Second graders at Trevvett Elementary have been learning about Thanksgiving in Social Studies (SOL2.5h) and how to round two-digit numbers to the nearest ten in Math (SOL2.1d). Today students in Ms. Fletcher’s class created Google slideshows featuring Thanksgiving foods rounded to the nearest ten. First, we discussed their favorite Thanksgiving foods and why we might want to round the amounts. Rounding makes numbers easier to remember and use. It also helps with estimating. We reviewed how to round numbers down (if the ones place digit was 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4) and how to round numbers up (if the ones place digit was 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9). Then, we opened a blank Google slideshow and chose a theme. We typed a title and our name in the text boxes on the first slide, and I showed the students how to add another slide with the + button. We chose the “Big Number” slide template. In the smaller text box, the students typed a sentence telling how many items of a particular Thanksgiving food they had. They could choose any two-digit number they wanted, as long as it wasn’t already rounded. We typed the rounded number in the big text box. Since we wanted our classmates to solve our problems, I showed them how to add a transition to the number so it faded in later, revealing the answer only after the problem had been solved. Finally, we used the built-in Google image search to add a picture of the food. The students shared their slideshows on Schoology, but you can see them all here.

Second graders at Holladay Elementary have been learning about the U.S. symbols in History (SOL2.13) and how to calculate 10 or 100 more or less in Math (SOL2.1b). Today, students in Ms. Edmonds class created Google forms to review these concepts. First, each student chose a U.S. symbol to research (bald eagle, flag, Washington Monument, or the Statue of Liberty). They could use the Internet or books, and I instructed them to find a number related to their symbol. Some examples would be finding the height or weight of their symbol or identifying the number of objects on their symbol (stars, stripes, steps, etc.). Next, we went to our Google Drive and opened a New > Google Form. The students added a title, like, “Place Value.” Then they typed a problem to solve involving their symbol’s number and calculating 10 or 100 more or less. For the answer choices, they typed the right one and a few wrong ones. We discussed how to make the wrong choices tricky by thinking about common mistakes. If your question asks for 10 more, one of the wrong choices could be 10 less. I showed the students how to add an image of their symbol using the built-in Google image search. Finally, we went into settings and changed the form into a quiz, marked the correct answer, and shared the link on Schoology so our classmates could solve our problem. You can take a look at some student samples here.