Math Makes Sense: Unit 2

Our first official Math unit is called "Patterns in Addition and Subtraction" (it's actually Unit 2, we'll get to Unit 1 later on as Unit 2 is a more natural starting point for the beginning of the year). 


What are the Big Ideas? 

• Addition and subtraction are inverse operations
• Addition and subtraction have certain properties. For example, there is the commutative property of addition.
• Strategies for solving 1-and 2- digit addition and subtraction problems can be used to solve problems involving numbers with increasing digits. 

How Will these Concepts Develop?

• Students use patterns to develop strategies for addition and subtraction of 1-digit numbers, including finding missing numbers.
• Students use Base Ten Blocks and place-value mats to add and subtract 1 and 2 digit numbers, and later to add and subtract 3-digit numbers.
• Students use mental math to add and subtract. They estimate sums and differences. 
• Students develop proficiency with adding and subtracting 3-digit numbers using the standard algorithm. 

Why are these concepts important? 
The ability to recognize patterns assists students to recall basic facts proficiently. Fluency with computations involving the addition and subtraction of whole numbers is essential in the world around us. Students should have a good understanding of number and the meanings of and relationships between the operations of addition and subtraction. A solid foundation is necessary for learning and applying math to higher grades. 


From: Math Makes Sense: OntarioTeacher Guide: Pearson Education Canada, 2004. 

Good readers ask good questions

For the first six or so weeks of the school year, we really focus on asking, "What do good readers do?" Last week, we talked about inferring, reading with fluency and asking questions. It's time for us to move into writing about what we read.  On Tuesday, we started talking about how good readers ask good questions about the book they're reading. 

Right now, we're reading a novel called, There's a Boy in the Girl's Washroom by Louis Sachar.  The boys and girls love it! We're just about a third of the way through the text and there are many questions still unanswered.

In the next day or two, I'll ask the boys and girls to write 1,2,or 3 questions on a Post-it Note. Giving an option to write a number of questions appeals to all learning levels. Kids who have difficulty putting their thoughts onto paper find this task less daunting and those kids who love to write know they have some freedom too. These type of flexible instructions allow students to feel a sense of accomplishment and as these experiences build, so does their writing confidence. Before you know it, everyone is writing up a storm because they know they have the skills to get the job done.  

Have a look at the photo of how this worked last year. I know you can't read them here but if you had visited our class, you would have noticed how critical they were thinking about the novel. Based on our discussions thus far, I'm sure this year will be no different.  

On Monday,  we started a reading response booklet I created based on a very relate-able text called, "A Bike Like Sergio's". This is a task that helps develop a variety of skills and I'll blog more about it next week.

Writing about one's reading is an excellent way for teachers to assess both writing skills and reading comprehension. And within this type of task, kids still have freedom to add their own creative flair because they're responding to a wide-variety of questions, which are always more fun to read when you can get a sense of the author's voice and personality. 

Presenting: our number sense posters!

As part of our first math lessons together, we've been learning about number sense and how it's like the foundation for all we do in Math. When we understand how numbers "work", we can compute, solve, predict, reason and think critically about the work we do in Math.  

Jessica F. Shumway, author of Number Sense Routines, writes, "As students build their number sense, mathematics takes on greater meaning. Mathematics becomes more about reaching understandings than following rigid sets of rules.  With strong number sense, children become more apt to attempt problems and make sense of mathematics. it is the key to understanding all math."  

Because the boys and girls are "oh-fishially" now in grade three, we went with a fish-theme for our first task together. This poster was designed to build confidence and reflect the work we've done so far. Students have learned a bit about: 

• using a hundreds chart to see relationships and patterns between numbers
• how songs such as the counting by 3s and 25s song can help us count faster
• how base ten blocks help us construct numbers and why a number such as 39 becomes 40, not 340 when we add another one-block 

On page 11 of her book, Ms. Shumway says, "The numerically literate student trusts her strategies and application of number sense. The student sees herself as someone who can make sense of situations involving numers and knows that there are a variety of ways to arrive a solution."  

My goal this year is for my students to develop their overall math confidence and my intention is to provide number sense experiences everyday.  This little poster was a great way to make everyone feel good about math and practice the skills we've reviewed and learned in just the first few days of school!  

Oh, one more thing! We'll do lots of poster activities in grade three and I promise they won't always have typos like this one! 🤣 #theylikelywill

If you are a teacher and you'd like to use this now typo-free poster in your class, click here for a copy! The copying/enlarging instructions are included.  

Nice to meet ya!

Every morning, for as long as I can remember, we have begun our day by shaking hands upon entering the room in the morning. On Wednesday, students learned just how this special start to our day will work.  

Thank you to the boys and girls from last year, for helping to model how our morning routine works!  

Today we talked about the importance of: 

• making eye contact when shaking someone's hand 
• giving a cheery 'good morning' or other friendly greeting 
• saying the person's name 
• using your right hand to shake
• giving a firm, but not TOO firm handshake  
• carrying your other materials in your left hand, so as to free up your right hand 
• following expectations upon entering the classroom while Mrs. M continues to greet the rest of the class 

We practiced lots and lots today, so I think we'll be ready for our real-deal-this-is-how-we-roll start to our day on Thursday! 

Happy New Year!

Thank you to all the boys and girls for a wonderful first day of school! I am so excited to share the next ten months with these very special little people. In keeping with my tendency to over-plan, we didn't quite get to everything today, so we'll talk handshakes, brag tags and reading places and spaces on Wednesday. 

Thank you for the beautiful surprise this morning Julia! 

We did cover the big stuff today: we bring our manners, our sense of humor and our kind heart to school each day.  Those are the most important rules in room 208 and I'm thrilled that my new group of friends responded so well my belief that we all learn best when we feel safe, respected and we're not afraid to laugh at ourselves now and then.  

As for the specifics of our day, it was definitely a busy one! We got a bit of work done, had some fun talking about listening and following instructions using our Play Doh, and got to know each other while we organized all paper work that comes home these first few days! 

We ended our day with this hilarious read-aloud and debated about adding this to our list of class policies. 😉

We have 40 glorious weeks together and I'm looking forward to sharing our adventures with you here on the blog and my social media platforms. Please be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram. 

Thank you again for a great day, and happy new year to all my students and their families! Enjoy every moment...it's going to fly by! 

Love, 
Mrs. M