Spark your students interest in learning place values with this clever game from Doris at Third Grade Thinkers. Simply take an empty egg carton, write the place value at the top of each column, and fill the carton with small manipulatives (i.e. erasers). The student shakes the closed container, and opens it to reveal a number (3 erasers in the first column would give 3 hundred thousand and so on.
Next the student records the number onto a worksheet. Students can pair up and have one student be the top row and one the bottom row. They can compare their numbers on a worksheet using greater than, less than and equal symbols.
Different students will likely be interested in this game for different reasons. Some like the tactile and auditory nature of it. Others will enjoy the collaborative piece. Still others may appreciate that it is visual and “off the page”.
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