We had an extra fun counting collection today as we worked with Digi-Blocks! Digi-Block is a base-ten model that students build by themselves using specially-designed boxes (“holders”) to assemble single blocks into blocks-of-10; then they assemble these blocks-of-10 to make blocks-of-100, and they assemble block-of-100 to make blocks-of-1000. The key to PLACE-VALUE is to think of “ten” in two different ways – as one thing and as ten things. With Digi-Block, this potentially confusing duality becomes physically obvious: a block-of-ten looks like one thing, but when it’s open, it looks like ten things! Each table counted a large group of ones, and then over a succession of groupings, we counted exactly 600 blocks as a class! 3SB has been working hard in our look at 2D shapes math this week. Geometric shapes are all around us, and mathematics can help your child recognize them. Understanding geometric form will help your child appreciate the geometry found in art, design, architecture, and nature. In this unit, the students will:
You can encourage your child to look for geometric shapes and objects around the home and neighbourhood, and talk about them. Here are some suggestions for activities that you can do at home:
So far we’ve learned how to describe and compare shapes and objects using words like vertices, edges, faces, and length! Today our class worked in our Building Thinking Classroom groups to understand an Inuit number system. In the Arctic, a group of Inuit junior high students and their teacher developed the Kaktovik numerals, a unique numerical system suited for quick, visual arithmetic in line with traditional Inuit oral counting methods. Now, with support from Silicon Valley, these numerals are set to become available on smartphones and computers, bridging the gap between traditional and digital realms. Inuit culture, like many others, has its own counting system, rooted in the body, where quantities are described in groups of five, ten, and fifteen, and then in sets of twenty. This system reflects their use of fingers and toes when counting! The class worked hard using a few clues to uncover the mystery numbers, and we solved all the way to 20 (and then beyond) as a group. We were lucky to pilot a Telus World of Science Edmonton program this week where we learned about viewing computational thinking through an Indigenous worldview. Computational thinking is an important piece of our new science curriculum this year, and it was really special to learn about this way of thinking from Natasha who is a Métis sky scientist from TWOSE. Natasha talked about how she's learned from elders and knowledge keepers, and also scientists and scholars. She taught us about two-row wampum belts and how they were used in the first treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people on Turtle Island, representing the two cultures with the blue river of life beads and white beads representing peace, love, friendship. Natasha encouraged students to tell a story with their beading, and also in our coding in class. We also talked about perfection, and how when we make things as people we want to focus on expressing ourselves rather than being perfect. This tied in nicely with the Métis tradition of including a spirit bead in your beading, which is a bead that is misplaced or miscoloured to remember that no one can achieve perfection all the time. During our beading time, Natasha also taught us a lot about coding such as binary code on computers, algorithms, and loops. The students worked hard on their beadwork, and their designs and beading turned out beautifully. It was a meaningful and enlightening project for all of us! We’ve started coding in our class, which means that we’re telling a computer, app, phone, or website what we want it to do. This week we used an app called Lightbot and a some robots called CPX to practice our skills in communicating, solving complex problems, and thinking logically and critically. The class found designing repeating patterns using the lights and speakers on the CPX especially fun! As this article reports, Today, computing is involved in almost all aspects of our lives, from communications and education to social media, banking, information, security and shopping. Networked computers are capable of controlling our homes’ thermostats and lighting, our cars and our health records. You can read more about the thinking behind students being exposed to coding here, and we will keep you updated on our further adventures in coding!
This week we started our Math unit on fractions! Students will build upon their real-world experiences of “fair shares” to recognize a fraction as an expression that relates a part and a whole. In this unit we will:
We use fractions every day in many different situations. Encourage your child to recognize the use of fractions in daily life, for example, when filling a glass half full, measuring ingredients for a recipe, or sharing an apple. Here are some activities you can do with your child to help reinforce the concept of fractions: Fraction Activities
In our grade three classroom, we've started using cuisenaire rods with some of our math activities! These colourful rods have become invaluable tools for understanding proportionality, fractions, multiplication, and addition in a hands-on and engaging way. As we explore the concept of proportionality, students are able to visually grasp the relationship between different rod lengths and their corresponding values, laying a solid foundation for more complex mathematical concepts. Recently, we celebrated our 100th day of school by creating a smiley face using exactly cuisenaire rods worth exactly 100, reinforcing our understanding of number sense and place value in a fun and creative manner. It's always fun to see numbers and values represented in unique and entertaining ways!
In math recently, the class has enjoyed creating designs using pattern blocks and adding them up to calculate their "value." Hexagons are worth 6, trapezoids count for 3, rhombuses are 2, and triangles are worth 1 (it's all based on how many triangles fit into the shape). It's been a fun way to practice multiplication and division, and the way students use the shapes together geometrically has been very impressive!
This month our class is starting a Math unit on multiplication and division! Multiplication and division are basic computational skills that children must eventually master in order to succeed in higher levels of mathematics. The focus of this unit is developing an understanding of the process of multiplication and division in order to develop strategies for multiplying and dividing within 100. Children will use counters, number lines, and arrays to develop their understanding. We are beginning this unit with multiplication and division with whole numbers up to 5 x 5, and will build up our skills to within 100 as the weeks go on. In this unit, the students will:
You can encourage your child to share different strategies used to multiply and divide. We use multiplication and division in many day-to-day situations. Here are some suggestions for activities you can try at home:
To help Santa prepare his sleigh and fit in the many packages, we practiced our perimeter-caluclating skills today by measuring and adding up the perimiter of different packages.
This week, the students were excited to crack out their rulers and begin our unit on the measurement of time, length, and perimeter! In this unit, the students will:
Here are some activities you can try with your child:
In Math next week, we are starting a new unit on addition and subtraction. Your child will develop strategies for adding and subtracting whole numbers by using open number lines, addition charts, mental math, estimation, Base Ten Blocks, place-value mats, and pencil and paper.
In this unit, your child will:
Here are some suggestions for activities you can engage in with your child:
We wrapped up our focus on money in Math for the past couple of weeks with a food truck festival today! The students practiced counting and keeping track of different amounts of coins and bills, and we had fun with a scavenger hunt and card game to practice those skills. Today, those students put their knowledge of money to the test as they had to create a budget, apply for a business license, and then create a menu with prices. Afterward, students got to shop at each other's food trucks, and they had a blast calculating the totals of orders and pretending to enjoy each other's food. This month we've had a few chances to work on counting collections during math class! Counting Collections is a hands-on, interactive math exercise that involves students counting and organizing objects in various collections. Collections can be anything, from buttons and coins to toy cars and books. Students organize their collection in a systematic way and count the items which helps improve their counting skills, attention to detail, and critical thinking. Groups keep a record of their findings, using math tools like tally marks, graphs, or written numbers, and we enjoy sharing our approaches to counting when everyone's done. It's an activity that even works at home if students are interested in enumerating household objects!
This month in math we've been working on our problem solving skills with some group routines in class. Based on some research from Peter Liljedahl’s Thinking Classroom framework, we've been trying out some big math problems, different arrangements of groups, and vertical writing surfaces to record our mathematical thinking. The students have grown to really enjoy our problem solving time, and there's definitely been a lot of thinking going on during our math time! You can learn more about Building Thinking Classrooms with the video below. Our class is beginning a math unit on Numbers to 100 000, and the students are always thinking of interesting ways to count, represent numbers, and compare amounts! In this unit, the students will:
Here are some activities you can do at home to support this learning:
In Math this month, we've been continuing to use the Building Thinking Classrooms model, fostering collaborative problem-solving in math. Working in groups of three, our students engage in active discussions, leveraging diverse perspectives to tackle math problems. The students often look forward to the problem of the day, and are excited for their peers to see their thinking when we frequently do a gallery walk at the end of our work time. By encouraging teamwork and critical thinking, this approach empowers our young mathematicians to deepen their understanding of math concepts. The Building Thinking Classrooms model cultivates a growth mindset, as students embrace challenges, learn from mistakes, and persevere in finding innovative solutions. This equips them with essential problem-solving skills for real-life applications.
We finished off an amazing week at the Winspear Centre with some math, architecture, construction, and an organ demonstration! This morning we planned a pretend budget for a visit to the Winspear including tickets and concession which made for some great math conversations! Mr. Wiley gave us a very special tour of the Winspear's construction site, and then the students created blueprints for their very own planned Winspear addition! Perhaps the unanimous highlight of the day was an organ demonstration. We learned all about the incredible 6,551 pipes on the Davis Pipe organ, how it was constructed, how it works, and we got to hear "Ode to Joy" on the organ. At the end of the day we created a time capsule of our Sound School memories that we'll open when we're in grade four. It's been an incredible week, and it's definitely left an indelible mark on the students! 3B has been working hard in our look at 2D shapes math this week. Geometric shapes are all around us, and mathematics can help your child recognize them. Understanding geometric form will help your child appreciate the geometry found in art, design, architecture, and nature. In this unit, the students will:
You can encourage your child to look for geometric shapes and objects around the home and neighbourhood, and talk about them. Here are some suggestions for activities that you can do at home:
So far we’ve learned how to describe and compare shapes and objects using words like vertices, edges, faces, and length. You can see one of our explorations in the pictures below!
Here are some suggestions for activities you can do with your child.
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Mrs. BarkerMrs. Barker is a grade three teacher at Millgrove School. She loves science and reading, and lives in a little brick house with Mr. Barker and her kids Jack and Ellie. Archive
April 2024
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