How we do the Estimation Jar
We estimate weekly through our Estimation Jar. A student places (and counts) objects into the jar for us to make an estimation on Thursday. We place write our estimations on sticky note and place it on a number line written on the white board, therefore placing in correctly in number order (nobody can have the same guess, so some guesses need to be changed). After everyone had made their estimates, we calculate the range of the guesses. Next, we look for any outliers (those guesses that lie really far out or away from all of the other guesses.) Then, I start taking off the estimates that were farthest off in both directions. Then we get it down to the last four closest estimates and figure out who got the closest. Whoever made the closest estimation then gets to fill up the estimation jar for the following week. We develop later into the year in writing down our estimation strategies or why we guessed a certain amount. See below for why we do the Estimation Jar.
Why we do the Estimation Jar
Obviously, the main skills that we are working on are number sense and estimating. There are numerous skills learned and used when making an estimation including number relationships, reasoning skills, place value, more/less, addition/subtraction, counting strategies. skip counting/grouping (when grouping the objects by a certain number and continuing the count), general size, height, width, length, volume, percent, fractions, (when talking about how much in the jar and how to calculate) range, outliers, mean, median, and mode (analyzing the data), along with many other concepts and strategies.