Understanding Division

Today we began our Division Unit! We began by looking at Topic 6 with our Pearson enVision books and videos. We will also be looking at Topic 7 as the next couple of week's progress. All of these videos can be accessed online through your child's Ready Hub account. They will select the Pearson Easy Bridge icon and be automatically directed to their page. We use this in class frequently, so they know how to get logged in. Just like at school, their username is their student ID and their password is the same one they use to log into Ready Hub at school.

We also created an Understanding Division anchor chart in class! Below is an example of what we filled out on our anchor charts in class today. Just as we did with our Multiplication Representations anchor chart, we showed different ways to represent division problems using models and equations.

The most important vocabulary that was introduced in this unit were:

1. Dividend

2. Divisor

3. Quotient

These vocabulary word cards were sent home today along with 6 other words for practice from our enVision math books. These can be used at home to practice vocabulary words while your child is working on home work, practicing, or just for fun! :)

Multiplication Strategies

Constant Difference

Today we began looking at a new strategy to help with mental subtraction called Constant Difference. This involves taking our 2 numbers that we are subtracting, and changing them in order to help solve a subtraction problem easier mentally.

In class today, we completed this anchor chart and glued it into our math notebooks.

In order to subtract easier without having to regroup all of the 0's, we subtracted 1 from out minuend and our subtrahend. This kept the amount between each number the same. We then subtracted as we normally would and checked our answer with the inverse operation.

This anchor chart can be found in your child's math notebook. A video of this strategy can be found on your child's Pearson Math page. Pearson can be accessed by logging into Ready Hub. From there, click the Math Textbook link. Once inside the Math Textbook, click Unit 2, Topic 3. This will take you to a list of videos for 2-3. Both the Visual Learning Video and the Another Look Video are helpful in explaining this strategy.

If you have any questions, please let me know! 😊

Place Value Strategies

This week we have been discussing place value strategies for adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers. Students glued an anchor chart into their math notebooks, then we walked through the process for adding and subtracting three digit numbers using this strategy. We also did examples on a blank page of our notebooks to practice! Here is an example of what we did in class.

This is just one of the many strategies we will talk about during our adding and subtracting unit!

Place Value

Here are the different forms we have been looking at this past week!

Xtra Math

Last night while I was perusing my list of 3rd Grade math and science blogs, I came upon a post from 3rd Grade Thoughts. She wrote about an online Math program that focuses on math facts! It's called Xtra Math and it's FREE! I set up a teacher account this evening and have played around in it a bit before setting up all of our kiddos. They each have their own PIN number (which I will send home either this week or next week) and are set up to start working on multiplication facts! If you would like to start working before I send everyone's paper home, send me an email and I will pass along your child's login info.



After logging in, a Placement Quiz opens for your child to be assessed and see what facts need to be practiced.

Throughout the placement quiz (and later during the practices), a timer at the bottom of the screen moves along to tell you if you are answering questions quickly, taking a little extra time, or letting time slip away.

If the answer is correct, a new fact pops up.

If the answer is incorrect or if too long is taken, the answer shows grayed out. A blue hour glass also comes onto the screen if too long has passed before the question is being answered.

To try and match the speed of our timed test, the smiley face on the timer is set to 3 seconds, which is very close to the average amount of time needed to spend on a problem to answer all questions on our timed tests.

If your child gets to school early enough in the mornings {by 7:30} on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday I can stop by the gym and grab them so they can work on Xtra Math on the computers in the room. 

Hopefully, this resource is one that you are able to use at home! 

Partial Product Finder

Last week, we started taking a more in depth look at multiplying by 2 digit numbers and what the distributive property looks like. We have been focusing on breaking our 2 digit numbers up by their place values and having a group for the tens place and a group for the ones place.

Jennie Kottmeier has some really good {and FREE} properties of multiplication posters that you can get {here}. This is what the distributive property looks like.

7 is broken up into 5 and 2. Then, 5 is multiplied by 4 and 2 is multiplied by 4. 5x4=20 and 2x4=8. 20 and 8 are the partial products that area added together to get 28.

Last night, as I was searching the web for math fact practices, I came across a web app through Math Learning Center. They have so many great {FREE} apps that can be used on the computer as a web app or on a tablet as a downloadable app!

Their newest app that they are still in the process of building is a {drum roll, please!} partial product app! You can change the factors in the problem and move the arrows at the side of the array to change the distribution of numbers in the problem.

It also tells you the new multiplication equation for each section of the array, what the partial products for each section are, and the total after all of the partial products are added together. This is EXACTLY on of the strategies we have been working on!

They have several other free math apps that can be used on the web or downloaded onto a tablet. Number Pieces and Number Line are some good apps for practicing different operations. Check out their other math apps {here}.

I hope you find this resource useful! :)

2 Digit Multiplication

This week we started multiplying 1 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers. The method we have been focusing on this week is called Break Apart. We are using prior knowledge of place value, distributive property, addition (sometimes with regrouping) and 1 digit multiplication to solve our multiplication problems with this method.

When we are using the break apart model, we are breaking our 2 digit number apart into the tens place and the ones place. We are then multiplying the tens place by the first factor and finding that product, then multiplying the ones place by the first factor and finding that product. Once we have the product for both sets, we are taking those 2 numbers (our partial products) and adding them together to find our whole product. I promise it's not as confusing to work out as it is to read!

The answer, after adding the partial products 150 + 18 would be 168

{Here} is the link to a quick video of me working out one of the problems we did in class this week. It is also on the step-by-step page that was sent home with week along with the guided practice as extra practice as needed. {The video is an *.avi file, which may not play on some players. I am working on converting it to *.mp4 and compressing it so it will upload directly to this post.}

We have not talked about this in class yet, but it very similar to the break apart we have been doing (just without the blocks!)

In the area model, we are again breaking up our factors into their place value groups, multiplying each group in each factor by each other, then adding the totals together. This can be used with factors that go beyond 1 digit and 2 digits multiplication.

The answer after adding the partial products 150 +18 would be 168

The answer, after adding the partial products 45,000 + 900 + 180 and + 27 would be 46,737

This is a long one! The answer, after adding the partial products 70,000 + 8,000 + 0 + 60 + 14,000 + 1,600 + 0 + 12 would be 93,672

Weekly Snapshots

Snapshots are now ready to be downloaded in PDF form from our blog page! Click {here} or head on over to the "Weekly Snapshots" page to view and download snapshots from each week as they are emailed out!

Place Value

The beginning of this school year has FLOWN by! I haven't forgotten to upload photos, it's just taken me a while to get them edited! Here are some of the things your kiddos have been working on the first couple weeks of school ...

The first day of school, we took a place value pre-test. The kids had 10 questions at their desks, and 10 questions that they had to find around the room.

We practiced place value in lots of different ways, but one of the most fun was the dice game we played. The kids each got 3 dice and 1 note card that they folded into thirds. Then, they worked with their shoulder partners to make a place value board that went from the ones place the to the hundred thousands place. They rolled their dice, and used the 6 dice to make a number that was either the greatest or least out of those dice based on what I called out. They showed AWESOME teamwork skills!

Week 2, we started math stations! Thursday and Friday the kids switched to 4 different stations. Each of their stations was 20 minutes each.

At my table, we did a 5 question quick check, then played a coin and amount matching game. The kids looked at the amounts that were on the table, and matched the mixed coin cards that were in their hands to the amounts. If they were right, they got another one.

At another station, the kids split their time in half between computers and matching addition and subtraction sentences.

At a third station, the kids worked on an independent place value assessment. Since we've been practicing using our cubby boxes as offices, they put them up all the time.

We've gotta take some breaks! Blazer Fresh is my FAVORITE GoNoodle channel. You can sign up for a free GoNoodle account at home! Go {here} to check it out, or in the "Learning At Home" tab at the top of the page.

Keep practicing those place values up to the hundred thousands place and mixed money! Practice makes perfect! Math Playground has some games that are sorted by grade and topic.

Here are a few money and place value games:

Puzzle Pics Money

Dolphin Dash Money

Zogs and Monsters

Making Change

Pop Penguin and The Place Value Race

Place Value

See ya next week for more math class work and stations!