A Lesson Plan for Teaching Rounding

A Lesson Plan for Teaching Rounding In this lesson plan, 3rd-grade students develop an understanding of the rules of rounding to the nearest 10. The lesson requires one 45-minute class period. The supplies include: PaperPencilNotecards The objective of this lesson is for students to understand simple situations in which to round up to the next 10 or down to the previous 10. The key vocabulary words of this lesson are:  estimate, rounding and nearest 10. Common Core Standard Met This lesson plan satisfies the following Common Core standard in the Number and Operations in Base Ten category and the Use Place Value Understanding and Properties of Operations to Perform Multi-Digit Arithmetic sub-category.   3.NBT.  Use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100. Lesson Introduction Present this question to the class: The gum Sheila wanted to buy costs 26 cents. Should she give the cashier 20 cents or 30 cents? Have students discuss answers to this question in pairs and then as a whole class. After some discussion, introduce 22 34 19 81 to the class. Ask How difficult is this to do in your head? Give them some time and be sure to reward the kids who get the answer or who get close to the right answer. Say If we changed it to be 20 30 20 80, is that easier? Step-by-Step Procedure Introduce the lesson target to students: Today, we are introducing the rules of rounding. Define rounding for the students. Discuss why rounding and estimation are important. Later in the year, the class will go into situations that don’t follow these rules, but they are important to learn in the meantime.Draw a simple hill on the blackboard. Write the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 so that the one and 10 are at the bottom of the hill on opposite sides and the five ends up at the very top of the hill. This hill is used to illustrate the two 10s that the students are choosing between when they are rounding.Tell students that today the class will focus on two-digit numbers. They have two choices with a problem like Sheila’s. She could have given the cashier two dimes (20 cents) or three dimes (30 cents). What she is doing when she figures out the answer is called rounding- finding the closest 10 to the actual number.With a number like 29, this is easy. We can easily see that 29 is very close to 30, but with numbers like 24, 25 and 26, it gets more difficult. That’s where the mental hill comes in. Ask students to pretend that they are on a bike. If they ride it up to the 4 (as in 24)  and stop, where is the bike most likely to head? The answer is back down to where they started. So when you have a number like 24, and you are asked to round it to the nearest 10, the nearest 10 is backward, which sends you right back to 20.Continue to do the hill problems with the following numbers. Model for the first three with student input and then continue with guided practice  or have students do the last three in pairs: 12, 28, 31, 49, 86 and 73.What should we do with a number like 35? Discuss this as a class, and refer to Sheila’s problem at the beginning. The rule is that we round to the next highest 10, even though the five is exactly in the middle. Extra Work Have students do six problems like the ones in class. Offer an extension for students who are already doing well to round the following numbers to the nearest 10: 151189234185347 Evaluation At the end of the lesson, give each student a card with three rounding problems of your choice. You will want to wait and see how the students are faring with this topic before choosing the complexity of the problems you give them for this assessment. Use the answers on the cards to group the students and provide differentiated instruction during the next rounding class period.

Bus Stop, a 1955 Broadway Play by William Inge

Bus Stop, a 1955 Broadway Play by William Inge William Inges comedy, Bus Stop, is filled with sentimental characters and a slow-but-pleasant, slice-of-life storyline. Although dated, Bus Stop manages to charm its modern audience, if only due to our inherent longing for a simpler, more innocent past. Most of William Inges plays are a mixture of comedy and drama. Bus Stop is no different. It premiered on Broadway in 1955, just on the heels of Inges first Broadway success, Picnic. In 1956, Bus Stop was brought to the silver screen, starring Marilyn Monroe in the role of Cherie. The Plot Bus Stop takes place inside a street-corner restaurant in a small Kansas town about thirty miles west of Kansas City. Due to icy conditions, an inter-state bus is forced to stop for the night. One by one, the bus passengers are introduced, each with their own quirks and conflicts. The Romantic Leads Bo Decker is a young ranch-owner from Montana. He has just fallen head-over-heels for a nightclub singer named Cherie. In fact, he has fallen so wildly in love with her (mainly because he just lost his virginity), he has whisked her onto a bus with the assumption that the young lady will marry him. Cherie, on the other hand, is not exactly going along for the ride. Once she arrives at the bus stop, she informs the local sheriff, Will Masters, that she is being held against her will. What unfolds during the course of the evening is Bos macho attempt at luring her into marriage, followed by a humbling fist-fight with the sheriff. Once he is put in his place, he begins to see things, especially Cherie, differently. Ensemble Characters Virgil Blessing, Bos best friend, and father-figure is the wisest and kindest of the bus passengers. Throughout the play, he tries to educate Bo on the ways of women and the civilized world outside of Montana. Dr. Gerald Lyman is a retired college professor. While at the bus stop cafe, he enjoys reciting poetry, flirting with the teenage waitress, and steadily increasing his blood-alcohol levels. Grace is the owner of the little restaurant. She is set in her ways, having gotten used to being alone. She is friendly, but not trusting. Grace doesnt get too attached to people, making the bus stop an ideal setting for her. In a revealing and amusing scene, Grace explains why she never serves sandwiches with cheese: GRACE: I guess Im kinda self-centered, Will. I dont care for cheese mself, so I never think torder it for someone else. The young waitress, Elma, is the antithesis of Grace. Elma represents youth and naivete. She lends a sympathetic ear to the misbegotten characters, especially the old professor. In the final act, it is revealed that Kansas City authorities have chased Dr. Lyman out of town. Why? Because he keeps making advances on high-school girls. When Grace explains that old fogies like him cant leave young girls alone, Elma is flattered instead of disgusted. This spot is one of many in which Bus Stop shows its wrinkles. Lymans desire for Elma is shaded in sentimental tones, whereas a modern playwright would probably handle the professors deviant nature in a much more serious manner. Pros and Cons Most of the characters are very willing to talk the night away as they wait for the roads to clear. The more they open their mouths, the more clichà © the characters become. In many ways, Bus Stop feels like antiquated sit-com writing which is not necessarily a bad thing; though it does make the writing feel dated. Some of the humor and the comradery taste a bit stale (especially the talent show that Elma coerces the others into). The finest characters in the play are the ones who dont blather as much as the others. Will Masters is the tough-but-fair sheriff. Think of Andy Griffiths amiable nature backed up by Chuck Norris ability to kick butt. Thats Will Masters in a nutshell. Virgil Blessing, perhaps the most admirable character in Bus Stop, is the one who tugs at our heartstrings the most. In the conclusion, when the cafe is closing up, Virgil is forced to stand outside, alone in the dark, frosty morning. Grace says, Im sorry, Mister, but youre just left out in the cold. Virgil replies, mainly to himself, Well... thats what happens to some people. Its a line that redeems the play - a moment of truth that transcends its dated style and its otherwise flat characters. Its a line that makes us wish that the Virgil Blessings and the William Inges of the world would find comfort and solace, a warm place to take off lifes chill.