September 15

 Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• I will give the MAP math test on Tuesday.  Make sure your child has had a good breakfast and is ready to go.  This is our last MAP test for awhile.  
• Thank you for all of the Clorox wipes and tissues that came this week!

Homework Folder:

• We have created story mountains with our personal narrative.  I have sent your child's story mountain home.  Please have your child tell the story to you verbally a couple times this weekend so he/she can recall details and feelings to add to his/her writing.  
• Reading minutes are due on Monday.  Students should have read 125 minutes and have a signature from you.
• New word work will begin on Monday.  You will notice that there are three sight words listed at the bottom.  Three sight words will be given each week and will be on the final test on Friday.  
• Math homework went home today and will be due next week Friday.
• Psalm 8 is our Bible memory.  If your child can say this with one or two helps return the form or send me an email and I will mark your child down.  We review these verses each day in class and talk about what the verses mean to us.

Curriculum Highlights:

Ready for the Walk-a-thon

All of the 3rd graders at Pine Ridge

All About Me: This week we celebrated our friends Cameron, Alyssa, Davina, Ezra, and Michael.  We loved learning more about our friends and their interests.

Literacy:  In Reading we have been busy learning how to "stop and jot" our thoughts as we read.  We are increasing our reading stamina.  In Writing we have been working on the heart of our personal narratives and placing our thoughts and ideas on a story mountain.  We have also been busy practicing our grammar and word work each day at school.  

Telling our stories with as much detail as we can remember!

Math:  We have now learned how to multiply and divide by 2's, 5's, 9's and 10's.  This is a lot of information for the students to learn so we practice our facts each day on our ipads.  We work daily at story problems and we are getting good at figuring out if we need to divide or multiply.

Bible:  We began looking at how the Bible is organized.  We had some fun singing some songs about the books of the Bible and looking at the table of contents.  We also began to search for some favorite bible verses and learned about chapters and verses.  

Science:  We looked about how earth materials interact with water.  We also learned about renewable resources and our role in caring for these.  We also looked at the importance of farmland and how little of it we actually have.  It makes the students see how we are called to be God's creation keepers and we had excellent conversation about this.

Blessings,

Lynae

September 8

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• September 13 (Wednesday)- Walk-a-thon in the afternoon at the High School track.  All fundraising envelopes should be back to school on Monday, September 11.  Thank you for supporting our school.  Come and cheer us on!
• September 14 (Thursday)- Picture day.  A form for this came home today.
• Next week we will be starting MAP testing throughout the HC district.  I plan on giving the language assessment on Tuesday morning and the reading assessment on Thursday morning.  
• Any donations of Clorox wipes or kleenex are always greatly appreciated.  

Homework Folder:  

• Bible Memory- We are working on Psalm 8 in class and talking about what these verses mean.  Please have your child say it to you once each evening even if they need to read it from the page.  If they can say Psalm 8 fairly confidently, sign and form and send it back to school.  This is due on September 29.  I do not worry so much about the number of helps but rather that the words mean something to your child.
• Math homework- This came home for the first time today and will be due back to school next week Friday.  
• Word work-  Your child will come home with his/her first spelling list on Monday.  I sent a letter home in your child's Friday folder explaining this program in more detail.  On Monday your child will need to cut out their spelling words and show you how they sorted them in class.
• Reading Minutes- These will begin Monday as well.  Your child will carry a book back and forth from school to home each day.  This should be a "good fit" book that your child can read independently.  (I have not leveled all of my students yet so if your child is reading a book that is too difficult, please let me know.)  Most of these books are from my classroom library so I ask that the kids carry them in a bag that I provide.  Your child needs to read 125 minutes a week.  I will explain the reading form to the kids in class.  Place this form wherever it is easiest for your child to remember to fill it out (nightstand, refrigerator, homework folder, etc.)  Please sign and have your child return the form the following Monday.

Curriculum Highlights:

We learned about being word rooted in our POD groups this week.

Wearing yellow in loving memory of Carter Brink

Convocation

Convocation

All About Me:  This week we celebrated our friends Gavin, Gabe, and Charlie.

Science: This week was a lot of experimenting with different earth materials and how they react with water.

 Math:  We can now multiply and divide by 2's, 5's, and 10's.  We are getting really good at word problems as well!

Literacy:  We are working at diving deeper into our books as we read and jotting notes in our response journal to increase our comprehension.  In writing we have "tried on" several different personal narrative stories and today we settled on one that we want to work into a true story.

Bible:  We have wrapped up our Ephesians study and made a book to highlight what we have learned.  This was such a cool unit to start 3rd grade.  Learning how our Bible is organized is next on our list!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lynae

September 1

Upcoming Dates/Reminders:

• Walk-a-thon- A fundraising packet came home with your child on Monday and is due back to school on Septemeber 11.  Thank you for helping us raise money for our school.  The Walk-a-thon will be on Wednesday, 13 in the afternoon at the High School track.  
• September 4- (Monday) This is Labor day and there is no school.  :)
• September 5- (Tuesday) Mark my time bookmark orders will be sent in.  
• September 6- (Wednesday)  Convocation will occur at the High School at 9:00 a.m.  Please come and join us and we bring in a new school year with the entire HC student body.
• September 6- (Wednesday)  We will have POD groups in the afternoon.  The third graders really enjoy these groups and meeting new friends in different grade levels.
• September 14-(Thursday) School pictures

Curriculum Highlights:
It has been quite a busy week in 3rd grade!  We are busy with our procedures and routines, but the curriculum is already in full swing.  The class is working so hard.  Here are some of the "big" things this week.

Bible:  We continue to look at the book of Ephesians.  The class loves using their Bibles and we are getting better at locating passages.  A favorite lesson this week was learning about the armor of God.  We did this lesson with Miss Sapp's class.   Make sure to ask your child how the oranges were like our daily armor!

Walking in the footsteps of Jesus

An orange with "armor" floats, the one without sinks.

Math:  We are multiplying and dividing!  Everyone is very proud of themselves!  This week we focused on equal groups, multiples of 5's, and the concept of division.

Literacy:  We continue to evaluate ourselves as readers and look at how we read.  Everyone has "good fit" books in his/her book box and reading is a favorite part of the day for many students.  In writing we have generated ideas of people and places where we have had small moments that we could write about.

All about me:  This week we celebrated our friends Micah, Eddie, Thomas, Clara, and Landon.

Science: We are learning about rocks and minerals, particle size, and soil.  This week we spent a lot of time using microscopes to look at different earth materials and determine particle size.  We also are busy tumbling rocks!  I wouldn't be surprised if your child wants one of those rock tumblers for Christmas!

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!
Lynae