Dear Third Grade Families,

We had a great week in third grade! Our grade is full of amazing thinkers!  Here's some information about what we are working on.

Students are working on assessments in reading, mathematics, and spelling this month.  The assessments are one way of looking at the progress students have made since the beginning of the school year, and they will provide information about the learning that needs to occur in the second half of the school year.  

I'm excited to see so many students mastering skip counting patterns and multiplication facts.  Yahoo! Way to go, third graders!  Thank you to family members for helping your student to practice the multiplication facts at home.  A few minutes of extra practice each night makes a big difference!  

Students have learned the 0's, 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's, and 10's facts, and now it is time for the x 5 facts.  We can do it!  

In our classroom, we call the x 5 facts "Half Tens Facts."  This is because you can solve a x 5 fact using a x 10 fact. Every student in our classroom knows the x 10 facts, so they are known facts that we can use to solve unknown x 5 facts.  Here's how the strategy works:

Half Tens Fact Strategy
If I know 10 groups of 8 equals 80, then the product of 5 groups of 8 would be half that amount, 40.

10  x  8 = 80
(5 groups of 8 is half of 10 groups of 8, so split 80 in half)  
5 x 8 =  40

Make flashcards, use grocery store flashcards, or play math games on Mrs. Simpson's blog to practice the facts at home.  

This week, our class had fun practicing  multiplication facts using the website www.IXL.com.  Your child  has a free 30 day membership at this site, and he/she can use the membership at home, too. Students will bring home a letter with a username and password tomorrow.  If you don't receive the letter, please let me know, and I'll send home another copy.  

Directions for IXL
Go to www.IXL.com .Enter your child's username and password.
Select math.
Select third grade skills.
Select from F.1 - F.6 and your child can choose to practice one set of multiplication facts at a time.  For example, just the x 4 facts or just the x 5 facts. Select G.1 - G.4, and your child can practice a mixed review of x 0 through x 5 facts and x 10 facts.  

Reminders and More

• There is no school on Monday, January 15th, in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  
• Children are welcome to bring in a pair of ear buds from home to use with their Chromebooks on different projects.  The Dollar Discount Store sells them for $1.  Children often find them more comfortable to use than the larger school headphones.  
• February 2 is Popcorn Friday.  Bring in 50 cents to buy popcorn for snack.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,
Keelin M. Simpson