Mathematics

= There are many ways to improve your mathematical fluency and problem solving skills. On this wikipage under Fun Websites to Visit you will find many fun math activities. If you would like, print out your scores from any of these math games. Have your parents date and sign it and earn extra Superstar Bucks for use in our class! = = District Wide Update: ALL students should be practicing their math facts (either addition, subtraction, multiplication or division) on a DAILY basis. Your child's individual math fact fluency scores are coming home on a monthly basis. There should be some form of improvement each month. The district now requires that parents sign off nightly that their child is doing something to practice their facts. Please be sure to review and initial the assignment sheet every day. Thank you for your support in this matter at home. = = It is very important that your child have a place at home to keep his/her math materials. Throughout the year I will send home a variety of materials including lots of math games and materials to assist with homework and fact fluency. I recommend either keeping the materials in a folder or a shoebox so the materials are handy when they are needed. Be on the lookout for additional materials being sent home that can be added to this special box/folder. =

= Students in my class use the Investigation math program by PEARSON Scott Foresman. This is probably a very different approach to mathematics than you or I learned while in school. If you would like a copy of the handbook that reviews what is being taught in class and __//how//__ it is being taught, please let me know. This can be very helpful on those challenging math homework nights. Of course, if your child is really struggling on a regular basis please let me know as well. Most homework will be a review of what has already been taught in class. =

**As a natural part of their everyday mathematics work, //Investigations// students**:
 * explore problems in depth.
 * find more than one way of solving many of the problems they encounter.
 * reason mathematically and develop problem-solving strategies.
 * explain and examine their mathematical thinking and reasoning.
 * represent their thinking using models, diagrams, and graphs.
 * make connections between mathematical ideas.
 * prove their ideas to others.
 * develop [|fluency] - efficiency, accuracy, and flexibility - with mathematics.
 * develop proficiency with arithmetic.
 * choose from a variety of tools and appropriate technology,
 * work in a variety of groupings - whole class, individually, in pairs, and in small groups.

•Visit “Sticker Station”—which sells single stickers, strips of 10, or sheets of 100—as a way to develop an understanding of our place value system. •Use cubes, number lines, 100, 200, 300, and 1,000 Charts, coins, and stickers to represent quantities, to solve problems, and to develop and refine strategies for adding and subtracting three-digit numbers. •Develop survey questions about “Places we like to ...” and collect, represent, and interpret data from their own and other classrooms. •Measure in yards, feet, and inches to answer the question “How Far Can a Third Grader Jump?”. •Create a “Class Collection” of 1,000 objects and determine how many more are needed to reach the week’s goal and how far they are from their overall goal (1,000). •Use the contexts of family trips and the Oregon Trail to solve problems about the distance between two points. •Compare the lengths of snakes, such as the Burmese Python and the Black Rat Snake, and determine the difference between them. •Make “Tetrominoes” (arrangements of four squares), and use them to solve puzzles about area. •Use building kits to make triangles and quadrilaterals and consider their attributes. •Use arrays to represent multiplication; investigate prime, composite, and square numbers; and to learn the multiplication combinations with products to 50. •Use the context of the “Magic Marbles of Rhomar” in which children receive a certain number of marbles each night to learn about and represent a constant rate of change. •Solve problems about sharing brownies and play the //Fraction Cookie Game// to name fractional parts, find equivalent fractions, combine fractions, and use mixed numbers to represent quantities greater than 1. •Play //What’s My Shape?// with sets of geometric solids to describe the attributes of polyhedra, such as prisms and pyramids, and non-polyhedra, such as cones and cylinders. •Create patterns for boxes to hold a given number of cubes and determine how many cubes will fit into given box patterns.
 * Over the course of third grade, students...**