Rounding to the Nearest 10 & 100 {interactive math journal freebie}

Hi Everyone, Krystal here from "Good Enough Teacher"... So I have officially been a third grade teacher for a month, and I can officially say that I LOVE IT! I can't even begin to tell you how much anxiety I had when I made this decision.... I second guessed myself multiple times, and wondered if I could really handle it or not... But I truly love it! I never would've believed that 28 students would feel more manageable than the 22 I had last year, but we have gotten off to a great start and I am so happy with the change.

Color-coding a hundreds chart to teach rounding!

The hardest part for me is the "flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants" feeling that comes with switching grades. After 8 years in second grade, the curriculum was really second nature to me, and I had all the resources I needed for every lesson. This year, I can barely stay two steps ahead... And since I've never taught the lessons before, I don't know what the kids will grasp right away and what they will struggle with. I quickly discovered that rounding does NOT come naturally for third graders. My team had warned me, so I bought a packet on TPT and thought I was good to go. HA!! Two weeks of rounding practice and my kids STILL didn't get it. I had tried everything. I was out of ideas. Then I saw a picture on facebook of kids coloring a hundreds chart and light bulb went off in my head!! I ran to my computer and started making a hundreds chart that the kids could color-code to assist with rounding. The next day at school, we pulled out our crayons and started coloring away!!  Because I am just barely staying afloat right now, I haven’t had time to make a cutesy TPT packet for rounding (though I totally have a few ideas to add to my never-ending to-do list!) so I thought I would share the pages with you as a little freebie.  I have included a variety of hundreds charts for you to choose from, as well as a full-color sample for your reference (or to display on your projector as you work through this with your class).  The basic concept is that the ten or hundred that each number rounds to is circled, then every number that rounds to that ten or hundred is colored the same color.  Just like my light bulb went off when I saw the idea online, all of the little light bulbs in my students’ heads started going off too!  Each day as we worked on rounding and estimating, my kids would pull out their math journals and refer back to this little chart and they were good to go. Here are a few pictures of my kids working on this in class earlier this month: 

Using one crayon at a time, we color-coded our hundreds chart as we rounded to the nearest 10

I displayed a blank copy of the hundreds chart (with only the tens circled) and colored it along with my students using the iPad app "doceri" -- if you have an iPad but no smartboard, doceri is a great alternative!

when it was time to round to the nearest hundred, we started by coloring 0 one color, and 100 another color. We then used the same color for 100 to color the number 50, which I tell my students is "the magic number" -- they write this on their assignments now when it asks to explain why they rounded a certain way... it's so cute!

another example of a hundreds chart while color-coding

this is one of the blank charts included in the download -- I explained to my class that if it rounds DOWN to zero, that means it rounds to the current hundred we are already in. If it rounds UP to 100, then we add 100 to whatever hundred we are working with... there is also a  blank chart if you want your students to write the numbers for a specific range that they are struggling with.

 In addition to the rounding pages, there are also a few pages for "compatible numbers" since Go Math (which is what I teach with) uses.... because, you know, rounding isn't already confusing enough to 8 year olds! LOL!! I hope this is helpful as you teach your students how to round.  Click {HERE} to download the pages. Also make sure you're following me on facebook, instagram, and TPT for all the latest happenings in 3rd grade this year. Enjoy!