We made a great start on multiplying- basically just the introduction to groups and numbers in groups! It's time to move to.... Fractions! For us in 3rd grade, here in Texas, we have to understand that fractions are parts of whole, parts of set, how to add with a common denominator and how to understand what fractions represent. It can be a tough concept for some kids, especially if they have not had experience with fractions. Here's a couple of videos to start us off!
How can you help your child with this? Practice real life sets and fractions!
Setting the table? (OK, that hasn't even happened at my house lately with all the crazy schedules...) Um, let's use something we may have more experience with: socks. We all have them. Put 3 different pairs into a pile. Separate them, you know, just in case they are tucked together like we moms tend to do when folding...so there should be 6 socks. Counting the socks there should be 6. So the set fractions are each 1/6. Find one sock. Now you have 1/6 of the set. Find it's partner, and you have 2/6. 1/6 plus 1/6 is 2/6. And there you go... Thanks, Mrs. Froehling
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We had a fantastic start to our introduction to multiplying! Students did a wonderful job and made great connections! Now we are ready for a little more challenging part- connecting that to what we see in word problems. Remember our window? We use the same outline- the only thing that changes is in our LABELS, and our PLAN.
Where we used to use a lot of 'part, part, whole', we now are seeing this: 'groups, number in groups, total'. Really, it's the same application, but we are thinking exponentially! Multiplying is really just sophisticated addition! Stay tuned for more examples! Thanks, Mrs. Froehling This is so much fun! We totally change from little kid stuff to big kid stuff just by this one word! Although, honestly, it's not really a big, new, change. We are going to introduce it through things we already know, like addition and sets. How is this going to look? It's going to be approached in a variety of ways; some of which your child will grab on, and some of which they will come to understand with practice. Repeated Addition is just taking what we already know and using to multiply. Arrays are using Rows times Columns to get to our answer. We call Rows times Columns, Royse City, to help us remember which is used when. Skip counting is used to reinforce that multiplication is just a version of skip counting. Another way is groups of equal numbers. We call these groups and numbers in groups. We use these a lot in our progression through learning, especially when we are in word problems. In case you are still looking for more, here's a good link to a detailed explanation! Need more help? Go through the search box at the top of the blog, there may be past resources on here that may give you more ideas!
Thanks, Mrs. Froehling We have reading and using bar graphs since 1st grade and we are pretty good at them. Until they look different. Like now. In 3rd grade. This week. Yikes. See how the bar ends between numbers? That throws us. So that's one of our learning goals this week, how to know what to do when we see something like that. Here's our next challenge: Pictographs A half a picture? What does that mean? That's another learning goal this week. Bam, we got this! So, here are some practice games for your student. Just click on the buttons. This is the first steps we take with data. The next is using it in multi step problems. 'Cause that what real life uses...
Thanks, Mrs. Froehling Way more than you can imagine! Multiple steps require a development level that allows for conceptual thinking, which many of our students are on the cusp, but need some support with in order to make it make sense. That's where our Problem Solving Window again comes in, to help give some structure to the problem. One of the things we started with in our Window, was thinking about number relationships, such as part, part, whole; which happens to also be a fact family or fact relationship. a +b=c, b+a=c, c-a=b, c-b=a. And that's when we have to help students realize that there is a consistency among those relationships. Two parts connect to make a whole. That can mean adding, or subtracting or multiplying or dividing. Here are some pictures to help represent that. Now, most of us get that. No problem. The tricky part is when we see it in a word problem and don't recognize it. Here's another example: At Halloween last year, I handed out 87 pieces of candy. At Halloween the year before I handed out 94 pieces. What is the difference in the amounts I handed out from year to year? ? So, how is this a part, part, whole? Well, remember that it's a number bond, which may help you set it up a little easier. It's that understanding of what needs to happen that is the toughest part for us. Here's an example using our last week's homework. Bottom line? Help your child with those 'clues' that tell what operation to use. 'Clues' that tell what part of the number bond is being used. And before you get all worried about number bonds, just remember those pictures and that it's just another way to understand how the numbers are connected in the problem. We adults are nearly automatic in our thinking when we hear, "I have so many, and so many, what is the difference." Or, "I had this and I got that and then I gave some away." Here is what a 2 step problem looks like: We are starting to use more descriptive labels so that when we see like, we can combine like. In the problem, there are two amounts for Ms. Long. We have to understand that we should combine them. Then we can compare (subtract) (how many more than)...
Another way to help? Act it out! Use actions to show what is happening! Thanks, Mrs. Froehling |
AuthorHi, I'm Cheri Froehling, one of the learners in our class! I am also known as the Teacher, but in our class, all of us are learners AND teachers. We are rocking 3rd Grade! Archives
April 2017
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