Good Friday

A few reminders...

Report Cards:  Your child brought his/her report card home today.  Please return the envelope to school so I can reuse it for the final quarter.

Conferences:  I am looking forward to meeting with you next week Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday for conferences.  Each conference is 20 minutes in length and I will do my best to stick to the schedule to respect your time.

Resthaven:  Next week Tuesday we will be walking to Resthaven on 40th street from 9-10 a.m.  We are going to spend some time visiting with the residents and reading our nonfiction books to them.  If your child knows someone there, please let me know and we will do our best to visit them.  If you care to join us just let me know!

Reading Minutes:  While I hope your child spends some quality time reading during Spring Break, I will not be requiring the usual form to be filled out.  Enjoy your time off and we will resume Reading minutes the week of April 11.

All Star Reading:  We have kicked of "All Star Reading" in 3rd grade.  A letter came home on Monday explaining the details.  This will continue through May so there is no need to rush.  If your child completes 5 "innings" or genres of books, they will be participating in a baseball game against the HC varsity baseball team.  It is a blast and the kids are excited!

Here is a look at what we did this week:

Literacy:  We finished our Nonfiction books!  They turned out great and the students enjoyed looking at the final product on Friday.  We will be having our Reading celebration on Monday morning.
We also enjoyed a bit of poetry this week.  We read many different types of poems and each child chose a poem to read to the class today for a "poetry slam".  We also tried writing a few poems of our own!

Bible:  We learned about the 10 commandments this week.  We talked about how God desires for us to live in accordance to these commandments as we strive to walk closely with Him.
We also spent time each day discussing the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.  We created an Easter poster as we spent time discussing the importance of each event.

Math:  We have begun a new unit on multistep word problems.  Once again we are reading carefully, underlining the question in our word problem, drawing pictures to help us if needed, and deciding if we need to add, subtract, multiply, or divide.  Knowing math facts solidly helps greatly with this unit.

Social Studies:  This week we studied the pioneers making their way to Michigan.  We looked at the hardships they faced, how they traveled to Michigan, and what their daily lives were like.  We will be covering Michigan becoming a state next week Monday and Tuesday.

May you have a blessed Easter!!

Lynae

See you at Fun Night!

Seussville Family Fun Night:....is tonight!  See you at Pine Ridge from 5:30-8:00.  To say that the class is excited today is a bit of an understatement. :)

A huge THANK YOU  to Dirk Hollebeek:  On Monday Dirk Hollebeek came from the Middle school and shared his experience about living in New Mexico.  He taught many students who lived within the Navajo tribe and was able to share their culture with the class.  We compared this to the Native Americans of Michigan. What a blast!

Upcoming dates:

• March 22-Skating Party
• March 28 and 29-Evening Conferences  March 30- afternoon conferences.  If you would prefer to meet at a different date/time, please contact me and we will work something out.
• March 31-April 8- Spring Break
• Reading minutes due Monday
• Work Work test on Friday
• Matthew 28:1-10 due on Friday, March 25

Here is a brief look at what we have been doing:

Math:  We finished our fractions unit and took our final test.  Next week we will begin multi-step story problems.

Literacy:  You guessed it...more work with our nonfiction book!  :)  This week we worked on our conclusions, our title page, and putting our glossary together.  We are SO close to being done and the kids are excited for you to see the final product.

Bible:  We traveled in the book of Exodus again this week.  We read chapters on water from the rock at Rephidim, the Amalekites, and Jethro coming to visit Moses.  We talked about how God equips Moses to lead the Isrealites and He guides them through tough times.  We also published Matthew 28 on a keynote presentation.  

Social Studies:  This week we studied the British coming to Michigan to get involved in the fur trade.  We covered a bit of the French and Indian War and learned about Chief Pontiac.

Music Note from Mrs. Boer - This is what we learned this quarter....

*Three hymns of the month - Stand on the Rock, I Walk by Faith, and In the Lord I'll Be Ever Thankful (in Spanish)

*Musical form (AB, AABA, ABA)

*To create our own composition based on Hot Cross Buns

*We began playing recorders (how to care for them and play them)

*We began learning how to read music (the musical alphabet, lines & spaces on a stave, a poem for the lines of treble clef)

***Recorder Practicing Expectations: For the best learning to occur, the practicing of the recorder should take place at least 3 days a week and practicing each song 3 times (3X3). The dark blue folder and the recorder should accompany your child to every music class from now until the end of the year.

Blessings!
Lynae

March 11, 2016

Here is what we have up to in 3rd Grade:

Skull Detectives:  We solved a lot of animal mysteries on Wednesday.  The kids enjoyed our special presentation from Hemlock Crossings and we had a lot of fun looking at different skeletons.

Math:  We continued with fractions this week.  Almost all of our work is done with either manipulatives or drawing pictures so we are able to see each fraction.  We focused on comparing fractions and equivalent fractions this week.  Our Math test on this unit will be on Thursday, March 17.  I sent home a review test today which is due on Wednesday.  

Bible:  We continue reading from the book of Exodus.  This week we saw how God cared for the Israelites as they began their journey through the wilderness.  He provides them with manna and quail to eat and water from the rock.  We see how quickly the Israelites complain when things become difficult and they even wish to return to Egypt.  We talked about how we often complain as well and yet God shows us over and over again that He will care for us.  

We also published Matthew 28:1-10 on a keynote presentation this week.  

Literacy:  This week we worked on completing two more chapters in our animal books.  The class worked hard once again on organizing their information, creating a rough draft, editing, and then neatly composing a final copy.  At this point, I can just let the students go and everyone is on task and focused.  It is truly amazing to watch!

Social Studies:  We studied the French explorers coming to Michigan this week.  We learned about the fur trade and how the Native Americans and the French traded goods to get what they wanted.  We read several different articles about the French explorers and compiled all of our information onto a web.  

Upcoming Dates:

• Seussville Fun Night- Friday March 18.  We have collected enough full size candy bars.  Thank you for helping in this area!  If you would like to donate some of your time to helping with a game that evening or maybe bake a cake for the cake walk, contact Mrs. Baker at dabaker@hollandchristian.org.
•  Clorox Wipes.  With so much sickness going around, we have been cleaning our desks with wipes almost every day.  If you are able to contribute, I would greatly appreciate it.  
• Conferences will be held March 28 and 29 (5:00-8:30) and March 30 (1:00-3:00).  An email with sign-up information will be coming out this week.  
• Spring Break- March 31-April 8
• Reading Minutes due Monday
• Work Work test on Friday
• Math test on Thursday

Enjoy your weekend!

Lynae

March 4

Well, it certainly was a different week in our classroom with me being out sick.  Much thanks to you and your child as the routine was a bit different with a substitute for the first half of the week.  The class did a WONDERFUL job and I am very proud of them.  A huge thank you to Leanne Van Rees as well for teaching in my place.

Upcoming dates and events:

• Seussville Fun Night:  If you are able to help on March 18 with any games or contribuations please sign up at:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c4daaab22a20-funnight  The 3rd grade class is asked to bring in full size candy bars for the prizes for some of the games.  Please contribute if you are able.
• Our new Bible Memory is Matthew 28:1-10.  I will send home the paper to practice on Monday.  For many students this is a review from previous years.
• On March 9 (Wednesday) Hemlock Crossings will come to our classroom to do a presentation called Skull Detectives.  We will be learning about how to identify animals from their bone structure.  This fits in well with our study of physical characteristics.  
• March is Reading Month- Students can record their reading progress on their Media Center Bingo Card.  Those who complete the card will earn a prize from Mrs. Hoffman.  A Whitecaps Sheet also came home with instructions on how to record reading minutes.  If your child completes this sheet, send it back to school and your child will receive a voucher for two free baseball tickets.  Both of these reading incentives are completely optional but easy to do simply by completing required weekly reading minutes for our class.
• Reading Minutes due Monday
• Spelling test on Friday
• Conferences March 28-30 (An email for signing up will be coming soon)
• March 30- 1/2 day of school
• Spring Break March 31-April 8

Here is what is happening in our classroom:

Math:  We have begun a new unit on fractions.  We have learned about numerators, denominators, finding fractions on a number line, and identifying fractions larger than one.   This is a difficult concept for many students at the beginning so much of our math time is spent with manipulatives.  

Bible:  The week we studied the passover.  We compared the passover to communion and saw many similarities.  We also learned about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea and how God delivered them from the Egyptians. 

Literacy:  This week we wrote our chapter on physical characteristics.  Once again we had to organize our information, edit all of our work and complete the final draft.  The class has gotten great at this routine and our mornings are spent with everyone busy at work!  I love seeing every student so engaged in their writing and reading!

Social Studies:  We learned about the "Three Fires"  (the Ottawa, the Ojibway, and Potawatomi tribes).  Each child was placed into a small group and assigned a tribe.  They researched their tribe and then presented the information to the class.  Everyone enjoyed being the "teacher" and there is a lot of natural talent for leading a classroom in these kids!

Have a great weekend!

Lynae

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