Mathematics · The student will estimate, represent, solve, and justify solutions to single-step and multistep problems, including those in context, using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with decimal numbers.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify which operations a situation requires and decide the order of the steps. They estimate first, then use models or written algorithms to calculate and justify an exact answer.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students choose the needed operations and organize the steps in a sensible order. Their exact answer matches the context and is reasonable compared with an estimate or model.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may align the last digits instead of the decimal points when adding or subtracting. They may place the decimal incorrectly in a product or ignore part of a multistep problem. Some accept an unreasonable answer without comparing it to an estimate.
How to Assess It
- Use this exit ticket: “Three notebooks cost $2.75 each, and a pen costs $1.40. Estimate the total, find the exact total, and explain your steps.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs play money and price cards to model buying several items, then have them record equations and calculate the total.
Ask students to explain in writing how an estimate can catch a misplaced decimal in a product or sum.
Play Decimal Problem Sort, where teams match context cards with equations, estimates, exact answers, and solution steps.
Use a class party budget to calculate costs for multiple packages, combine expenses, and find the money remaining.
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Printable 5.CE.3.d Worksheet
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- 4.CE.4.b
Estimate, represent, solve, and justify solutions to single-step and multistep contextual problems using addition and subtraction of decimals through the thousa...
- 4.CE.1.d
Estimate, represent, solve, and justify solutions to single-step and multistep contextual problems involving addition and subtraction with whole numbers where a...
- 5.CE.3.e
Solve single-step contextual problems involving division with decimals by applying strategies (e.g., estimation, modeling) and algorithms, including the standar...
- 5.CE.3.a
Apply estimation strategies (e.g., rounding to the nearest whole number, tenth or hundredth; compatible numbers, place value) to determine a reasonable solution...
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