Tomorrow we are officially 100 days smarter!
It is hard to believe that it is already the 100th day of school. Time sure does fly when you're having fun! I am not sure there are many jobs in this world where people can say that they have adored the last 100 days. I am so lucky to be one of the few that can say I HAVE! I love my group of chickadees and the 100 days of smiles that they have brought me.
Moms and dads tell us...
What do you wish you had 100 of?
What would you not want to have 100 of?
I know I would love to have 100 pairs of shoes.
I would not want 100 toilets in my house to clean.
Today is math we learned all about arrays.
An array shows objects that are arranged in equal rows.
We can use an array to multiply.
Use an array to solve the following problem:
Mrs. Linse planted bulbs in her garden.
She planted 4 rows of 6 bulbs.
How many bulbs did Mrs. Linse plant in all?
Show your work and write the multiplication sentence.
We have been very busy writing different procedures over the last few weeks. It is a writing unit that we all seem to be enjoying a lot too. I know that I sure do love reading them! This week we are working on our final procedure. We are writing a simple recipe. I will collate them all to make a class cookbook. I'm telling ya... this is torture for an eight month pregnant lady! I read these and am instantly hungry! They all sound so delicious! I can't wait until our book is finalized and ready to make it to my kitchen...ummmm I mean our classroom shelf! ;)
Over the last few days we have been learning that multiplication is repeated addition.
Take a look at the following picture:
As a multiplication sentence you write
4 X 6 = 24
You say " 4 groups of 6 equals 24"
As an addition sentence you write:
6 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 24
Providing your child with some multiplication sentences to write as addition sentences and vice versa would be beneficial for some extra practice.
Here is a link to a video that helps explain this concept further (it is the first video)
Multiplication Clip
It is the time in math that all kiddies have been waiting for... our unit in multiplication!
I don't know what it is or why it is, but all grade three kids LOVE when we begin this unit. The smiles on their faces is priceless. It is absolutely adorable!
We learn cutesy songs throughout the unit to help us memorize our times tables. In fact, have your chickadee sing the 0 or 3 times table song to you tonight at the dinner table! It makes for some good entertainment ;)
Throughout the unit, we learn that multiplication really is just a quick way to add (we call multiplication and addition very close cousins), we learn other neat strategies to multiply (ask tonight about "plates and cookies") and then we jump into division.
It is a great unit with lots of opportunity for problem solving.
Here is one to try:
Mrs. Linse has 3 strips of stickers. On each strip are 7 stickers. How many stickers does Mrs. Linse have altogether?
Write both the multiplication and addition sentence to go with this question.
Over the last five months we have worked on a variety of reading strategies that have helped us become better readers. All of these different strategies have taught us how to make deeper meaning of the texts that we read. Now that our "tool belts" are stuffed with great strategies, we are ready to independently read passages, answer higher level comprehension questions in the form of multiple choice and respond to a question that requires us to provide evidence from the text to support our thinking. These questions we refer to as "Reading Response With Evidence (RRE)." We have learned that these types of responses require us to
- include part of the question in our answer
- include the "phrase that pays" I know this because...
- support your answer with evidence (proof) from the text
We completed a whole class example last week and will continue to take baby steps until we are all confident with doing these on our own!
Here is an example of a "Reading Response With Evidence" type question:
What is one word you would use to describe Henry, from the story Henry's Freedom Box? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.
Looks like February has brought along some cold and flu bugs. We had a good chat today about hand washing and washing down our desk tops after lunch each day. Sometimes, if the teacher is not looking, we skip these important routines. Although I am all about sharing... these germies and buggies can stay with their owners!
