November 11

Upcoming Dates/Events:

• Book Order- I will submit the class book order on November 18.  If you care to order simply click on the Scholastic link at the top of the blog.  It will allow you to order at any grade level.  Please let me know if you want the books for a Christmas gift and I will be sure to not send the books home with your child. :)
• November 16 (Wednesday)- We will be singing to the Residents at Resthaven on 40th.  We will be signing from 1:00- 1:30 (approximently).  Feel free to meet us there and sing along!
• November 23 (Wednesday) - No School due to Staff Development
• November 24-25- Thanksgiving Break
• December 5-16- Swimming lessons at the Aquatic Center.  We will be swimming from 1:25-2:10.
• Reading Minutes due Monday.
• New Word Work will be given on Monday with a test on Friday.
• Book Fair 2016!! Come to Pine Ridge and get some Christmas shopping done early and support our schools libraries!!! The book fair will be held Wednesday the 16th from 10-4, Thursday the 17th from 9-4, and Friday the 18th from 9-4. Credit cards, Checks, and cash are all accepted. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Val Nyhof @ valnyhof@hotmail.com Thank you so much for supporting our young readers and library!!
• Positive Options:  Instead of a student gift exchange for Christmas, Pine Ridge has chosen to collect baby items to give to Positive Options.  A list of items that are needed came home today.  We will hold a special chapel in December where we bless this organization with the items we have collected.

Curriculum Highlights:

Reading:  This week we did a lot of work with post-it notes and becoming more detailed in our "stop and jots."  We created a bookmark to help us remember how to use post-it notes and then spent time practicing this skill.  We also did some comparing/contrasting with the two different read aloud books we have read in class.  

Writing:  We have finished trying on stories for our second personal narrative and committed to a story that we want to write.  Each student has completed a story mountain and will bring this home on Monday.  Have them share his/her story with you with as much detail as possible.  The more we tell our stories, the more we will remember and have to write!

Math:  Measurement has taken over in Math!  We learned how to measure to the 1/4 inch, and now we are busy learning about liquid volume and weight.  Words like pints, gallons, ounces, milliliters, and grams are becoming common words in our classroom.  Our Math is very "hands-on" as we learn what these words mean.  All of this measurement comes back to word problems and we continue to read carefully.

Social Studies: We focused on natural resources this week.  We learned about how we use natural resources in Michigan dealing with land, water, and vegetation.  We looked at places like the salt mines in Detroit and the iron mine up north on Google Earth and talked about the positive and negative consequences of using the natural resources in Michigan. 

Bible: Abraham and Sarah were given Isaac this week in our Bible reading!  We see how God was faithful to Abraham and Sarah and we also see how he kept his promises to Hagar and Ishmael.  We read about Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed and talked about how God desires for a close relationship with us, but we are given the choice to choose this.  We saw how our lives are so much fuller when we spend time with God and choose to let him lead us.  

Have a wonderful weekend!
Lynae