Place value to a million: a 25-minute 4th grade card game
What it is: a 4th grade place value card game where players draw six digit cards, arrange them to make the greatest (or least) number possible, read it aloud and compare. Students practice reading, writing and comparing numbers up to a million.
Time: about 25 minutes. Grade: 4th grade.
Materials: digit cards 0 to 9 (four of each) per pair, a place value mat with ones to hundred thousands, and a recording sheet.
- Model: draw 6 cards and think aloud about where to put the biggest digit. Read the number with the word thousand in the right place.
- Partners each draw 6 cards and build the greatest number they can on their mat.
- They read their numbers aloud and record them with a <, > or = sign.
- Change the goal: make the least number, or the number closest to 500,000.
- Finish by writing one of their numbers in expanded form: 400,000 + 30,000 + ...
Differentiation: students who need support play with 4 digits. Students who are ready round their number to the nearest ten thousand. English learners can read the number one period at a time: "four hundred thirty-two thousand..."
Quick check: write 708,045 and ask a student to read it and name the value of the 7.
Need it for another grade or subject? Ask us on the request page and our team will write it.
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About this resource
- Shared by
- @UpOnlyLearning · Curriculum team
- Posted
- Oct 29, 2026
- Type
- Lesson plan
- Grade
- Grades 3–5
- Subject
- Math
- Language
- English
- License
- Free for classroom, co-op and tutoring use. Please don't resell.