Important things this week in 3rd grade:

Report Cards:  These came home today in your child's backpack.

Conferences:  Most of you have signed up for a conference time next week Tuesday or Wednesday.  I look forward to meeting with you and sharing how your child is doing in 3rd grade!  As you wait for your conference, please take some time to scan the QR codes on each of the student's lockers.  You will get a great book review from the child whose code you scanned!

Thursday morning with Rose Park:  Your children did a fabulous job on Thursday morning when Mr. Slenk's 3rd grade class from Rose Park joined us for a bit.  We enjoyed a school chapel together, spent some time on the playground with new friends, and enjoyed reading books with a partner from Rose Park.  This was a wonderful example of doing Life Together and I was incredibly touched to see this class care so tenderly for their North side friends.

Pods:  At Pine Ridge each child is placed into a gender specific group of about 15 students. Groups are made up of all grade levels 3rd-6th grade so students make friends in grades other than their own.  During Pod time students pray for the other friends in their POD group, do service projects together, or engage in activities focusing on the school theme.  We had our first pod experience this past Wednesday and the 3rd graders just loved it!  Make sure to ask them what they enjoyed the most about this time.

Koeman's Farm Fieldtrip:  We had so much fun on Wednesday morning out in the soybean fields at Koeman's farm.  Steve Koeman did a fabulous job of sharing how he harvests the crops as well as the many different uses for soybean oil.  The kids were just fascinated with the combine and tractor!  I took SO many pictures which are all up on smugmug.  Enjoy!

All of the 3rd graders with Steve Koeman

Thanking God for our famers.

Many 3rd graders suddenly want to be farmers!

No School: Wednesday, October 21-Friday, October 23 due to conferences and CEA convention.  Have a wonderful long weekend.

Looking forward to meeting with you next week!
Lynae

October 9, 2015

What a blast we had this week!  The kids had such a great time with their grandparents on Thursday.  There are many pictures on the smugmug site so check them out!

We also had several pastors show up to visit our classroom on Tuesday.  The students loved sharing their writing with them and it was a lot of fun to have them in 3rd grade!

Upcoming Date

• Conference sign-ups will begin next week.  Please contact me if you would like to meet at a different time and we will work something out!
• Conferences are Oct. 20 and 21.
• No School October 21-23 due to conferences and the CEA convention
• Reading Minutes are due on Monday
• Psalm 23 is due October 16
• Report cards will go home on October 16.

A Quick Curriculum Summary:

Devotions:  On Tuesdays and Thursdays we are praying very specifically over one child in our class.  This student comes to the center of the group and tells us what he/she would like us the rest of us to pray for.  We then place our hands on that student and hold them up in prayer.  The class gives thanks for this friend.  This is a special time in our room as we recognize how God has made us all so unique.  

Math:  We took our first Math test today and the kids did great!  We read slowly and took all the time we needed to ensure we had done our personal best.   We will start unit two (more multiplying and dividing!) next week.

Reading:  We have begun a new unit where we following characters for meaning.  Our mentor text is Because of Winn Dixie which is quickly becoming a favorite  book of many students.  This week we focused on empathizing with our characters and relating their experienences to our own lives.

Writing:  We edited our personal narratives for correct capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.  We learned how to use spelling apps on our ipads to find correct spelling and locate words we are unsure of.  We also practiced our penmanship before beginning our final drafts.

Science:  Each student has been assigned a different landform that they are researching.  They will be creating a keynote presentation next week to share with the class.  Many students expressed interest in finding a few facts about their landforms at home and that is great!

Bible:  We learned about footnotes and maps in Bible this week.  We also spent time focusing on the importance of spending time everyday in God's word.  Psalm 23 will be due on October 16.

Music Note from Mrs. Boer - About once a quarter information about what we have been learning will appear in this blog. This quarter we learned.....

     *Two hymns of the month - My Heart is Firmly Fixed and We've come This

           Far by Faith

     *To keep a steady beat, even while we played different rhythms on Boom-

           whackers

     *How many beats a quarter note, half note, and eighth note get

     *Tempo

Have a wonderful weekend!
Lynae

October 2, 2015

What we have been doing in 3rd Grade:

Bible:  What fun we are having as we find favorite verses in the Bible and add them to our verse rings!  To help us with finding verses we have been using our table of contents and we are getting used to finding chapters and verses as well.  We also learned this week how to use the concordance in our Bibles.  Your children are so excited to learn how to find passages in their personal Bibles and it is so much fun to watch them dive into God's word with such enthusiasm!

Reading:  We finished our class book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane this week.  We learned how to retell a whole story from beginning to end, how to find lessons in the books we are reading, and how to write a review and recommendation of a good book.  Everyone wrote an excellent book review and I video taped each child.  Stay tuned to view these great clips!

Writing:  Our drafts for our personal narratives are complete!  This week we wrote leads and endings that involved a setting, an action, or a dialogue and chose the one that went best with our story.  We have read and reread our writings to the wall and to partners as we continue to add detail and we have identified the heart of our stories.   Next week we will be editing our work and start publishing our final copy.

Math:  We added 0's and 1's this week to our multiplication/division facts and also focused more on arrays.  Next week Friday (October 9) will be our first Math test.  I spent home a practice test that is due on October 8.  If your child is struggling with a problem just have them circle it and I will reteach that concept to him/her.

Science:  This week we focused on how to care for the earth.  We did an experiment where we saw how little farmland we have left.  We also looked at what happens when we have a lot of rainwater and runoffs occur due to the changes we are making to the earth.  Lastly we talked about oil spills and what that does to God's creation.  We have been blessed with an amazing world and we are called to care for it!

Upcoming Dates:

• Reading Minutes due Monday
• Bible Memory is Psalm 23
• October 7:  Pastor Visit Day
• October 8:  Grandparents Day from 12:45-2:00
• October 9:  End of the first marking period
• October 16:  Report Cards go home
• October 16-17  Homecoming Weekend at HC
• October 20-21  Parent Teacher Conferences
• October 22-23 CEA Convention.  No School

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lynae

Walk-a-thon

What a great time was had at the walk-a-thon this week!  We were blessed with wonderful weather that day and had a fun time running the track and enjoying the many stations that were placed around it.  Thank you to all of you who donated to this event as well as to all of you who came out and supported us as we ran.

Our great looking group!

All of the Pine Ridge 3rd Graders

What's happening in 3rd Grade:

Reading:  We focused this week on using strategies to sound out words we don't know as well as retelling our stories using a retell rope.  Reading Workshop is quickly becoming a favorite time for many of the kids.  I am amazed at how focused the students are during this time.  I just love to watch them get into their books!

Writing: This week we wrote our rough drafts for our personal narratives.  We have added extra details as we read our stories to a partner and we are ready to start editing.  The students are writing for longer time frames each day and I am proud of how hard they are working!

Math:  This week we added the 3's and 4's to our multiplication and division facts.  We also learned about the distributive property where 5x8 would be the same thing as (5x3)+(5x5).  This is a tough concept so we drew a lot of pictures to help us understand what we were doing.  The students remained positive and as long as we read the problems slowly and draw pictures, we do just fine.

Bible:  This week we learned how to use the table of contents in our Bibles as well as how to find a chapter and verse.  We then started finding some favorite verses in the Bible and writing them out onto a "favorite verse" ring.  We will be adding to this ring all year long.  The kids were really excited about learning how to "use" their Bibles and I just love their enthusiasm for the Word.

Science: We used our prior knowledge about particle size of earth materials and every student created their own brick!  This was a very fun experiment and the kids are excited to return to school next week to see how their brick has dried up.

Upcoming events:

• No school September 28
• No spelling next week due to the shorter week.
• Reading Minutes will be due on Tuesday.
• Psalm 8 due on Tuesday, September 29.  If your child wants to say it to me on Tuesday that is fine.  Otherwise, record the helps needed and return the pink form.  If memorization is tough but your child can tell you what the Psalm means to them, then let me know that instead.
• Grandparents day is October 8

Have a great weekend!

Lynae

Swimming Week

This week we have been busy swimming and taking the Discovery test.  Your children are doing an AWESOME job in swimming lessons and also did their best work on the Discovery tests.  You have every reason to be incredibly proud of them.  Those two items took up quite a bit of time for us in 3rd grade and so our week was not a normal one.  Yet, there was so much learning that occurred.  This week I am going to give you the top 3 things that struck me as fabulous in 3rd grade.

1.  Our rocks are done polishing!  The day we took the rocks out of the polishers was a big day for our class.  We talked a lot about how God is our ROCK and his desire is for us to SHINE for him each and every day, just like a perfectly polished rock.  We placed our rocks on a platter and each morning since every child has chosen a new rock.  As we pray, each child prays a prayer of thanksgiving and then adds their rock into the center bowl.  We have watched the level of rocks (blessings!) increase and overflow!  No, our eyes are not always closed during these prayers, but what a great way to see God's blessings being poured out to us!

2.  Every child has chosen a story to focus on for the personal narrative unit in Writing.  Your child came home today with a copy of his/her timeline about the story he/she wants to write about.  This weekend I have told the class that they need to simply tell that story to as many people as they can.  The more they share their story, the more details they will hopefully remember and they can add those details later to their writing.   If your child is telling you about an event that you shared with them, try to give him/her a few extra details as well.  :) Remember, this is a "seed story" or a small moment.  It is not about the whole day at the amusement park but rather what it was like waiting in line for that favorite ride.

3.  Spelling word work began this week and the students did a wonderful job!  We have been busy learning the procedures that go along with this spelling program and also how to sort our words into categories.  Hopefully your child has been able to explain this to you each evening at home as well.  If you have questions, always feel free to contact me.

Upcoming Events:

• Reading minutes are due Monday.  
• Spelling word work will come home Monday.  Tests are always given on Friday.
• Psalm 8 will be due September 29.
• Swimming lessons continue this week with the exception of Wednesday.  Feel free to come watch from 12:40-1:20 at the Aquatic Center.
• Walk-a-thon is this Wednesday from 1:00-2:15 at the High School track.
• No School on September 28 due to Staff Development
• Grandparents day is October 8.

Blessings!

Lynae

What a great week in 3rd grade!  All of the boys and girls are gaining confidence in the classroom and are becoming great friends with each other.  I am so proud of how they pray for each other each day.  We begin our day by sitting in a circle and doing a round robin prayer.  EVERY child is praying and often it is for the needs of others.  There is simply no better way to start the day!

Upcoming dates:

• Swimming lessons run from September 14-25.  We will be at the pool from 12:35-1:20 each day.
• School pictures will be on September 18.  Order forms for pictures and the yearbook went home today.  
• Homework folders will begin on Monday, September 14 along with reading minutes and spelling word work.  
• We will be taking the Discovery Test next week.  I plan on giving the Reading portion on Tuesday morning and the Math portion on Thursday.  Please make sure your child eats a good breakfast that morning and is ready to go.
• Walk-a-thon is September 23.  The students brought home information about this event this week.
• Book order forms went home today.  Simply click on the red Scholastic icon on the right of the blog if you would like to order any books.  I will submit the order on September 18.
• No School September 28 for Staff Development.

What we have been doing in 3rd Grade:

Bible:  We finished our unit on the book of Ephesians this week.  As we reviewed what we learned we created an Ephesians book to share with our families.  Your child brought this book home in their Friday folders and should be able to review the unit with you.  We will take a small assessment on this on Monday.  We have also been working at memorizing Psalm 8 as a class.  I will send home a copy of our Bible memory next week Monday in the homework folders so you can study at home with your child.

Math:  We looked at many story problems this week involving multiplication and division.  We are learning to read SLOWLY so we can figure out exactly what mathematical operation we need to use.  Many students are drawing pictures to help them solve the problem and that is great!  We added the 10's and 9's to our multiplication facts this week.

Science:  We are almost done with our rock tumbling and hopefully polished rocks will be coming home next week!  In class we did several experiments that taught us about particle size with different earth materials as well as how water reacts to different particle sizes.  A special thanks to the Bruxvoort family for providing the class with yummy ROCK candy on Friday!

Reading:  I love watching your children read.  Everyone finds a comfy spot in the room and gets right to work!  This week we focused on asking ourselves questions about our story as we read, making predictions, and also inferencing.  The students worked so hard and I am very proud of them.

Writing:  Our stamina is increasing in Writing every single day.  The students are continuing to try out different small moments (seed stories) that they may want to write about for a personal narrative.  We focused this week on adding details to our writing as we work as well as circling words that may be spelled incorrectly.  The favorite part of writing comes when a couple friends get to share what they wrote that day!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lynae

Second week in!

We made it through a hot week of school.  I keep telling the class that we are spoiled to have air conditioning in our classroom and they believe me every time we share it with another class.  We had a few afternoons with Mrs. DeZwaan's third graders joining us for Bible and Science.  It was a full classroom but we all kept cool!

Everyone is adjusting beautifully to Pine Ridge.  We are settling into a nice routine and our learning pace is starting to pick up.  This week I started assessing students on their reading and spelling levels.  We also had a blast learning about rocks, reading each day out of our good fit books, going to the library for the first time, writing personal narratives, and learning about the armor of God.  Here is a quick look at our week in pictures. (Many more are on smugmug.)

The class LOVES reading!  We focused on the story elements this week of characters, setting, events, problems and solutions.  We are practicing these elements all together as I read the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and then the students practice the strategies taught in their good fit books.

We are working at thinking of many different stories for our personal narratives in writing.  Soon we will choose a story that we have a lot of details we can write about.  This week we brainstormed different people and places.

We continued to look at the book of Ephesians in Bible.  We had a great lesson on the armor of God and the importance of putting that armor on every day.  Look at what happens when we keep on the armor as we go through our day and also what happens when we take it off.  The kids loved this visual lesson and we had a great discussion about how God desires for us to walk closely with Him each day.  To do this well, we need to start our day getting ready with Him.  God desires the best for us and wants us to STAND!

In Science we continued to study rocks.  We learned that rocks are made of minerals and also got our rock polishers up and running.  This is a favorite part of the day for many students!

In Math we continue to learn about multiplication and how we make equal groups.  We are drawing a lot of pictures and using manipulatives to help us understand this concept.  We also started to see how multiplication and division are related this week.  We focused specifically on multiplication and division of 5's and 2's.

Upcoming Dates:

• No School Friday, September 4 or Monday, September 7.  Labor Day break.  
• I have created a sign-up genius at the top of this blog for volunteering to help with lunch.  These opportunities are on Wednesdays and are from 11:55-12:20.
• We use our whiteboards and markers every day in Math.  Several students could use a whiteboard eraser as well.  An old sock works great for this!
• Swimming Lessons are September 14-25.  We will be at the pool from 12:35-1:20 each day.
• Homework folders will start coming home the week of September 14.  We will begin reading minutes and Spelling word work that week as well.  
• Walk-a-thon is Wednesday, September 23.  
• No School on Monday, September 28 for a staff development day.

Have a great long weekend!

Lynae