Hi, Hope everyone's school year is off to a great start! Just a quick question... Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions for a rounding activity? I taught rounding last week before the long weekend and I know the kids could still use extra practice. They were pretty confused with "rounding place" and "helping place." Open House is coming up soon, so a poster/art project could potentially work so that I could display these when the parents come in. I have fourth graders, but I can adapt if younger/older level teachers have suggetsions. Thanks so much!
I've seen mountains used to visualize rounding: I might put 80 on one side and 90 on the other. Then, the numbers in between would be written up one side (the numbers that roll back down to 80) and down the other (the numbers that roll forward to 90). You might be able to make some sort of art project from that!
Underline the number in the place you are rounding to. Circle the number to the right. If the circled number s 4 or below, the underlined number stays the same. If the circled number is 5 or above, the underlined number goes up. The rice reminds you that's where the zeroes start.
My students always understood readily whether or not a digit rounds 'up'. What they didn't always know is that the digits following the rounding digit drop off. So, I had them underline the rounding place, draw a little line after the rounding number, draw a loop underneath to the next place, determine if it rounds up or stays, drop off digits to the right of the line.
I use number lines & open number lines to teach rounding. I highly recommend you check out the following blog post by Donna/Math Coach's Corner; she describes the benefits of using the number line model. (For one, it's less about "tricks and rules.") This may not be a showy open house piece, but it's good for conceptual learning. Donna's post also gives a nice real world example of why and when we round. So often, students feel rounding is "another random skill to learn" -- which means it does not always 'stick'! Ever since I switched to the open number approach a few years ago, students' accuracy with rounding has greatly improved. (Of course, we use open number lines a lot, so this is a familiar model for them.)
I use the Cinderella method. The number to be rounded is Cinderella. If you look RIGHT beside her, it's either an ugly stepsister (0-4) or a fairy godmother (5-9). The ugly stepsister will cause her to stay home, where she is. The fairy godmother will get her all dressed UP to go to the ball. It sounds kind of cheesy and young, but my fourth graders have always latched on to these concepts more when they are tied to something familiar, especially when there's a bit of a story to retell.
When I worked as a math TA, we used the saying "Four or less, let it rest; five or more, let it soar."
I've got some great materials for rounding that I use and also used during my evaluation one year. The P loved it. It has worked well to teach this challenging area. Send me a PM and I'll send them to you.
Once we've determined the digit that is to be examined for rounding, we say "Five or above, give it a shove. Four or below, let it go." Every teacher in the school uses the same little rhyme. It adds consistency across the grade levels and doesn't have to be retaught each year. In addition, I use a cartoon picture of a skiier at the top of a mountain. I tell the kids that if he's made it all the way to the top, we might as well give him the shove to the next greater digit. Visuals help!
