Place value names poster (free printable chart to millions)

About this sheet

Place value is the idea that a digit means different amounts depending on where it sits. The 5 in 5,000 is worth far more than the 5 in 50. This poster names seven places, from ones up to millions, and shows what one of each is worth. Reading down the list, every value is ten times the one before it, which is the pattern that makes the whole number system work. Children who see the names beside the values start to read big numbers aloud with confidence. The heading words are editable, and you can cut the list at the hundreds for first graders or keep it whole for fourth and fifth graders who are reading numbers with six or seven digits.

Grades: 1 to 6.

How to use it

1. Decide where your class should stop. Delete the lines above that place, and the poster fits the numbers they use.
2. Print the poster and hang it near the number line, the base ten blocks or the place value mat.
3. Write a number on the board, point to each digit, and have the class say its place name and then its value.

Five ideas for class

1. Say a number such as 4,306 and ask children to show it with ones, tens and hundreds cards, using a zero card for the empty place.
2. Ask what happens to a number when every digit slides one place left, and let children discover each value becomes ten times larger.
3. Teach reading in groups of three: say the group, then its name, as in 245 thousand, 108. Point to the comma on the chart.
4. Compare 3,000 and 300 and 30 using the poster, and talk about which place made each digit worth so much more or less.
5. Play a digit game: draw four digits, build the biggest number you can, and name the place of the largest digit.

Related

• Place value mat
• Place value chart
• Expanded form and place value tool