May 26

Last Week Details:

• All library books are due back to Pine Ridge.  Please keep your eyes open for books that belong to my personal school library as well.  My books are leveled and have my name in the front cover.  I will stop sending books home this coming week.
• All homework is done for the year.  Your child is coming home with his/her geometry test today.  This was a tough unit and everyone hung on to the end.  We are enjoying the reward of making tetrahedron kites to finish up math in 3rd grade.
• Monday (May 29)- No school for Memorial Day
• Tuesday (May 30)- Field day in the afternoon at South Side.  We are going rain or shine so dress your child for the weather.  Please be sure to send a water bottle as well.
• Wednesday (May 31)- Our All Star Reading baseball game against the varsity baseball team.
• Thursday (June 2)- Finishing assembly of our tetrahedron kites.
• Thursday (June 2)- Bring a bag to school to carry all of the items from your child's desk and locker home.  
• Friday (June 3)- Our final day in 3rd grade.  We will dismiss at 11:30.  Your child will be coming home with his her report card, baton, and a big piece of my heart.  :)

Curriculum photos:

This week we were busy making our biography posters.  We have spent a lot of time learning about our subjects and we will be presenting these next week.

We also completed our personal essays and are now working on publishing them.  We will also be sharing these next week with our class.

In Bible we had several Reader's Theatre's on the Israelites sending spies into the land of Canaan.  This class LOVES to act!

We are having fun with our kite project.  This will continue all next week.  Thank you to all of the great volunteers who are making this possible for the kids!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lynae

May 19

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• All library materials are due back to Pine Ridge.  Books from my school library may continue to come home this week for reading minutes.  Please be on the lookout for any books with my name in them so they can be returned by the end of the year.  
• Our geometry math unit review came home this week.  This is a tough unit so I am moving very slow.  Our test will be on Wednesday, May 24.  The review is due back to school on Tuesday, May 23.  
• Due to testing reading and spelling levels I have decided to stop reading minutes and word work for the last two weeks.  However, you child will still be coming home with their reading book next week for extra credit reading minutes.  
• Thursday, May 25- I have "Moving Up Day" with the incoming 3rd grade class for one hour.  Your child will enjoy some fun games on the playground at Pine Ridge with the 2nd grade teachers during this time.
• Friday, May 26- We will be making Pods for our tetrahedron kites.  Thank you to all of the volunteers!  I am all set with volunteers.
• Friday, May 26- I will be taking the class to the High School to have a sound demonstration by Scott Vandenberg to finish our Light and Sound unit.  We will be out of the building from 12:40-2:00 or so.
• Monday, May 29 No School due to Memorial day
• May 26-June 1- Working on building/assembling our kites from 8:30-10:30.  
• Tuesday, May 30- Field Day at South Side in the afternoon.  There is no rain date so we plan on going rain or shine!
• Wednesday, May 31- On this day we will have our final POD group as well as our baseball game against the varsity baseball team.
• Friday, June 2- Our last day.  We will dismiss at 11:30.   Your child will be coming home with his/her report card and baton.  

A few pictures of our week:

In Science we worked with tuning forks as we learned about high and low pitch

We created harps and listened to the pitch with different lengths of string as well as different thicknesses.

In Reading we are busy working on our biography unit and creating timelines, character trait charts, and
writing what we have learned about our subject.

Closing convocation

Covering Area and Perimeter in Math

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lynae

May 12

 Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• Thank you to everyone who volunteered this year in the library.  We had our last library time this week.  I am so grateful to all of you who took time out of your schedules to come help us as we checked out books.  You are appreciated!  Library materials are due back to the library next week. The exception is if your child is reading a book for all star reading.  
• This coming week looks fairly "routine".  We will have reading minutes, math homework, and word work.  This will be our final work work for the year.  
• May 16 (Tuesday)- Closing Convocation at the High School gym.  Please come join us at 9:00 as we wrap up the school year as a collective student body.  
• May 19 (Friday)- Our final Bible memory, Galatians 5:22-26 is due.  
• May 23 (Tuesday)- Mr. Haig's 8th grade Bible class will come and perform the book of Acts to our classroom.  
• May 29 (Monday)- No School for Memorial Day
• May 30 (Tuesday)- Field Day in the afternoon at South Side.  
• Tetrahedron Kite Volunteers:  Friday (May 26) and June 1 (Thursday).  Thank you to all of you whom have offered to come and help with the kites!  I am set with volunteers on May 26 but could use one or two more helpers on June 1.  We will be assembling the kites that day from 8:30-10:00 or so.  This is such a fun way to conclude our geometry unit in math!
• All-Star Reading:  We have almost everyone with five innings (book genres) complete which means they are going to be playing ball against the Varsity baseball team!  This reading incentive will continue through the month of May.
• June 2 (Friday)- Our last day of 3rd grade
• Yearbooks:  The South Side/Pine Ridge Yearbook will be arriving soon! If you did not order one with your child's photos, you can still go online and order one now for $8.00 at www.geskusphoto.com. You will then select "Order Yearbook" and follow the prompts after you select our school's name. If you are not sure if you've already ordered one, you may contact the school secretary to check. 

Curriculum Highlights 

We kicked off the week with the 6th grade band marching through the hall to get us ready for Tulip Time!

Bible:  We continued learning about the tabernacle this week and the importance of worshiping God.  Mr. Blystra came to give us a very visual reminder about the importance of this.  

Math:  We continue to learn about polygons, perimeter, area, quadrilaterals, trapezoids, and so much more!  This week we really began to focus on perimeter and area.  Next week we will begin story problems with all of this information.

Literacy:  In Reading we are finishing up our biography reading and looking at the character traits of the person we chose to study.  In writing we began giving evidence from our own life for the opinion essay we chose to focus on.  

Social Studies:  We wrapped up our "History of Michigan" unit this week by learning about the Pioneers and their struggles as they traveled West toward Michigan.  Next week we will begin our final science unit on light and sound.

Mr. Blystra came and gave the 3rd grade class an excellent lesson on the tabernacle.

                                           

All of the 3rd graders with Mr. Blystra

Working on our Journey to Canaan journal entries

Reading Folklores

Everyone working hard!

Reading folklore books with friends

Matching Dutch costumes!

May 5

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• The parent team is hosting a luncheon for the staff on Monday, May 15 and I would love to attend.  Is there someone who would be willing to come in and cover the class during lunch?  I would need you from 11:55-12:15.  Please send me an email if this works for you.
• Next week I will send home reading minutes and math homework but we will not be doing spelling due to lack of time with the Tulip Time parades.  
• Tulip Time: (Wednesday, May 10 and Thursday, May 11)  Both days we will dismiss at 11:30.  On Wednesday your child will need a way home from school.  On Thursday your child will stay at school after dismissal and we will take a bus to the parade route for the Kinderparade.  Your child will need a bag lunch and drink.  All backpacks and school supplies will be left at school on that day.  A blue paper came home in your child's homework folder giving the line-up of our class for the Thursday parade.
• May 16 (Tuesday):  Closing convocation will occur at the High School gym at 9:00.  Please come join us as we wrap up the school year as a whole student body.  
• May 29 (Monday):  No school for Memorial day.
• May 30 (Tuesday):  Field Day at South Side in the afternoon.
• Tetrahedron Kites:  May 26 (Friday) and June 1 (Thursday).  To conclude our final math unit dealing with geometry, we will be making tetrahedron kites.  I am in need of several volunteers to pull this off (especially on that Friday).  If you are able to volunteer from 8:45- 10:30 (or so) please let me know.  A yellow letter came home today explaining the details of these kites.  
• All-Star Reading:  We will continue this reading incentive through the end of May.  Our baseball game against the varsity team will be held during the last week of school.  
• June 2 (Friday):  Our last day of 3rd grade. We will dismiss at 11:30.  Oh, how I am going to miss this group of kids!
• Yearbooks:  The South Side/Pine Ridge Yearbook will be arriving soon! If you did not order one with your child's photos, you can still go online and order one now for $8.00 at www.geskusphoto.com. You will then select "Order Yearbook" and follow the prompts after you select our school's name. If you are not sure if you've already ordered one, you may contact the school secretary to check. 

Curriculum Highlights:

Reading:  We have begun our Biography unit.  This week each child chose a subject to study and began to look at the decisions their subject made and how this shows the character traits of that person.  We are busy taking notes and discovering why our subjects have biographies written about them.

Writing:  We are busy working on our personal opinion essays.  This week we continued to read articles and determine the big idea and supportive evidence.  We would then think on a big idea and come up with situations in our own lives that pertained to that idea.  Each child is getting ready to settle on the big idea he/she wants to write about for the opinion paper.  

Bible:  This week we began studying the tabernacle.  We talked about the importance of the Israelites having a place to go to worship God.  We looked at different sections of the tabernacle and what the furnishings meant to God's people.  We staked the tabernacle out on the side lawn of school and had a lot of fun pretending to be an Israelite moving the tabernacle through the wilderness.    

Math:  We have begun our final unit of Geometry.  This week we learned about polygons, angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, parallelograms, rhombus', squares, and rectangles.  There is a lot of terminology with this unit and everyone is off to a great start learning it!  

Social Studies:  We continue to learn about the French and their relationship with the Native Americans.  This week we did a bit of "voyageur math" as we looked at the trading between the two different groups.  

Music Note from Mrs. Boer - Your child was told these past few weeks about Recorder Performances that will begin next week. Your child is to choose one of the songs we have been learning this year. It should include the three notes that we have learned (ABG). The students will be graded on their knowledge of notes, their tone, and keeping a steady rhythm.

Blessings!

Lynae

April 27

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• Our Math test will be given on Tuesday, May 2. 
• Bible Memory (Acts 2:1-4) is due on Wednesday.  I will have your child say it to me on that day if they prefer that option instead of turning in a form from home.
• Discovery Assessments- I will need to give these next week to the class.  We will take the reading portion on Wednesday morning and the math on Thursday morning.  Make sure your child is well rested and ready to go.  
• May 10 and 11 (Wednesday and Thursday)- Tulip Time parades.  We will be dismissing at 11:30 on both days.  I will be sending a letter home next week with the line-up of our class as well as all of the details you will need for the children's parade.
• All Star Reading:  This reading incentive will continue until the end of May when we will have a baseball game against the HC Varsity Team.  We are getting a lot of MVP players in our room as students complete 5 innings!

Curriculum Highlights:

Reading:  This week we wrapped up our book clubs.  We compared the books in our series and looked at the clues, red herrings, suspects, and victims in our mysteries.  Next week we will begin our biography reading unit.

Writing:  We began a personal essay this week.  As a class we read several different reading selections and looked at the big idea the author is trying to teach us and the evidence they give to support that idea.  Next week we will take the big ideas we have found and come up with evidence to support our writing in our own lives.

Math: We wrapped up our story problem unit this week.  All students are working independently and have two equations, a variable, an answer, and a label for each problem.  Monday afternoon we will review for our test that we will take on Tuesday.  We will then begin our final unit dealing with geometry, area, and perimeter.

Bible:  This week we finished looking at the 10 commandments.  We learned how God desires for us to try and follow these commandments as we walk with him, but we all fall short.  He has such love and grace for us and wants His children to come to Him!  We also read about the Israelites creating a golden calf and how God still forgives.

Social Studies:  We read another legend this week and then began talking about how the French voyageurs came to Michigan.  We will do a bit of "voyageur math" next week with the trading of beaver furs.  :)

Have a wonderful weekend!
Lynae

April 21

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• April 25 (Tuesday)- Hayden Stancill would like to provide the class with a pizza lunch in honor of his birthday.  His mom will be bringing in Dominos pizza, juice boxes or water, and a small dessert.  If your child does not care for pizza they are still more than welcome to bring their own lunch or purchase one from school.  
• April 25 (Tuesday)- We will be out of the building all afternoon so that we can have a dress rehearsal at the High School for the spring program.
• April 25 (Tuesday)- The spring program will be occurring at the high school gym 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 and it is going to be a great night!
• April 26 (Wednesday)- POD Service Project.  All POD groups will be going to the organization that they went to in the fall to serve once again in our community.  We will be out of the building all afternoon.  This is an afternoon where we look forward to using our discipleship practices of servant living and community growing.
• Book Orders:  I will be placing the book order by Monday morning.  Feel free to order books by using the Scholastic link located at the upper right hand corner of the blog.  You are able to order from any grade/book level.
• May 10 and 11 (Tulip time)-  Mark your calendars that we will be dismissing at 11:30 on both of these days.  I will be sending a detailed letter about Thursday's parade home soon with your child.
• All Star Reading:  This reading incentive will continue until the end of May.  Completing five innings makes your child a MVP player and allows them to compete in the varsity baseball game.  Everyone is very motivated and busy reading!
• Our next Math test will be given on Tuesday, May 2.  A review will come home next week.  
• Acts 2:1-4 is our new Bible Memory.  This will be due on Wednesday, May 3.

Curriculum Highlights:
Reading:  This week we continued to meet with our mystery book clubs and look at suspects, clues, settings, and red herrings.  We have focused a lot on writing detailed post-it notes to enrich our discussions in our book clubs.

Writing:  We finished drafting, editing, and publishing our "How I Know God is Real" writing this week.  Everyone gave a lot of thought to this and I am really impressed with the final products the students have written.

Bible:  This week we talked about the Israelites at Mount Sinai and reviewed the 10 commandments.  We also began our new Bible memory of Acts 2:1-4.

Math:  We are busy reading carefully and solving two step story problems.  Each problem requires two equations, a variable, and a label.  Homework next week will be a review test in preparation for our Math assessment on this unit.  I will be giving the Math assessment on Tuesday, May 2.

Social Studies:  We continued studying the Native Americans this week.  We read several articles on the Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Ojibway tribes.  We also learned about legends and how they were shared from one generation to the next as a way of teaching lessons.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Lynae

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