J3 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

• Support students’ independent reading by co-creating a space for reading at home. Reading at home is expected for J3 students. You might ask your child where in your home they feel most comfortable reading, and if they prefer to be sitting upright at a table or desk, or if they like to read on a soft couch or on a bed. Does your reader like pillows? Soft music that doesn’t have lyrics? White noise? Designing a space that’s personalized can help make reading more enjoyable. 

• Set up times for side-by-side reading. When you read your own book, newspaper or magazine alongside your child as he or she reads, you’re doing many things at once. You’re modeling how adults can make time for reading, and also showing that you trust that third graders have their own reading to do: that you don’t always have to read to them.

• Read aloud longer chapter books as a family. Third graders are on the cusp of being able to read longer and more complicated stories; most of them can’t quite read these kinds of books on their own yet. But the support of hearing the book read aloud, and stopping to talk about the twists and turns and to remember who’s who - this can make books that are more independently appropriate for fourth graders more accessible to younger readers. An example of this kind of book is the Superfudge series by Judy Blume, or the Geronimo Stilton series.

• Encourage your child to teach you what they know and are learning. Third graders are working on informational writing this term. You can support this work by asking children questions about areas they know a lot about. For example: “Teach me about what you know about Legos. What kinds are there? How do you put them together? What can they make?” These kinds of elaboration are crucial to making information writing detailed and interesting! Practicing in talk helps to build these muscles.

• Ask your child to draw and write instructions for you. This could be instructions for how to set up a game they like to play, or how to prepare a sandwich just the way they like. Anything that has a real-world context they know and care about. Drawing labeled diagrams is just as important as writing out step-by-step directions.

• Collect books about animals and their habitats to read together. Third graders will be studying biomes and the interactions between animals and their environments. There are so many amazing resources for this content. Your public library can help! 

• Visit any of the NYC zoos or the Aquarium. Talk to your child about the settings that the zoo has designed for the animals. How is the environment for the Red Panda different from the setting for the Snow Monkeys? These kinds of conversations will help to deepen kids’ understandings of the relationship of animals to their habitats.

• Connect with National Geographic. Their television shows, magazines and website are all excellent resources. 

The best way to help your child develop a strong number sense is to bring numeracy into your everyday lives through conversation. This can be as simple as asking, “What patterns do you notice?” and “What does that make you wonder?” For example, at the grocery store, “What do you notice about the shelves?” Children may notice the way the boxes or cans are arranged in rows and columns. Then follow up with, “Why do you think they do that?” A great resource to help get you started with math conversations is Math at Home.

• Make 10 This is a card game that your child will play in class. It is based on the classic 'Go Fish" but has a twist - instead of finding matching pairs, you need to find pairs that make a total of 10.

• What are the coins? You will need a group of various coins. Ask your child questions such as, I have three coins in my pocket. They are worth 7 cents. What do I have? (a nickel and 2 pennies). More sample questions here.

• Super Sums You will need playing cards, paper, pencil. Complete instructions here.

• Make the Most of It You will need playing cards for this place value game. See complete instructions here.

• Squeeze Play Another playing card game this time with a focus on difference. Complete instructions here.

J3 is a big year for building new connections in mathematical understanding. It is important for students to use language as a bridge from what they know to the new concepts they are encountering. A great way to practice this is to discuss stories where math plays a role. Here is a list of some children’s books that contain ideas related to our work in this mathematics unit. 

• Create Groups of 10 (can also be changed to practice with other number totals)

• Find the Next Number in a series while playing Whack-a-Mole

• Find the Matching Sums while Playing Addition Concentration

• Game that Uses Colored Balls to Show the Process of Addition

• Practice with Double Facts with a Robin Hood Theme

• Addition Tic Tac Toe

• Math Concentration with two-digit addition

• Braining Camp 

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