End of the year fun- our future is so bright, we need shades!
Book for Grace
Grand Rapids Field Trip
VanAndel Museum Field Trip
We learned several strategies for LONG multiplication problems, including this one, called the lattice strategy.
Informational posters about our worms
Sharing Young Author's Stories with Classmates
A bunch of naughty, naughty third graders.
3/11/14 Pioneer Day at Blandford
Currently in ELA--Transition words, BRIGHT words, and learning about genre
We used Cheese It crackers to study area and perimeter.
Happy 9th Birthday, Jackson!
We're so glad you are in our class.
Good vs. Evil
This picture doesn't really do the conversation justice, but I wanted to share with you one of my favorite lessons to teach. I mentioned in my newsletter that our current read aloud is Gregor the Overlander, which is a classic story of good and evil, and a great way to introduce this concept to third graders. On Friday we read the part of the book where Gregor meets the rats, clearly the evil force in this book. Together we listed books and movies that we know that also have good and evil in them. You should be proud of your kids! They did a great job listing the things in this picture, as well as more but we ran out of room. The real gift, though was to see their faces light up as they made the connection to the story of good and evil that we as Christians, use as the foundation of our faith. It was one of those "goosebump" moments in the classroom. , which isa r whichk, wchis , whi
Genre Study
Ask your child which genre he or she has been "in charge" of. Over the past couple of weeks we have been reading, talking about and creating definitions for various genres. With a partner students have been in charge of a genre and have chosen titles that represent the definition they've created.
Fancy Friday for Valentine's Day
Oh my goodness, what a fun day! We started our day by talking about different manners kids should know. We had an extra long gym class where Mrs. Verkaik taught us three dances--the Virginia Reel, 7 Jumps, and Tingkiling. We realized how important it is to listen to directions and work together to be successful. At lunch time we headed to our room and had our pizza lunch with placemats and fancy napkins, we made sure to put our napkins in our laps and use them as needed. The day was topped off with our class Valentine's party. Too fun!
Our Native American projects turned out so great!
We topped off a week of reading with watching Mrs. Versluis dye Mr. Aldrich's hair.
Mixing things up...a new behavioral system for the new year.
Happy 1/2 Birthday Eli, we are so glad you are in our class!
Happy Birthday Allison, God bless you this year!
1/9/14 Our first day of swimming lessons
Happy Birthday, Anita!
Anita's birthday was over Christmas vacation and we celebrated at school today. She is a blessing to our classroom community!
"Sneaking in" Reading
1/8/14 Maybe you've seen the image (below right) that talks about the importance of reading 20 minutes a day and how this accumulates over the years. Today the third graders looked at it with me. We talked about how this 20 minutes doesn't always have to be in one sitting and that there are lots of opportunities over the course of the day when we can "sneak in" reading. Today students took home "reading itineraries" to see how much reading they can sneak in before the weekend.
Letting God's love bubble over!
Today the 3rd graders and the all day kindergarten students packed chemo packs. We took all of the items that were donated by PreK-5th graders this fall and put them together in a ziploc bag. The items we packed were- bottled water, tissues, lip balm, hand lotion, hand sanitizer, candy or gum, and a hand made card. We had a great time working together and then joined to pray for those who will receive these packs. When we have God's love inside of us, we can't help but bubble over and give to others!
Scientific Investigators-- Why are the animal populations in Madagascar decreasing? What is happening to the polar bears? Why are their 95% fewer prairie dogs in the plains than there were during the time of the pioneers? This week students made predictions about the answers to these questions, they're doing research to figure out if their predictions are correct and will present their information to the class.
12/2 & 12/3 Animal Dioramas
11/22 Bill Vits Concert- We rocked and rolled with third graders from around the area today!
A new math activity. Today we learned to play a new multiplication game. Ask your child to show you how to play. It's called circles and stars and it's a great way to see multiplication!
Thanksgiving Devotions
This week we started our Thanksgiving devotional series. We are studying Psalm 105:1-3. So far we have discussed the vastness of our God as reflected in the many names we have for him and the our favorite Bible stories and what they tell us about God.
Animal Inspired Technology
As part of our Life Science unit we talked about the amazing way that God designed creation. One of the reasons that scientists study animals is to see what we can learn from them. We studied some animals and used what we know about them to inspire inventions that would improve human life.
Predator & Prey--Blandford Enhanced Outdoor Ed Lesson
Mrs. Staal came to visit our class this week and she taught us the game Predator & Prey. We were each assigned a role: herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore. It was an incredibly beautiful day! Beans were hidden throughout the nature preserve and served as "food" and "water" for our animals. They were also allowed to eat each other (take each other's beans) if they were omnivores and carnivores. We were able to learn about different survival strategies--for example either traveling in solitude or with a herd or by using mimicry. What a blessing to be able to experience science out in God's creation this week!
Week of 11/11- what we've been up to
11/1/13 Our SMARTboard is up and running!
11/1 Stuffed Animal Day for members of the Homework Club.
10/31/13 Jump with Jill! We had an absolute blast & learned a lot too. Oh, and in case you were wondering --these 3rd graders can really rock it out!
10/23/13 Our letters to Michigan Chambers of Commerce have been typed and put in the mail. Now comes the hard part, waiting for a reply! I was so impressed with the way these students helped each other out in the computer lab.
Simple Machines--We used LEGO sets and our knowledge of simple machines to create vehicles, gears, and a catapult.
Daily 5 Listening Block
The story Opt is full of optical illusions. One of them needed to be viewed upside down. Most students simply turned their books upside down, Gracie took a more unconventional approach...
We celebrated Cassidy (9/27) & Carson (9/28) 's Birthdays!
We are so glad that God chose them to be part of our classroom community this year.
9/24/13 Physical Science Project
We culminated our Physical Science Unit by creating cardboard houses. The houses were required to have the following:
1. Doors and windows that latch using magnetic energy.
2. An example of force and motion.
3. The small accordion books we used to record our information over the unit.
A bonus was to include decorations and furniture AND/OR a light bulb battery circuit.
Look below to see what the third graders came up with! It was amazing to see their wheels turning and to witness their problem solving first hand.
1. Doors and windows that latch using magnetic energy.
2. An example of force and motion.
3. The small accordion books we used to record our information over the unit.
A bonus was to include decorations and furniture AND/OR a light bulb battery circuit.
Look below to see what the third graders came up with! It was amazing to see their wheels turning and to witness their problem solving first hand.
9/18/13
This is the Day that the Lord Has Made! Outdoor Education
Today Mrs. Staal introduced us to a box turtle. Box turtles used to live in our nature preserve at school! We were assigned our sit spots in the Brian Dyk Nature Preserve. We sat there with our partners and used all of our senses to observe our surroundings. What a gift to be able to enjoy God's creation on this beautiful day.
9/18/13 Time in the Garden Harvesting Tomatoes
9/18/13 Making Electromagnets today!
Daily 5--Read to Self
What do we do during Read to Someone? Read the whole time, sit quietly,
watch our volume, take turns reading, if our partner is stuck on a word we asked
"time or coach?" We always sit EEKK (elbow, elbow, knee,
knee).
Why do we do Read to Someone? To become better
readers, to work on our fluency, for fun.
watch our volume, take turns reading, if our partner is stuck on a word we asked
"time or coach?" We always sit EEKK (elbow, elbow, knee,
knee).
Why do we do Read to Someone? To become better
readers, to work on our fluency, for fun.
Daily 5--Read to Someone
What do we do during Read to Someone? Read the whole time, sit quietly, watch our volume, take turns reading, if our partner is stuck on a word we asked "time or coach?" We always sit EEKK (elbow, elbow, knee, knee).
Why do we do Read to Someone? To become better readers, to work on our fluency, for fun.
Why do we do Read to Someone? To become better readers, to work on our fluency, for fun.