Elapsed Time

Hello Families!

In the next few lessons, we will begin to learn about elapsed time. When the time comes (ha, get it!?), we wanted to let you know a strategy we will be using in class to help them find out how much time has passed from a start time to an end time. Here is a poster we will discuss and have available to help students:

We will be using timelines to help them plot the start time, end time, and then they will use "mountains, hills, and rocks" to help them add up the minutes that have gone by from start to finish. We're hoping this visual will help them with this tricky concept! We will also be using Judy Clocks to count up how many minutes have gone by. If your child is struggling with telling time on an analog clock, Judy Clocks are a great tool to help!

As always, let us know if you have any questions!

~Third Grade Team

Study Plan

Hello Families!

We wanted to address a potentially puzzling piece of our homework page - the study plan! At the top of the page there is a box with "Study Plan" and "Homework Helper." This is a space that we aren't utilizing because it goes with a second page of homework that we are intentionally not sending home.

The way our curriculum's homework is set up is that they have a math page with problems, then a fact fluency check sheet with every lesson. In order to lessen the load, we have intentionally cut out the fluency check sheet. The study plan box is where they would write their plan for going over the check sheet, so no need to write anything in it!

We would, of course, LOVE if you and your child were practicing multiplication facts at home! By the end of third grade it is expected that students can fluently multiply and divide within 100. We would love to see those facts being as quick and accurate as possible as the year goes on! We will be discussing your child's fact fluency progress at conferences, so stay tuned for more!

Thank you!

Types of Multiplication and Division Problems

Hello Families!

The homework tonight (Thursday) asks students to decide what type of problem they have solved, determine if it's multiplication or division, then write their own story problem that is the same type and uses the same operation. We have included an example if that helps you understand what is expected of them! We have worked on this the last two days, and they've been doing pretty well with it!

Array: items are arranged in rows and columns

Equal Groups: There are a certain number of groups with an equal amount of items in each group

Area: finding how much space a rectangle takes up (or finding a side length of a rectangle)

CUBS - Problem Solving Strategy

Hello Third Grade Families!

As students tackle more challenging story problems, we have taught them a strategy to make sure they are reading the problems carefully! Often, students will quickly look at the numbers in the story problem and use that to decide if they are going to multiply and divide. So, for example, if they see a 3 and a 5 they know that those numbers tend to be factors. If they see 72 and 9 they figure they should divide. HOWEVER, story problems will begin to include all four operations (not at once necessarily), so that trick is not one that is helpful!!

We have taught them an acronym, CUBS, to help them read the problem carefully and think about the situation rather than the numbers. It stands for:

C - circle the important numbers
U - underline the question
B - box key words
S - show your thinking and solve

Here is an example of how CUBS could be used on a story problem:

We would love it if you encouraged your child to use this strategy as they work on their homework as well! Thanks, and thank you for participating in your child's learning at home! They are building valuable independence and responsibility by continuing their learning journey outside of the classroom!

Ms. Goss and Mrs. McGaffey

Nines Tricks!

Hello Families!

We have been introducing our 5s, 10s, 2s, 9s and 3s in multiplication and division. Many of these have very distinct patterns that students were already somewhat familiar with (specifically 2, 5, and 10). When it comes to nines there are so many cool tricks that can help students remember their facts! Here are two that we learned in class in case you're unfamiliar with them!

Hello and Welcome!

Hello Third Grade Families!

Welcome to our Third Grade Homework Help blog! This blog can hopefully help when you are helping your child with math homework and you think, "That's totally now how I learned that!"

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Feel free to use the comments section for any questions - we are looking forward to a great year of math learning with you and your child!