Comparing Larger Numbers

When possible, I think students should be able to work together in small groups. It not only adds to their engagement and motivation, it gives them an opportunity to explain how they did their work and why they think something. Recently the students worked in small groups to build various larger numbers with Base Ten Blocks. As they built, they checked one another's work. Once all group members had built the correct number, they drew a model of the number with sticks (tens) and dots (ones). They again checked one another's work and then proceeded to the next part. They identified how many tens and ones, the expanded notation, and then ordereed the numbers from least to greatest and/or greatest to least.