Term 2: Learning opportunities Term 2 : Mrs. O'Neill's Grade 3 Class
** Look for suggested questions and conversation starters to get your child to share more about their days at school. Please check the agenda each night for notes and infomation. When your child brings home notebooks and duotangs from the different subjects please take this opportunity to look at the work and ask you child to share his or her learning. To prepare for unit tests in different subjects you can review concepts, skills, and content with your child by going through their notebooks and duotangs together. An assessment folder will be sent home with completed tests and assignments from various subjects that have been assessed with a letter grade and/or level. Please sign and return all work in this folder. Homework is sent home as extra practice of skills or review of concepts already learned in class. There is no set homework schedule. When a homework page is assigned 20-30 minutes is enough time to work on a task. Homework is usually sent home near the end of unit or topic of study to prepare for a test. Math: We focus on one strand or topic in Math for 2-3 weeks. Homework is sent home near the end of our unit as extra practice for each Math Test. Even though we have a unit test and have moved onto a new Math topic some students will need more practise. At home you can work with your child to improve certain skills. eg. adding and subtracting double digit numbers, solving words problems, drawing fractions. Please review the math concepts and skills with your child when completing math homework. Your child is welcome to bring home their math notebook and duotang anytime to do extra practise at home. Numeration: Multiplication, Division, and Fractions The students were introduced to multiplication and division by using math materials such as mini cubes or counters. They learned to put items into equal groups. We also created rows or arrays. Strategies such as skip counting, and repeated addition were practiced. The multiplication table or grid is used to verify the correct math facts eg. 3x4=12 or 12 divided into 4 groups equals 3 in each group. Next we explored fractions as parts or pieces of a whole. This is a new concept for grade 3 students. They learned to identify, describe and draw 1/2, 1/4/ 3/4 of a whole by dividing up pictures of pizza's and chocolate bars. At home: You can present your child with real life math problems to solve. How do we divide a pizza equally to all 4 people in our family? Will there be any left over? What fraction of the pizza is each person getting to eat? Problem Solving: We will continue to develop skills and strategies needed to solve word problems or number stories. These words problems rely on skills developed through the 5 different strands of Math. The 1st step and strategy is to read and highlight or underline key information and numbers. Together we follow the 4 steps to solving Math problems: 1. Read and understand the problem 2. Make a plan by choosing the best strategy 3. Follow your plan by showing your work 4. Explain how you solved the the problem We will add to our list of possible strategies: draw pictures, number line, rounding up or down to estimate, add, subtract, multiply, divide, make equal groups or pieces, draw rows or arrays, use a 100's chart, create a t-chart, extend a pattern. Students are asked to think of another problem that was similar so that a familar strategy can be used. At Home: Use the 4 steps to solving a math word problem. Choose a word problem from the notebook or duotang to review together. Geometry: 2D shapes and 3D solids The students will review 2 dimensional shapes: circle, square, rectangle, triangle and learn new geometric shapes: octagon, hexagon and pentagons. The will identify different 3 dimensional solids by comparing features on pyramids and prisms. They will look at the number of faces to name the 3D solid such as the hexagonal prism and hexagonal pyramid. As always review with your child the information found in the math duotang and notebook. At home: Look around your house and the community with your child for objects that can be identified as shapes and solids based on their features. Metric Measurement: The students will learn the units for linear measurement : centimetre, meter, and kilometre and be able to identify appropriate unit for various items eg. Ottawa to Toronto- km , length of pencil - cm, height of the door-m. They will develop estimating and measuring skills using a 30 cm centimetre ruler and a 1 metre stick. We will learn to calculate the perimeter and area of shapes. Students will learn about the mass/weight of objects in grams and kilograms. They will be introduced to measuring the capasity/volume of liquids in litres and millilitres and the mass/weight of objects in grams and kilograms. At home: Try to estimate and measure a variety of items at home in cm and metres. Look at grocery labels for litres , millilitres,grams, and kilograms. Money: The students will review and identify the value of all coins and bills in our Canadian currency up to $10.00 They will learn to add and subtract different amounts using coins and bills. This includes making the correct change to purchase items. Students will begin develop calculator skills. At home please pull out a handful of coins and count them with your child to find out the total value. Write down the price of an item and have child count out the amount needed and give you correct change. Transformation Geometry: Students will be introduced to the movement of a shape on a grid. They will learn how to follow and write directions for a rotation, reflection, and translation. Probability: We will explore probability and the chance of a certain outcome. Students will use dice and spinners and record the results. Learn to use probability words such as more likely, less likely and unlikely. Writing: Procedural / How To.... The students review this form of writing that is used in our daily lives at school and at home. Some examples include food recipes, instructions to assemble a toy or make a craft, directions and rules to play a board game or sport. The focus is on verbs or actions words. Students will be given opportunities to read, create, view, and follow a variety of written instructions. The final assessment task is creating a recipe for a favourite snack that your child is able to make at home. The students will present their recipe to the class on the SMART Board. At Home: With your child you can discuss the steps for various activities such as preparing a food item for dinner, playing a board game, making a craft, or how to play a certain sport. Personal Narratives or Short Stories: We will review elements of a short story such as the main character, other characters, setting, events in order, main problem or adventure, and the solution or ending to the adventure. We will read and discuss a variety of fictional stories (not true) , realistic fictional ( could happen) stories, and real life stories/biographies (true-actually happened). The students will be provided with a variety of prompts to stimulate their imagination to write short stories. We are also looking at the main idea or message found in a story. At Home: Choose a picture book to read aloud with your child and look for proof in the text to identify the elements of a story. It is important to encourage your child to make personal connections to the story .eg. Does this remind you of something that happened to you? Recounts: Throughout the year the students will continue to write a recount in their journal once a month about real life events that occured on their weekends and holidays. They are provided with a graphic organizer or web. Our focus is on the 5 w's and I H or the 5 Senses. The students enjoy the author's chair because each student is invited to share a piece of writing and ask questions. This develops listening and speaking skills. Ask your child to tell you about the 5w's and 1 H? How do they help you to organize your ideas when speaking and writing? Reading: We continue to read non-fiction/factual texts to find facts. Students will learn to get information from science texts, articles, and websites. Our focus is reading about specific topics and to gather facts. Students are provided inquiry questions to answers. Some reading strategies are: highlite key words, print facts or details on a graphic organizer, and labelling diagrams. Our focus in on answering the inquiry questions in full sentences both orally and in writing. At Home: Read an informational (non-fiction) book or look at a website ( for kids)with your child. Share a few facts your learned together. Each Tues. during our weekly visit to the library the students continue to sign out 3 books: 1 english fictional book, 1 english factual book, and a french book. The students are welcome to take 1 english books home to read. In class we also read poetry and stories together. When reading a story or poem the focus has been on finding important details from the text to be used a proof to in your reading response or answer. The students are also encouraged to also think of relevant personal experiences that allows them to make a connection to the events or information in a text. At Home: Read a story or poem with your child and stop to discuss just the most important details on each page. These details add interest and provide the main events of the story. Ask your child to find proof of certain events happening in the text. Science & Technology: Strong and stable structures: We are learning about what makes strong and stable structures. We examine and test forces on structures. The students have been exploring the types of structures found in our world that are made by people and made by animals. We will identify the common features found in a structure eg. foundation in buildings, bridges, and towers. The students are engaged in a variety of structure building experiments such as the paper bridges, and paper towel towers. They are required to make observations, record data, apply their knowledge, and use their problem solving skills to make improvements or changes to the structures. Students are expected to use science words when describing their experiments. Growth and Changes in Plants: We will be learn about the elements needed for the growth of plants. Each student will have opportunity to plant a seed and watch a plant grow this spring in our classroom. We will record data and observations about the grown of these plants. Each student will choose a plant, tree or flower as his her own topic for a research report. Using chrome books each student will create slide deck to display facts and pictures. Presentations will be made to the class on the SMART board. Science Tests .The Science duotang will be sent home 2-3 days before a unit test so you can review the information with your child. Please return it each day since we use it in class. Your child should also be reviewing the Science vocabulary. Together you can read over notes and experiments to discuss what was learned using science words.
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