Learning In Room 20!: Working with Number Lines

Over the last several Math classes, Room 20 has been building our number sense by placing numbers on number lines.

We began this activity by working with a familiar number line, 0 to 100. Using register tape we created a number line and taped it up on our whiteboard. We placed 0 on one side and 100 on the other. We then folded it in half to find our middle point, which we all knew was 50. From there we added our groups of ten. This was a little bit trickier because we wanted them spaced as accurately as possible. Now our number line was ready for us to use. As a whole class we took turns rolling two large place value dice, one for our tens, and one for our ones. We then found where the number would go on the number line and filled it in.

Once we were all comfortable with the process we switched number lines. Instead of working with 0 to 100, we made a number line that went from 0 to 1000. We created it using the same process as before, but this time our middle number was 500 and we had to add groups of 100 instead of groups of ten. We also decided that since 100 was a big jump, we'd add more key numbers, so we added in the 50s as well. Then using three place value dice (hundreds, tens, and ones) we continued adding numbers.

After lots of whole group practice we were ready to practice with a buddy. Each pair of students went through the same process to make their number lines. Once Mrs. Deyoe had checked them to make sure we had all the right numbers on, we received our own dice and we began adding our numbers.