PS/IS 686 | Brooklyn, NY

What’s next?

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The ELA exam is behind us, and it is time to look forward. Believe it or not, there are only a few months left in our third grade school year!

We are looking ahead to take the New York State Math exam in May. In math we are continuing our unit of study on Fractions. This week, we will be working on fractions of a set of objects. For example:

Frances has twelve apples. She eats 1/3 of her apples and gives the rest to her friends. How many apples does Frances give to her friends?

The idea of fractions of a set is closely related to the operation of division. You need to consider the total set (12) and divide it into 3 equal parts (12/3= 4 apples). In this case, 1/3 is also equivalent to 4/12 (4 apples out of the set of 12 apples). Important ideas of equivalence are developed when considering fractions of a set or group of objects.

Students will be working on open-ended investigations in which they find all the possible ways to divide a set into fractional parts. For example, what are all the ways you can divide 42 into fractional parts. Is it possible to have 1/5 of 42 objects? Why or why not? Students need to justify their thinking based on what they know about factor and multiple relationships, as well as division.

Since the math exam is approaching, you will see your child’s homework shifting. You will see a mixed review of important concepts assessed on the exam.

These important concepts include:

  • telling time to the nearest 5 minutes
  • solving problems using elapsed time
  • rounding numbers to the nearest ten, hundred, or thousand
  • solving multi-step problems using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
  • using the properties of multiplication (commutative, distributive, and the identity element)
  • using arrays to represent and solve multiplication problems
  • solving problems about area and perimeter
  • reading data from a pictograph or a bar graph
  • placing and ordering fractions on a number line
  • solving problems using fractions of a set

 

If you see your child needs support in any of these areas please use the following websites:

https://www.ixl.com/math/grade-3

https://www.eduplace.com/math/mw/practice/lp_3.html

http://www.k5learning.com/free-math-worksheets/third-grade-3

http://www.mathopolis.com/questions/skills.php

http://www.adaptedmind.com/Third-Grade-Math-Worksheets-And-Exercises.html