Friday, October 2, 2015

More Place Value

In an effort to continue our work on being able to explain place value patterns we worked more with seeing the value of numbers.


That worked a little bit. A few more kids were starting to be able to put the pattern into words.  But what really seemed to be the "aha" moment was to relate it to one of their favorite things...money! 


When I got out the Monopoly money and they could see that Ben had $6, Jacob had $60, and Caleb had $600, they started to see the real significance of place value. Students could finally begin articulating clearly how changing the position of a digit in the number, significantly changes the value of the number. I pretended that we had earned this much money at a car wash. I told them that I would keep Caleb's 6 and they could have Jacob's 6. I asked...is this fair?  Suddenly, they could all VERY articulately explain the importance of place value. They were able to tell me that no way was this fair because the Caleb's 6 is worth ten times the amount of Jacob's 6. 

I have to give credit to Jack, whose fascination with money sparked the idea in the first place. Thanks Jack!


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About Me

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I live in Cape Elizabeth with my husband, two daughters, and our cat Nessie. Our family loves to spend time outdoors together, camping, hiking, and gardening. Another past time of mine is triathlons. I have completed nine triathlons, including one Half Ironman. I loved swimming, biking, and running 70.3 miles! You might also find me cozied up with a good book in my free time. I have been teaching for 10 years in a variety of grade levels. Fifth grade is my favorite! The kids are capable of so much! I can't say I have a favorite subject to teach, but love getting students to think deeply. I enjoy getting kids to think critically and be creative in all subject areas. I often use simulations and project based learning to do this. Teambuilding and working on social skills in another major goal of mine. Teaching kids to work effectively together and use good communication skills will help prepare them for life after school.