Rounding to the Nearest 10

One of my teaching colleagues made this for me a couple years ago when he came into my class to do a lesson on rounding. At the time, I wanted to pull my hair out! But this roller coaster template really helped my kids (and me!)...{Thanks, Chris!}

Rounding to the Nearest 10

Say you are rounding the number "26" to the nearest ten. Using the roller coaster determine the two numbers that are at the bottom of the roller coaster. On the left-hand corner, you'd write "20" and on the right-hand corner, you'd write "30". (Figuring out these two numbers is sometimes tricky for kids so having a hundreds chart available really helps!) The number at the top of the roller coaster is the number between 20 and 30, which is "25".  Kids need to determine if the "26" is between 20-24 or 25-30. If the number does not reach the number 25 at the top of the roller coaster, the person is going to "roll back down" to the 20. If the number reaches the 25 or goes past it, it's going to roll to the "30". In this case, the 26 goes past the 25 and rolls to the number "30".  


Once kids get the hang of it...It's pretty simple! Hope this helps.