Thank You

The transition to Common Core this year has been challenging not only for students and parents, but also for teachers, and for a while, I have wanted to express thanks to our parents as we adapt during this calibration year.

I thoroughly look forward to the refreshment that will come during the next two weeks of Winter Break (Turning off my wake-up alarm!  Drinking as much water as I want!  Leisurely lunches with friends!).  I thought about taking a "year off" from writing thank you notes for gifts I received from students, but couldn't escape hearing my mom's voice saying something to the extent of, Those who aren't thankful will stop getting gifts.  Not that teachers expect gifts or do what they do for compensation, but gifts are always a greatly appreciated source of encouragement as we pour so much of ourselves and our time into our students.  And expressing gratitude is something I want to teach our students.

I know I teach Math and Science, but over Winter Break, I encourage our students to practice expressing gratitude through learning how to write thoughtful thank you notes for gifts received (which by the way is much more enjoyable with a special writing tool and fun stationary).

How to Write a Thank You Note:

First--greeting.  {Greet the giver by name...it's important!}

Second--thank you.  {Thank the giver for the gift or act of service.  It's OK if it's simple; this is a sincere expression of appreciation.}

Third--talk about use.  {Say something about the item, then talk about how you’re going to use it.  If it was an act of service, you can describe its impact, and what it meant to you.}

Fourth—get personal {Talk about how and what the giver means to you personally.  If you don’t know the giver well, say what you know or something along the lines of I’m thinking of you, and I hope you’re doing well.}

Fifth—thank you, again {You can never say thank you enough!  End with thanks again...}

Sixth—signature {Love, sincerely, truly yours, etc…then sign your name!} 

I don't know of anyone who doesn't like receiving hand-written notes in the mail (always preferable to bills and junk mail!), and they are ten times more precious when penned in kid-print or the wobbly beginning stages of cursive!

How can air and water cause change or movement?

Sometimes science is a nice break from math!

For the next several days, students will learn about and be able to explain how air and water are sources of energy.

Today we discussed wind power:

Tomorrow we'll find out about water (hydroelectric) power:

Both wind and water (hydroelectric) power are renewable sources of energy.

A generator can be used to transfer kinetic energy from moving air and water into electrical energy:

 

For today's home learning, students will research advantages and disadvantages of wind power.  They will use this information for a language arts writing assignment.  We'll do the same for water (hydroelectric) power on Monday.

Math Confidence Strategies

Every so often, I hear from a parent that her/his student lacks confidence in math.  Fortunately, there are several remedies to this problem:

Fact fluency.  Being able to quickly recall sums, differences, products, and quotients frees up mental energy for multi-step skills and comprehending situations in which these skills can be used.  Reflex Math is a great tool for developing and maintaining fact fluency.  Your student's Reflex Math login information is in the front of her/his planner.  Our county's recommendation is at least three twenty-minute sessions weekly.  Some families have found it helpful to "schedule" three sessions per week on the family calendar. 

Knowing how to ask for help and seeing help.  Coming from someone who was extremely shy as a child and still struggles with a stubborn an introverted nature, this is much easier said than done.  Success can be found though, by taking baby steps.  First, help your student identify what specifically the student doesn't understand.  For example, is the student able to represent the situation with quick picture?  Does the student understand what a word problem is asking her/him to figure out or do?  Is s/he struggling to create an equation?  Does s/he know the first step towards solving the equation, or is another step the troublesome point?  Help your student formulate specific questions, and have her/him take ownership by writing them on a sticky note.  This will prepare your student to ask for help privately during Study Hall (8:00-8:25/2:35-2:50) or in class.  We all know how much better anything feels when we are prepared, especially when asking for help!

Talking math.  Spoken language naturally precedes written language.  How can we expect students to explain their thinking if they aren't able to communicate steps taken or correctly use vocabulary?  There are many ways students can talk math, from thinking aloud through problems while working on home learning to "playing school"--teaching a younger sibling, a parent, a pet, or even a stuffed animal what they are learning.

Hope this helps!

Multi-Digit Multiplication Strategies and Introducing Gizmos

With a short week, we're taking some time to practice multi-digit multiplication.  We're transitioning from using unmarked (open) arrays modeling partial products to using partial products with the expanded form multiplication algorithm.  We'll be working on 2 digit x 1 digit and 2 digit x 2 digit situations this week.  Over the next few weeks, we'll use the expanded form multiplication algorithm for 3 digit x 1 digit and 4 digit x 1 digit situations.  After Winter Break, we'll learn the U.S. standard multiplication algorithm for these situations.  So, until then, please be patient as your student develops greater number sense and is laying a solid foundation for better understanding and correctly using the U.S. standard multiplication algorithm.  :-)

Here's a video that shows how we have used an unmarked (open) array to model partial products.  Please ignore the last part about the standard algorithm for now.  :-)

This video will give you an idea of how to use the expanded form multiplication algorithm.  Honestly, I think the notation in this video is cluttery, so in class we think aloud most of the steps and just write the partial products , then combine them.  We've been using colored pencils to reinforce this when we practice:

We're also reviewing division with remainders this week.  One curriculum resource we're using is Gizmos.  Gizmos are online math and science simulations for third grade students and older.  Your student's Gizmo login information is in the front of her/his planner.  I added some math and science Gizmos from past units in case you would like your student to complete them for remediation or extra practice (or just for fun!).  By clicking on the "lesson info" link once you're logged in, you can print vocabulary sheets and student exploration packets like we use in class.  I recommend spending no longer than 30 minutes per session as most Gizmos contain multiple activities.  We're currently working on No Alien Left Behind (division and division with remainders).

Multiplication and Division as Inverse Operations

Students have been growing in their ability to multiply multi-digit numbers!  So far, we've been focusing on 2-digits X 1-digit situations, using unmarked arrays to model breaking apart one of the factors, multiplying each part, and combining the products (partial products strategy).

 

Equation: 3 x 45 = (40 x 3) + (5 x 3) = 120 + 15 = 135

 

On the division front, we're making progress in dividing larger 2-digit dividends by a 1-digit divisor using multiplication facts we know to get us there faster.  Last week, students were introduced to division with remainders and began learning how to interpret remainders, or decide what to do with the "extras" or "leftovers".  For example, leftover crackers can be divided into smaller fractional parts and shared; people cannot be divided this way, such as when arranging transportation to a destination.  Sometimes we just need to round up and get another vehicle, even though it won't be full.

This week, we'll continue investigating the inverse relationship between multiplication and division.  Here's a sneak preview!

How Can You Tell If A Change Has Occurred?

Our introductory exploration of Changes in Matter:

We observed the physical properties of baking soda and vinegar with all of our senses.

Materials Managers wore safety glasses while pouring the vinegar into the baking soda.  (And some thought they were so cool they wore them before.  :-)) 

We observed the physical properties again after pouring the vinegar into the baking soda and noticed several changes!  Do you think this change is permanent?

Check out these changes:

LearnZillion Resources

Last week during my math training, a colleague from another school shared LearnZillion with me.  LearnZillion is a free, online collection of brief tutorial videos.  Here are a few that are relevant to our current unit, Factors, Multiples, and Arrays:

find-all-the-factor-pairs-of-a-number-using-area-models 

find-all-factor-pairs-using-a-rainbow-factor-line

find-all-factor-pairs-of-a-number-using-a-tchart 

determine-if-a-number-is-prime-or-composite-using-area-models 

determine-multiples-of-a-number-using-area-models

determine-all-multiples-of-a-number-using-number-bonds

determine-multiples-of-a-number-using-a-table 

find-multiples-by-using-a-number-line 

We've used many of these strategies in class.  Some are new (finding factor pairs with a t-chart, multiples using number bonds/table/number line), but any of them will work. 

How can matter be compared?

Today we kicked off our Properties of Matter science unit with an exploration.  Students were given tools such as hand lenses, centimeter measuring tapes, and magnets to observe (get information about using the five senses) and classify (sort according to properties, or characteristics) the objects.  On Monday, we'll return to this activity to observe and classify the objects using a balance and gram weights.

What property was used to classify these objects? (Hint: the loops on the left have the property the students observed; the loops on the right do NOT have the property the students observed.)

 

 

This one is tricky, but look closely!

What does 10,000 look like?

This week in Math Workshop, students created a class 10,000 chart.  Pairs of students took a row of one thousand, filling in the first and last numbers on each hundred chart to help us name the charts and rows.

Then, to make it easier to find and compare numbers, pairs also filled in the first row and benchmark/landmark numbers (multiples of 5 and 10) on each chart.

Today we played an adaptation of a game we learned a few weeks ago, Changing Places on the 10,000 Chart.  Students were given a start number, drew Change Cards (which told them to add or subtract a multiple of 10, 100, or 1000), then wrote equations to describe what happened as a result of the Change Cards.  The students were able to write the numbers that resulted from the Change Cards on the class chart.  Some students used the U.S. Standard Addition Algorithm, but many used what they have discovered about adding and subtracting multiples of 10, 100, and 1,000 to perform the operations mentally.

One way we can think about 10,000 is ten 1000s.  Since there are ten 100s in each thousand, we can also think of 10,000 as one hundred 100s.  Yesterday we wrote letters to third graders proving how many 10s are in 10,000!  Since there are 10 tens in every hundred, there are 100 tens in one thousand.  And since there are ten thousands in 10,000, there are one thousand 10s in 10,000.


This week, we've also started discussing some habits of successful problem-solvers called Mathematical Practices.   Successful problem-solvers are able to reason abstractly, or think using numbers and mathematical symbols.  We can answer the same questions using equations:

How many 100s are in 10,000?
100 x 100 = 10,000

How many 1,000s are in 10,000?
10 x 1,000 = 10,000

How many 10s are in 10,000?
10 x 10 = 100 (There are ten 10s in one hundred.)
10 x 100 = 1,000 (There are 100 tens in one thousand.)
10 x 1,000 = 10,000 (There are 1,000 tens in ten thousand.)

I'm so proud of our students' perseverance this week, which also happens to be another Mathematical Practice we introduced!

Number Lines for Rounding Numbers

Here's a snippet from our lesson on rounding today:

One of the largest animals ever found was a blue whale that weighed 183 tons.  Is 183 tons closer to 100 tons or 200 tons?

Which two tens is 183 between?  Which ten is it closer to?

After students talked in their table groups to figure this out, they attempted to convince the rest of the class their answer was right.

Here are the results of one class' discussion:

Most groups mentioned comparing 183 to a half-way number (150 when rounding to the nearest hundred and 185 when rounding to the nearest ten), then compared the distances to the nearest multiple.

I was very impressed with one group, who shared that when rounding 183 to the nearest hundred, first, they found the closest landmark/benchmark number (180).  Then they thought about the distance to the nearest multiple of 100 in tens.  Do you think this strategy would work for any number you're trying to round?  Why or why not?  If you can think of an example of when it wouldn't work, tell us about it in your comment.

How to Comment Easily and Safely on Our Class Blog

Welcome to our class blog!  Here we post class  news, student work, strategy explanations, photos of class happenings, and web resources connected to what we're studying.  Be sure to follow our blog by entering your e-mail address in the top right corner, so you don't miss anything! 

Comments bring our blog to life!  We encourage students respond to posts; it's fun reading conversations in the comments.  Read this post, leave a comment, and earn your first Chief Cash for participating on our blog.  :-)

If you're new to blogs and commenting, check out a post from another teacher whose class blogs.  Her students gave some great tips for leaving comments!

To comment on a post, first, scroll to the bottom of the post.  If no one has commented, click on the link that says No Comments.  If others have commented, then click on the link that says the number of comments.  After doing this, you should see a box like this:



Where it says "Comment as" and asks you to "Select profile", you can comment using your first name only by selecting "OpenID URL"


Then just type in your first name.


After clicking "Continue", your first name should now appear on the drop down menu.


Select your first name, type your comment, proofread, and publish it!

Students, how do you feel so far about moving upstairs to fourth grade?  What have you been enjoying?  What has been challenging?

Remember when commenting, you can also ask questions, give a compliment, or add information when you respond to others' comments.  :-)