Second Blog

Estimation

I do believe that teaching estimation skills to elementary students is important.  I think that we estimate more than we think, and it is a great skill for students to learn. 

Think about how many times a day you estimate how long it will take you to complete a task.  When you go the store you probably estimate how much things will cost when you are buying multiple items.  You might estimate how many servings a recipie will make.  You might estimate how many pizzas to order.  

Many people have easy access to calculators while out and about, though it is good for students to learn how to estimate and to practice estimating.  There are times when it is not necessary to have the exact anwser, who doesn't mind if there is left over candy bought for the trick or treaters?  Though often it is required to have the correct answer.  This is another reason why  it is good to know how to estimate.  How many times have you hit the wrong button on the calculator and you knew that the answer just didn't seem right?  Well that's beause you know how to estimate.


Some ideas on teaching elementary school students about estimating.

• Rounding to the nearest ten, teach students how to round up or down.

• When the number ends in 1 ,2, 3, 4, then round down.

• When the number ends in 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, then round up.

• Teach skip counting to help learn to round numbers.  5, 10, 15, 20, 25.... and 10, 20, 30, 40, 50.

• This is a cute rhyme to help students remember when to round up or down.        1, 2, 3, 4, down on the floor, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, climb up the vine.

• Have a jar of gumballs and have students estimate the amount, the closest estimate wins a gumball.

• Let students estimate how many steps to the playground.

Here are some helpful websites for estimating.

http://www.basic-mathematics.com/estimating-a-sum.html
http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/estimation.html


Fun Games

http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/boldtkatherine/MathResources_Primary.htm#Rounding_&_Estimating
http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/math-games/glowlas-estimation-contraption/