Tara Bonewitz, 3rd Grade Teacher, Keystone Elementary
Third Graders learn many different math concepts throughout the year. Such as building knowledge of fractions, understanding multiplication and division concepts, multiplying and dividing numbers within 100, telling time to the nearest minute as well as elapsed time, and finding the area and perimeter of a variety of shapes.
Geometry concepts and understanding the attributes of quadrilaterals and polygons is our current focus. Students use manipulatives and a variety of hands-on activities to build their understanding of these concepts. They classify and compare various shapes based on the number of sides, number of right angles, sets of parallel sides, and identify if a shape has equivalent sides. Students then apply this knowledge in constructing shapes based on attributes given. These are all important foundational skills that 3rd Graders learn and will continue to build upon as they move on to 4th grade and beyond.