A key to building our students' number sense is to practice estimating. Many times, students and parents look past the estimation part of a computation problem, valuing instead the final, more accurate answer. However, John Van de Walle's research revealed that estimation is a higher-level skill. It is important for our students to be able to mentally manipulate numbers through estimation. It is a real-world skill that they will use daily as an adult.
We know that predictions are important in reading. It helps readers to focus their comprehension to determine if their predictions are correct. It also gives them a little more ownership of the story as they read to find connections between the predictions they made and the reality of the story. As readers grow more proficient, their predictions tend to gain accuracy. The same is true with mathematical estimates! Our students will grow in their abilities to estimate the more that they practice.
Math is Fun has a good post that highlights for our students the value of estimation. It also has a page of estimation games to help students practice in a fun way.
However, for whole class or small group practice, here a couple resources to help you practice regularly in your classroom.
For K-2: This Powerpoint has estimation activities for your students to practice. There are 40 slides in the presentation, and maybe it will give you more ideas to implement this skill into your classroom.
Estimation 180 is a website that I have shared before. It has images that build off of each other to help students use prior knowledge to make a best estimate.
All of these resources are good for building our students' understanding of number. What resources have you found helpful in your classroom? Share in the comments below.
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