Math

Helpful Links/Math Tools

This space will remain at the top of our math page throughout the year. This is where I will add links to math tools that the students might find useful in any of our units. Please be sure to check below this section for updates to our math units and resources.

•  Click here for a printable PDF of a Place Value Chart. Students are using the Place Value Charts in class to help organize their thinking.
• Click here for a printable PDF of a Hundreds Chart. Students can use this to help them with almost any of our units involving numbers.

Money, Money, Money

Throughout the year, we have been periodically visiting the concept of money and having students count various coins and represent money amounts in a variety of ways (i.e. show 2 ways to make $4.65).

Similar to telling time, this is a concept that requires continued practice and exposure. It is also an area of our math curriculum where I am noticing a large range in student familiarity and abilities. Some students have a fantastic sense of money and some are still struggling to name coins and their values.

I encourage all families to "talk money" with their children. If you're at the store, point out the price of an item and ask how much that item, paired with another would cost. Ask them what their change would be if they were to pay with a $10.00 bill. Have your child count your change for you, or the change in their piggy bank and ask them to make groups of different amounts. 

The Ontario Curriculum states that by the end of Grade 3, students will add and subtract money amounts to make simulated purchases and change for amounts up to $10.

Here are some online resources to help practice:

• This is a great game. Money Masters has different activities. Try the "Give Change" options at the bottom.
• Cash Out Game
• Let's Do Lunch
• IXL - Do you have enough money?
• IXL - Making change

Here are some worksheets if you would like extra practice for your child.

• Counting money
• Making change
• Making change from $10 bills
• Adding and subtracting money amounts
• 
  

Multiplication & Division

The students (and Mrs. Hignell) are very excited to be embarking on our journey to learn about multiplication and division! 

I hope that families have received the notice about our Skip Counting Challenge. I have found these wonderful videos to help students learn their times tables! Have fun - maybe even dance a little!

• Two Times Tables (to the tune of Rude)
• Three Times Tables (to the tune of Uptown Funk)
• Four Times Tables (to the tune of Blurred Lines)
• Five Times Tables (to the tune of We Can't Stop)
• Six Times Tables (to the tune of Cheerleader)
• Seven Times Tables (to the tune of Cups)

Do you think you know your multiplication facts? Test yourself with these self-correcting quizzes online. They offer flash cards for the facts that you missed so that you can continue to improve!

Addition & Subtraction With Regrouping

We are well into our unit on Addition and Subtraction. In Grade 3, students must be able to do the following:

• Solve problems involving the addition and subtraction of two-digit numbers, using a variety of mental strategies (e.g., to add 37 + 26, add the tens, add the ones, then combine the tens and ones, like this: 30 + 20 = 50, 7 + 6 = 13, 50 + 13 = 63)
•  add and subtract three-digit numbers, using concrete materials, student-generated algorithms, and standard algorithms
• use estimation when solving problems involving addition and subtraction, to help judge the reasonableness of a solution

The students have been really hard to determine when to use each operation. We have been focusing on the key words to look for when solving word problem that help us determine whether we should add or subtract. Here is a list that the class generated. Students have this list in their Math Strategies Duotangs. 

One area that some children experience difficulty is subtraction with regrouping when zero's are involved. The photo below is from the Life in Special Education Blog and offers a different approach to subtracting with zeros:

One thing that I am trying to stress is to have students ask themselves, "Does my answer make sense?" If a student solves 302 - 169 and gets the answer 267, he/she should be able to think about those numbers and realize that they do not make sense. 302 is like 300, take away 169, which is like 170, should be close to 130.

Here are some links to help develop skills:

• Math Playground Problem Solving
• Math Playground Problem Solving with 2- and 3-digit numbers.

Mathletics, available through the student portal, is a great resource for students to practise their skills in this unit. This resource is new to our board and is fantastic. Students have been using Mathletics in class. Please have your child show you what it's all about. Student passwords are glued to the front page of their agendas.

Time & Temperature

It is time for us to begin learning about time and temperature. In Grade 3, students need to be able to tell time on an analog clock to the nearest 5 minutes. The easiest way for students to master this concept is to have consistent practice. You can incorporate this into your daily life by pausing throughout the day and asking your child to tell you the time. In a very digital world, it is important that students continue to have access to an analog clock and relate the time on these clocks to digital time. 

Here are some time and temperature activities:

• IXL Read Clocks and Write Times
• Stop the Clock Game
• Another Stop the Clock activity that includes am and pm
• In this activity, students have to move the hands on a clock to show a given time. Try Level 3!
• IXL Reading a Thermometer
• IXL Reasonable Temperature

Data Management

We are well into our Data Management Unit. The major focus of this unit is on organizing and displaying data in graphs as well as reading data and drawing conclusions. Students will also be learning about the term Mode, which describes the value that occurs most frequently. 

• Try this activity on Collecting and Organizing Data.
• This activity deals with interpreting bar graphs as well as some considerations for creating a bar graph.
• Watch this video that talks about drawing conclusions from a bar graph.
• This activity helps to reinforce students' ability to communicate about data.
• IXL Math has some great activities (you will be limited to the amount of time you can spend on this site per day). Try this Interpreting Pictographs activity as well as this Creating Pictographs challenge.
• This video uses examples from EQAO to talk about how to use a tally chart to create a pictograph.
• These links explain how to find the mode. This activity helps find the mode and allows students to try a few examples. 
• This video explains how to find the mode.

Patterning

We have started our Patterning Unit!

• Check out Study Zone's lesson on Number Patterns. When you have finished reviewing the lesson, click on the apple at the bottom to practice. 
• This Study Zone lesson focuses on Patterns With Changing Attributes. 
• Here is another Geometric Patterns Lesson.
• Try this IXL Number Sequences activity.
• In this Crack the Hacker's Safe game, you have to use what you know about solving number patterns and patterns with changing attributes to crack the safe! Good luck!

Pattern Rules

Students are learning how to write a pattern rule. All pattern rules must begin with the term "Start at" and end with the words "each time". 

For example: Start at 5. Add 3 each time.

Another example is Start at 7. Add 1. The number you add goes up by 1 each time.

In class, students are working to either determine a pattern rule based on a given set of numbers, or they are asked to create a pattern given a set of rules. 

When writing a pattern rule for patterns that have changing attributes, always tell exactly what you will see in the pattern core. The pattern core is the smallest part of a pattern that repeats. See the pattern below as an example:

The pattern core is circled in red. Here, the attributes that are changing are the size and direction. The pattern rule would be: Large right side up triangle, small upside down triangle.   

In this next pattern, the attributes that change are colour and shape. We are using three colours and two shapes. The core is circled in yellow. 

The pattern rule here is purple rectangle, blue rectangle, pink triangle.

Place Value

Ways To Represent A Number:

Standard Form: 987

Base-Ten Name: 9 hundreds + 8 tens + 7 ones

Expanded Form: 900 + 80 + 7

Word Form: Nine Hundred Eighty Seven

Picture Form: 

We are beginning our Place Value Unit. In this unit, students will learn how to read, represent, compare and order whole numbers to 1000. We will be doing a lot of group problem solving as well as incorporating as many games as we can.

Students will have opportunities in class to interact with some of the links that are posted below, but please take the time to practice at home as well.

• Making numbers - good for understanding the value of each digit.
• The Place Value Game - similar to Trash Can Numbers. Students have to create the largest possible number based on digits given from the computer. (Note - set the "Number of Digits" to 4 on the home page).
• Place Value Hockey - Choose Level 1 to match the Grade 3 Curriculum. Try both the Numerals option as well as the Place Values option. 
• Expanded Form Pac Man - Using Expanded Form, move your Math Man to eat the ghost with the number that matches the equation.
• Naming Numbers

Do you think you're ready for a quiz? Try these quick multiple choice quizzes! Good luck!

• Representing Numbers Quiz.
• Modelling Numbers Quiz.
• Comparing and Ordering Numbers Quiz.

Welcome to our Math page! Throughout the year, this page will be updated with information about our current math focus as well as links for games and other fun ways that you and your child can help enhance his/her skills at home. Stay tuned for more math fun coming soon!