Every school year we start math with the same unit, place value. Over the years I have used many different strategies to engage the students and make learning place value fun. Below are a few of my favorite activities and strategies.
I always start my unit out using this lesson pack. The presentation is perfect for introducing the unit and goes over key vocabulary terms like digit, place value, and period. These terms lay the foundation for understanding place value, and students need to comprehend these terms before moving on. This pack also goes over understanding the difference between the place of a digit in a number and its value.
After the presentation there is a quick ten question review you can use to quickly assess student learning. If students need extra practice, the "I Am the Greatest Game" at the end of the presentation is a perfect way to give students extra practice and wrap up the lesson.
Once we go over place value, I have my students create place value pictures. This activity is a fun assessment and a great way to incorporate art in the classroom.
To do this activity you need to give each student a piece of white paper and a copy of the Hundreds, Tens and Ones paper from my Place Value Games and Centers Pack. Student will then use the hundreds, ones, and tens pieces to create a place value picture. Once they have created their picture, they need to count how many hundreds, tens, and ones pieces they used and add them together to find the total represented by their picture (see the example above).
This activity is real easy to differentiate for diverse learners. You can have them use a certain number of pieces, or set a place value goal for their pictures. One of my favorite things to do is to assign the students a number and have them make a picture using the different pieces.
If you bought the adorable “Hello My Name Is...” name tags from Bullseye's Playground at Target this summer, this activity is perfect for you! Really, any name tag would work for this activity, but the Target name tags are super cute.
This activity is real easy to differentiate for diverse learners. You can have them use a certain number of pieces, or set a place value goal for their pictures. One of my favorite things to do is to assign the students a number and have them make a picture using the different pieces.
If you bought the adorable “Hello My Name Is...” name tags from Bullseye's Playground at Target this summer, this activity is perfect for you! Really, any name tag would work for this activity, but the Target name tags are super cute.
You could even set up a center with place value blocks and have the students create place value sculptures like the picture below.
Expanded, Standard, and Word Form Match-up is a great way to review and practice number form skills. This activity can be done individually, as a center, group work, or as part of a math lesson. Students will practice their expanded, standard, and word form skills with this match-up game. While playing this game, your students will match a number in standard form with its expanded and word form match. The numbers in this activity go up to the hundred thousand place.
Standard, Expanded, and Word Form Name Tags
Before doing this activity, I took the name tags and divided them into groups of three. I then picked a number and wrote it in standard form on one tag, expanded form on another, and word form on the last tag in that set. I did this until I had a class set of 22. Now you math teachers might be saying, "Wait a minute, you can't divide 22 into three equal groups." Since I have 22 students, I had three groups of seven and made my extra student a name tag that said group checker.
Before we started our math lesson, I gave each student a name tag. We learned about the different number forms and for a summarizing strategy I had each student find their matching partners. When a group of students found their matches, my group checker made sure the matches were correct. My students absolutely loved this activity!
I love choice boards. They offer students a choice in how they show their learning, teach to the multiple intelligences, and keep students actively engaged. Let’s face it, anything is better than a boring worksheet! I first learned about choice boards during teacher training a couple years ago and I have been using them regularly in my classroom ever since. They have been a huge success! I will sometimes use them in place of a major test grade at the end of a unit. My students really like doing this chioce board on place value, which can be modified for the different levels of student learning.
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