I just finished teaching a student to estimate. It is a difficult concept because the students have nothing to look at. I usually make a number line and lay it in front of the student. For younger ones I require them to put an object (marker) on the number they are supposed to round. This allows them to see if it is closer to 0 or 10.
Remembering which number to look at is the most difficult concept for students. I usually ask them to use their hand to cover the number to be estimated and then look at the number they can see to the right of their hand. If they are estimating dollars and given the number $24.82. I'd instruct them to cover up $24 and then look at the number seen on the right of their hand. They would see the '8' in .82 and be able to round up to $25. If they were to round to the nearest $10, they would cover the '2' in $24 and then look to the right at the '4'. The four should be rounded down making the answer $20.00. When I taught first grade, I created rhymes to teach the children things like this. I do not remember what we said for this situation. If anyone can think of something to teach the students to say when they are working the problems, please leave me a comment. I'd love to hear it.
By the way, don't try teaching a student to estimate or round if they are not very grounded in place value. It will be really confusing for them and frustrating for you.
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