Welcome to my Grade 3 Math CHAMPS blog!
Through this blog I will try to keep you up-to-date on a weekly basis about what we are working on in class.
Two months have now gone by and we are getting ready to prepare report cards and meet with parents in parent-teacher interviews. I can let you know that these first two months have seen us focusing on patterns as well as a mixture of other skills and activities, including a short introductory fractions unit, which have helped me get to know the students as mathematicians. We do have quite a diverse class with students working at different levels.
PLACE VALUE
Today, we began our look at place value, which is an important outcome in number sense, and is related to representing numbers, another outcome that we will be exploring soon. For place value in Grade 3, students will be expected to "illustrate, concretely and pictorially, the meaning of place value for numerals to 1000."
A Place Value Card Game
To reinforce at home what we're doing at school you can have your child use playing cards to create the least or greatest numbers that s/he can. Each of you take 2 - 4 cards and arrange them to make the least or greatest 2 - 4 digit number. Compare the two numbers you have made and decide whose is the least or the greatest. Maybe they will be equal and this will be important for your child to recognize as well.
Online Base Ten Blocks
If you do not mind your child using online math games and resources, check out the Base Ten blocks available on ABCYA. The link included in the "Websites" tab. Students can drag and drop Base Ten blocks to create 4-digit numbers. Give your child some numbers to make using these Base Ten blocks. Start with the lowest numbers you need to (yes, even 1-digit numbers) until your child is comfortable making numbers.
Please note: there may be differences in how we are expected to teach the recording and reading of numbers compared to what you were taught.
1. For 4-digit numbers, students are not to use a comma between the first two numbers, nor are they to use a space, ex., they must not write 3,467 or 3 467. The way I will be teaching them to write 4-digit numbers will be like this: 3467.
2. When students are saying numbers, they are not to use the word "and". For example, they must not say "three hundred and fifty." The "and" is reserved for decimal numbers, so for a number like 350, they must say "three hundred fifty."
I do realize that in many books you will see commas in numbers and may see the space between digits in the thousand and hundred places. Students will also hear adults and others say "and" when reading a number. Still, I am expected to teach the recording and saying of numbers in the ways explained above.
Through this blog I will try to keep you up-to-date on a weekly basis about what we are working on in class.
Two months have now gone by and we are getting ready to prepare report cards and meet with parents in parent-teacher interviews. I can let you know that these first two months have seen us focusing on patterns as well as a mixture of other skills and activities, including a short introductory fractions unit, which have helped me get to know the students as mathematicians. We do have quite a diverse class with students working at different levels.
PLACE VALUE
Today, we began our look at place value, which is an important outcome in number sense, and is related to representing numbers, another outcome that we will be exploring soon. For place value in Grade 3, students will be expected to "illustrate, concretely and pictorially, the meaning of place value for numerals to 1000."
A Place Value Card Game
To reinforce at home what we're doing at school you can have your child use playing cards to create the least or greatest numbers that s/he can. Each of you take 2 - 4 cards and arrange them to make the least or greatest 2 - 4 digit number. Compare the two numbers you have made and decide whose is the least or the greatest. Maybe they will be equal and this will be important for your child to recognize as well.
Online Base Ten Blocks
If you do not mind your child using online math games and resources, check out the Base Ten blocks available on ABCYA. The link included in the "Websites" tab. Students can drag and drop Base Ten blocks to create 4-digit numbers. Give your child some numbers to make using these Base Ten blocks. Start with the lowest numbers you need to (yes, even 1-digit numbers) until your child is comfortable making numbers.
Please note: there may be differences in how we are expected to teach the recording and reading of numbers compared to what you were taught.
1. For 4-digit numbers, students are not to use a comma between the first two numbers, nor are they to use a space, ex., they must not write 3,467 or 3 467. The way I will be teaching them to write 4-digit numbers will be like this: 3467.
2. When students are saying numbers, they are not to use the word "and". For example, they must not say "three hundred and fifty." The "and" is reserved for decimal numbers, so for a number like 350, they must say "three hundred fifty."
I do realize that in many books you will see commas in numbers and may see the space between digits in the thousand and hundred places. Students will also hear adults and others say "and" when reading a number. Still, I am expected to teach the recording and saying of numbers in the ways explained above.
