Friday, April 29, 2016

Outdoor Discovery Center

We had a great day at the Outdoor Discovery Center.  The kids had a great day learning and having fun.  We learned how the Native Americans lived in Michigan, how they built their homes, and the importance of trade.  We also shot darts like the Native Americans would have used for hunting, learned about the French voyagers, and practiced being a voyager in a canoe.  We even tried to make fire!











Upcoming Events:

  • Reading Minutes due Monday
  • Word work test on Friday
  • May 11 (Wednesday) Half day for Tulip time.  Dismissal at 11:30
  • May 12 (Thursday) Half day for Tulip Time.  Students remain at school for lunch (brown bag sent from home) and then head to the parade route by bus.  We will be marching in the Kinderparade in the afternoon.  All students will need a dutch costume to wear.   Many students choose to wear them to school already in the morning.   I will send a parade line-up of the kids as the date approaches.

What we have been doing in 3rd Grade:

Bible:  This week we learned how the Israelites did not trust that God would help them defeat the Canaanites and take the promised land as their own.  We see them doubt God once again and for each day that the spies explored the land of Canaan, the Israelites now need to wander in the desert for a year.  40 Years!  Yet we continue to see how God cares for his people.  We talked about how God wants us to rely fully on Him.   We also continued memorizing Acts 2:1-4.

Reading:  Our mystery book clubs continue!  The students are busy reading several chapters each day and jotting down discussion topics that they then take with them to their book clubs.  Each day a new student is in charge of leading this discussion.  This will continue through next week.

Writing:  We focused on our introductions and life event details for our personal essays this week.  The students are doing a nice job of sticking to the big idea that they have chosen to write about and finding experiences from their own lives to back up their opinion.

Science:  We continued our study of light this week.  We experimented how light interacts differently with different materials.  We studied how shadows are made and how to change the length of a shadow by moving the light source.  We also did an experiment to demonstrate that light is refracted when it travels through air and then water.

Math: This anchor chart is just a taste of what we covered in Math this week.  We are busy learning geometry terms and doing a lot of practice with these on our ipads.  Next week we will continue to work with these polygons as we start finding area and perimeter.


Blessings!
Lynae

Friday, April 22, 2016

April 22, 2015

Upcoming dates:
  • Reading Minutes due Monday
  • Word Work Test on Friday
  • Wednesday- Outdoor Discovery Center.  We will be out of the school from 9-2:30 that day.  Please send your child with a brown bag lunch with their name on it, good walking shoes, and appropriate dress for the weather.
  • May 11 (Wednesday)- Dismissal at 11:30 for Tulip Time
  • May 12 (Thursday)- Half day of class.  Students remain at school for lunch (brown bag sent from home)  and then head to the parade route by bus.  We will be marching in the tulip time parade in the afternoon.  I will send home a line-up of the kids for the parade as the date approaches.

What we have been up to in 3rd Grade:

Bible:  We focused on the tabernacle this week.  To make it real to the kids, Mrs. DeZwaan and I set up the dimensions out on the school yard and then assigned each child to a tribe.  We talked about why the organization of the tabernacle was important and then we read the verses on how the Israelites packed up the tabernacle and traveled to a new location.  As a class, we practiced marching in our tribes as well.  I am sorry that I didn't have my camera on me for photos of this, but I was busy measuring the tabernacle and blowing the trumpet to get kids marching.  :)
We also had Keith Blystra come from the High School and explain more about the tabernacle to the kids.  He did a wonderful job of explaining how God was like a neighbor moving into the Israelite neighborhood.  God's door is always open and the light is always on....just waiting for us to come and spend time with Him.



Math:  We wrapped up our unit on two step story problems this week.  This was a tough unit for many and I was proud of how hard the kids worked.  We took Thursday and Friday to do some logic problems, play some math review games, and do a few fun challenge activities with small groups.  On Monday we will start polygons, perimeter, and area.

Reading: We have finished our first book (or two for some groups) in our mystery book club and will be moving on to the next one in the series.  Continue encouraging your child to read for our upcoming all-star game as well.

Writing:  This week we chose a big idea that we feel strongly about (ex: reach to do the impossible) and created our opinion statements as well as ideas from our own lives to support these statements.

Science:  We have had a fun week doing experiments with light.  This week we learned that light travels in a straight line.  We also played with mirrors and flash lights and learned that we are able to change the direction of light.

Blessings,
Lynae

Friday, April 15, 2016

Spring is in the air!  We were not able to stay inside with this beautiful weather so we moved outside for a Bible lesson, Science experiment, and a read aloud this week.  It puts the entire class in a great mood.  :)  Bring on the sunshine!

A few odds and ends:
Book Orders:  I will place another book order on Friday, April 22.  If you are interested in ordering any books, click on the red scholastic tab on the side of this blog and you will be directed to my scholastic page.  You are free to order from any grade level on this site.

Field trip:  We will be going to the Outdoor Discovery Center on Wednesday, April 27.  We will be out of the building from 9:00-2:30 that day.  Please have your child bring a brown bag lunch with his/her name on it, good walking shoes, and appropriate dress for the weather.

Upcoming Dates:

  • Reading minutes are due Monday
  • Word Work test on Friday
  • Math test REVIEW due Tuesday,  April 19
  • Math test on Wednesday, April 20

Here is what we have been up to in 3rd grade:
Math:  We have been solving two step story problems this week.  Reading carefully is important and these problems take time.  We will finish this unit on Monday, review on Tuesday, and take our test on Wednesday.
Reading:  We have begun Mystery book clubs.  Each day your child meets with his/her book club and discusses their reading from the previous day.  It is amazing to listen to their discussions and to watch them find evidence in their books to support their thoughts.  
Writing:  We have begun our Persuasive Essay unit.  We examined several essays this week and looked for the big idea of the essay and then the evidence to support that big idea. By the end of the week the kids were getting really good at this! 
Bible:  We read about the tabernacle and talked about the importance of the Israelites having a place to worship God.  We drew a diagram and learned about the furnishings that were placed in the tabernacle.  We talked about how God is teaching the Israelites the importance of worshipping him.  Acts 2:1-4 is our new Bible memory.  
Science:  We have begun a new unit called Light and Sound.  This week we focused on light and did several fun experiments.

Blessings,
Lynae