P.O.W. – Problem of the Week – Grade 3
Dear Parents,
Each Monday a problem of the week will be sent home with your child. The purpose of this home assignment is to enhance the mathematical thinking of students as they work with a variety of problem types. You should notice growth in your child’s use of strategies and reflection as the year progresses. These problems are for you and your child to work on together. Usually, the problem will relate directly to work we are doing in class and sometimes the problem will be a new challenge. Problem-solving is a very important component of the math curriculum and one that children need a lot of practice with.
Remember that there is usually more than one strategy that can be used to solve a math problem and often there can be multiple solutions. Your child will benefit from working with you as you think out loud about how you would “tackle the problem”. It is also O.K. to say “This problem is kind of complicated for me” or “I am not sure what this problem is asking” because this reinforces that solving problems is more complex than basic math skills like (4+4=8 or 20-10=10). A true math problem is never a straightforward task. Solving problems is usually easier, not to mention, more fun, when more than one “brain” is thinking. Please read the teacher comments from the previous P.O.W. before helping your child with the next one. I will sometimes give alternate strategies/solutions used by other problem solvers. After you work with your child on the weekly problem, please sign the back and make a comment (if you like). Your child will then circle a number on the self-assessment section. Then have your child return the P.O.W. to school and place it back in the P.O.W. bin.
This is assignment will be given to your child on Mondays and are due on Friday. They can be handed in earlier if completed before then. This routine will begin September 24th. Check out the Tips for Parents page. That’s it!! The P.O.W. duotang will be used to keep the problems all together during the year. Happy problem solving!
Miss Watson