Pumpkin Patch Place Value

Over the last several weeks we have been learning about place value. To practice identifying and counting tens and ones, we created pumpkin patches. Each student was given a bag of candy pumpkins. Each bag had a different number of pumpkins it in ranging from 20 to 50. The students placed the pumpkins on a ten rod mat starting at the top. As they placed the pumpkins, we discussed how there was not a need to count the pumpkins one-by-one because once a row was complete, we could count them by ten. A row that was not full had to be counted by ones. After building their numbers, we took a gallery walk to each table to count the various numbers of pumpkins. At each table the students discussed which number was the greatest and which was the least. We talked about first looking at the tens place and then at the ones place, if they tens were equal. The next day, the students chose a new bag and repeated the activity. This time instead of counting the numbers aloud, they drew sticks and dots to represent the nubmer. They wrote how many tens and ones were in their pumpkin patch and its expanded notation. Because we were having so much fun, we decided to extend the lesson to another day. The students chose another bag and built their number. This time, they used paint to create thumbprint pumpkins on a paper version of the ten rod mat to match their candy pumpkin representation. They students then wrote how many tens and ones were in their pumpkin patch and how much it was worth in expanded notation. Teachers, you may download the templates for the Pumpkin Patch Recording Sheet and the Pumpkin Patch Place Value Mat at my Teachers Pay Teachers store for FREE! Enjoy!

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