News from Grade 3           Nov. 30,2012

We continue to work very hard in Math on patterns using T charts. What several children are finding difficult is that they are not sure of their addition facts. So when a pattern continues up by 3 or 4 or 5 etc... it can be challenging. How can we help? 

Practicing the addition facts so that students can recall them quickly without counting on their fingers, is a huge advantage in many areas of Math. Begin with mastering doubles facts (6+6,7+7,8+8,9+9). Then move to near doubles: If I know 7+7 then 7+8 is one more. We have also learned the facts which add up to 10. The next step is to add 1,2,or 3. Then of course we will go to +4,+5. While many children in the class know their addition facts there are still several who are struggling. A few minutes spent every day will help. Soon we will move on to multiplication facts. 

Ideas that might help? Flash card games, dice (throw 2 and add them or throw one and add the number you are working on). Brock's mom and I also found several interactive games at this website http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/interactive/  Frequent brief practice sessions are best : ))

Our Math Word wall is always there to help spell and reinforce Math Vocabulary. Now that we are also graphing our patterns we will learn words such as data, axes, vertical, horizontal (we used horizon in art as well) grid, titles, key, labels. What is that beast up on the wall? Our class mascot, Math Mouse, lives in the hole in the wall : ))

In reading we are looking at non-fiction. We have checked many text features that help us understand what we are reading such as photos, captions, charts, labelled diagrams and text boxes. Now we are beginning to focus more on making connections with non-fiction. 

We read a text called The Terrific Triangle. Noah said he connected with the fact that there are shapes in nature such as a circle, or rectangle and why are things the shapes they are? Wyatt G noticed that these strong shapes such as a square and a triangle are used in building our houses and who makes sure these shapes are strong enough for our houses to stay up? Victoria thought that Science seemed to be connected with shapes and there seemed to be rules to follow. This text and the one we read today on building igloos will introduce our next Science theme. Teacher trick #352 in how to cover the curriculum.... integrate! Above is a photo showing students testing rectangles and triangles after reading a procedural text .....

This is a photo of the thoughtful writing your children did for Thanksgiving as part of our religion program! Same teacher trick:combine reading The Secret of Giving Thanks with writing, religion and covering our school's October value "Gratitude".

The class is really enjoying our read aloud chapter book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. While we laugh at the antics of baby brother and pain in the neck, Fudge, we are learning about family relationships. The story takes place in New York City in the 70's and when Fudge was buying new shoes, the class REALLY wanted to know what saddle shoes and loafers looked like! You might be able to catch their interest with other books in the series like Super Fudge.









Our Science posters are completed and students will show them to the class. They will share with their classmates how forces of nature happen and how these forces can affect us. In addition to exploring the Science of forces, students learned how to present a well laid out poster and how to make and print a title with our netbooks.  Test on forces this coming Monday, Dec.3.

In Religion as part of All Saints Day, we learned about St. Kateri and made this poster to show the story of her life.

,

Kateri was bullied because of her beliefs. She was finally able to go from Upper New York State to Montreal where she could be with other Christians.

Kateri worked with the sick and the elderly. She was beloved by her community in Montreal.

Gorgeous paintings! Our class takes their art very seriously and have enjoyed working with paint. 

Almost ready to video tape our bullying awareness skits. We saw a great live presentation last week that will help us focus our skits on what role bystanders can play. A bystander can be a cheerleader who encourages the bully, a watcher or hider who doesn't know what to do. THEN along comes the UPSTANDER  !! who is the superhero who gets help or steps in to help (if its safe).


The link below will bring you to a bullying awareness song/video that we watched: True colours
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzfYL51e3HI   Click on the link and another prompt will bring you to the youtube video.

Blog Number 2:  

First a picture of our Hallowe'en and Thanksgiving art!

  In Science we are almost finished our unit on forces. We will do a project in class, on forces of nature. Students need to bring pictures of the force of nature that they chose. They also will need to know enough about their force to tell how it happens, what kind of damage it causes, where it happens and any other interesting information. They can tell about a particular event such as Hurricane Isaac. It will be done during class, not at home, so that I can evaluate how well the students work on their posters.

 Students can prepare for a test by reviewing what forces do, knowing the 5 forces we covered and being able to tell a little about each. We are also answering problem questions that ask what forces are used in a particular situation: Example: A baseball player hits a run to first base and slides in and touches the base. (Muscular force hits the ball, the ball will now be pushed in the opposite direction, it will fly in an arc falling to the ground because of gravity where it might be caught and stopped by another player. Muscular force will be used to run to first base and friction will slow the player down as he/she slides to first.)

 Here are some pictures as we explored the force of magnetism.

In Math we are working on patterning which a very important topic. We are looking at number patterns and patterns in geometric shapes. A number pattern could look like this: 13,18,23,28, ___,____,____ . Students need to figure out the pattern and then continue it. They may use a number line, tape measure or hundred chart to help if they find it difficult to simply add or subtract. We will work with calculators next week. A trickier question would be to choose the correct answer from 4 choices.  This sample is taken right from last year's EQAO test.

 Look at the growing pattern below.
3, ___, ___, ___, 19

The pattern goes up by the same
number each time.
What are the missing numbers?
0 4, 5, 6
0 6, 9, 12
0 7, 11, 15
0 8, 13, 18

When we look at geometric patterns we talk about attributes that can be changed. The size, shape, colour or position of a shape can be changed. Patterns are described and continued.


 




















































Next week we will do activities on awareness of bullying. Our school is focusing on the upstander. That is the person who sees something happening and is proactive rather than passive. This person may speak up and tell someone to stop their negative behaviour or they may tell an adult what is happening to another student. We have already talked about bullying and inappropriate behaviour but next week it will be a focus. We will use picture books and role play to learn how to handle situations where one or more people are not treating someone else with respect.

We will also stress the difference between bullying and peer conflicts. We will learn if it is tattling or telling.

.




Please continue to read every night with your child. If they are an independent reader, taking some time to ask questions will help your child voice their ideas. If your child needs help, they can read aloud for you and answer questions.
                                                  
We are working on the features of non-fiction: main topic, subtopics, captions, glossary, index, text boxes etc... and how they help us as readers. We are going to begin making connections with non-fiction also. Which facts do you connect with? Does this make you think of something else? How do you feel about this information? What questions do you still have?

Finally, here he group collection of the Thanksgiving and Hallowe'e art nthat we posted. Enjoy!

Finally! This year's blog begins...

First Blog for Grade 3 2012-2013

Am happy to be finally to be re-aquainting myself with the blog started last year. Apologies for taking so long! Ms. Howie

My intention for this blog is to let you know what we are doing in class, to share information on how your child is learning, to give some helpful ideas for work at home for those who want to support your child's learning and the fun of sharing what your child's day looks like. If you have any requests or ideas for this blog, please feel free to make suggestions and I will do my best to include your ideas. 

 Grade 3's have been very busy this term in Math. We have worked on place value, addition and patterns (number patterns and geometric patterns). If you would like to do some extra practice with your child knowing their addition facts quickly without counting on fingers will be a big help. We have practiced doubles (example 6+6), near doubles (6+6 can help me with 6+7) and will now work on number pairs that make 10 (9+1, 8+2, 7+3, 6+4, 5+5). Ask these questions like this: 6+ __=10

Here is a group of students learning 2 digit addition and explaining how it works. You can ask a question with or without re-grouping and have your child explain how they can get the answer.

Sample problem:   47 + 35  We are looking for each child to explain that they can add up the ones,
 7+5 = 12.  Now they can explain how they will trade tens ones for a 10 rod.  Next add up the tens digits (4 tens + 3 tens is the same as 40+30=70. BUT now they need to add that extra ten rod to make 80 and put back the ones to explain the answer 82.

Why go to all this trouble instead of just using the standard way 47  ????  
                                                                                             + 35
Research has shown that students who can understand and explain their thinking will do better in Math.We used base 10 blocks to help children see the trading in a hands on way. 

Our word work this week is going to continue to be with the "ai" vowel pattern as many students are still finding it difficult.  Examples are : main, grain, pain, stain, chain, rain, train, drain, plain, claim, aim,wait, bait, paint, faint, saint. Some more difficult words for students who are ready for a challenge are : strait, straight, contain, waiter, waitress, Spain and Ukraine. The students came up with these words. We explore the meanings of them as well as syllables, consonant blends and adding suffixes. Anchor charts such as these, along with the alphabet help students generate their own words.

In Science we are just beginning a unit on forces. Forces can be a push or a pull. Forces can change the speed, direction, or shape of an object. A force can start or stop an object from moving. Some forces are buoyancy, gravity, magnetism, muscular, static electricity.
 Fun web sites to visit are http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/lab/forces.html and http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/forces_movement.shtm


                                       Pull                   Push

Grade 3's prepare for EQAO

We are very busy these days polishing our reading responses, writing and Math problems in preparation for next month's EQAO assessments. It is important to know that we don't teach to the test, the test is written to show best practices in teaching and learning. If you would like to look at previous years tests go to eqao.com, go to parent resources, then assessments for reading etc... and scroll down until you see the tests from 2010-2011 and so on. You can even see what the evaluators are looking for by checking the scoring guide. Time will be spent making sure the students are not worried yet try their best by working as hard as they can.

We were very lucky in March to have a student from Rocks and Rings share their love of curling with the classes at St. Patrick. Below are some photos.

                                    

In Math we are working on measuring. We have completed linear measurement, perimeter, area and comparing measurements. Students had problems where they had to compare for example 5 m, 480 cm, and 60 cm to put them in order.  We will begin to measure mass and capacity next week. Students will have a look at home to find things that are measured in litres and millilitres or grams and kilograms. It is really important that they can associate these measurements with real life tasks and objects.

     

 In Math we are also learning about multiplication. Practicing times tables for a few minutes each day will help your child master patterns. Start with the 2X tables and then 5X. A website for quizzes and flash cards is www.multiplication.com 

Hope you enjoyed the Easter cards the students made. They definitely enjoyed making them. We used marshmallows for the yellow parts. Creativity and humour were in the air as everyone took great care in making the perfect chicks!

 In Science we are just beginning our unit on Plants. Again it is really important that children have a chance to explore their themes in real life activities as much as possible. We will first concentrate on the parts of the flower and the parts of the plant. Each part will be examined as we talk about how they contribute to the survival of the plant.

We will plant bean seeds this week. They sprout quickly and will give us a chance to see how the seed cracks open, sends out roots and then tiny leaves.

As you eat fruits and vegetables take time to talk about what part of the plant they come from. Children can also learn the names of the trees, shrubs and flowering plants in your yard or on a nature walk. The tulips that we planted in the fall are in bloom with more to come hopefully!

In language we are writing persuasive letters which will be on the blog next week. We listened to an amazing broadcast posted on the CBC radio 1 website. We used it to describe what the creators of the native legend used to make it interesting: native drums, native singing, sound effects, animal sounds, expressive storytelling and parts told in the authentic Cayuga dialect. We also used the story to explore the parts of a narrative: characters, setting, problem and solution. Students then came up with ideas as to why the story was told: examples were given such as to explain the Big Dipper, to show courage, to explain the cycle of life, to explain patience. Pretty good ideas for Grade 3's who are learning to go deeper into the text. http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/legends/2012/02/29/legends-of-the-cayuga/ There are several legends from a variety of First Nations. It is called The Legends Project and is beautifully done. http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/legends/ Logan went home and told his brother the story of The Hunting of Ugly Bear and Bobby then re-told a legend he remembered to Logan. We hope to dramatize our own legend using sound and art and drama.

If you have a chance would you please let me know if you read the blog regularly and if there is any other information you would like to see. As your child has probably told you we do not take pictures of their faces even though that would be lots of fun for both you and your child. Safety in today's connected world is the reason of course.