AUTUMN is on its way!   My weekend math equation:

COLD + DAMP = Mrs. Wyma's house is clean

I try to find the blessings in weather such as this!!

We have a lot of learning going on in 3rd grade--Take a look!

Reading- this week we worked on making inferences while we read as a way to strengthen our comprehension.  This is a very complex activity for children but I again was so impresses as they worked on this and how they were able to start doing this in their own "good fit" books.  We also finished The Marvelous Journey of Edward Tulane.  Next week we will use the mentor text Because of Winn Dixie to being our next unit of reading which is all about studying our characters.  

Writing: this week we have learned how to end our story with action, setting, dialogue or a feeling/emotion as well as add more details to the heart of our story.  This next week we are starting to edit and revise and publish our first personal narrative and I am excited to share those with you at conferences.

Math-  This week we continued to work with factors of 3’s and 4’s as well as story problems dealing with multiplication and division,  Next week Friday, October 10, we will be having our Unit test.  To help your child prepare, I sent home a sample test this weekend.  They have until Thursday, October 9 to work on this at home.  I told the students that if they do not understand a problem, they simply need to circle it and bring it back to school.  We will be reviewing a lot next week and answering any questions that your child may still have.  This practice test will be your child’s math homework for next week. 

Science-  We focused on rainfall and landslides this week.  We learned how a lot of rainfall affects our soil and also the importance of maintaining healthy soil for farmland.  We also had a lot of fun on Friday when each student made their own brick.  They took their knowledge about earth materials and particle size and decided which earth materials would best be used to make their brick.  This was a lot of fun and everyone is eagerly waiting to see how their brick dries up!

Bible-  We continued to be bible explorers this week and focused on the Map section at the back of the bible.  We also spent a lot of time talking about the importance of spending time in God’s word.  Students found favorite passages in the bible and added them to their rings that we made last week.  So many students loved this activity and we had a long list going on the board of our favorite verses.  This was also a wonderful activity for reviewing how to find passages in the bible. 

This week we also had some special guests (HC BOYS VARSITY FOOTBALL PLAYERS) come and read to us. This was so fun for the kids to do.  When the story was over, the boys did a wonderful job interacting with the kids.  FUN!!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

October 9, Grand Parents Day- see the Pine Ridge Post for specific details

Ditto Update:  Each year ditto contributes $165 per pupil, toward annual tuition costs.  As a way of supporting ditto's efforts, our class will be hosting a Work Bee on Monday evening, October 13 , from 6 - 8pm.  What a great way to volunteer and have fun at the same time!!  Please make every effort to support ditto and our HCS and ZCS community by attending our scheduled Work Bee.  See you there!!

Have a BLESSED Sunday!  Erin and Lynae

This was a busy week in our 3rd grade classroom.  When I (Lynae) take a look back over the week I am amazed at how much we accomplish.   A few of my favorite moments this week were the following:

• We found 12 different bible verses that mean a lot to us and put them on a ring because the students wanted to take them home and put them in special places so they can refer to them often and possibly even memorize the verses.  It just warms my heart.
• We gathered around the flag pole to pray for our country, our school, and other local schools.  I love the community that we have here at Pine Ridge.
• We won a pizza party with the Walk-a-thon fundraising our class did.  What a blast to receive such a special treat!
• We learned about renewable vs. nonrenewable resources and our job as Christians to care for the resources God has blessed us with.
• The class was able to shop again at our Rock Star Store on Friday.  This is a huge motivator for so many students and so much fun!
• Listening to your children pray for each other each day when we begin school.  These students have such caring hearts and hold each other in prayer faithfully.

Academically, we have been very busy too!  Here is a glimpse of what we have been up to:

Math:  This week we continued to work with Multiplication and division with the factors of 2,3,4,5,9, and 10.  We also focused on how we find the area of an array and learned a few different strategies to help us with this.  We spent a lot of time with cubes the week and learned how 6x4= (2x4)+(4x4).  

Bible:  We are learning about the organization of the bible.  This week we focused some more on the table of contents and also studied the concordance and the footnotes.  I was amazed at how many students loved learning about the concordance.  We would pick a topic, such as joy, and then look at how many verses there were in the bible on that topic and then choose a few to look up and read as a class.  Students also finished their  "Daily Dozen" where they had twelve verses from the bible that they illustrated, put on a ring, and took home to reference often when they need to remember God's promises to them.  We have memorized Psalm 24 and will be starting Psalm 103 this coming week.

Science:  This week we focused on renewable verses non-renewable resources.  We read books and watched a couple of video clips on the importance of renewable resources.  We also talked about how paper, plastic, and glass are made and how often we use these types of items everyday.  On Friday we started studying the importance of farmland and we did a fun experiment with an apple to learn exactly how much farmland we actually have.  (Ask your child to explain that experiment to you!)

Reading:  In reading this week we have continued to work on retelling the big events of our story.  We focused this week on learning more about our characters and their actions and feelings in order to help us recall the big events of he story.  We also learned how to examine the life lessons that our characters are learning which helps us gain a different point of view from that of our own.  Your children are very focused and engaged during our reading time.  It is so amazing to watch.

Writing:  In writing this week we have created our discovery drafts of our first personal narrative.  We looked at published authors and how they create exciting leads which suck the reader in as well as how they end their chapters and their stories.  The children then took what they learned about leads and endings and started revising their own.  Ask your child about the types of leads/endings writers use (action, setting, dialogue, and feelings).

A note from our Music teacher, Mrs Boer....

This is what we are learning in Music Class:

*Hymn of the Month-Take My Life and Let It Be

*Theme Song-Let Your Kingdom Come

*Keeping a steady beat

*Note values

*Tempo

Blessings!

Mrs. Stielstra and Mrs. Wyma

What a beautiful morning it is.  This morning I (Erin) had the privilege of watching many of our students play soccer and how they are a reflection of the image of God.  As a teacher, when I go to events such as this, I am reminded of how awesome God's creation is within each unique child. There is so much more to our children than what they can do academically.

Here is what I saw:

• Children encouraged one another on the field when goals were made as well as when goals were missed---LOVE DOES. 

•  I listened to parents praise efforts rather than end results--LOVE DOES.

• Teams won and lost with humility and grace--LOVE DOES.

• Coaches coached with integrity and positive encouragement--LOVE DOES.

"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones.  For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in Heaven.   Matthew 18:10

With that said, we know this is our focus as teachers, to grow them up in the LORD through ALL we do in the classroom.  We are having so much fun with your children as we are getting to know them as individuals.  We love seeing who God has created them to be and hope to foster His will in their lives.

Here is what we have done this week in class.

Reading:  We have worked hard this week on how to retell a story in sequential order using only the main events.  This is a skill that we will continue to work on throughout the next week.  We have also finished taking our DISCOVERY reading test and the children worked so hard on that.  We have officially started our word work/spelling and you will get the graded spelling tests on Monday. Reminder that reading minutes are due Monday.  Please make sure to add up the total and have a parent signature.

Writing:  We have picked our small moment stories that we want to publish.  We have also started to organize them by using a time line to make sure we are telling the story bit by bit and not leaving out any details.  Your students are doing an amazing job with their first personal narratives.  They also LOVE to write which is so wonderful to sit back and watch.

Math-  This week we continued to learn about multiplication and division.  We focused specifically on the factors of 9 and 3 and also worked at building fluency with  the factors of 2, 5  and 10.  Most of the students are becoming quicker at coming up with strategies to solve their math problems and I am pleased with their progress.  We begin each day by seeing multiplication as a repeated addition problem, drawing pictures to help us, and understanding how each multiplication equation is related to division.  Most students use their fingers to help them multiply and this is also a strategy they have been taught!  We are continuing to focus a lot on word problems.  At this point I am not nearly as concerned about their fluency with their multiplication and division facts as what I am about each student understanding the process.  

Science-  This week we focused on earth materials, particle size, and water.  The class had a lot of fun seeing how water mixes with different soils and how some soils allow water to seep through while other soils with smaller particle size hold the water at the top of the surface longer.  We were able to related this to the different soils found at the South Side playground (sand) compared to the Pine Ridge playground (clay) and how this affects their play after a rainstorm.

Bible-  We began this week by studying the table of contents.  We learned that their is an old and new testament and how many books of the bible are in each one.  We studied the table of contents and spent time finding books in the bible using this as well.  We also began a book with twelve bible verses students can hold close to our heart and read to remind them of God's promises to them.  

Check out our latest additions to smug mug.

UPCOMING DATES: September 29: NO SCHOOL

                                     October 9: 1:00-2:30 Grandparents Day

                                     October 13: 3rd Grade DITTO work night 6:00-8:00pm

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Mrs. Wyma and Mrs. Stielstra

The Armor of God

Dear Parents,

I absolutely love teaching bible to your children.  I stand amazed almost every day at the pure love this class has for hearing God's word.  We have had so many great classroom discussions already about favorite passages from the bible and the importance of spending time with God.  Each morning we sit in a circle, hold hands, and take turns praying.  This is one of my favorite times of the day as I listen to the heartfelt prayers each child has to offer to God.  We are also busy highlighting passages in the Bible as we have poured into the book of Ephesians.

This week several of our lessons focused on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).   We did a lesson with oranges that the kids just loved.  One of our oranges was like a child who put on the armor of God (the rind of the orange) and went into the day prepared whatever came his way.  The other child believed the lies of the devil and slowly took off the armor of God (we slowly peeled away the rind of the orange).  We then placed the oranges into a bowl of water and observed what happened!

The class was just amazed at how an orange without it's armor sank.  We talked a lot about how we STAND when we put on God's armor and that is just what God desires for all of us.

Here are a few highlights of what else we have been up to this week:

Math- We are busy multiplying and dividing!  I love seeing the confidence of the students increase as we continue to learn more multiplication and division strategies.  The class has now learned all of their multiplication and division facts for 2's, 5's and 10's.  We practice these facts every day at school as part of our Math Drills but any additional practice at home is wonderful for your child.  We also had our first Quick Quiz so I can see what concepts each child is still working at learning.  Much of our learning is still very hands on and we draw a lot of pictures to understand our math equations.

Science-  This week the class was very excited to work with microscopes as they observed several different earth materials.  We talked about different soils such as compost, potting soil, clay, and sand and how the particle size varies from one earth material to the next.  This group just loves this unit so we had a bit of fun on Friday by bringing in favorite rocks and sharing them with the class.

Bible-  We wrapped up our study on Ephesians this week.  To conclude the unit we made an Ephesians booklet to be placed in your child's bible.  Many of the students asked to take their Ephesians booklet home so they can use it in their home bible and share it with you as well.  We have begun our new Bible memory passage which is Psalm 24.  This will not be due until the end of the month as it is fairly new to many of the students.  We practice our Bible memory every day at school, but your child may need to review at home as well.

Reading:

This week in reading, we are still moving through our book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  Each day using that text, I model a certain reading strategy that the children then go and practice at their own level in their good fit book. This week they continued to practice the strategies of questioning, envisioning, making predictions and they also learned how to read a page in their book and identify what the main idea/event was that happened on that page.  This strategies will become very important when it comes to our lessons next week when we start to learn how to retell what we are reading only including the most important parts rather than retelling the whole story.  We also learned some strategies this week about what to do when we get to a word in our book that we can not read or we do not know what we mean.  Ask your child what they need to do when that happens!  Your children are doing a wonderful job with their reading.

Please make sure that your child brings their good fit book back every day.  It becomes very difficult for them to have to choose a different book in class because they start to get the plot lines mixed up and then all of their comprehension falls apart.

READING MINUTES ARE DUE MONDAY!!

Writing:

This week in writing, we have spent some time generating more personal narratives.  We also spent time learning how to have a writing conference and to talk about what we are working on as writers as well as how to ask a partner about what they are working on.  We also are starting to recognize certain areas in our writing that we need to get better at which becomes our next steps in our new writing.  On Friday, each child picked their story that they want to turn into a published personal narrative.  We will work on this for the next few weeks to start looking at how to make this piece of writing our very best.  

A few items to remember:

• Discovery Testing- September 15 and 16.  Make sure your child eats a good breakfast and is well rested.
• Walk-a-thon- Wedneday, September 17 at 1:00 p.m.  at the High School Track
• Picture Day- Friday, September 19
• No School- Monday, September 29- Staff Development day
• Grandparent day- October 9

Blessings!

Mrs. Stielstra and Mrs. Wyma

Our Second Week In!

Good morning parents!  We had a great second week of school with your children.  They are all doing really well with adjusting to Pine Ridge and many of them are making new friends.  We have posted a few new pictures on our class photo website (the tab at the top of the blog) if you want to take a look!

As we look ahead, there are a few dates to remember:

• September 10- Psalm 23 is due.  Please send in a note if your child has said this to you with the number of helps he/she needed.
• September 15-  All Walk-a-thon money is due to school
• September 17- Walk-a-thon at 1:00 at the High School Track
• September 19-  School Pictures
• September 29, Monday- No School.  Staff Development day
• October 9, Thursday- Grandparent day at Pine Ridge (1:00-2:30)

We are really starting to dive into the curriculum and wanted to take a moment to update you on what we learned this week.

Math-  We continued to focus the week on the meaning of multiplication and drawing out what each multiplication equation looks like.  We focused on arrays (rows and columns) and spent a lot of time building different multiplication problems with arrays.  We also began division this week by using building blocks to figure out our equations.  Much of our math time is "hands on" right now as students get a firm grasp of the concepts being taught.

Science-  We explored rocks and minerals this week.  Students learned that rocks are made up of minerals and we looked at several different minerals that make up granite.  We also focused on different earth materials such as gravel, sand, silt and clay and explored the particle size of these earth materials.  This class loves Science experiments and it is a lot of fun to listen to their predictions as they work!

Bible-  We continued to learn about the book of Ephesians this week.  We focused specifically on the passages about children obeying their parents, what it means to live in "Unity" with one another, and also on the armor of God.  The class really enjoys finding verses in the bible.  As a class, we read out loud the selected passage for the day and we often highlight the verses that stand out to us.

Reading: We have been continuing to build our independent reading stamina. This week we started reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo.  It is a very unique book pack with high level vocabulary which has been sparking great conversation.  This week we have been learning that the most important thing about reading is that understand what we are reading about. To help us with that, we have been practicing several different comprehension strategies.  Our first strategy was to listen to our "internal thinking voice" and to ask questions while we read and then as we read, we are seeking to answer our questions. I model this in our read aloud and then they practice this in their own good fit book.The next strategy we learned is envisioning.  We practiced reading certain parts of the text and then sharing what exactly we see in our heads as we are reading those words.  Your children wee great at that which is often a difficult task when tried right away.  The strategy we did today was making and confirming predictions while we read which again will help our comprehension.  I love watching your children read.  

We are finished with spelling inventories and next week I will start to do running records to find their exact instructional level.  Your child will also bring home their good fit book on Monday to read at home for their reading minutes. Look for a book bag with directions on Monday.

We will start our word work/spelling/vocabulary the following week as I need to first make sure that our independent reading routine is down before I add another component to our workshop.

Writing: We have been working very hard on generating ideas and small moments as we are moving through personal narrative.  We have written about important people, places, and things in our lives.  We have been really focusing on writing about small moments.  Rather then writing about your whole day at the amusement park, we are writing about the first time you were in line waiting to get on a roller coaster.  Each day when we are done writing, we share what we have been working on.  This is one of my favorite parts of the day as they LOVE to share and they take such pride in their hard work.  It is GREAT to see.

Have a wonderful weekend with your families!

Blessings,

Mrs. Stielstra and Mrs. Wyma

We have had a wonderful first week of school.  Your children are all amazing.  We are so looking forward to having a wonderful year of growing closer towards Jesus and learning about many new things.

Below is a little summary of what we have done this past week in each content area.  

Math:  This week we began multiplication with 5's.  To teach this concept, your child learned that multiplication is really one long addition problem.  For instance, your child should be able to tell you that 4x5 is the same is 5+5+5+5.  All students learned how to draw a picture to show each multiplication problem that they are working on.  We call these drawings equal share drawings as multiplication can be used to represent equal groups.  We spent a lot of time this week solving multiplication problems of fives on our white boards by using our strategies of addition equations and equal share drawings and the students are feeling confident in this area.  I am so proud of them!

Science:  We have begun our first Science unit called "Earth and Me".  In this unit your child will learn about rocks and minerals, different earth materials, land and resource use, erosion, landslides, earthquakes, and volcanoes.  We began our unit by having every child choose a rock and then write a descriptive paragraph about the rock they had chosen.  We then sat in a circle and placed our rocks in the center.  The kids took turns reading their descriptions of their rocks and having their friends guess which rock was theirs.  This was a very fun activity and all of the students were very brave in reading their writing to their classmates.  

Bible:  Our first unit in Bible is focused on the book of Ephesians.  We learned that the author of this book is Paul and that the book of Ephesians was actually a letter sent to the church in Ephesus.  (The kids thought it was really cool that a book of the bible was actually a letter instead!).  I was completely amazed this week at the amount of knowledge your children had about Paul.  What an amazing thing to witness the sheer joy that comes from your kids as they recount so many wonderful facts from the bible!!  We focused specifically this week on the gift of salvation.  We made salvation hearts (hanging up in the hallway) and as we did we talked about how we can not save ourselves; but God has made a way for us!  We had a wonderful class discussion about salvation, Jesus' death and resurrection, and the promise of forgiveness.  

Reading:  This week we have talked about what reading is going to look like in 3rd grade and what we each need to be successful readers.  We also set goals for what we each want to accomplish this year as readers. On Thursday the children went book shopping and picked out their first "good fit" book they will be reading.  We also learned about a "FIVE FINGER TEST" to see if our book is just right for us.  We also read several different versions of unique fairy tales and we talked about how in 3rd grade the most important thing about reading is our comprehension.  We learned that identifying the narrative elements (characters, setting, problem, and solution) in stories we read help our comprehension. 

Writing: This week we also identified what helps us each do our very best writing.  We also talked about the WRITER'S NOTEBOOK and how that would collect all of our writing for the year.  We did have our first lesson on writing in which your child had to write about an important person and small moments that they remember with that person.  I was so excited to see how many children just wanted to keep writing--AWESOME!!!

Enjoy this long weekend and holiday break!  

We will see you all on Tuesday!

Mrs. Wyma and Mrs. Stielstra

Off to a Great Start!

We are having a great first week in 3rd Grade!  What a super group of kids with AWESOME attitudes toward learning and doing their best.  Our first couple of weeks are full of procedures, getting used to the feel of a new school, and adjusting to a new classroom with new friends.  The weather is definitely warm.....looks like summer finally decided to make it's appearance!

A fabulous Group!!!

We look forward to seeing you at Parent night on Wednesday.  We will be meeting in our classroom from 7-7:30 p.m.  Afterward Mr. Howell will hold a meeting in the gym from 7:35-8:00 to go over everything you need to know about Pine Ridge's procedures.  We hope you can make it!

Blessings,

Lynae Stielstra and Erin Wyma