Addition Strategies for Decimal Numbers Numeracy Assessment: Year 6 supports your students in demonstrating their understanding of decimal addition through a variety of efficient strategies. This resource is designed to assess students’ ability to accurately add decimal numbers—up to the ten-thousandths place—while selecting and applying strategies that reflect deep understanding of place value, estimation and number relationships.

This assessment can be used for both formative and summative purposes. It works well in whole-class settings, small group instruction or targeted intervention. A detailed and editable Australian Curriculum-aligned rubric is included to support consistent and meaningful assessment, alongside an answer sheet to streamline the marking process.

Addition Strategies for Decimal Numbers Numeracy Assessment: Year 6 includes a set of scaffolded tasks designed to capture a range of student skills. Students begin by solving decimal addition problems using strategies of their choice. These may include mental computation using known facts, partitioning, place value alignment, or applying knowledge of the relationship between addition and subtraction. This flexibility allows teachers to observe both strategy selection and efficiency.

Students also work through an error-analysis task, identifying and correcting mistakes in decimal addition problems. This helps reinforce the importance of aligning decimal places and understanding place value across multiple decimal positions. The final task requires students to solve a real-world word problem, write a number sentence, and explain their strategy—building communication and real-life application skills.

The assessment promotes estimation, strategic thinking and verbal reasoning. It offers insight into how students plan and execute their calculations and supports reflection on the appropriateness of their chosen methods. Teachers can use this information to identify next steps for instruction and to guide student goal-setting.

Key Learning Outcomes:

• ✅ Add decimal numbers to the ten-thousandths using efficient strategies
• ✅ Select and apply appropriate strategies such as partitioning and place value alignment
• ✅ Identify and correct errors in decimal addition problems
• ✅ Solve word problems using number sentences and reasoning
• ✅ Estimate and evaluate the reasonableness of answers

What’s Included:

• Student assessment worksheet with calculation, correction and word problem tasks
• Editable teacher rubric aligned to the Australian Curriculum
• Answer sheet for consistent and efficient marking

Materials Needed:

• Printed assessment worksheets
• Pencils and erasers
• Optional tools such as number lines or place value charts

How to Use:

• Review common addition strategies for decimals, including estimation and place value alignment.
• Model how to approach an error-analysis task and discuss common mistakes.
• Guide students through one worked example of a word problem with clear strategy explanation.
• Allow students to complete the tasks independently using the method that suits them best.
• Use the rubric to assess fluency, strategy selection, reasoning and accuracy.

Ideas for Classroom Use:

• 💡 Use as a final assessment after a unit on decimal operations
• 💡 Implement in small group rotations to observe strategic thinking in action
• 💡 Add to learning portfolios to demonstrate written explanation and reasoning
• 💡 Use during parent-teacher interviews to highlight student progress in decimal fluency

Top Teacher Tips:

• 💛 Reinforce estimation as a strategy to verify the reasonableness of answers
• 💛 Encourage students to verbalise their thought process to clarify strategy choice
• 💛 Strategy Comparison: Invite students to try multiple strategies for the same problem and compare their efficiency
• 💛 Create Your Own: Let students write decimal word problems and swap with a peer to solve and explain

Addition Strategies for Decimal Numbers Numeracy Assessment: Year 6 provides a comprehensive snapshot of student understanding and flexibility with decimal addition. It’s a powerful tool to guide instruction and celebrate progress in mathematical reasoning and fluency.