Devilishly Difficult Division!!

We started to talk about division today. We discussed that division is basically just sharing things. We can share things in a specific number of groups. For example, I have 16 candies and I want to share them amongst 4 friends (4 groups really). So, 16 candies in 4 groups means that each friend gets 4 candies. I can also share things when I don't really know the number of groups, I just know how many of something I want each group to get. For example, I have 20 candies now and I want to make sure that there are 2 candies in each group. I take my 16 candies and make 8 groups of 2 candies. The division sentence for this example would be 16 divided by 2 equals 8 groups. It's a subtle difference but one that students need to understand. I have included some videos below to remind the students. The first video is simpler and has a catchy song. The second video is more exact in it's presentation and shows the difference between the two examples I discuss above.

 

Great Article on Coding

Interesting article on careers in coding for Canadian students.

CODING ARTICLE

MULTIPLICATION 911!!

As discussed in previous posts, multiplication and division are foundational concepts that students need to learn at specific times in their academic careers. Ask almost any grade 6 and 7 teacher and they will tell you how poorly students multiply and divide. This is a critical skill that only gets harder to learn later on. We are teaching them a variety of strategies to multiply and divide, BUT they must practise these skills.

Suggestions:
DICE GAMES

• grab two die and a piece of scrap paper.
• take turns rolling the die and multiplying the numbers
• the person with the highest product (answer) wins the point

CARD GAME

• grab a deck of cards
• pull out the face cards
• take turns pulling out two cards and multiplying them
• the person with the highest product (answer) wins the point

Good Old Flash Cards--nothing wrong with those!!

PLEASE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

Coding Followup

We followed up or coding centres from last week with a Makey Makey interactive project and some more coding practice with Dash, Dot and Sphero. We recently finished creating Healthy Eating Posters as part of our Health Unit.  The students did a great job creating these colourful and informative media pieces. Today we used our Makey Makey skills to turn our posters into a truly multimedia experience. Take a Look & Listen to two of our students demonstrating what they created!!

Curriculum Expectations for Multiplication and Division

We have been working on strategies for multiplication for the last two weeks. The students have learned how to use GROUPS and ARRAYS to solve multiplication problems. Today we will begin to introduce ideas around Division. We will also be using ideas related around GROUPS, ARRAYS and SHARING. Multiplication and Division are foundational concepts that students need to master. I strongly encourage continued practice of theses concepts at home on a regular basis. I am including the curriculum expectations for Multiplication and Division to give you an idea of where your child should be when it comes to these skills.

By The End of Grade 3

• Relate multiplication of one-digit numbers and division by one-digit divisors to real-life situations, using a variety of tools and strategies 

• Multiply to 7x7 and divide to 49/7, using a variety of mental strategies

By The End of Grade 4

• Multiply to 9x9 and divide to 81 ÷ 9, using a variety of mental strategies 
•  Solve problems involving the multiplication of one-digit whole numbers, using a variety of mental strategies 
•  Multiply whole numbers by 10, 100, and 1000, and divide whole numbers by 10 and 100, using mental strategies 
•  Multiply two-digit whole numbers by one-digit whole numbers, using a variety of tools, student-generated algorithms, and standard algorithms  (vertical multiplication)
•  Divide two-digit whole numbers by one-digit whole numbers, using a variety of tools and student-generated algorithms

Turkey Soup Day

Don't forget your bowl and spoon for Ms. Nancy's free Turkey soup day!!

Coding and Robotics Initiative

No one knows what the future holds for our children. The world we grew up in is totally different than what   we are faced with today. Windsor, more than most cities understands the problem with relying on an old world manufacturing economy. With all that in mind, our Board is looking to 21st century skills that our children will need to succeed. That has lead us to invest heavily in the technology and skills that will allow them to shine. We have a Coding and Robotics Initiative that is being rolled out for our grade 3 classes. Below you will see pictures and videos of the students creating code to operate the robots. The first video shows two students working with a 'Makey Makey' circuit board. The second video shows two students getting to know 'Sphero', our programmable action sphere. If you would like to learn more about coding and why it's such a critical skill for our students, click on the link below.

LEARN ABOUT CODING