September 23, 2019

Upcoming events:
9/25 - Early Dismissal at 1:15 p.m.
9/25 - PTA Spirit Night
9/26 - Field Trip to Catty Shack - Cox homeroom/Townsend 9/27 (bring bag lunch)
9/30 - Eagle of the Month Ceremony
9/30 - End of Module 1 Assessment
10/2 & 10/5 - (Jacksonville Library Mandarin Branch will host a Science Fair Help program to help students choose a topic for their science projects.)

Resources this week:
9/24 - Art
9/25 - Media
9/27 - P.E.

Math:
This week in math the students will continue to apply the distributive property of multiplication to decompose units in division problems.  They will begin to solve two-step word problems involving multiplication and division, and assess the reasonableness of answers.  The students will solve word problems with all four operations (multiplication, division, subtraction, and addition) and determine if using estimation strategies help in solving real world problems.  We will be concluding our studies of Module 1 and begin to review for our end of module assessment. The students will begin Module 2 by relating skip counting by 5's on the clock and telling time on the number line.  

Example two-step word problem:
There are 4 boxes with 6 binders in each box.  Three brothers share the binders.  How many binders does each brother get?

The students will begin to use a number line to solve elapsed time word problems.

Example of elapsed time word problem:

The school ballet recital begins at 12:17 p.m. and ends at 12:45 p.m.  How many minutes long is the ballet recital?

Things to practice at home:
Continue practicing multiplication facts 2-12.  Use flash cards, make groups of objects, skip count to find product of 2 factors.
Practice solving multiplication and division word problems.
Use the distributive property of multiplication (break apart strategy) to solve multiplication facts.
Practice telling time to the nearest minute and measure time intervals.
Fluently add and subtract within 1000.
Begin to round numbers to the nearest 10's and 100's.
Helpful math videos:

Science:

This week in science we will perform a scientific investigation using scientific tools to make observations and inferences.

Week of September 16, 2019

Upcoming events:
9/16 - Progress Reports go home
9/16 - Charleston Wrap Fundraiser Ends
9/17 - SAC meeting at 6:00 p.m.
9/17 - Girl Scout classroom visits
9/18 - All Pro Dads at 7:45 a.m. 
9/18 - Girl Scouts Parent Night 6:00 p.m.
9/19 - Fall Pictures

Resources this week:
9/16 - Art
9/18 - Music
9/19 - P.E.

Field Trip Dates:
9/26 - Catty Shack 
11/12 - Jacksonville Zoo
1/16 - IMAX
3/6 - Tree Hill 

Math:
This week in math the students will be using skip counting strategies to continue to build fluency with multiplication using units of 4.  The students will relate arrays to tape diagrams to model the commutative property of multiplication.  They will also use the distributive property to find related multiplication facts and to decompose units.  The students will continue modeling the relationship between multiplications and division.

Using arrays to solve multiplication word problems:

Using distributive property to decompose and solve multiplication problem:

Using tape diagram to solve division problem:

Mrs. Townsend bought 4 packs of yogurt. She had exactly enough to give each of her 24 students 1 yogurt cup. How many yogurt cups are there in 1 pack? 

Things to practice at home:
Practice creating arrays and writing multiplication equations for the arrays.
Use flash cards for multiplication fluency.
Use the commutative property when working on multiplication facts.
Use distributive property (breaking apart one of the factors) to solve difficult multiplication problems.
Solve division problems at home. 
Helpful math videos:

Science:
This week in Science we will continue discussing tools used by scientists during investigations.

Week of September 9, 2019

Upcoming events:
9/12 - 3rd grade Open House rescheduled at 6:00 p.m.

Resources this week:
9/11 - P.E.

Math:
This week in math includes completing lessons missed last week due to the hurricane.  The students will focus their learning on the distributive property of multiplication.  They will  interpret the quotient in division problems as the number of groups or the number of objects in each using units of 2.  


Things to practice at home:
Practice math facts 2-12 using flash cards, arrays, or groups of objects.
Solve division word problems identifying the unknown in the problems.
Skip count by 2, 3, 4, 5's.
Helpful math videos:

Science:

This week in science we will continue discussing and identifying testable scientific questions and discussing scientific tools.  The students will also discuss how scientists make inferences based on their scientific observations. 

Week of September 2, 2019

Upcoming events:
9/2 - Labor Day - No School
9/5 - Open House (currently scheduled) at 6:00 p.m.
Resources this week:
9/3 - P.E.
9/6 - Music/Art

Math:
This week in math the students will continue learning about the commutative property of multiplication and will practice related facts by skip counting objects in array models.  They will add and subtract equal groups in array models.  The students will model the distributive property of multiplication with arrays to decompose units as a strategy to multiply.  They will model division as the "unknown" factor in multiplication using arrays and tape diagrams.

Things to practice at home:

Continue to practice multiplication facts.

Use multiplication and division strategies to solve word problems.

Practice skip counting forwards and backwards by 2's, 3's 4's, and 5's.

Helpful math videos:

Parent Tips:
We are learning to solve multiplication and division word problems.  Your child has been learning to solve these using the following strategies:

• arrays
• tape diagrams
• number bonds

An array is a way to represent multiplication using rows and columns.  Rows represent the number of groups.  Columns represent the number in each group of the size of the group.

We have learned that rows (groups) are drawn horizontally and columns (size) are drawn vertically.

A tape diagram is another way to represent information in a word problem.  A tape diagram starts with a rectangle.  The students must label the tape diagram with information found in the word problem.  They have learned that multiplication and division problems always involve 3 things: number of groups, size of the group, and the total. The students will label the tape diagram with the information in the problem to help solve for the part missing or the unknown.  

Below is an example of a multiplication problem using a tape diagram to solve the problem.

Karen has 5 boxes of cookies.  There are 7 cookies in each box.  How many cookies does Karen have in all?

This problem contains the following information: 

number of groups:  5 boxes

size of the groups:  7 cookies

Students need to solve for the "unknown" or total number of cookies.

Tape diagrams can also be used to solve division problems. 

Example:  Karen has 35 cookies.  She packs them into boxes of 7.  How many boxes does Karen pack?
(The problem is telling how many cookies will be in each box.  The students need to recognize this problem as a division problem.)

A number bond  can also be used to solve problems. 

Example problem using a number bond to solve:

Mr. Chang has 3 rows of chairs.  He has 5 chairs in each row.  How many total chairs does Mr. Chang have?

Science:

This week in science the students will discuss the difference between testable and non-testable questions in science.  We will also begin to discuss tools scientists use to perform investigations.

Week of August 26, 2019

Upcoming events:
8/27 & 8/28 - i-Ready Math computer test
8/28 - Early Dismissal at 1:15
9/2 - Labor Day No School
9/5 - Open House for 3rd grade at 6:00 p.m.

Resources this week:
8/28 - Art
8/29 - Media

Math:
This week in math the students will continue to understand the meaning of the "unknown" in division as either the size of the group or the number of groups in a division problem.  They will interpret the "unknown" in division using the array model.  The students will demonstrate the commutative property of multiplication and practice related facts by skip counting objects in array models.

Examples of multiplication and division using the array model:
  

Example problem to determine the "unknown" or the number of groups in a division problem:

Things to practice at home:
Use the array model to practice multiplication facts.
Practice using the commutative property of multiplication to learn 2-5 multiplication facts.
Solve multiplication and division problems.
Helpful math videos:

Science:
This week in science the students will complete the science baseline and begin to discuss ways scientists investigate questions about the natural world.

Week of August 19, 2019

Upcoming events:
8/20 - SAC meeting 6 p.m. in cafeteria
8/19 & 8/20 Math Baseline test
8/28 - Early Dismissal

Resources this week:
8/20 - Art
8/21 - Music
8/23 - P.E.

Math:
This week in math we will be learning the properties of multiplication and solving problems with 2-5 and 10.  The students will be building on second grade knowledge of addition to learn multiplication strategies using arrays (objects organized in equal groups in rows and columns).  The students will write addition and multiplication equations  to represent the arrays created. 
Example of creating an array:

This array represents 2 rows of 6 or 2 x 6.

Things to Practice at Home:
Practice creating arrays using different sets of objects.  Write the addition and multiplication equations for each array.
Practice multiplication facts to help with fluency.


Science:
This week in science we will continue our discussion on the Scientific Method.  Steps scientists follow in investigating the world around them.

Week of August 12, 2019

We are excited to begin our new school year!  This week we will begin our baseline testing.  This blog will contain Math and Science information and will be updated weekly.  I will post helpful math videos to help in completing math homework.  Mrs. Townsend will use her dojo site for Reading and Social Studies information.  Please look in your child's planner daily for important notes and papers going home from school and initial at the bottom of each page to indicate you have checked the planner. Thank you for your support and we look forward to a successful school year!