Round this number to the nearest HUNDREDS place
1 point
5,230

5,000

Step-by-step explanation:  Think back to your elementary days: how did you learn to round numbers? Chances are, your teacher taught the class how to round up or down from the number 5. In other words, if the last number is below five, you might round it down, and if it’s above, it gets rounded up.  

In fact, there are a whole plethora of rounding rhymes that can easily be found on the internet. Complete a quick Google search, and you might find something like, “5 and above, give it a shove! 4 and below, let it go!”. While these sayings might seem like a great solution to help kids quickly learn to solve problems, how do children know what place value they are rounding to?  

kids with scores

Before the current Common Core or individual state standards were established, mathematics was often taught by encouraging students to memorize facts and learn tricks to complete problems. Rounding is no exception, as many educators have encouraged kids to use rhymes like those described above. Needless to say, it doesn’t teach a child the underlying concept itself.  

Below we’ll explore exactly why teaching math tricks don’t work, even if it helps students to arrive at a correct answer. Then, keep reading to discover 7 of the best ways to teach rounding numbers.  

Why Getting Answers Correct is Not Enough

As mentioned above, teaching kids tricks or “hacks” to complete math problems can sometimes be helpful, it doesn’t help your child understand the mathematical concept behind the skill. For kids, teaching them to think about the number 5 and round up or down can help them arrive at the right answer, but they aren’t thinking about place value when they use the trick. So, if children are completing a rounding activity, they don’t know if they should round to the nearest ten or hundred. In fact, they might not know why they’re rounding up or down at all!