Place Value

I had so much fun teaching a 5th grade math lesson Wednesday!  Thank you Laura for allowing me to come in your classroom. It was exciting to watch and listen as students explored the concept of place value.

 

The focus of the lesson was to compare and order numbers to millions. We started with simply building numbers with place value disks. These manipulatives were new to the students, so it took some training on procedures and rules.  Simple rules like having a "builder" and a "supplier" helped encourage communication between partners and kept everyone involved.



Soon they were building numbers with their partners.

 

 

While it was easy for them to build the number on their chart, it was a challenge for them to think about numbers in a different way.  For example, students built the number 224,827 and then I asked them to build it differently.  Mrs. Bailey and I walked around and asked the groups questions, leading them to see that numbers can be expressed in different ways - for example 1 ten and 7 ones can also be expressed as 17 ones.

Students shared the different ways they made numbers and we talked about each one to see if everyone agreed with their answer. Of course, normally students will build the number with the fewest place value chips or base ten blocks, but the time spent allowing them to explore the meaning behind numbers gave us valuable information on their understanding of place value.

These discussions allowed us a chance to build vocabulary and correct misconceptions. For example, when asked to give the value of the 2 in the tens place, many of them said 20 tens - hmmmm. That gave us a good chance to explore what 20 tens actually means and compare that to a 2 in the tens place.

Here is a short blog post from SDE on number sense that brings up some interesting ideas on allowing students time to explore numbers.  http://sde.com/blog/?p=45

This transition to building deeper understanding will be different and challenging, but very rewarding.  Don't be afraid to "go slow" in the first few weeks. The foundations you are building will pay off with deeper understanding.

Thanks for all your hard work!

Shari