Third Grade News

Dear Third Grade Families,

          February has been a busy month in third grade.  I am so proud of our class for all of the hard work and effort that they are putting into memorizing the multiplication facts. The students of Room 15 rock!  This morning, we updated the multiplication table below by shading in the Half Ten Plus One More Set Facts (x 6 facts).  When we looked at the updated multiplication table below, we could see that there are only nine facts left to learn!

          So what's our next step?  It's time to learn  the x 7 facts! It's interesting that the x 7 facts are the only set of facts that are not given a special name based on a certain strategy.   Perhaps this is because there are several ways to solve the different x 7 facts.  Here are two strategies that your child might use to solve the x 7 facts. Both strategies are based on using a known fact to solve an unknown fact.  

Strategy 1:  Use a x 5 fact and a x 2 fact.

What is the product of 7 groups of 8  or 7 x 8?

Step one - I know that 5 groups of 8 (5 x 8) equals 40.                            5 x 8 = 40

Step two - I know that 2 more groups of 8 (2 x 8) equals 16.                   2 x 8 = 16

Step three - Add the products to find the product of 7 groups of 8.         40 + 16 = 56

                                                                                                           So... 7 x 8 = 56

Strategy 2:  Start with a x 6 fact and add one more set.

What is the product of 7 groups of 8  or 7 x 8?

Step one - I know that 6 groups of 8 (6 x 8) equals 48.                                   6 x 8 = 48

Step two - I need one more group of 8 to have seven groups of 8.                 48 + 8 = 56 

                                                                                                                So...  7 x 8 = 56

         Keep up the great work of practicing the multiplication facts at home!  We are in the home stretch with only nine new facts to learn!  Way to go, third graders!  Thanks to all family members for helping your students to practice at home.  Please let me know if you need your child's username and password for www.IXL.com. It's a great site to go to for multiplication fact practice.  

          Third graders will be going to the Flynn Theater to see Frindle on March 3, 2016.  The play is based on the book Frindle, written by Andrew Clements.  It's a wonderful book about a clever boy who invents a new word.  The bus will leave at 8:45 AM, and we will return close to 11:00 AM. Unfortunately, extra tickets are not available for family members to attend this field trip. 

          This week, a representative from the Flynn came to our classroom to introduce students to the script for the play based on Frindle. We practiced using our bodies and facial expressions to convey emotions.  Students had fun reading parts from the official script for the play.

          We had a great time at our Farm to School lesson this month.  Miss Lizzie helped us to learn about the difference between natural sugar and added sugar.  We read nutrition labels and measured out the amounts of sugar added to popular junk foods. Students pedaled the blender bicycle to make fruit smoothies, too!

          We had a great time at our Valentine's Day party!  Thank you to our "Room Parents," Verity Lattrelle and Jennifer Roberts, for organizing the food and crafts!  A big thanks to all families who contributed items for the party, too!  

          Please encourage your child to read each day throughout the vacation.  When you reach for a book, magazine, or newspaper, encourage your child to take some time to read, too.  Ask your child to read to you while you're cooking dinner or before he/she has video game time.  Ask your child to tell you the "5 W's" when he/she finishes reading (Who? Did what? Where? When? Why?).

         I hope that you enjoy a fun and restful February break!  Thanks for all you do to prepare your child for school each day!

Sincerely,

Keelin M. Simpson

Third Grade News

Dear Third Grade Families,

Third graders are having a great February so far with Crazy Hair Day and Popcorn Friday both in the first week of the month.  Fun!

This week we have been busy revising, editing, and typing our nonfiction books. We are excited to share our writing with you soon!

Third grade readers are reading nonfiction books in their book groups.  We are reading about whales, sharks, and frogs. Students are learning to ask and answer questions to demonstrate their understanding of a text.  They are able to find information in the text to support their answers.  Also, readers are working on determining the main idea of a passage and finding details within the passage that support the main idea.

Room 15 is full of hard working mathematicians! We have been working towards memorizing the multiplication facts, and students are making terrific progress!  So far, students have been assigned to memorize the x 0, x 1, x 2, x 3, x 4, x 5, and x 10 facts.  We took a look at all of our hard work on the multiplication table below, and we cheered about what the chart reveals!

The facts we have learned are colored in.  The facts that we have left to learn are white.  There are only 16 facts left to be memorized!!!

This week our goal is to learn the x 6 facts. We call the x 6 facts "Half Tens Plus One Set Facts."  The x 6 facts are named that way because of a strategy that can be used to solve them.  This strategy involves using a known fact, a x 5 fact, to solve a x 6 fact.  Here's how it works: 

What is the product of 6 x 8?

Step 1  -  I'll start with a fact I know.   10 groups of 8  = 80.                  10 x 8 = 80.

Step 2 -   From there, I can figure out that 5 x 8 is half of 80.                  5 x 8 = 40

Step 3 -   6 groups of 8 is just one more set of 8 than 5 x 8.                      6 x 8 = 40 + 8 = 48

(If you know your x 5 facts, then you can start on the second step.  5 x 8 = 40, so 6 x 8 = 40 + 8).

Help your child to practice at home. Make a set of flashcards or buy a box at the grocery store.  Play the multiplication games that were sent home or remind your child to log in  at www.ixl.com and practice the multiplication facts.  Write the most challenging facts on Post-it notes and stick them on the fridge, the bathroom mirror, or a living room end table where they'll be seen more frequently. Practicing for 5 to ten minutes each night will make a big difference.  Keep up the great work, third graders!!!

Our class is having a card exchange on Friday, February 12, in celebration of Valentine's Day. If your child would like to participate in the exchange, he/she is asked to make a card for each person in our class.  A class list of names was sent home in your child's Friday folder today.  

February book orders are due on Monday, February 15.  You may order online or send your order with a check (made payable to Scholastic Book Club) to me at school.  There is a coupon attached to the book order.  Spend $10 and get a $5 book for free.  

Thanks to families for sending in soft tissues and cleaning wipes!  Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Keelin M. Simpson

     

Third Grade News

Dear Third Grade Families,

We enjoyed our field trip to the Flynn Theater to see “Three Little Birds.”  We are grateful to the Chamberlin PTO for funding this opportunity so that our class could experience live theater and the arts.  Thanks, Chamberlin PTO!

This month, students have been completing mid-year assessments in reading, mathematics, spelling, and writing.  I'm proud of our class for working hard and trying their best!  We took a break to play outside after all of our hard work.

Third grade mathematicians are working to have the X 3, X 4, and X 5 facts memorized.  Please encourage your child to practice at home for five to ten minutes every day!  Have you checked out the IXL math site at home, yet?  A letter was sent home with your child's username and password.  If you need another copy, please let me know (kmcgrath@sbschools.net). It's a great site to use to practice multiplication skills, and we have a free 30 day trial membership.

Third graders have learned to model the standard algorithms for addition and subtraction using base ten blocks this week.  

 January Number Corner lessons are related to fractions and elapsed time.  You can help your child by practicing telling time at home on an analog clock, a clock with hands. A watch would make a great birthday gift!  Help your child to learn about elapsed time.  I'm putting the brownies in the oven at 12:30.  They will cook for 30 minutes.  What time will the brownies be cooked?  Please cut the brownies into twelfths.  What fraction of the brownies did we eat?  What fraction of the brownies are left?  How many twelfths are equivalent to one half of the brownies?

We are in need of cleaning wipes for our classroom.  If you have a spare package to send in, we would appreciate it!  Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Keelin Simpson

Third Grade News

Dear Third Grade Families,

We had a great week in Room 15! Our class is full of amazing thinkers!  Here's some information about what we are working on this month.

Students are working on assessments in reading, mathematics, and spelling in our classroom 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.  

Third graders began drafting their nonfiction books this week. They are writing about many different topics from race cars, dogs, and cats to football and baseball.  We have been learning about many ways to structure our writing. Cause and effect, boxes and bullets, and pros and cons are a few of the structures we have learned about.  Students are carefully planning what their books will look like, and they are working hard to use many nonfiction text features to enhance their writing.

I'm excited to see so many students mastering the 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, 10's, and 4's multiplication 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 Ten 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 Ten Facts 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

Use the Half Tens Fact board game that your child brought home to practice the x 5 facts this week or make your own board game with the supplies that were sent home. You can also 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 the x 4 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 brought home a letter with a username and password this week.  If you didn't receive the letter, please let me know, and I'll send home another copy.  

Directions for IXL
Enter your child's username and password.
Select math.
Select third grade skills.
Select Multiplication Skill Builders 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.  However, there are four categories related to multiplication (that are all great) for students to choose from at this site.  

Reminders and More

• There is no school on Monday in celebration of Martin Luther King Day.  
• Third graders will be going to the Flynn Theater on Tuesday. The bus will leave at approximately 8:45 AM, and we will return to school in time for lunch and recess. 
• We are in need of cleaning wipes and soft tissues for our classroom. If you have a spare package at home to send in, it would be greatly appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,
Keelin M. Simpson

Memorizing Multiplication Facts

Dear Third Grade Families,

          Our class is making progress with memorizing multiplication facts.  In December, our class’s goal was to learn the x 3 facts.  Most children have memorized these facts.  Hooray!  If your child hasn’t mastered the x 3 facts yet, don’t lose heart.  Your child will learn them with a little more time and practice.  Keep working on them at home for a few minutes each night.

          Students have learned the 0’s, 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s times tables, and it is our goal to have the 4’s times table memorized now. Students learned that they can use x 2 facts to solve x 3 facts. 

X 3 facts are called  “Doubles Plus One More Set” because of this strategy.

First Step: Start with 2 sets of 8             2 x 8 = 16, so

Second Step:  Add 1 more set of 8        3 x 8 = 16 + 8 = 24.

Now students have learned that they can use x 2 facts to solve   x 4 facts, too!  If I know 2 groups of 8 equals 16, then I know that I can double that 16 to find the product of 4 groups of 8.

X 4 facts are called  “Double – Doubles” because of this strategy.

First Step: Double 8                   2 x 8 = 16, so

Second Step:  Double 16           4 x 8 = 16 + 16 = 32

  

          Please help your child to memorize the x 4 multiplication facts. Your child has learned the 0’s, 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s multiplication facts already.  If you keep that in mind, then you realize that your child only needs to learn six new multiplication facts to have the x 4 facts memorized. 

4 x 0, 4 x 1, 4 x 2 , 4 x 3, 4 x 4, 4 x 5, 4 x 6, 4 x 7, 4 x 8, 4 x 9, 4 x 10

Already Learned                                   Need To Learn                     Already Learned

  

Help your child to learn the x 4 facts by playing the Double-Double board game that was sent home.  You might also write the six unknown facts on index cards or Post-it notes and ask your child the facts at spare moments throughout the day (during a TV commercial, in the car, while making dinner, before bed, etc…).  “What’s the product of 4 x 6?  How do you know?”  Build   x 4 facts out of blocks or cereal, play multiplication games online at Mrs. Simpson’s blog, or use a grocery store set of flashcards to rehearse the facts.

 It might be fun to make up a new board game to practice the facts together with your child.  On Monday, I am sending home a blank copy of the Follow the Path board and some blank game cards for you to use, if you’d like to try making your own multiplication game for practice at home. 

          Please let me know if you have any questions about the multiplication strategies in this notice.  The goal is for children to be able to find the product of an unknown fact more easily by using a known fact, such as a x 2 fact.  

Have fun learning the facts together!

Keelin M. Simpson