Topic: Place value game for interview or observation

Grade Level: K-3, 4-6, low level 7-12

Strategies: Observation, interview or whole class activity

Objectives Being Assessed:
Identify whole number and decimal place value to...(the place you want to assess.)
Identify place value of any specified digit

Materials Required:
Paper, pen or marker, 10 small squares each with a number 0-9, container for the number squares

Description of the Activity:
Teacher instructs students to draw a line of dashes on their paper depending on the number of places you are working with. If you are working with decimals, tell them where to place the decimal.

A student or teacher draws a number and reads it aloud. Each student must decide the best place for that number in order to come up with the largest number possible. Numbers may not be changed once they are written.

When enough numbers are drawn to correspond to the dashes, the student who thinks he has the largest number reads his. Others have a chance to enter their number in the running for the largest if they think it is larger than the one read. The winner is the one with the largest number. The activity can be changed by having students form the smallest number.

Observation of a small group or an individual:

Do students know which places have greater value? If a low number is drawn, do they put it into a place of lower value saving the higher value places for larger numbers? Are they able to read the number correctly? Can they explain why their number is smaller or larger than another student's number?

Interview of a small group or individual student:

After the students place a number - Why did you decide to place the number there? How much is that number worth if you place it there? When working with a small group of students - Why is your number larger that the other numbers? or What makes your number smaller than her number?

Reproducible Page:
Interview check list



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