Maker's Week

This week was a highlight for so many students!  There was so much joy and excitement in creating, making, and discovering new things.  As a teacher I loved seeing the creativity and enthusiasm that this week brought.  Make sure to ask your child about the special activities they took part in each day!

Upcoming events:

• Reading Minutes due Monday
• Word work test on Friday
• Seusville Fun Night- March 18- To help keep costs down, third grade students are asked to bring in regular size candy bars to use with some of the games.  Please contribute if you are able.  
• Conferences will be March 28-30.  Sign-up information will be coming soon.
• Spring Break- March 31-April 8

Here is brief look what we have been doing in 3rd grade!  Our class time this week was short due to Maker's activities and the snow day.  :)

Literacy:  We worked through our chapter this week on survival skills for our animals.  For most students this was a 2-4 paragraph chapter and took a lot of work to organize.  We spent a lot of time this week editing our work with a partner and making sure that we are writing in complete sentences and also starting with a strong main idea sentence for each paragraph.  

Bible:  We read through and discussed the 10 plagues this week.  What an powerful God we serve and we see this as the plagues are sent to Egypt.  We talked a lot about Pharaoh's hard heart.  As a class we prayed that our hearts remain soft so that we can share Jesus' love and His incredible story with others.  

Social Studies:  We have become historians and are busy studying the history of Michigan.  This week we learned about primary and secondary clues as well as studying the Hopewell tribe.  

Math:  We will begin our new unit on fractions next week. 

Blessings!

Lynae

February 19

Maker's week is next week!  Your child will be participating each afternoon in a Maker's activity at Pine Ridge.  I presented all of the different options to your children today and they chose their top choices to participate in.  The class is excited to do something new, creative, and hands-on!

Upcoming dates:

• Reading Minutes due Monday
• Word work returns on Monday.  Our test will be on Friday.
• Psalm 121 due on Monday
• Seussville Fun Night- March 18 A pink sheet came home today explaining the details.
• Conferences will be March 28-30.  Sign up information will come home soon.
• Spring Break March 31-April 8

Literacy:  We wrote our habitat chapters this week.  It took us several days to organize all of our information into boxes and bullets, create main idea sentences, and then to create paragraphs for our habitat chapter.  We then edited with our writing partners and created our final copy.  Whew!  The nonfiction books are time consuming and very detailed, but everyone is focused and on-task!

Bible:  We have begun the book of Exodus.  We have read about the birth of Moses and we see God's hand in his life as he is brought from the Nile river by Pharoah's daughter, flees from Egypt, and then is called by God to return and talk to Pharaoh.  We see God reminding us that he is the I AM and that he always comes though on his word.

Math:  We completed our unit on multi-digit addition and subtraction on Friday.  Due to Maker's week next week I will not begin our new Math unit.  Rather we will have a few short review math lessons.

Social Studies:  We completed our unit on the Economy of Michigan this week.  We learned about public goods and services and how these are paid for through fines, fees, and taxes.  The boys and girls have a whole new appreciation for the taxes that you pay!  :)  We began our new unit on the History of Michigan and are enjoying the book Traders in Time  for our read aloud which takes place in Michigan and focuses on Michigan history.

Blessing to you!
Lynae

February 5, 2016

We had a full week of learning!  Here is what we have been doing.

Hat Day! I love this group.

Bible:  We concluded our unit this week on Joseph and saw how God reunited his family.  We talked about how God often tells us to wait and trust in Him.  We see this throughout the stories of Joseph and Jacob.  Isn't it amazing how God has the perfect plan for us?  Sometimes we can't see it or understand why, but He knows the big picture and we need to trust.

Math:  We are busy adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers with regrouping.  We have worked our way to story problems and are reading carefully to figure out what operation we need to use.  We played a math game with regrouping this week with Mrs. DeZwaan's class and had a lot of fun with our friends.

Social Studies:  We learned about many goods and services that are produced and provided in Michigan.  We then learned how we are interdependent on many other states and countries for goods we do not produce.  We had a lot of fun using our map skills as well this week.

Literacy: Each child began researching the animal he or she chose to learn more about.  We decided as a class what we want our chapters to be in our nonfiction books and completed our table of contents.  We have begun to read books, magazine articles, and internet sites about our animals.  As the students read they write down what they are learning and we will organize all of this information into our books.  This is intense work and the students LOVE it!

Valentine's Party:  On Thursday, February 11, I will hold a Valentine party with the kids.  I sent home a class list of names today so your child can address a valentine for everyone in our room.  Thank you go Laura Petroelje for bring in drinks for the class.  If anyone cares to bring in a snack, please let me know. :)

Upcoming Dates:

• Reading minutes due on Monday.
• No word work next week due to four days of school.  I will be reassessing your child in spelling during this time to see the growth he/she has made on high frequency words.
• Valentine Party, February 11.
• No School, February 12.  Staff Development
• No School, February 15.  Winter Break
• Maker's week February 22-26

Fondly,

Lynae

January 29

Here is what we have been up to this week in 3rd grade!

Literacy:  We continued to study nonfiction this week.  As we read, we place the information we are learning into different text structures such a flowcharts, comparison charts, timelines, boxes and bullets, and cause and effect.  The students are getting really good at reading for detail and organizing their thoughts into a text structure that makes sense to them.  We will begin research on an animal next week.  Thank you to Alicia Plockmeyer for reading with us this week.

Bible:  This week we began studying Joseph.  We learned how he was the favorite son of Jacob and how his brothers sold him.  Joseph is able to interpret dreams and he give God all of the credit for this.  We read about him interpreting dreams for the cupbearer, baker and Pharaoh this week.  We continue to see how God doesn't forget about his children but is always with us.  We will begin Psalm 121 next week.

Social Studies:  We have begun a new unit called The Economy of Michigan.  This week we focused on resources in Michigan as well as scarcity and opportunity costs.  Shopping at the 4th grade market day gave us a great jump start on our class discussions for this unit!

Math:  We worked at multi-digit addition with regrouping this week.  The students needed to be able to prove their work was correct with a proof drawing.  We also played a few math games dealing with addition and place value.

Devotions:  A big thank you to Joshua and Brayden in leading the class in devotions this week!

Upcoming Dates:

• We will be having a class Valentine Party on Thursday, February 11 from 2:20-3:00.  The students will have time to pass out valentines to their friends and we will have a small snack.  I will have a few activities planned for them.  If anyone would like to bring the snack or drink let me know.
• No School February 12- Staff Development day
• No School February 15- Winter Break
• February 22-26- Maker's Week
• Reading Minutes due Monday
• Word Work test on Friday

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lynae

January 22

I can hardly believe we are over halfway through the school year already.  Your child is coming home with his/her report card today.  Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Here is what we are working on in third grade:

Literacy: We continue working in nonfiction. This week we learned how to find the meaning of unknown words by using context clues, the glossary, and getting familiar with the dictionary.  We also studied parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) as we learned how to use the dictionary.  We began looking at the sequential structure of informational texts and using a flow chart to organize our learning.  Thank you to Joni DeHann for coming in to read with us this week.

Math:  This week we began place value up to the thousands. The students are building numbers by placing digits in the correct place value column and then drawing pictures of what that number looks like. We have also begun to do place value word problems and estimating to the nearest hundred.

Bible:  We continued to study Jacob this week.  We saw how he deceived Labon into getting the best of the flocks and then how Jacob fled from Labon.  We studied the reunion of Jacob and Esau and looked at how Jacob has both deceived others but has also been tricked himself.  On Friday we took an assessment to finish this unit.  We continue to practice Psalm 1 each day.

Science:  We took all of our notes on beetles and crayfish and combined it with what we have been learning about Main ideas and supporting details in literacy.  We worked on creating a web on our ipads to show some of the information that we learned.  

Devotions:  A big thank you to Trenton and Aidan in leading devotions this week.  The class loves student lead devotions and so do I.


Upcoming Events/Dates:

• Report Cards came home today
• Psalm 1 Due January 29
• Reading Minutes Due Monday
• We will be having a Body Safety Presentation on January 27.  A paper came home explaining the details.  Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.  
• Wacky Wednesday Schedule:
• January 27- Mismatch Day
• February 3- Hat Day
• Fourth graders are learning about Economics by producing and selling their own products. Next week Wednesday, January 27 fourth grade invites all Pine Ridge students to visit their Market Day! Products range in price from $0.50 to $2.00. We recommend that buyers bring no more than $5.00 to spend. 
• Music Note from Mrs. Boer - This is what we learned this quarter.....*Two hymns of the month - Keep What You Have Believed & various Christmas songs.*Our theme song - All the People Said Amen*The Star-Spangled Banner & Fifty Nifty United States*The definition of Musical Form and some examples.  We will begin recorders soon! If you don't already have a soprano recorder for your child, you may pick one up in the office for $5.

Blessings,
Lynae

January 15, 2016

Happy Friday to you!  Here is a look at what we did this week in 3rd grade.

Literacy:  We continued our nonfiction unit by practicing more with main ideas and supporting details.  The students did a lot of partner work where they would read a paragraph, identify the main idea and all of the supporting details.  The students are working hard at writing out the main idea and supporting details in complete sentences.  At the end of the week we moved into boxes (main idea) and bullets (supporting details) to organize our information.  Everyone is working hard and I am pleased with their progress.  Thank you to Marisa Brinks for coming in to read with us this week.

Math:  We completed our unit on time, measurement, and graphing and took our final test.  Overall the class did a nice job on this unit.  We will start a new unit next week dealing with multidigit addition and subtraction.

Science:  This week we learned about habitats, physical characteristics, behaviors, animal defenses and interesting facts.  As we talk about each new category students organize all of their  post-it notes that they wrote observations on about the beetles and crayfish.  We are busy rereading and organizing our data in preparation to create a web on our ipads to show what we have learned.

Bible:  We studied Jacob this week and how he tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing instead of his brother.  The class continued to follow this story as Jacob has a dream at Bethel and then goes on to his Uncle Laban's house.  We see him marry Leah and Rachel and yet even though Jacob doubts God at times, God continues to show his faithfulness to him.  We see God's love and grace being poured out in our Bible stories.  This group just loves to read from the Bible and every day we took turns reading aloud and having great discussions on the stories we read.

Devotions:  A huge thank you to Spencer and Barrett for starting us off this week with student lead devotions.  They did a wonderful job!

A few pics of the kids all cozy on pajama day!

Upcoming Dates:

• Reading Minutes due Monday.
• The end of the quarter is today.  Report cards will be coming home on January 22.
• Word work test will be given on Friday.
• Psalm 1 is our new Bible memory.  We review every day in class but reading it over at home will be helpful as this is a new passage to most students.
• Wacky Wednesday Schedule:
• January 20- Crazy Hair Day
• January 27- Mismatch Day
• February 3- Hat day
• Preschool and Kindergarten discovery night is January 19 at Southside from 6:00-7:30.  Please share your Holland Christian story with your friends and neighbors and encourage them to come and check out our school.  
• I sent home a couple of book order flyers in case you are interested in ordering any books for your child.  Simply click on the "Scholastic" link at the top of the blog and it will take you to my school account to place an order.   I will submit the order on January 28.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lynae

Happy New Year!!

Welcome back!  We have had a very fun week of learning and everyone has settled back into the routine nicely.  Here is a look at what we have been doing.

Literacy:  We have begun a nonfiction unit in both Reading and Writing.  This week we went to the library several times and picked out nonfiction books of interest that are at the reading levels of each child.  We learned about text features and how we need to look these over and "rev up" before we start reading.  We focused on paraphrasing sections that we read in our nonfiction text.  (This is a tough concept, but the class did really well with it).  We also began learning about the main idea of a section and the supporting details.  As we read, the students are writing out the main idea from each section.  This is a lot of intense reading and writing, but the class loves it.  Thank you to Becky Spykerman for coming in to read with us this week as well.

Bible:  We continued reading in the book of Genesis this week.  We saw God's faithfulness continue as Abraham sends a servant to find a wife for Isaac.  We looked at the birth of Jacob and Esau and we talked about Esau's choice in selling his birthright to his brother for a bowl of stew.  We also saw how God continues to keep his promises to Isaac after the death of Abraham.
Our new Bible memory is Psalm 1.  We have covered verses one and two in class this week.

Math:  We had a big review of time and measurement when we returned from break.  We have moved on in our unit to graphing.  We focused this week on pictographs, horizontal and vertical bar graphs, line plots, frequency tables, and creating our own graphs.  I sent a review test home with the class on Thursday.  Please have your child return this by next week Tuesday.  If any problems are confusing to them, circle the problem and I will reteach it to your child.  Our test on this unit will be on Wednesday, January 13.

Science:  We have begun a new unit called Organisms Have Character.  This week we built a woodland and freshwater habitat and added several different creatures to each.  (I am hoping you heard all about them!)  We spent time reading informational texts on these habitats, observing, and watching video clips to learn more about these animals.  Dealing with beetles, cockroaches, and crayfish sure is exciting to this group! :)  Our learning was messy but so fun and meaningful.

Devotions:  A purple note came home in your child's homework folder on Thursday announcing when your child will be leading devotions in our classroom.  The kids are excited about this and I look forward to starting next week.

Upcoming dates and information:

• A message from the Lacrosse parent team:  We will be holding an informational meeting on January 18 at 7:00 p.m. at HCHS Lecture Hall for all 3rd-6th graders interested in HC lacrosse.

• Wacky Wednesdays are back!  Here is the schedule:
• January 13- Pajama Day
  January 20- Crazy Hair Day
• January 27- Mismatch Day
• February 3- Hat Day

• Reading Minutes due Monday
• Our Math test will be on Wednesday, January 13.  The review test is due on Tuesday, January 12 so we can go over it together.
• Bible Memory is Psalm 1
• Work Work Test will be given on Friday.  
• Preschool and Kindergarten discovery night are January 19 at South Side and January 21 at Rose Park from 6:00-7:30.   Please tell your Holland Christian experience to your friends and neighbors and encourage them to come and check out our school!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Lynae