Rounding Roundtable

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling

• Conduct a brain dump about the terms that describe the numbers in a place value chart (i.e., hundreds, ten thousands, etc.). Solicit help from students to draw a place value chart and label it up to the millions place.
• Ask students to draw the place value chart on the back of their Place Value Puzzle worksheet. Have them label their charts based on your teacher drawing.
• Tell students to turn and talk to their partner and share their place value chart. Encourage students to tell each other if they agree or disagree with the placement of the labels. Model an example aloud with a student volunteer. Use language such as, "I agree that the number five is in the hundreds place. I disagree with your label for the number three because it's in the thousands place, but it should be in the ten thousands place."
• Tell students to turn and talk to their elbow partners to restate some of the opinions you shared. If time allows, give them time to give opinions about their partner's charts one more time.
• Write sample phrases on the board:
  • "I think this number is in the hundreds place because it is in the second place from the left."
  • "I agree/disagree with ____'s answer because..."

Guided Practice

• Look at the Agree or Disagree: Rounding to the Nearest Unit worksheet and say the numbers in the example aloud. Model agreeing with the answer and explaining why the answer is correct by listing how you can round the number to the nearest hundred thousand.
• Ask students to restate your explanation to their partner. Listen to their conversations to determine if they need additional practice with their agreement phrases. Make sure to write some on the board for reference as students hear them used throughout the lesson.
• Ask students to work in partners to complete at least the first problem of the worksheet. Have partners read their sentences to each other.
• Model asking a student a clarifying question about their explanation after they share it with the class. Use language such as:
  • "What do you mean when you say...?"
  • "Could you clarify how you did this part?"
  • "What step did you take to solve this step?"
  • "This sentence might be better if you said..."
• Have students repeat some of the clarifying questions you asked as you write them on the board.

Group work time

• Display and distribute the Clearer Stronger Activity with Notes worksheet and discuss the expectations you have for their discussions (see worksheet instructions). Have an advanced student summarize the expectations for the activity.
• Choose a student to model the discussion with you and write a note in the Partnership Notes section ("My partner said to...").
• Tell students you will now conduct a Clearer Stronger Activity where they will choose a problem they completed from the worksheet Agree or Disagree: Rounding to the Nearest Unit. They will discuss the rounded number two different times and determine whether they agree or disagree with the answer. The goal of the activity is to improve their explanations after each round.
• Tell students they will have two different partners throughout the activity. Each partner will tell whether they agree or disagree with the rounded answer for the problem they chose, while the other partner asks clarifying questions. The partners will switch roles of listener and presenter and follow the same sequence. Then, they will find their new, second partner and repeat the same process.
• Have students take notes at the end of each partnership on what they can change to make their own explanations stronger and clearer.
• Encourage students to ask their partners clarifying questions, such as "What number would help make the answer correct/incorrect?"
• Monitor students and offer feedback as needed, whether individually or to the whole class if you see they need assistance.
• Have one student share with the class their answer and model saying the rounded number aloud. Ask the listeners to put a thumb up or down for whether they agree or disagree with the rounded number and/or the explanation.