Guide Dogs and Multiplication

Last week most of the grade 3/4 classes had a visit from a guide dog in training! A puppy learning how to be a guide dog for blind people came to our classes, along with the volunteer training her. Students learned about the importance of volunteers in our community, about some of the important commands the dogs need to learn to help keep their person safe, and about ways our community can accommodate the needs of blind people. My favourite was watching Ria play tug of war, but then stop instantly at a single command! The dogs were so smart, and not even one year old!


We are continuing our exploration of multiplication, with a focus on arrays. Students are learning how to represent multiplication visually. You can find out more about arrays HERE - try practicing at home! Set up arrays of canned food or shoes or other household items, and have your child practice figuring out how many there are using a strategy like skip counting, doubling, or repeated addition.

It is important for students to know their "fast facts" (be able to solve multiplication up to 10x10, or 5x5 for grade 3s), but it is more important for them to understand what multiplication means. We are focusing on having students represent multiplication in different ways, and explaining how it can be used in real life, rather than on memorizing facts.


Ms. Jaques's class is going on weekly walks to Barb Scott park, where we engage in our regular learning! Last week we wrote poetry and had phys ed, and this week we will be doing some art and listening to a read aloud. Students are connecting with a new place in our community and getting outside more. Thanks to all the parents who are able to volunteer to make this happen!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Video Messages from your Teachers

Hi grade 3/4! We all miss you so much, we created these short videos to say hi. We'd love to hear from you, send us an email soon if you can! Mrs. Clark's Video, Room 301: Ms. Hammadieh's Video, Room 302:  Ms. Sinclair's Video, Room 303: Ms. Jaques's Video, Room 304: Ms. Sarah's Video, Room 305:
Read more

Pysanky Eggs

Image
This past month in Social Studies, and for the next three months, each class has been focussed on exploring one country. Each class will delve into either Ukraine, Tunisia, India, or Peru for one month before moving onto the next. (Ask your child what country they studied in February and what unique things they learned about that culture.) Throughout February, Ms. Sinclair's class was researching Ukraine. We looked at landforms, animal life, agriculture, language, and many aspects of Ukrainian culture. To end the month we created Pysanky Eggs, which is a traditional art project involving decorating and dying eggs. Students each explained the process of Pysanky, looked at the significance of the traditional symbols, and designed their own egg.  Things then got messy and fun as we decorated, dyed, and blew out our eggs so that only the colourful shell remained!  Have a look at some of our beautiful creations! 
Read more

October 22

Image
Skip Counting Students in Ms. Jaques's class have been practicing skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s. We are working on starting at different numbers, not multiples (for example, count by 5s starting at 26). We are also using skip counting circles to see the patterns and similarities in skip counting. Look at our beautiful patterns! Game Redesign Students in Mrs. Clark's class participated in Game Redesign of a patterning question involving animals and food they would be collecting.  Examples were Bunnies and Carrots and Fish in the Coral.  They shared their redesign and open ended games with their peers for Grade 3/4 Game Day. Community Walk We have continued to explore the meaning of home to us by venturing out into the neighborhood with our Walking Field Trip to Lougheed House. We used both photography, sketching and journalling to share our perspectives on "where we can find home in our community."
Read more