Show the wrong answer (1,363) on the board as you settle the class. Take three hands-up estimates, not open call-outs. Do not confirm right or wrong yet — the point is that pupils sense 1,363 is far too small before we prove it. Give five seconds of quiet think-time first.

Write each one out live as you go. First two get full time; third is a quick guided check with the class calling numbers.

Example 1, 384 × 27: round to 400 × 30 = 12,000. Working: 384 × 7 = 2,688, then 384 × 20 = 7,680. Stress the placeholder zero — the 20 means two tens, so a zero holds the units column and stops the row slipping right. Add for 10,368; note it sits near 12,000.

Example 2, 506 × 48: pause on the zero in 506. Round to 500 × 50 = 25,000. Working: 506 × 8 = 4,048, then 506 × 40 = 20,240 (zero holds units again, four tens). Add for 24,288. Turn-and-name: is 24,288 above or below 25,000? Take two answers.

Example 3, 729 × 35: run fast, class calls each partial. Round to 700 × 40 = 28,000. Working: 729 × 5 = 3,645, then 729 × 30 = 21,870. Add for 25,515.

Close gently: all three real answers landed just below their estimates. Offer as a noticing, not a task to explain.

The long-multiplication working is written live on the board; the on-screen game is used only for the estimate-versus-actual check. Pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Hold the class to the rule: estimate first, out loud, before any working. On 245 × 32 the estimate is 250 × 30 = 7,500 and the answer is 7,840. On 517 × 26 estimate 500 × 30 = 15,000, answer 13,442. On 683 × 45 estimate 700 × 50 = 35,000, answer 30,735. Watch for the missing placeholder zero — the commonest slip. Revoice a strong check: 'the estimate said about fifteen thousand, so an answer of one thousand three hundred would be a place-value slip — a whole row landed in the wrong column'.

These are the practice questions — pupils take turns at the board, work each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. The written algorithm is done live on the board; the on-screen game only logs the estimate check. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

Answers: 478 × 36 = 17,208 (estimate 500 × 40 = 20,000); 815 × 29 = 23,635 (estimate 800 × 30 = 24,000); 364 × 52 = 18,928 (estimate 400 × 50 = 20,000); 926 × 47 = 43,522 (estimate 900 × 50 = 45,000). The final one is the stretch — bigger numbers throughout. If time is short, drop the 'within five hundred' scoring and just confirm each answer against its estimate.