Recently, as a culminating activity to our 3D Geometry unit, students designed their own robots and presented them to several other classrooms. Using an assortment of recycled materials, students loved making their projects and were proud to show off their hard work. They were asked to give their robot a name and write a paragraph explaining the features of their robot and the 3D shapes they used.
What can one buy with only $10.00 to spend on various items around the classroom? That’s exactly what students had to decide when shopping around the room for various items with price tags. The rules were they had to spend more than $4.00 but no more than $10. Some students commented on the bargains to be had! It’s interesting to see the shopping habits of these young students already emerging 🙂 With clipboards and pencils poised, students carefully tabulated their totals. When we gathered back together to discuss and share, we also learned how to calculate change with a subtraction strategy.
We discussed what we could buy for $10.00 outside of the classroom and the fact that in reality there is tax to be included in most things as well.
How would you spend $10…or would you save it?
After March Break, time always seems to fly. We are in the season of Lent, moving closer to Easter. The students in our class have been working incredibly hard on their school work. We have been diligently studying and practicing our times tables. Mrs. Sullivan has been impressed!
As a class, we’ve been pushing ourselves to strengthen our Word Study test scores overall and the results have been outstanding!
Several students have been challenging themselves to achieve silver certificates in Mathletics. Wow! Who will earn the first gold?
We continue to move along nicely in our newest writing unit called Realistic Fiction where we are gathering ideas.
Take a look at some of the activity in our room as of late:
What do you like the best about Spring?
There’s certainly never a dull moment in Grade 3. We work hard, do our best, and try to have fun at the same time.
Below, students are playing “Quiz, Quiz, Trade” to review for our Social Studies test coming up. Students could use their notes, if needed. They coached each other if they weren’t sure of the answers and then traded cards once each student successfully finished each card.
Here, students are reviewing subtraction by taking turns coaching each other through the step-by-step process. They did such a fantastic job!
Check out this awesome tutorial by one of our classmates!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Sullivan
Our class has been spending a lot of time delving into 4 strategies about how to add 2 and 3 digit numbers. In the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing with you student-guided tutorials about how to use these strategies.
Yesterday, we launched into subtraction strategies. We learned how to subtract using a number line by “thinking addition”. See below for an example.
Today, we explored the traditional method of subtraction where “borrowing” or “regrouping” may be involved. Check out this video we watched in class that introduced us to the concept.
On Monday, we will explore a 3rd strategy. There are pros and cons to any strategy.Some are faster than others, some are easier to understand. Everyone has a favourite.
What is your favourite subtraction strategy?
Do you know how to solve a question in more than one way?
As we conclude our 2D Geometry unit, symmetry has been a more recent focus in math.
What is line symmetry?
Do you see symmetry in this bird?
A tool we’ve been using to help us create symmetry in pictures is called a Mira. Have a look at us in action creating a Grinch picture!
In our 2D Geometry unit, we’ve recently been identifying 4 types of angles:
We decided to go on a scavenger hunt around our classroom to find examples of each type of angle. Students then worked together to made a pic collage to show their findings. We had a lot of fun! Have a peek.
What kind of angles can you find around your house?
Simply put, a Venn Diagram is a tool to help us sort things. A man named John Venn (a logician) invented them a long time ago.
Have a look below at the diagram.
We made some of our own Venn Diagrams using hula hoops and various objects we found around the class. Can you guess how we sorted the following items in the pictures?
You will notice one item (a clipboard) placed outside the Venn Diagram. That is because it doesn’t belong in any of the categories within the Diagram.
Students have been working in their teams to sort numbers as well. Have a look at the action. Click on individual pictures to enlarge them:
Recently, Mrs. Sullivan created a Venn Diagram with fiction and nonfiction books. Students had to guess how the diagram was sorted and find other books to add to the Venn Diagram.
What kind of items could you sort into a Venn Diagram?
Data is all around us! We use data to learn about what to wear to school in the morning, we use it to learn from our mistakes, we use data to tell us how long it will take us to get somewhere. Data informs us and it can be very helpful in our lives.
Recently, we wanted to conduct our own surveys based on a question each of us individually made up. We were not allowed to ask ‘yes/no’ questions and needed to provide around 4-5 possible answers. Students also needed to push themselves to think of a question they truly wanted to know the answer to.
We were asking our question to all of the grade 3s at our school.
Some questions included:
Check out the students asking each other their questions and recording their tallies! Next, we will graph the data in 2 different ways and share our results. What kind of conclusions can we make, if any?
What is a question you would want to know the answer to if you were to ask a Grade 3 student?
There’s never a dull moment in our class! We’ve been so engaged in all aspects of our day–French, Math, Science and more. We enjoy working in different teams, sharing our strengths and gifts, nibbling on treats, learning about all sorts of things. Check us out!
