Yay so smart!

Two weeks ago I thought I was the greatest invention of all. Until I googled my idea to find out it already exists, but I just had time to blog about my experience. 

This is how it all started. For 6 years I have taught place value and value in a similar way with great success, until this year. I have my place value and value poem that explains the difference. I have my movements for my TPR and it always helped my students' brain to click into place and get it. Not this year. I don't know what is going on. As I was paraphrasing it to my students, I got a great idea. This is how it all started. Place Value is the location of the digit, and value is how much is inside the house.  Some AHHHH and some blank looks. Ok each digit is a house, the place value is the houses address, where the house is located at. Is it located on Street A and B Ave (I said actual streets that students can relate to) or on Street C and Ave D? My students said Street C and Ave D! I just had to laugh. 

Then my lesson continued to this board where I took my drawing a bit further to explain what I was saying. The thousand houses are located on Thousand Ave and the other half on One Street. The stop sign is the corner of the two streets where you have to stop. The value is how much money each house gets. One's gets only one dollar bills. How much does that house have?  Tens only gets ten dollar bills. Hundreds get hundred dollar bills. Thousands get a stack of 1,000 dollar bills tied together. Etc.  The majority of my students finally understood what they were doing, and a light bulb went on. 

To get a true assessment of their understanding and grasping the concept, for homework they had to explain the difference between value and place value. These are some of the examples I got. One of my students wrote a paragraph worth.

I thought about this next idea on my way home, to later find out it already exist out there. But mine is a tiny bit different from the rest. The ones I saw had one large house for that group of places. In my version each place is a house and the groups of digits are categorized by the street it is at, and the stop sign which I believe helps a lot of my students. 

How to use it? 

One of the most challenging things my students have had to do is take a large number that is in word form and convert it to numeric form. The comma is the stop sign so everything on the right of the word thousand goes on the right of the stop sign because the stop sign (comma) says thousand  (Thousand Ave) and everything on the left of the word thousand goes on the left of the stop sign. This way the student only focuses on the smaller number that goes on that street. They get thrown off by double hundred and the thousand words. Students get to write on the mat with dry erase markers! 

You can also have the write the numeric form and then use the same strategy and turn it into written form by doing one street at the time. (Remember the stop sign or comma already has the word thousand on it).

Challenge your kids more or practice more skills? I had students write the value of each digit at the bottom or the house under the digit. Once they finished they added their plus signs between the values and they had expanded notation. On top of the roofs they drew the model for each place and then they had their model. 

How to Make? Easy!

You only need (per student): 

1 Long construction paper (any color except red)

2 regular size color paper

1 Sentence strip

1 red construction paper or regular paper strip

How to put it together:

1. The long construction paper will be the background, it has to be horizontal. 

2. At the bottom of the paper leave a tiny space of construction paper and then glue the sentence strip onto the construction paper. (The writing portion of the street should be showing that will be the street and allow the students to write 2 lines of words)

3. Take the construction paper and fold it in half. 

4. On the sentence strip you will add the stop sign/comma. I had the students cut a square where they wrote stop and glued it onto the "side walk/on top of the writing area) Then take the sentence strip and fold it to make a J or comma looking figure and glue it under the stop sign and write the word thousand on it. 

4. Fold one of the color papers into 8ths. 

4. Cut out the rectangles. 

5. Using only one color place 3 rectangles on the right side of the stop sign. Make sure they fit with a tiny space between them before gluing if they do not fit cut off some of the sides. When you do glue them they must be on the sidewalk. They should not pass the sidewalk, that will be the writing area. 

6. Using one of the same color rectangles cut it into a square. Once it is a square fold it into half diagonally, then half again, to make 4 rectangles. 

7. Glue the triangles on top the rectangles and write the "address"/place value of the house.

8. Repeat steps 4-7 to do add the houses on the other side of the stop sign. 

9. *Optional* You can have the students write all the forms to express a number (I really did not use that part). 

10. Laminate, enjoy, use, and learn. 

Feel free to use my not so original idea. : ) I guess everything you think up someone else had also thought about it before. Hey that is life! How they say ALL great minds think alike, right? I hope you like this project and it is beneficial for you and your students. Let me know if it works out for you. : ) Smile In Life.