Place value: the value of each digit – Grade 4 math lesson

For parents: how to use this lesson

You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, the way Mr Euclid, our Head of Math, likes it: one tidy step at a time. Every answer is graded straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to grade anything.

1. Read what your child will learn together.
2. Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
3. Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
4. Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “Explain why the 5 in 5,000 and the 5 in 50 are worth different amounts.”
5. Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.

Watch out for

• Giving the digit instead of its value (saying the 3 in 4,352 is worth 3). Ask "3 what?" – write the number in a place value chart and say the column name every time.
• Ignoring zeros and so shifting digits (reading 4,052 as 452). Build the number with place value counters; an empty column still has to be shown.

Miss Hypatia's tip for home: Pick numbers you see (prices, house numbers, the car mileage) and ask what one digit is worth.