Hour of Code- Computer Science Week 2014

This week we celebrate the Hour of Code in honor of Computer Science Week 2014.  Technology has become such an important part of our society.  Coding is just the language of computers.  It allows us to program computers, robots, etc. to do what we want.  We are very lucky that our technology curriculum will focus on coding during the next few months.  It is great to see the students thinking, planning, and problem-solving as they work with code.  Below is a clip from President Obama reminding us how important coding is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDw1ii7aKwg&feature=youtu.be

On Monday this week we introduced coding and did paper and pencil coding using cup stack problems by Thinkersmith.

The rest of the week we used a website by Code.org that allowed us to work through coding challenges.

On Friday Mr. Withers's (Mrs. Kerian's student teacher) fiancee who is a computer science major in college visited our classroom.  She helped us use the app Tynker on our iPads to practice more coding.  It was great fun and we appreciate her taking time to visit our classroom and share with us.

Perhaps we have the next coding genius in our classroom.........

Math can taste good!

Today we continued to explore measurement by completing "Fruit Roll Math."  It allowed us explore how inches and centimeters explore as well as other measurement conversions.  Enjoy the following pictures....  Math can be very delicious!

Measurement Fun!

In math we are currently working on measuring in both centimeters and inches.  This is a great thing to practice at home also.  Give your child a ruler and send them on a hunt around the house to find different sizes of objects.  We are also working on more precise measurements, so in 3rd grade our math "I Can" statements are:

I can measure to the nearest half centimeter.

I can measure to the nearest half inch.

I can measure to the nearest quarter inch.

Another great thing to be reviewing with your child is measurement conversions.  They should know the following ones.

·      Measurement Concepts to Know

o   12 inches = 1 Foot

o   36 inches =1 Yard

o   3 Feet= 1 Yard

·      10 millimeters = 1 centimeter

·      100 centimeters = 1 meter

·      1 day = 24 hours

·      1 hour= 60 minutes

·      1 minute= 60 seconds

·      1 year = 52 weeks

·      1 year= 365 days (except on Leap Year!)

·      1 decade = 10 years

·      1 century = 100 years

We are also continuing to work on our basic math facts.  In the picture below students are using Moby Max Fact Master (online program) to practice the facts they are currently working on.  Students should know their addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts by the end of 3rd grade.  They should be able to solve them accurately and quickly (within 3-5 seconds).  

Thanks for all your help at home.  I'm blessed to work with your child!