Checking an Answer by Estimating
PrintPrint this handout, clean, at stepsies.com.
Grades 4–5 Math · Teaching handout
Checking an Answer by Estimating
Teaches estimating before solving a two-step word problem, by rounding each number, and then using the estimate to judge whether an exact answer is reasonable.
Print handout
Your first print is free, with no sign-in. Then 10 sheets a month with a free account. Prints on Letter paper, or print on A4.
Print the answer key for Try it together
- Grades
- Grades 4 and 5
- Pages
- 1
- Time
- About 15 minutes
- Answer key
- Included, for Try it together
- Printing
- Tinted accents, also fine in black and white
What is on a handout
- The big idea: the rule, in a few short sentences.
- Watch me: worked examples, each with why it changes as it does.
- Watch out: the mistakes children often make, struck through beside the right answer.
- Try it together: a few items or problems to do as a class, with an answer key.
- On your own: the practice sheet that comes next.
How to teach with it
- Have children write the estimate before they calculate, so it cannot be nudged to fit the answer they get.
- Read the big idea aloud, then work through Watch me together, saying why each one changes.
- Ask the class to find the mistake in each Watch out before you show the answer.
- Do Try it together as a class, check it with the answer key, then hand out the practice sheet.
Practice worksheets
After the handout, in this order: the main practice sheet first, then more practice, then quick checks.
