And... we are back!  It feels great to be back to school and together as a classroom family again.  We loved meeting with each of you at conferences and sharing your child's progress in third grade.  As always, please feel free to contact us any time with questions or concerns you may be having.  We are in the home stretch before summer break and we can tell that spring is in the air!  There is still a lot to cover before June so we are hunkering down and getting right back into it.  Make sure to read the upcoming events at the bottom of the blog.  It feels like each week there is something happening that you will need to be aware of.


Math:  We have begun a new unit on Polygons, Perimeter, and Area.  This week we focused on the definitions of a polygon, quadrilateral, square, rectangle, triangle, rhombus and trapezoid.   We have focused on angles and lines and how a shape can fit into several different categories.  We will continue to review the definitions we learned as well as focus on perimeter and area next week.  I am so proud of how hard the class is working in Math.  These are tough concepts and the class is handling it beautifully!

Bible:  We looked at Moses this week and how God helped him go and talk to Pharaoh to led the Israelites go.  We talked a lot about Pharaoh's hard heart and how God desires for us to keep a soft heart that he can work through.  We also studied all of the plagues this week.  Through the plagues we see God showing both his power and also his love for his chosen people.  What an awesome God we serve!
Our new Bible Memory is Acts 2:1-4.  It will be due on April 27.  Students may need to practice a bit at home to really learn it well.

Social Studies:  We became historians this week as we started studying the history of Michigan.  We talked about how historians use primary clues (such as maps or photographs) and secondary clues (such as timelines or books) to help them better understand the past.  We then looked at a city in Michigan from 1872 and used clues to help us figure out what life was like back then.

Reading:  This week we spent some time getting back into the routine of independent reading.  The kids have been so excited to do their "All Star" reading.  It has kept them very focussed and motivated.  This week we also worked as a whole group on reading a story and then answering some questions using a constructed response in which they restate the answer in their question.  This is a very high order thinking skill and they did a wonderful job with this.  This next week we will start our next reading unit which is MYSTERY BOOK CLUBS.  This is always a very fun unit for the kids.

Writing:  This past week we started working on our faith writing.  We hope to finish this up over the next few days at the start of this new week.  Once we are finished with that, we will start our new writing unit which is writing a personal essay.

Spelling Test:  We did not take a test on Friday because I had a sub in my room and with 14 different spelling lists/groups, I did not want to confuse her.  The spelling test will be Monday morning.




Upcoming Events:

• Spring Program-This is Thursday, April 23 at 7:00 p.m. at Christ Memorial Church.  A yellow paper came home on Friday with all of the details about this program.  Please have your child to the church by 6:40 so we are ready to go!  
• Tulip Time- We will be having half days on May 6 and 7.  The children's parade is May 7 and all students are expected to march in the parade dressed in a dutch costume.  Your child will need to bring a sack lunch to school that day and we will be traveling as a class by bus to the parade route after lunch.  Your child may wear their dutch costume to school that day or you are welcome to come in at 11:45 and help them change into it.  We will send home a parade line up as we get closer to the date so you know which side of the street to sit on to best see your chid.  Also, you are asked to pick up your child at the end of the parade route.  
• Reading Minutes are due Monday.
• Acts 2: 1-4 is due on April 27.