Students often learn a lot by teaching each other, and there is great value in breaking down the process of solving a math problem step-by-step in order to explain it to someone else. Today 2nd grade students in Ms. Ambrose’s class at Holladay Elementary made videos to teach their classmates about rounding (SOL 2.1) and estimating (SOL 2.6). We used Keynote and the students chose a theme, created a 2-digit addition problem of their choice using text boxes and shapes. I showed them how to add builds to each step so that they would appear in sequence. Then the students recorded their voices explaining the steps in rounding and estimating the sum. We exported the Keynotes to QuickTime videos. Now Ms. Ambrose can use the students’ videos to review. She can pause the videos at different spots to see if her students can solve them, and the students will be motivated by seeing their own videos presented to the class. Now that they know how to do it, they can continue making how-to videos. I posted all their rounding/estimating videos to a Google Doc that you can see here.
