Place Value Teaching Resources
Browse place value charts, printable worksheets, games and more teaching resources created by teachers, for teachers like you.
This collection of curriculum-aligned and editable teacher-created resources has been carefully reviewed by the expert teachers on the Teach Starter team to ensure every single one is ready to use in the classroom. That means you can save hours on lesson planning with activities ready to print or use digitally!
Want to learn more about this section of the math curriculum, or just looking for fresh ideas to engage your students? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including a look at the meaning of place value and tips on teaching place value in the classroom!
What Is Place Value?
In math, the term place value refers to the value of a digit in relation to its position in a number. For example, in the decimal system, which is based on powers of 10, the value of a digit in a number depends on its position relative to the decimal point, as follows:
- The digit in the ones place has a value of 1 times the digit.
- The digit in the tens place has a value of 10 times the digit.
- The digit in the hundreds place has a value of 100 times the digit.
- The digit in the thousands place has a value of 1000 times the digit.
- And so on.
Place Value Example
Like most math concepts, looking at place value examples with your students is key to helping them understand the concept. So let's look at an example of place value using the number 3,245:
- 3 is in the thousands place
- 2 is in the hundreds place
- 4 is in the tens place
- 5 is in the ones place
Therefore, its value can be calculated as:
(3 x 1000) + (2 x 100) + (4 x 10) + (5 x 1) = 3000 +200 +40 + 5 = 3,245.
Why Is Place Value Important?
Place value is an important concept for elementary students to understand as it is a major factor in understanding numbers and their overall value.
Understanding place value is also essential for performing the four math operations, and it will help students as they move on toward working with decimal fractions, scientific notation and other mathematical concepts.
What Is a Place Value Chart?
A handy tool for teaching this math concept is the place value chart! This visual teaching tool can be used to represent and organize numbers based on their value and position in a given number.
How to Use a Place Value Chart
A place value chart is typically divided into columns representing the different powers of 10 in our number system. Each column is labeled with the name of the place value it represents (e.g. ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.) and contains a series of boxes or cells — each corresponding to a single digit.
The rightmost column will represent the ones place, the next column to the left will represent the tens place, the next represents the hundreds place and so on.
Students can place a particular number in their place value chart, determine its value, and then figure out two-digit, three-digit, four-digit, and larger numbers.
To read a place value chart, students work their way left or right. For example, if you start from the "ones" place, you can go left one space to the "tens" place, then on to the "hundreds" place and so on. As students enter the intermediate grades, they begin to learn about numbers to the right of the decimal point (tenths, hundredths, thousandths, etc.).
Place Value vs. Face Value
At some point, your students may ask about face value — after all, the terms sound similar! So are they interchangeable? The answer is no.
Face value and place value — despite their similar names — are not the same, but they are related.
As we've already noted, the place value of a digit tells us the value of that digit based on its position in a number. The place value of a digit changes depending on where it is in the number.
On the other hand, the face value of a digit tells us the actual value of the digit itself, regardless of its position in the number. So, for example, in the number 357, the face value of the digit 5 is simply 5.
In essence, place value is what helps us understand the value of a number based on the position of its digits, but face value is what helps us understand the value of individual digits in a number.
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Two-Digit Numbers Maze Worksheet
Explore two-digit numbers with this fun maze where students use clues to make their way from the start to the finish.
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2-Digit Numbers in Expanded Form Worksheet
Explore two-digit numbers in standard form and expanded form with this set of two cut-and-paste style worksheets.
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Thanksgiving Turkey Hide! - Place Value Worksheet
Save the Thanksgiving Turkeys and practice modeling numbers in base ten with a printable Thanksgiving Math Worksheet
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Place Value Paper Turkey Craft
Make a flock of silly turkey crafts and review place value concepts with a printable Place Value Turkey Template!
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Expanded Form Teaching Slides
Teach your students how to represent numbers in expanded form with this set of engaging teaching slides.
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Expanded Form Worksheet Pack
Practice expanding 2-digit to 6-digit numbers with this set of 5 worksheets.
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Expanded Form Task Cards
Help your students explore expanding numbers up to 6-digits with this set of task cards.
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Expanded Form Poster Set
Teach students what it looks like to expand 2-digit, 3-digit, 4-digit, 5-digit and 6-digit numbers with this set of classroom posters.
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Roll and Expand Numbers Worksheet Pack
Explore place value with your students using this set of leveled expanding numbers worksheets.
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Exploring 2-Digit Place Value - Teaching Slides
Explore 2-digit numbers using place value strategies with an interactive teaching presentation.
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Rounding Numbers on a Number Line Teaching Slides
Teach students how to round to the nearest ten and hundred with an interactive, explicit instructional teaching presentation.
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Place Value Cacti - 3-Digit Expanded Form Activity
A fun place value activity for students to play in the classroom when exploring 3-digit numbers and expanded forms.
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Place Value Penguin - Spreadsheet Pixel Art Activity
Practice identifying numbers in word form, expanded form, and standard form with a fun spreadsheet pixel art activity.
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5th Grade Math Review – Google Slides Interactive Activity
Review important 5th-grade math standards with a student-led interactive activity that covers 12 different mathematical concepts.
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Expanded Form Dominoes (2-Digit Numbers)
Use this set of dominoes when learning how to match 2-digit numbers written in standard form and expanded form.
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Using Greater Than and Less Than Symbols - Halloween Worksheet
Practice using the greater than, less than, and equal to symbols to compare two-digit numbers with a fun Halloween worksheet.
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Rounding to the Nearest Ten - Interactive Activity
Practice rounding two-digit numbers to the nearest tens place with this interactive Google Slides activity.
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Rounding Task Cards
Use place value knowledge to round numbers up through the hundred thousands place with this free set of 20 task cards.
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How to Write 2-Digit and 3-Digit Numbers Worksheet
Explore how to represent number values in standard form, word form, expanded form, and picture form with this multipurpose place value worksheet.
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Flip, Draw, Expand! – Place Value Worksheet (5-Digit Numbers)
Build and expand 5-digit numbers using base-10 blocks to strengthen place value skills.
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Place Value Banner - Billions to Thousandths
A banner that displays extended place value.
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3-Digit Roll It, Make It, Expand It! - Place Value Worksheet
A worksheet for students to use when learning about the place value of three-digit numbers.
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Representing Two-Digit Numbers - Place Value Worksheet
A set of worksheets for students to use when learning about place value and the different way two-digit numbers can be represented.
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Exploring 5-Digit Place Value PowerPoint
A 38-slide PowerPoint template to use when exploring place value in the ten thousands place.
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4-Digit Place Value Card Game - Flip It!
A fun game for students to play in small groups to consolidate their understanding of place value to the thousands place.
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0-9 Digit Cards
A set of 0-9 digit cards to be used for numeracy games in the classroom.
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Place Value Bingo Game Numbers 0-10,000
Practice place value knowledge in numbers up to 10,000 with this set of bingo cards.
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Easter Escape Room - 2nd Grade Math Review Game
Use this Easter Escape Room Game for 2nd graders to review place value, number sense, counting money, and other second grade math concepts.
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Thanksgiving Math Worksheets for 2nd Grade - Place Value
Match number, word, and expanded forms of numbers with a fun set of printable Thanksgiving Math worksheets for second grade.
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Math Bulletin Board Activities - Display Pack
Implement daily math review easily using our Math Bulletin Board Activities Display.
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Multiply and Divide by Powers of 10 Worksheet Set
Share this multiply and divide by powers of 10 worksheet set to give your students practice multiplying and dividing whole numbers by 10, 100, and 1,000.
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Dividing by Powers of 10 Worksheet Set
Utilize this dividing by powers of 10 worksheet set to give your students practice dividing whole numbers by 10, 100, and 1,000.