February Design Challenge

Thus month our February Design challenge is going to be creating a Valentine's day box with a simple machine.

Check out these links to learn more about simple machines:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U (Great video to show how creativity and some cardboard to take you to incredible places)

http://www.edheads.org/activities/simple-machines/    (edheads interactive activity on simple machines)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9tXgUu7fXQ   (Bill Nye episode on Simple Machines)



The design challenge packet will come home with your child tomorrow...

PARCC Assessments

Check out this website to see some sample practice test questions. The PARCC is replacing the OAA for math in third grade and if your child passes the reading OAA test from the fall, they will be taking the PARCC assessment instead of the OAA in the spring.

It will be a big transition for your child to take an assessment like this on the computer, please take a look at some of the sample test questions for third grade...

http://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests/ 

Inventors-- 3rd Grade Living Museum

I wanted to thank you for all your support at home during our Inventor Unit! Students worked very hard throughout the project and it really showed at our Living Museum on Friday. I'm posting some pictures of their projects and Friday's event below. Enjoy :) 

Striking a pose  before our visitors came in :)

Our very own Stephen Hawking

A few pictures of the work we created...

Multiplication Strategies...

Hi 3rd Grade Families,

I wanted to share a few resources with you for Multiplication...

The first is a youtube video about lattice multiplication:
lattice multiplication video

Here's a brief history on Lattice Multiplication...
"The search for ways to record computation started in India, perhaps about eleventh century. This method of multiplication was known to the Arabians and probably was copied from the Hindus. Fifteenth century writers in western Europe included it in their printed books. The first printed arithmetic book appeared in Treviso, Italy in 1478. Luca Pacioli of Italy listed eight different ways to do multiplication in his book called "The Suma". He called this way lattice multiplication."
- Everyday Math, 1993-

So while you may not have been exposed to this as a child, this kind of multiplication is not new. Don't feel intimidated by it. I taught this to the class in about 10 minutes on Friday. I was impressed by how quickly they seemed to catch on. This type of multiplication replaces the  traditional "long multiplication algorithm" for multiplying two and three digit numbers. I still plan to teach them the traditional algorithm for multiplication, but I wanted them to have some options for multiplying bigger numbers. Students who are visual learners really seem to gravitate to this strategy for multiplication.


The other resource I wanted to share with you is one that my mom,who is also a third grade teacher, used with me when I was learning my multiplication facts. As a child I was always very strong in language arts, but tended to have a harder time with math. My mom purchased a book called  "Times Tables the Fun Way: Book for Kids: A Picture Method of Learning the Multiplication Facts". You can find it on Amazon. I was able to visualize the story and memorize my multiplication facts with this book. I have the book in our classroom, but if your child is still struggling with their facts, it might be helpful to invest in a copy for your own library at home.

  

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Mrs. Hahn

We had a great first day back with everyone! We did a lot of activities today revolving around the book The Day the Crayons Quit.We wrote letters, did comprehension activities about the book with partners, presented our work to the class, and started an art project with melted crayons. We even got a chance to watch a short video about how crayons are made. The class was so engaged in the video and many asked to see it again. We ran out of time to watch it later in the day, so I'm posting the link to it below in case you want to check it out with your child. Enjoy!

http://pbskids.org/rogers/video_crayons.html

Hand Pollinator Project

Here's a few pictures of our design project from Friday and Monday. Students worked as a team to create a hand pollinator to use to pollinate a pretend "bucket orchid" made from PVC pipe. They had to test out materials  on Friday to determine what would work the best and then today they used their design and created it. They tested their design and  redesigned it to make it even better. They did a very nice job both days to work as a team- collaborating and communicating their ideas. Ask your child which of their team's designs worked the best.

Design Challenge Sign-up

Hi all,

I sent out the newsletter to everyone via email this week, so please let me know if you didn't receive it. I will also be sending home paper copies to those who preferred that in their "get to know you" packet earlier this year.

Here is the link to sign up for supplies for our Hand Pollinators Design Challenge on Friday...

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0445acab2ea3f94-designing

(P.S.-If this doesn't work will someone please let me know ASAP and we can sign up in the comments section of the blog instead. Just thought I would try something new.)

Thanks,
Mrs. Hahn