SPELLING: List for Week of November 17th

This week's patterns:
ow (two sounds: like in "cow" and like in "slow")
kn (sounds like 'n,' usually at beginning of word)

Here is our list:

1. flow
2. snowing
3. throw
4. crow

5. owl
6. growl
7. frown
8. chowder
9. flower

10. knot
11. knitting
12. knee
13. knight
14. known

Watch Out Words
15. so
16. sew
17. sow
18. which
19. through


 

MATH: Unit 4's "Last Problem"

On the test review for Unit 4, the last problem (#12), which will be similar to the "Open Response" question on the test, asks students to find the difference between two multiplication problems without doing any multiplication.

That's tricky.

I wanted to show a strategy for how to do this with an array. We used this strategy in an example problem today. So here's a similar problem we'll use for our example:

Mrs. Smith told her class that they could calculate the difference between 11x6 and 11x7 without doing any multiplication. Make sure to include the answer to the problem in your explanation.

Here is what a student might draw/write/record to receive a strong score on this problem:

In the image above, you can see how drawing an array for 11x6, and then adding a row to create 11x7, can show the "difference" between the two problems. The difference is just one row of eleven.

After doing several of these types of problems, students may see a pattern. Like, if I asked what the difference is between 4x13 and 5x13, they might start to see the answer would just be 13, which is right. However, it is still important that students be able to show or explain how to get the difference. And you know how much we like arrays in third grade!

This array strategy certainly isn't the only route to get to a correct answer and explanation, but it is definitely an option for students to use.

SPELLING: List for Week of November 10th

This week's patterns:
ea (two sounds)
ou
Here is our list:

1. leash
2. speak
3. stream
4. breathe
5. wheat

6. head
7. dreamt
8. thread
9. dread
10. sweat

11. proud
12. sprout
13. couch
14. found
15. mound

Watch Out Words
16. crook
17. tooth
18. doctor
19. collar
20. where

MATH: Using Arrays to Represent Division

In Lesson 4-3, we worked hard on using arrays to represent division stories. Here was our learning target:

We worked on two types of division stories: equal sharing (where a number of items are shared equally between a given number of people) and equal grouping (where a number of items are put into a groups of a given amount).

I wanted to show how students worked through these two types of division stories. While these aren't the only strategies that will get to a correct answer, I know sometimes it's helpful to see how your children are practicing in class.

Equal Sharing
Here's an example of an equal sharing number story, and the steps we would go through, along with exactly what we would record:

First we made a "tick mark" to represent how many people we had (or how many groups we would need.)

Then we started distributing our 14 counters by drawing circles (or Xs), in an equal way. (We had to give each person one before we gave any person a second one.) We kept track of how many counters we were giving out.

As we gave out the counters by drawing the circles, we made sure to keep the array organized. We stopped after our 14th circle.

We then drew a line to separate the "leftovers," since we know that each person has to have an equal number. Then we counted how many each person received.

We counted up our leftovers, and recorded our answer: "4 counters each, with 2 remaining."

Equal Grouping
Here's an example of an equal grouping number story, and the steps we would go through, along with exactly what we would record:

This time, we don't know how many groups (or people) we need: that's what we're trying to figure out. But we do know that each person will get 5, so we go ahead and make the first row of 5 in our array:

We continue to make groups of 5, keeping track of how many counters we have given out. We stop after 16.

Then we draw our line horizontally, to show that the 16th counter would be a leftover. Now we can draw the "tick marks" as we count how many people we would have.

We count up our remainder, and can write our answer as: 3 people with 1 counter remaining.

While working on homelink 4-3, encourage your child to record their arrays on the opposite page. Let me know if you have any questions!

Plant Update!

Just since planting last Thursday, look at the progress of our plants!

SPELLING: List for Week of November 3rd

This week's patterns:
oa (in middle of word and says long 'o')
y (says long 'i' at the end of a word)
oo (2 sounds)

Here is our list:

1. throat
2. road
3. soap
4. hoax
5. goal

6. try
7. sly
8. reply
9. supply
10. magnify

11. moon
12. choose
13. smooth
14. stood
15. took
16. wooden

Watch Out Words
17. berry (like the fruit)
18. bury (like when you dig)
19. beet (like you grow)
20. beat (like hit a drum or defeat)

Planting Our Seeds

In science today, we planted seeds that we'll be observing throughout our plant unit. We're using "Wisconsin Fast Plants," which as their name implies, have a fast life cycle. It also means the seeds are really small!

"Wisconsin Fast Plant" Seeds

Here are some photos from our elaborate planting process.

Students are adding fertilizer to their quads.

Filling quads with soil and fertilizer.

Carefully adding two seeds to each cell.

 

The last picture shows our quads sitting in our grow lab, soaking up water from the wicks we added to the bottom of our planting quads. Stay tuned. We hope some exciting things happen within a few days!