Practice Adding and Subtracting with Decimals

Addition and subtraction skills are math concepts that students learn from a very early age. Once students understand the fundamentals of computation, they learn to use these operations with decimals. When adding and subtracting decimals, it is important for students to practice lining up the decimal points and placing each digit in the correct place before adding. 

Teach Starter has created a dominoes game that your students can use during your decimal operations unit. This downloadable resource comes with 24 dominoes that include a starting piece, equations, answers, and an ending piece.

To play:

1. Place the “Start” domino in the center of the playing area. Shuffle the remaining pieces and place them to the side.
2. Each player draws 3 dominoes. 
3. When it is your turn, look to see if you have a matching end piece.
4. If you don’t have a piece that matches, draw a domino.
5. Play continues until all pieces have been used and the “End” domino has been laid.

Through this activity, students will show they can add and subtract decimals through the thousandths place.

Tips for Differentiation + Scaffolding 

A team of dedicated, experienced educators created this resource to support your math lessons. 

If you have a mixture of above and below-level learners, check out these suggestions for keeping students on track with the concepts: 

🆘 Support Struggling Students

For students who may need additional support, provide them with graph paper and encourage them to line up each number within the squares of the paper to help with accurate placement.

➕ Challenge Fast Finishers

If there are students in need of an additional challenge, encourage them to create a list of the answers in order from least to greatest.

Easily Prepare This Resource for Your Students

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the PDF or editable Google Slides version of this resource. An answer key is also included with this download.

Print on cardstock for added durability and longevity. Place all pieces in a folder or large envelope for easy access. 

This resource was created by Cassandra Friesen, a teacher in Colorado and a Teach Starter Collaborator. 

Don’t stop there! We’ve got more activities and resources that cut down on lesson planning time:  

teaching resource

Adding and Subtracting Decimals Word Problems Worksheet

Practice solving word problems by adding and subtracting decimals to the thousandths place with this worksheet.

teaching resource

Adding and Subtracting Decimals – Word Problem Task Cards

Have students solve decimal word problems with this set of 16 task cards, perfect for math centers.

teaching resource

Addition and Subtraction with Decimals – Task Cards

Practice adding and subtracting multi-digit decimals with this set of 16 task cards.