#113. Fruity Place Value

Mathematics, level: Elementary
Posted by Sally_Smith (sally_Smith@mailexcite.com).
Materials Required: paper, pencil, fruit loops(Optional - const. paper)
Activity Time: 30 min.
Concepts Taught: Place Value

To teach child to round to a particular place value, I use Fruit Loops. First I have the children copy a particular number. Then I tell them what place value we will be rounding to. I tell them to underline the place to which we are rounding. Then I tell them to use a Fruit Loop to circle the number beside it. After we do that we all stand and say with a little rhythm, "If the number that you circled is a zero, 1,2,3, or 4 you gotta' go down to the number before. If the number that you circled is a 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, you gotta' go up the number line." We wiggle down during the first part of the poem, and wriggle up during the second part. For a follow up lesson, I made a number line around the room posting the numbers(according to which place value we are rounding to) on construction paper about every 3 ft.(Ex. One construction paper would have 100, the next 200, the next 300, etc... Then I give every student a number. That student then has to go and stand beside the hundred they are closest to. Ex.Example. A 356 would go stand beside the 400.