Explain the vocabulary terms associated with decimals and fractions. Teach children that the numerator is the top number in the fraction and the denominator is the bottom number in a fraction and that a decimal point indicates decimals less than one.
Tell children that decimals and fractions contain the same information. If students understand the purpose of decimals and what they convey, converting fractions will make more sense.
Demonstrate that to break a fraction into a decimal you must divide the numerator by the denominator. Draw the fraction with the numerator inside and the denominator outside the division bracket.
Teach children to add a decimal point and trailing zeros. For example, if converting the fraction 4/5 into a decimal, children will need to divide 4.0 by 5, visualizing 4.0 as 40 and receiving an answer of 8. Since children added a trailing 0 to turn 4 into 4.0, explain that they will need to add a decimal point before the 8, achieving the answer .8.