April 14

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• All Star Reading-  We are busy working our way to a baseball game against the HC Varsity team!  Books read for reading minutes count for this as well.  
• April 19 (Wednesday)- Chapel.  All of the 3rd grade class (my room and Mrs. DeZwaan's) will be leading chapel.  A few students have speaking parts and will be leading in prayer or scripture verses.  The rest of the time we will be singing praise and worship songs with the school.  Feel free to join us if you are able.  Chapel is at 10:20 a.m.  
• April 25 (Tuesday)- Spring Program at the High School gym starting at 6:30.  Please bring your child to Main Street in the High School between 6:05-6:15 so I can line them up for the program.  We have been busy practicing at school and it is going to be a great night!
• April 26 (Wednesday)- POD service project.  All POD groups will be going to the organization they volunteered at in the fall to serve in our community.  We will be out of the building for the afternoon that day.  This is an afternoon that we look forward to using our discipleship practices of servant living and community growing.  
• Book Orders:  I sent home two new flyers today and plan on placing one last order for the year on April 24.  Feel free to look at different grade levels online as well.  Just click on the Scholastic link on the top right hand corner of the blog.  All payments can be done online or you can write a check to Scholastic, send in the order, and I will place it for you.  
• May 10 and 11 (Wednesday and Thursday)- We will be dismissing at 11:30 for Tulip Time.  Thursday is the day we walk in the parade and will stay at school for lunch and then take a school bus to the parade route.  More information will be coming home soon about this.

Curriculum Highlights:
Devotions:  Several friends ended our student led devotions.  We had great reminders of God's love from Hayden F., Hayden D., Taylor, and Micah.  This students loved leading devotions and I am incredibly proud of all of them.

Reading:  We have begun mystery book clubs.  Each day students are busy discussing witnesses, suspects, clues, and even red herrings that are occurring in their books.  If the assigned reading is not completed in class you will see the book come home.  Any book club reading that is done at home may count for the 125 reading minutes for the week.  This will also work to complete the mystery inning for all star baseball.

Writing:  This week we worked on a faith based writing called How I know God is Real.  We brainstormed and wrote down ideas on how we see God in nature, scripture, and our lives.  We have narrowed down what we want to focus on in our writing and will be working on our rough drafts next week.

Math:  We have begun a new unit dealing with story problems.  We are reading carefully to determine which operation we need to use and to decipher exactly what the question is asking of us.  We are working our way into two step problems.  This week we drew a lot of pictures to help us understand the problems.

Bible:  All of our lessons this week focused on Jesus' walk to the cross.  Take some time to review the Easter poster your child created in class this week and discuss the importance of each event.  This was very meaningful for so many students.

Social Studies:  We are learning about the history of Michigan.  This week we talked about historians and how they use clues and artifacts to help them learn more about history.  We began discussing the Hopewell tribe and will continue next week with the tribes of the three fires.

May you have a blessed Easter weekend,
Lynae

March 23

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• Reading minutes will still come home next week.  However, during spring break recording reading minutes will not be required.  I do hope your child enjoys a good book while on break!  I will take them to the library the Thursday before spring break to check out some new books.  
• No word work next week due to the shorter week
• Monday and Wednesday- Conferences from 4:00-8:00 p.m.  I will do my best to respect your time and stick as closely as possible to the scheduled time you requested.
• Tuesday, March 28- We will be watching the 6th graders perform their forensic poems.
• March is reading month!  Keep on filling out the Whitecaps reading form and turn it in after spring break if you would like to receive vouchers to attend a Whitecaps game this summer.  
• March 31- April 7- Spring Break
• April 25 (Tuesday)- The SS and PR spring program will take place at the High school in the evening. 

Pictures from our field trip to Outdoor Discovery Center:

March 17

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• Reading minutes due Monday
• Work work will be given on Monday with a test on Friday.
• March 22- (Wednesday) We will be going to the Outdoor Discovery Center from 8:30-2:30 to learn about Native American lifeways and voyageurs.  Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather and has a bag lunch that day.  Thank you to Shelley Plaggemars, Sara Wierenga, Christi Nadig, and Jamie Dannenberg for coming along with us.
• March 21-Coffee Connections for 3rd grade has been rescheduled for this date.  
• March 24-(Friday) Report cards will come home.
• March 24- Matthew 28:1-10 is due
• March 27 and 29- Conferences.  I look forward to meeting with all of you!  I will do my best to respect everyone's time and will stick closely to the time slots that you signed up for.  
• March is reading month!  Keep on encouraging your child to fill out the Whitecaps Reading sheet if you care to receive tickets to a baseball game.  
• March 31-April 7- Spring break

Curriculum Highlights:
Devotions: A big thank you to Norah, Lane, and Ben for leading us this week in devotions.  We have had such a cool variety of ways to spend time with God.  The kids are really enjoying leading the class in this way.

Literacy: It is more of the same with our nonfiction unit!  This week we focused on writing a chapter on how we see God's creativity in our animals.  We also wrote our introduction to our chapter books.

Math:  We finished our fraction unit this week and took our test today.  Instead of starting a new unit before Spring Break I am going to focus on some intense work with students who are not solid on their math facts. We will also be doing some logic problems, challenge math assignments, and review.

Social Studies:  We have wrapped up our unit on Michigan's economy.  This week we talked about public goods and services and how we pay for these things.  We covered concepts like fees, fines, and taxes.  We will start the history of Michigan next week.

Bible:  Moses continues to lead his people through the wilderness in our Exodus reading.  We are placing ourselves in the shoes of an Israelite child and writing a journal as we go on the journey to the promise land.  This week we wrote about Moses striking the rock to get water and about the battle with the Amalekites.  Our Bible memory continues to be Matthew 28:1-10 and is due on March 24.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Lynae

March 10

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• Tonight is Fun Night!  See you at Pine Ridge from 5:30-8:00.  It will be a great evening of fun!
• Reading Minutes are due on Monday.
• Word Work will come home on Monday with a test given on Friday.
• March 15- In our POD groups we will be doing a reading share.  Students are encouraged to bring a favorite picture book from home to read to a friend in the pod groups.  I will have several picture books to choose from as well at school.
• March 17- Math test on our fraction unit
• March 17- End of the 3rd Quarter
• March 22- We will be going to the Outdoor Discovery Center from 8:30-2:30.  We will be learning about Native American lifeways and voyageurs.  Students will need to be dressed for the weather.  Also make sure your child has a bag lunch and drink that day.  Thank you to Christi Nadig, Sara Wierenga, Jamie Dannenberg, and Shelley Plaggemars for coming with us!
• Spring Conferences:  March 27 and March 29 from 4:00-8:00.  Many of you have already signed up and I look forward to meeting with you!  If these times do not work for your schedule, please contact me so we can arrange another time to meet.  
• March is reading month!  Keep on filling out the Whitecaps reading sheet if you would like your child to earn vouchers for free tickets to a Whitecaps baseball game.  Any reading minutes for class can count for the Whitecaps reading as well.  :)
• March 31-April 7- Spring Break

Curriculum Highlights:

Devotions:  Thank you to Isaac and Adi for leading us in devotions this week.

Math:  We have been busy comparing fractions, placing them on number lines, looking at equivalent fractions, and solving story problems involving fractions.  Our Math test on this unit is scheduled for next week Friday.  I sent home the math review test today and this is due back to school on Thursday, March 16.

Literacy: We focused this week on revising and editing our behaviors and defenses paragraph for our nonfiction book.  We also researched interesting facts on our animals and began to create our chapter for this as well.  Our mornings are so busy with this nonfiction book and everyone is so focused!

Bible:  This week we saw how the Israelites were quick to complain when the water at Marah was bitter and once again when they were hungry in the dessert.  We talked about how we are a lot like the Israelites and that we complain quickly too.  Yet, we see how God always provides for His people and we know that he always provides for us too.

Making Manna!

Social Studies:  This week we learned about specialization, trade, imports and exports, as well as Michigan's economic future.  We had quite the discussion on Wind Turbines and how they provide us with a natural energy but yet many students do not want them close to where they live or play because they don't like how they look and change the landscape.  Did your child ask you what you thought?  :)

Creating a web dealing with specialization

Have a great weekend!
Lynae

March 3

The Holland Sentinel came this week to see what we do in 3rd grade and
took this picture of our class.  

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• Reading Minutes due on Monday.
• Math homework will come home on Monday and will be due on Friday.
• Word work will come home on Monday and our test will be on Friday.
• March 9- The 3rd graders have been invited the attend a dress rehearsal of the 8th grade play The Secret Case of Sherlock Holmes.   We will be at the Middle School from approximately 12:45-2:30.  
• March 10- Fun Night will be at Pine Ridge from 5:30-8:00.  We need lots of volunteers to make this night possible.  If you are able to help, please sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090848abad2ea31-funnight.  It would also be appreciated if 3rd graders brought in regular size candy bars to be used for prizes.  Any donations can be brought to the office.  
• March 17- End of the 3rd Quarter
• March 22 (Wednesday)-Our class will be going to the Outdoor Discovery Center.  We will be learning about Native American lifeways and voyageurs.  We will be leaving school around 8:30 in the morning and returning by 2:30.  Students will be spending the majority of the day outdoors and will need to be dressed appropriately.  They will also need a sack lunch and drink.  I am able to take 3 parent volunteers along.  Please let me know if you would like to come.  
• Spring conferences:  These will be held on Monday, March 27 and Wednesday, March 29 from 4:00-8:00 p.m.  Sign-ups begin on March 6 at 8:00 a.m.  If you are leaving early for spring break and would like to schedule an earlier conference, please contact me and we will arrange for a different time.  
• March is reading month!  A Whitecaps form came home on Thursday with your child.  Have them fill in the number of minutes they read each evening (15 minutes are required) and then return it to me at the end of the month to receive a voucher for free tickets to a Whitecaps game.  Your child's Reading minutes for class may gladly count for this as well!
• Take a look for us in the Holland Sentinel this weekend!  We had a reporter in our room this week to see what we do in 3rd grade at Pine Ridge.  The article should be published in this Sunday's newspaper.  :)

Curriculum Highlights:

Devotions:  A big thanks to Camryn and Cole for leading us in Devotions this week.  Chris DeZwaan and I also did a special devotional on Ash Wednesday to remind the students of remembering the gift of Jesus dying for us, forgiving us of our sins, and that we are so loved.  

Literacy:  We continued this week with our nonfiction research.  This week we focused on the behaviors and defenses of our animals.  Everyone is finding a lot of information, organizing their notes into cause and effect, and working on the rough draft of the chapter.  Each day it is so quiet in the room as everyone is fully engaged in the research.  It is awesome to watch and be part of!

Math:  We have begun a new unit on Fractions.  This week most of our work was hands on with manipulatives and fraction strips.  We covered what a numerator and denominator are, how to split a whole into equal parts, and how to locate fractions on a number line.

Bible:  This week we saw God lead the Israelites across the Red Sea and how His faithfulness continues to his people.  The students placed themselves into the shoes of an Israelite child and wrote a great journal entry on how they felt as they crossed the Sea.  We also began our new Bible memory passage of Matthew 28:1-10.

Social Studies:  We are focusing on Michigan's economy.  This week we learned about manufacturing, specialization, exporting and importing goods, and interdependence on other states and countries to supply things that we need.

Playing a Social Studies game with our friends

Have a wonderful weekend!
Lynae