Rounding

This rounding technique was not created by me. I was actually taught this technique by one of my team mates. 

This technique requires students to reference to a chart. Which will guide the students to getting the correct answer for rounding. It helps those students who struggle to visualize if to move up or down on a number line. In addition it helps the students who can not visualize the two numbers the rounding number is between. This technique has helped me have a better success rate with teaching rounding. I have also discovered that once students become proficient at rounding they soon can visualize the process and quickly round. Without doing the steps on paper. 

I have taken this technique to a different level by creating a poem describing the steps with catchy phrases or names to help students remember. That gave me a higher retention of the process with my students, but until this year I took it to the next level by creating a story and more relatable to them. My students loved the stories and many needed that to remember and understand. 

After creating my story I still had a few who could not "see" the steps so we created a motion picture of the steps. The simple steps were placed on a sentence strip that was folded into eights. Each box had the step on top and then a picture telling the story. 

After the story was drawn on the sentence strip, we took a black paper and cut two slits the size of the boxes. Students placed the strip through the slits and there they had their motion picture. My students were proud and loved their "movie." The title I gave my students was How to Round my students added The Movie. Some of my students even created an actual story with characters and plot to go along with it. 

You can get the story and steps here