Happy New Year families!
We will be wrapping up the Addition and Subtraction unit in a few days and beginning our Multiplying and Dividing unit. With that, comes the practice of new mental math facts (see Mental Math Link) * I will be sending home a review sheet with our strategies and examples used in class, as well as posting a photo here. I will also send home a "Extra Practice" review booklet that is OPTIONAL. Do as much of it as needed, when you can. I do not mean to add to your busy plates; these work booklets were requested by many at Parent-Teacher and it is easier (between Mrs. Sanford and myself) to send it home with ALL students. They are differentiated in that the easier grade 3 work is in the front, with the more challenging grade 4 work is at the back (and labelled as such.)* MULTIPLICATION: What do we need to know? Grade 3: Students are "expected to demonstrate an understanding of the multiplication facts to 5x5." In other words, this is considered an introduction for the grade 3's. Grade 4: Students DO need to have quick fact recall up to 9x9. Both Grades:
DIVISION: What do we need to know? Grade 3: Students are "expected to demonstrate an understanding of division related to multiplication facts up to 5x5". This is also considered an introduction; students are not expected to have quick recall of all the facts, though they should be practiced at school and at home. Grade 4: Students will be "expected to demonstrate an understanding of division to solve problems using personal strategies," and estimate what the answer will be, with related facts up to 9x9. (One-digit divisors and up to two-digit dividend.) Both Grades:
Stay tuned! I am compiling a list of apps & websites (AVRSB approved) for math practice at home... check back soon!
We have been taking turns being the Math Helper, and I've been secretly expanding the duties as we work through our units. New this week will be the Dot Patterns, Date in standard form, and Time. The grade 3's need to know numbers through to 1000 (in a variety of forms) and the grade 4's need to numbers through to 10 000 (in a variety of forms).
We are starting units on increasing and decreasing patterns. Recognizing and analyzing patterns is an important part of mathematical thinking. Patterning concepts lead to work with algebra in higher grades. Patterns can be found all around us. Encourage your child to look for patterns around the home, and talk about them.
Grade 3: Your child will (over the course of the year) -
Grade 4: Your child will (over the course of the year) -
September 15, 2014
Welcome to grade 3/4 math! It is fun to end our days together in my math classroom. We are a lively, cheerful bunch and have been working together to figure out our best seating plan and reward system to help us stay on task. I've been busy writing names on the board - it's a good thing! It means I caught you working away, and you have a chance to win a small treat at the end of class. We also started a check list for each class, simple things we need to work on each day, like traveling quietly in the hallway and using our indoor voices. When we receive check marks for these tasks, we get a sticker on our chart... If we can get two full weeks of stars, we get a math games day! Yahoo! Keep up the great work, grade 3/4's, we are half way there already! We have set up our math journals, a place to write and think about open-ended math questions, such as "tell me everything you know about..." We have also been working on our Number Sense unit, which includes skip counting. Ask your student about "skipping counting around the world," a game we play to warm up each class. We are practicing counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s, with the addition of counting by 3s and 4s. We have done some partner work, counting and organizing large groups of manipulatives, to skip count them more efficiently. Grade 3s are working with numbers to 1000, and the Grade 4s, numbers to 10 000. |