A study explored the effectiveness of an instructional approach designed to help students establish connections between their understanding of the decimal system and the stardard symbols and procedural rules used to solve decimal problems. Ten children each in grades 4 through 6 participated. They were individually interviewed prior to and six weeks after instruction. Group tests containing decimal number items were administered in Fall and Spring to the entire classrooms from which the samples were drawn. It was found that after instruction students could engage in semantic analysis on tasks similar to those covered during instruction and could use their understanding of the symbols to perform novel tasks. The extent to which they engaged in semantic analysis appeared to be tied somewhat to the amount of previous formal instruction in decimals. Students who had already learned a procedure for performing a task were less likely to use semantic meanings for the symbols to solve a problem than students who had not yet learned a procedural rule. Consequently, the effectiveness of instruction designed to create meanings for symbols seems to depend, in part, upon when it is introduced. Appendices contain group activities, test items, and interview questions. (Author/MNS)