Term 1 Week 7 · Place value and the value of a digit · CG Quarter 1, competencies 8–9
| # | The misconception | Where it shows | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Value = the digit itself. "The 4 in 472 is worth 4." | The single most common error in Grade 4. | Do not just correct it — use it. Build 400 with four hundred-blocks or four bundles of 100 sticks, then set it beside 4 single sticks. The learner must see the gap, not be told it. |
| 2 | Zero means nothing, so it can be dropped. 40 507 written as 4 057. | Missing digits in written numerals. | Erase the 0 from 47 205 on the board. The number visibly collapses. "The zero is not nothing — it is a placeholder. It is holding a seat." |
| 3 | Counting places from the left. | Place values assigned in reverse. | Always count from the right, always aloud, always pointing: ones, tens, hundreds… Make it a physical routine, not a rule to remember. |
| 4 | Place value and value used interchangeably. | Answering "40 000" when asked for place value. | The two-word chant: place value is where, value is how much. Ask for both, every time, in that order, until it is automatic. |
| 5 | Number words run together. "Fortyseven thousand two hundred and five." | Written work. | Hyphens in twenty-one through ninety-nine; comma after the thousands period; no "and" in whole numbers in this convention. |
| 6 | Losing the period gap. 47205 written unspaced, then misread. | Misreading own writing. | Group in threes from the right. The gap is not decoration — it is what makes the number readable. |