Helping Your Child With Math

I know it can be hard to support your child as they work through Think Math. It is very different from my experiences learning math, I'm sure it's different from yours as well. However, there's still a lot you can do to create a math-friendly atmosphere at home. For starters you can display a positive attitude towards mathematics - even if you find it difficulty or unpleasant, or think you were never good at it. 

A math educator, lecturer, and workshop leader says, "One of the most significant things parents can do is to help their children understand the normalcy and the value of struggle in mathematics... Learning math ultimately comes down to one thing: the ability, and choice, to put one's brain around a problem -- to stare past the confusion, and struggle forward rather than flee." People who struggle with math assume they just don't get it and never will. Those who do not struggle believe their success is the result of ability, but then may lose their confidence the first time they hit a stumbling block. You can help your child expect, cope with, and work through the mathematical difficulties and frustrations they encounter.

You can also explore math together as a family. Just like you read to your child each night, you can find ways to include everyone in the family, without focusing on the stressful parts - speed and memorization. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Your child can practice rounding at the grocery store. If you are trying to keep track of the running total you can ask them to round each item to the nearest dollar. If an item costs $6.27, your child can figure out that rounds to $6.00

If your child is ready for more of a challenge they can do the rounding, and keep the running total in their head.

2. Your child can help you figure out the cost of your items after you apply your coupons. Give the amount of the item and show them the coupon. They can estimate the cost.

3. Challenge your third grader to track the number of minutes they spend watching television, reading, doing homework or eating. They can graph their data and compare the results on different days.

4. Play 20 questions with numbers. Think of a number - you can adjust the number based on your child's skill level. Ask your child to figure out your number by asking questions that can be answered with yes or no. For example, a child might ask, "Is your number odd?"

5. Play with math in the car. Challenge your child to find license plates whose digits add up to a certain number. Or you can skip over the letters and read all the digits as a large number. If the license plate read, '6G1 T43' the number would be 6,143.

6. Challenge your child with math riddles. For example:

I have 6 coins in my pocket. They are worth 30 cents. What coins might I have?

Again, you can adjust this game based on your child's skill level. 

Have fun with math! :o)

Homework This Week

I shared good news and bad news with your children yesterday. The good news is that they don't have a math packet again this week. (Don't worry the math packet will return for the week after Thanksgiving… :o) 

The "bad" news is that they do have 2 other assignments:

1. Weekend adventure - The children should write a paragraph about one thing they do this weekend. It should include a topic sentence, and at least 3 specific details. I challenged the children to write about a "seed." A seed is one moment in time - not en entire hockey game - but perhaps one play from the hockey game. 

This assignment is due on Tuesday, November 26.

2. Spelling City - Children have a new assignment on SpellingCity.com. If they did not complete last week's assignment, they now have two. It is important that they complete this assignment. It will help to improve spelling in their writing. 

This assignment is due on Wednesday, November 27. If your child is behind on their assignments, I expect all assignments to be completed before children come back to school on Monday, December 2. 

Thanks for your support in helping your students learn responsibility around homework. This responsibility will help them in years to come. 

Reading Nonfiction Text

I hope your third grade readers have told you all about our focus on nonfiction text! We are learning lots of strategies to help us understand informational text. In addition, we are learning all kinds of new information about our world!

We have learned:

*Proficient readers use nonfiction text features (captions, headings, diagrams, etc…) to help them understand the text.
*Proficient readers don't just read for random facts, they read to determine the main idea. They consider what the author is trying to teach the reader.
*Proficient readers ask questions while they are reading to help them understand the text.

Be on the lookout for other helpful hints! It's even great to read nonfiction texts together at home! :o)

Homework

There is a change in homework this week. There will not be a math packet due Friday. However, the reading log and Xtra Math log are due on Friday.

In addition, your child is responsible for a new assignment on Spelling City. The assignments are individualized to best meet your child's spelling needs based on several pre-assessments.

Each child is familiar with using Spelling City. We have practiced together several times in the computer lab. Third graders can access Spelling City at SpellingCity.com, or by going to:

Eliot Home Page
Technology Center
Lessons
-The Spelling City link is at the top of the page.

Third graders can log in using their username:
first three letters of their first name, first three letters of their last name

password:
221

Please let me know if you have any difficulty accessing your child's assignment.

Amazing Authors

Each third grade author is working to publish their first personal narrative. The children have been working hard to include many qualities of effective writing in their work. Ask your child if he/she has been:

*Writing a little seed story (NOT a watermelon topic)
*Including true, exact details from the movie they have made in their mind

Third grade authors have also spent time revising their work. Revision means to look at again. I've been quite impressed at their willingness to make changes to improve their writing. They have revised by: 
*Rewriting their lead. They worked to begin with a hook - perhaps using description, action or dialogue
*Elaborating - Authors chose the most important part of the story and tried to say more. I challenged them to write exactly what the character was saying, thinking or doing. 
*Rewriting their ending - They worked to end the story close to their seed moment. They could try an ending that teaches a lesson, shows feelings that have changed, or solves a problem. 

This is hard writing work and certainly not all children are in the same place in their progress. My biggest goal for writers at this point in third grade is that their writing is (mostly) clear, it makes sense and that the writers are intentional. When I say intentional, I mean that third grade writers are working to be reflective and think about what they can do to make their writing the best it can be.

Tomorrow, we will begin the process of editing. When I refer to editing, I mean checking the mechanics of writing - capitals, punctuation, spelling. Correct writing mechanics makes the writing easier to read. 

I can't wait to share their writing at our conference! :o)Melanie

Money

Who doesn't love money? :o) These third graders certainly do! This morning we began a review of counting change. The following is a list of things I encourage them to practice and remember:

*The name and value of each coin

*When counting coins they should generally begin with the largest value. Then look to get to a "10" (the numbers you say when you count by tens).

For example, if I have 2 quarters, 2 dimes, a nickel and 3 pennies, I will start with the quarters - $.50. Then I will continue counting with the dimes - $.60, $.70. (Counting tens is easiest.) Next I will count the nickel - $.75 and finally the pennies - $.71, $.72, $.73.

However, if I have 1 quarter, 2 dimes a nickel and 3 pennies, I will start with the quarter - $.25, but then jump to the nickel - $.30 because I want to get to tens as quick as I can. Then I would continue on with my dimes and my pennies. 

*The value of groups of quarters - 2 quarters = $.50, 3 quarters = $.75, 4 quarters = $1.00.

The great thing about counting money is you can do it all the time! Let your children count the change when you leave the store. :o)

Addition and Subtraction With Regrouping

Last week we reviewed adding and subtracting two digit numbers. 

As you are working with your children, remember that math instruction has changed since we were in elementary school. You probably remember "carrying." 
"5 + 9 = 14. Put down the 4, carry the 1..." Children can still solve addition problems this way. The only thing different for that method, is that we call it regrouping. They don't carry the one, they regroup the 10 (or the hundred).

There are two major challenges with regrouping. First, it's important that children have lined up the numbers properly. The digits in the tens place and ones place need to be lined up. It's not accurate to combine 3 from the ones place with 4 from the tens place. Also, children tend to forget that the little 1 they are "regrouping" is really a ten. It's important for them to remember that so they can develop a sense of the numbers.

We also learned a new strategy for adding. It's called the partial sums method. Many of the kids aren't big fans of it, but it reenforces each mathematician's number sense. Here's how it works:

   39

+ 38

   60
   17
   77

For this method, the mathematician actually starts with the tens column. Below the problem you show the sum of each column. As you can see, 30 + 30 = 60. When all of the columns have been added, you add all of the sums. 

We also practiced subtraction with regrouping. Unfortunately, there is not a partial sums method to subtraction. Therefore, we focused on the traditional algorithm. When subtracting, children typically encounter two problems. Sometimes, they try what I call the "flip trick." For example, in the following problem: 

     93

-   24

You probably know to start with the "ones place." That's the column on the far right. Mathematicians look at that and realize they can't take 4 away from 3. Some third graders try the "flip trick" and take the 3 away from the 4 instead. Mathematically, of course, this doesn't work. 

The other problem many students encounter is forgetting to use regrouping. In the above example, they regroup from a ten to the ones column. This should make 13 ones and 8 tens. However, kids often forget to record this work, and therefore subtract inaccurately. 

Subtraction with regrouping can be tricky, but I know all our students can do it!

As always, don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns.