Wrapping up Addition and Subtraction!

Across the next two weeks, we will wrap up our review of addition and subtraction.  Although this was a review of grade 2 material, we did introduce some new and interesting strategies that can be used to add and subtract.  We also focused on strategies that help us to be most accurate and efficient!

Here are some pictures of students demonstrating strategies they know to the class.  Raquel practiced the "Counting Up Algorithm" of subtraction at home with her mom and came in and taught it to the whole class!

Very shortly, we will be diving into multiplication and division!  Your child needs to have a strong foundational mastery of addition and subtraction basic facts to be successful in this area! Each Friday, we take a timed basic facts quiz.  Currently, the goal is that your student can complete 50 addition facts with accuracy in 2 minutes. In a few weeks, we'll do a few subtraction timed quizzes and then we will begin the work of beginning to memorize our multiplication facts.  You should see these quizzes coming home each Friday in your student's take home folder.  If the quiz is not complete, this is a good indication that your child needs to spend 5-10 minutes each night drilling these facts through flashcards, worksheets and online games. Please contact me if you need support in this area.

Sliding into September!

It is hard to believe that this is the fourth week of school and next week we'll have a half day so I can create interim reports for parents and students to look at! 

This week, students have their first spelling group word list.  Students are responsible for learning all of the words on the list.  They will be tested on Friday on a randomly selected ten words.  Students now have their nightly spelling homework written out in a chart that is glued into the back of their agenda books.  Spelling homework will be consistent from week to week.  Students will need a dictionary or online resource on a weekly basis to complete the homework. We'll also be doing activities to practice the words in class.

This week in science, students used classroom materials to design a way to make an object (a bouncy ball) change motion.  Student groups were assigned different changes in motion (direction, speed, stop, start) and worked together collaboratively to come up with a way to demonstrate this change to the class.  Below are pictures of the students working on the designs:

Welcome to a new school year!!!

We are off to a great start this year in Grade 3.  The students and I spent a lot of time last week discussing and creating rules and procedures for our classroom and the school building. We also began our study of rounding to the nearest ten and hundred and examined patterns on the addition table. We read a wonderful school story called Crow Boy and discussed the character's traits, feelings and point of view. We will continue to read realistic fiction books throughout the first half of marking period 1.

This is the third year that I am keeping a classroom blog. I use it to send out important information and announcements to parents and students.  Each year, I have gotten positive feedback about how much parents enjoy seeing photographs and work samples posted here to get a window into their child's school day. I only post student pictures and work sample with permission and I never include last names, etc. Please check out what the blog has been like for the past two years by reading some of my older posts using the tabs on the right side of your screen.  Soon, you will receive a permission slip coming home and you can decide if you'd like your child included in my postings or not.

Please plan to attend Back to School Night next Wednesday, September 10th.  I have a presentation for parents planned with information all about our curriculum and expectations for the school year.  I look forward to seeing all parents then!