Year 3 focus on doubling and halving
6th October 2017
Our focus for Maths this week has been doubling and halving. The children have been using the diamond method to double two and three digit numbers. This involves the children using their knowledge of place value to partition the number into tens and units or hundreds, tens and units. Once they have done this they double each one and then bring them all back together for the final answer. Why not get your child to show you what to do? The children have also been encouraged to make the link between doubling and multiplying by 2, halving and dividing by 2.
The children have ended the week with an investigation. Working in pairs the children had to decide on a target number. This is the total that both players are trying to make.
Player 1 throws the dice. S/he can choose whether to double the number shown or halve the number shown. Player 2 then throws the dice. In the same way, s/he can choose whether to double the number shown or halve the number shown. Player 2 adds his/her number on to Player 1's number to make a running total. Play continues like this with each player rolling the dice, halving or doubling the number and adding the result onto the running total. The winner is the player who reaches the agreed target exactly. The children had to think about whether or not it made any difference if they went first or second or if any particular target is good to choose. Why not have a go at home?