Rounding with Number Lines | Crafting Connections
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Rounding with Number Lines

Sunday, August 30, 2015
It seems there are two schools of thought when it comes to teaching students to round numbers. When you search "rounding anchor charts" on Pinterest, a whole slew of cute little rhymes about "going next door" to the neighboring number appear. You can also find a plethora of images with a rounding roller coaster (which is what I used to teach rounding to my second graders long ago during my first two years of teaching).

Recently, though, I ran across a blog post by Beyond Traditional Math that made me rethink my approach to teaching students how to round numbers. In fact, the author convinced me that teaching students to use number lines to round numbers is the best approach for most children because it provides the necessary conceptual understanding to support long-term retention. Tricks are too easily forgotten, whereas the number line approach supports number sense and place value understanding. (Read the blog post HERE.)

Therefore, when I decided to create a Rounding PowerPoint last week, I used number lines. However, in an effort to make things just a bit more engaging, I added ninjas! These two posters (which can be downloaded by clicking on the images) and the anchor chart show the basic premise.

Use the number line to help upper elementary students understand the concept of rounding. Two free posters and a set of task cards are included in this blog post!

Use the number line to help upper elementary students understand the concept of rounding. Two free posters and a set of task cards are included in this blog post!

Use the number line to help upper elementary students understand the concept of rounding. Two free posters are included!

If you are interested in possibly using this approach to teach rounding this year, feel free to check out my rounding ninja resources. All of these rounding activities address rounding 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-digit numbers to the nearest ten, hundred, and thousand.

Teach your students to round to the nearest ten, hundred, and thousand using the number line method. This engaging teaching resources uses ninjas to kick numbers up or down the number line!


Rounding with number lines craftivity for upper elementary students.


Use the number line to help upper elementary students understand the concept of rounding. Two free posters and a set of task cards are included in this blog post!


~Deb

2 comments:

  1. Rounding can definitely be challenging for some students. I love the concept of teaching this through a number line. The ninjas are the perfect addition. Thank you!

    Mary
    Fit to be Fourth

    ReplyDelete
  2. I discovered using a number line to round after attending a Singapore Math training. Game changer! I feel like their number sense has been kicked up and they truly understand why a number rounds to a larger or smaller number. They aren't just memorizing my rhymes! I love "meeting" people who have made this connection!

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