Project based learning can help you transform your 2nd or 3rd grade place value unit into a wildly engaging cross-curricular learning experience! Imagine sending your students on a wildlife expedition to find amazing information about animals that interest them in the habitat of their choice.  While your students are fully immersed in their fun animal research, they can also practice essential place value skills as they represent the weight, size, and average lifespan of these animals in word form, expanded form, standard form, and rounded form. You can even have them compare the sizes of the animals from their habitat using place value knowledge.  The good news is all the work of creating a project based learning unit that weaves in place value, nonfiction research, and public speaking has been done for you. This year, your students will absolutely love practicing their place value skills as they work through the

Math projects are an engaging way to provide students with enrichment opportunities when they’re demonstrating mastery at the beginning of a math unit, and the rest of your class needs support and instruction for that unit.  Providing your advanced learners with an enrichment project to deepen their learning rather than bogging them down with busy work will allow them to apply what they know in more real-world contexts while keeping them engaged and excited about the subject they excel in.  It may feel overwhelming to have your advanced learners working on a project while you’re teaching your current math unit to the rest of your class. I used to shy away from providing these types of enrichment opportunities because I couldn’t wrap my head around the logistics of keeping tabs on students who were independently working on a project while I taught a mini-lesson and worked with small groups. I