Week of Oct. 30th

 

How quickly October has ended, and a new month is upon us. We took the opportunity when changing our calendar to take an in-depth look at how to read a calendar using ordinal numbers ( 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. ), knowing the order of the months, as well as reciting the days of the week and knowing the abbreviations for them, i.e. Sunday/Sun. The grade three's are also beginning to learn how to read a calendar by indicating what day of the week a particular date falls on, how many specific days there are in each month and saying the date correctly. Throughout the school year, we will continue to develop and build on our calendar skills. 

For the last few weeks, we have reviewed how to make 10, add 10, and use 10 to add and subtract. This math strategy can help your child deepen their understanding of addition and subtraction and help them become more confident as mathematicians. 

In class, we have worked with tens to explore place value, ten frames, and hundreds charts. We learned that our entire number system is built from a system of tens. Developing a solid understanding of 10 as a benchmark number and how it works within our number system is key for mathematical development. Counting by 10s and seeing how each decade is organized builds numeracy, but it also supports students as they begin to add and subtract larger numbers.

It is important to help your child develop fluency with basic facts so that they can learn to think strategically. We want our grade 3’s to understand the value of using 10 as a benchmark number when adding within 20, but also to transfer that skill when adding within 100, and again transferring it to adding within 1000. Using tens to solve basic math facts leads to students being able to solve two- and three-digit addition problems.

This week, our learning tasks were connected to our celebrations around Halloween. Here are a few of our "I can" statements as they relate to our activities:

-I can use what I know and words in the text to figure out what I am reading (making inferences)

-I can use what I know and show words from the text to prove what the author means ( drawing conclusions) 

- I can develop problem-solving, logical thinking skills and visual-spatial awareness using tangram puzzle pieces.

- I can identify nouns and adjectives and add them to form a complete sentence.

-I can invent a device that launches a pumpkin( fabric ball) into the air using the materials provided. 

-I can follow multistep instructions to create a beaded spider.