Patterning

We will be starting to discuss patterning over the next few weeks. The students will have the opportunity to extend, create, and explain various patterns. We will look at repeating, growing, and shrinking patterns. There are many attributes that can be used when creating repeating patterns (size, shape, colour, numbers, letters, direction). When creating growing and shrinking patterns the students are expected to determine the pattern rule. For example; a student may create a pattern that starts at 32 and adds 3 each time. Geometric growing and shrinking patterns prove to be more difficult to grasp. If you wish for your child to practice working with geometric growing patterns you can do a Google search of 'geometric growing patterns' and there will be many samples to work with. 

The students will be introduced to many new vocabulary words throughout the unit.

Core: the part of a repeating pattern that repeats (AABAABAAB......AAB is the core of this pattern)

Term: each 'stage' in a pattern 

(5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30.... each number is a term)

T-Chart: a graphic organizer to help organize data in a growing or shrinking pattern

Pattern Rule: the rule for a growing or shrinking pattern describing how a term increases or decreases each time. 

(24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42, 45, 48, 51, 54. The pattern rule is start at 24 and add 3 each time.)

As an extra challenge some students are starting to explore 2 step  pattern rules. This is where the student creates a pattern rule with 2 steps. For example; start at 7 add 5 subtract 2. 7, 10, 13, 16, 19. 

Some students are starting to explore patterning by using multiplication. 

Our student led math inquiry is working beautifully in grade 3. The students are excited to learn math and are asking very interesting questions. 

Keep the math talk going at home. Where can you use math on a daily basis. Tweet @mzmousseau with different ways of using math on a daily basis. (Hint: by the time you leave for school you have already used every strand in math: number sense, measurement, geometry, patterning, algebra, data management, probability, spatial sense.)