Round 'Em

Place value and estimation is where we start our third grade math standards.  We began by studying numbers and the place value patterns under 1 million.  We explored reading and writing numbers in standard form, base ten models, written form, and expanded form. We also learned important vocabulary like place, digit, value, and estimate. Exploring place value and developing number sense is foundational to all math concepts.  We practiced these concepts through games, paper pencil activities, iPad apps, whiteboard practice, and rich math discussions. 

If you want some extra activities to play at home, check out Math Slides.  There is a great place value version and one called numbers >1000.  Another great app is called Mystery Number.  It is similar to this the number riddle games we have been playing in class.  The app contains four different games that give students lots of opportunities to explore concepts of number and place value. The games can be played with one player or two.  Check out Mystery Number ($1.99) on the app store. 

Here is a list of interactive web based games.  Each game works on place value concepts. Your child can click on the links for extra at home practice.

Build a Hundreds Chart
Skip Counting, 10, 5, 2
Base Ten Fun

Shark Pool

Scooter Quest. Play until level 3.

Fruit Splat.  Play the hard level.
Hockey Play level 2.

As you probably know, we are a standards based school.  This means, students don't receive letter grades based on an average or their classwork and assessments.  Instead, we are looking for mastery of specific content standards.  In order to be considered proficient in the area of place value and estimation, by the end of third grade, students must demonstrate that they can do the following:

As you can tell by this proficiency scale, the majority of the skills deal with rounding.  Therefore, we spent  a majority of our time learning about rounding.  We started with number lines and rounding to the nearest ten. We color coded the decades.  Then we used the rounding rules to show which numbers round up and which round down.  Here are some pictures of our learning.



Later, we applied the same concepts to rounding to the hundreds place.  Finding the centuries proved to be a little more difficult than finding the decades.  However, after some practice, we started nailing the concept down.  Thank goodness, because we had to round up some piggies!  We came into class one day after lunch and their were pigs everywhere.  The students had to work in teams to round them up...or down...and get them back into their hundreds pens.  Look at these smiles!  Who knew rounding could be so fun?