December 20

Blanket Donations

We delivered the blankets to the DeVos Children’s Hospital this week.  Ann, a member of the Hospital Foundation was thrilled and amazed at what are students completed.  She loved the personal cards that students made and the TWELVE blankets that were donated.

Thank you so much, Parents for all you did to make this happen.  It was truly special for us do make these.

Macy and Evie were able to join me down at the hospital to make the delivery.

December 20

Polar Express Party

The Polar Express Party was a HUGE success yesterday. We caroled in the rotunda to some of the classes that came out to listen and then the “train” headed on into the multi-purpose room for crafts, games, and hot chocolate!

Some of the things I heard my class saying when we came back to the room: 

“This was my favorite party!”

“I thought the Halloween party was fun and this was even better.”

“I really had fun!”

We could not have done any of this without your help.  Thank you for the donations and for coming in and helping.  It is a lot of work to put together, but when it comes to party time, all of the effort is so worth it!

***If you don’t see your child, I apologize.  For some reason not all of the pictures would upload.  I’ve tried several times.

 

December 15

Upcoming Week

There is a lot to come this last week before we get TWO full weeks off from a busy schedule!  Below are some things to make sure you have on your calendar!

Monday

Spirit Day:  wear red and green

A review sheet will come home for our Geography Test on Wednesday.  Please take 10 minutes each night to help your child review.

Tuesday

Spirit Day: wear a holiday hat (antlers, elf, Santa, etc.)

Study math facts and read for 20 minutes.

Wednesday

Spirit Day: wear a scarf, hat, and/or holiday socks

Penguin Holiday Shop

Geography Test

Deliver blankets to the Children’s Hospital at 4:30.  Will you please let me know if you plan on attending so I know to look for you?

Thursday

Spirit Day: Pajama Day

Polar Express Party

Friday

Spirit Day: Holiday Sweater

Wrapping up things that need to be finished before we leave for the “year!”

Christmas Program

Everyone looked so nice dressed up for the Christmas Program.  They were very excited to see each other in the backroom.  I got a few snapshots of us together!

December 14

Blanket Project

There are so many things going on that I thought I’d write another post to keep you updated.  The blanket project went well yesterday.  Some kids loved it and some did not, however, they all were happy to be able to do something for someone else.  When they were making the cards, it was absolutely silent in the room.  This is how I know, they were loving what they were doing.

Here is our hard work in the making! (no pun intended!)

If you want to help deliver, meet me at DeVos Children’s Hospital at 4:30 on December 18.

 

December 10

Polar Express Party!

Good Morning Parents,

We have been hard at work as a Third Grade Team getting all the details set for the big Polar Express Party! As a reminder, the party will be next Thursday, December 19th from 9-10:30 am. 

Each classroom teacher will be able to have ten parent volunteers (40 total volunteers for the grade). We will be prioritizing parents who were not able to be a part of the Halloween party or class field trip; if we have fewer than ten interested parents who were NOT a part of either of those events, we will do a “lottery” like drawing for the remaining parents interested. Unfortunately due to how large this event is in a small space, we will not be able to have any parents except those who have been confirmed by the teacher as volunteers come to the party. Thank you for your understanding in this!

Please note that parent volunteers will need:

1) To have a background check filled out

2) To be to school by 8:30 am the day of the party

3) To have alternate plans for younger siblings (because there are already 100 students and 44 adults all in one space!) 

Please contact us about interest in volunteering by the end of the school day this Friday, December 13th. Please also consider helping out by signing up to donate party supplies on the Sign Up Genius here, as well. This can also be found on the blog. 

Thanks so much – we are looking forward to next Thursday!

The Third Grade Team

December 6

Updates from Room 201

This week was a great week!  Our class continues to amaze me at how hard they work and how well they work together.  It’s two weeks until break and I know the energy will be ramping up.  I will do my best to give us breaks and keep structure as much as possible.

Weekly Reflections

Today your child is coming home with their first Weekly Reflections paper.  My hope is for the students to reflect on their own learning:  What did they do well this week?  What was hard for them?  What could they do better?

There is a place for your signature.  I am encouraging each student to go home and talk to parents about their week, using this form.  Then I would like you to sign it and have them return it to school.  I want to check in to make sure they are communicating with you and then I will send it back home for you to keep.

Blanket Donations

Thank you for all of the blanket donations.  I will be shopping next Wednesday night to buy the materials we need.  On Friday we will be making the blankets by measuring each cut, which ties into our math unit.  Fabric scissors would help a lot.  Do you have fabric scissors that you would be willing to share, just for the day?  We will also be making cards for the children.

Everyone is invited to bring the blankets down to the Children’s Hospital on December 18 at 4:30.  We will do a quick drop off, take a couple of pictures, and be on our way!

COMING UP:

Dec. 3- Dec. 18:  Candy Cane sale to support 5th grade camp.  $1.00/each
December 12: Holiday Program.   Click HERE for more details.
December 13: Early Release- dismissal at 12:15pm
December 16: Holiday Shop (Information is coming home today!)
December 19: Polar Express Party  9:00am- more details to come next week!

 

December 3

Updates from 201: Week of December 2

Here’s to another full week!  I hope you had time to relax and enjoy your time with friends and family!

Writing: We are working together as a group to publish an opinion writing that we feel passionately about.  Students did research about the topic to gain more solid reasons to be able to persuade their audience.

Math: We have started our third math unit and we have studied measurement with inches, half inch, quarter inch as well as liquid volume with gallons, quarts, pints, cups, liters, milliliters. We will move into time and elapsed time as well. Please check with your child about what math facts they will be working on this Friday for their timed quiz.

Reading: We have learned so many strategies for reading mystery books and we are learning that these strategies can be used with all fiction books. Students are working together to make a poster of everything we learned about mysteries. Soon, we will be moving into our next unit and will learn new strategies for reading informational text.

Social Studies: We continue our study of Michigan geography and this week we will learn about the ways we modify and adapt to our environment in Michigan.

Homework:
November Reading Logs are due by tomorrow.
A new December Reading Log was sent home yesterday along with some ideas to do as a family.  This is strictly optional and does not need to be turned in.Please help your child remember to sign on to Moby Max or Flash to Pass to practice their facts. 

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Blanket Project:

I would love for each kid to be able to make their own blanket or as least work in partners to donate to a person in need.  I am still waiting to hear back from two organizations. I will continue taking donations for materials through next Monday, December 9th!  Refer to the earlier post for more information here.

If you would like to Venmo me to purchase cloth for you, please find me on the app as @KarmanHoutstra. Thank you to many of you who have donated, and offered to donate whatever the difference ends up being!

We will collect items through December 11.

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COMING UP:

Dec. 3- Dec. 18:  Candy Cane sale to support 5th grade camp.  $1.00/each
December 12: Holiday Program.   Click HERE for more details.
December 13: Early Release- dismissal at 12:15pm
December 16: Holiday Shop
December 19: Polar Express Party  9:00am- more details to come next week!