EL Support Lesson

Rounding Roundtable

Challenge students to talk about rounded numbers to the millions place value. Use this lesson as a standalone lesson or as support to the lesson Numbers All A-Round.
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This lesson can be used as a pre-lesson for the Numbers All A-Round lesson plan.
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Students will be able to round numbers to the nearest hundred thousand.


Students will be able to discuss opinions about rounded numbers using repeated peer discussions and clarifying questions.

(5 minutes)
  • Distribute the Place Value Puzzle worksheet and ask students to create a number of their choice in the chart in the top. (Note: students will not complete any other problems.)
  • Gather background information about students' knowledge of the place value chart and the values listed by having them answer questions in partnerships. Ask questions like:
    • "Can you say your number aloud to your partner?"
    • "What number do you have in the hundreds place?"
    • "Is your number closer to 500,000 than your partner's number?"
    • "If you were to round your number to the nearest hundred thousand, would you round up or round down?"
  • Listen to all student conversations and note their vocabulary understanding to determine how much support they'll need throughout the lesson.
  • Have students share aloud their number ("My number is...") and what they would round that number to if they rounded to the nearest hundred thousand ("I would round my number to...").
  • Ask students if they agree or disagree with the rounded number ("I think the answer is correct because...").
  • Tell students today they will discuss the vocabulary used when talking about rounded numbers and whether the rounded number is correct or incorrect.
(6 minutes)
  • Conduct a brain dump about the terms that describe the numbers in a place value chart (i.e., hundreds, ten thousands, etc.). Solicit help from students to draw a place value chart and label it up to the millions place.
  • Ask students to draw the place value chart on the back of their Place Value Puzzle worksheet. Have them label their charts based on your teacher drawing.
  • Tell students to turn and talk to their partner and share their place value chart. Encourage students to tell each other if they agree or disagree with the placement of the labels. Model an example aloud with a student volunteer. Use language such as, "I agree that the number five is in the hundreds place. I disagree with your label for the number three because it's in the thousands place, but it should be in the ten thousands place."
  • Tell students to turn and talk to their elbow partners to restate some of the opinions you shared. If time allows, give them time to give opinions about their partner's charts one more time.
  • Write sample phrases on the board:
    • "I think this number is in the hundreds place because it is in the second place from the left."
    • "I agree/disagree with ____'s answer because..."
(9 minutes)
  • Look at the Agree or Disagree: Rounding to the Nearest Unit worksheet and say the numbers in the example aloud. Model agreeing with the answer and explaining why the answer is correct by listing how you can round the number to the nearest hundred thousand.
  • Ask students to restate your explanation to their partner. Listen to their conversations to determine if they need additional practice with their agreement phrases. Make sure to write some on the board for reference as students hear them used throughout the lesson.
  • Ask students to work in partners to complete at least the first problem of the worksheet. Have partners read their sentences to each other.
  • Model asking a student a clarifying question about their explanation after they share it with the class. Use language such as:
    • "What do you mean when you say...?"
    • "Could you clarify how you did this part?"
    • "What step did you take to solve this step?"
    • "This sentence might be better if you said..."
  • Have students repeat some of the clarifying questions you asked as you write them on the board.
(12 minutes)
  • Display and distribute the Clearer Stronger Activity with Notes worksheet and discuss the expectations you have for their discussions (see worksheet instructions). Have an advanced student summarize the expectations for the activity.
  • Choose a student to model the discussion with you and write a note in the Partnership Notes section ("My partner said to...").
  • Tell students you will now conduct a Clearer Stronger Activity where they will choose a problem they completed from the worksheet Agree or Disagree: Rounding to the Nearest Unit. They will discuss the rounded number two different times and determine whether they agree or disagree with the answer. The goal of the activity is to improve their explanations after each round.
  • Tell students they will have two different partners throughout the activity. Each partner will tell whether they agree or disagree with the rounded answer for the problem they chose, while the other partner asks clarifying questions. The partners will switch roles of listener and presenter and follow the same sequence. Then, they will find their new, second partner and repeat the same process.
  • Have students take notes at the end of each partnership on what they can change to make their own explanations stronger and clearer.
  • Encourage students to ask their partners clarifying questions, such as "What number would help make the answer correct/incorrect?"
  • Monitor students and offer feedback as needed, whether individually or to the whole class if you see they need assistance.
  • Have one student share with the class their answer and model saying the rounded number aloud. Ask the listeners to put a thumb up or down for whether they agree or disagree with the rounded number and/or the explanation.


  • Rephrase some of the questions you ask students throughout the lesson so that you say the more simplistic question after the question with challenging vocabulary.
  • Have them draw an empty number line and place the pre-rounded number in the correct location. Tell students to use these number lines to assist them while discussing their opinions about the given answer in the worksheet Agree or Disagree: Rounding to the Nearest Unit.


  • Have students give examples of sentence frames they can use in their partner discussions before they separate into partnerships.
  • Choose them to model for the class how to phrase their answers before separating students into groups.
  • Ask students to create their own number and round it, either correctly or incorrectly. Pair them up with other students and challenge that student to agree or disagree with the answer and explain the reasoning.
(5 minutes)
  • Take notes on student conversations throughout the lesson (see the Formative Assessment: Peer Persuasion Checklist). Share some successes you overheard and write them on the board (e.g., a sentence that had the correct answer and used the correct vocabulary and values for the numbers meet expectations).
  • Choose one phrase or sentence that needs improvement and write it on the board. Then, solicit suggestions from students for how to improve the answers. Write the updated sentence on the board.
  • Be intentional in your language choice as you say what you would change or mention how they can improve the sentence to help students with their closing activity. For example:
    • "I think this sentence would be more clear if..."
    • "I can improve this sentence by..."
(3 minutes)
  • Have students think about each other's opinions in the Assessment section and consider what people did to make their explanations clearer and stronger throughout the lesson. Choose students to share their ideas aloud.
  • Write some of their notes on the board, which could include, "We added more details," or "We referred specifically to the value of the number, rather than just the digits 0–9."

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