News from Yr 3/4

We have hit the ground running this term in Maths. The students have been learning about place value. They have been learning a lot of 3-digit numbers, 4-digit numbers and some have even been exploring 5-digit numbers. Concrete materials are always a great way to explore connections in Maths. We have been using MAB blocks to help demonstrate place value. Modelling and representing numbers using MAB blocks further supports children’s understanding of numbers as they are physically engaging with the materials which can be much more meaningful than visual displays. I love providing students with opportunities to construct a rich understanding of Maths concepts this way.

Here are a couple of pictures of two students using MAB blocks to make 2-digit and 3-digit numbers. 

We love to use brain breaks as a way to transition between lessons and give children a chance to rest mentally. Brain breaks can relieve stress and the frustrations students can have when jumping from one lesson straight into the next. The benefits of these short breaks allow children to be more focused and productive. They are also of benefit if you notice that the children are becoming restless in the current lesson. Being able to return to a task after a quick game can also build self-confidence and self-esteem.

In my classroom, we love to get up and move around so I use videos on YouTube called Just Dance. They are a range of songs with a character who demonstrates a dance. The idea is that the kids follow along with the dance moves. I love watching the kids get up and give it their best effort, following along with the actions - which can be challenging sometimes.

Below is a video from one of our favourite dance videos.

Persistence is a habit of mind that is not an easy thing to teach but has many benefits. This habit of mind is all about continuing at challenging tasks rather than giving up. The best thing to do when you get stuck is to stop and analyze the situation to figure out the best way to approach a solution. It is easy to give up, but we want to teach children that giving up is not the best option to handle a problem.

 I have been teaching my students to move away from phrases such as “I can’t do this,” or “this is too hard.” Instead, changing their way of thinking to “I don’t know yet,” or “how can I approach this differently?” 

This week, the students learned about the skill of persistence. Their task was to create a tower of cards under time constraints. The kids found it very difficult to keep the tower in place. We had mixture of responses from “this is impossible!” to “this isn’t working, let’s try this instead.”

It was great to see how the kids tackled this challenge and what strategies they came up with to built the tallest tower of cards.

Kind regards

Mr Tom Brophy

MLC Classroom Teacher