Miss Van Arkel's Third Grade Blog

For those who follow our blog outside the United States, visit this excellent History.com post about the history of Thanksgiving. And, for those of you who have not had a refresher course on this holiday,  you might find yourself learning some new facts to share around the Thanksgiving table later this week.  For those who think they know everything, test your turkey knowledge with this quiz.

If you find your family members are bored and in need of something to do, show them our blogs.  I added a new feature (the revolving globe to the right) that shows your location on the map as well as visitors from around the world.

And, to really spice up the family gathering, take your family on the BLOG SCAVENGER HUNT. This month we are sharing silly stories about silly things we have done in our lives.   Everyone is a winner in this contest.  Students will be entered in the Reading Counts drawing just for participating.  Other prizes will be offered too.

Thanksgiving Break: November 25-27

Holiday Shop at school: December 9

Georgetown Holiday Program at Resurrection Life Church in Grandville- Dec. 10

Reading Counts Session Ends- Dec. 11

Your child brought new spelling words home today. We will be using these words to do some group work and activities. Please begin to study these at home.

Check out spelling city under the spelling category on the right side of the blog.

Enter your words in the site and play some fun games!!

You can use

We will have a Social Studies test on Tuesday. This will cover the regions of Michigan. Please help your child study the regions Michigan can be divided into, the unique regions of Michigan, and the regions of the U.S. that Michigan is a part of.

Also, please ask your child about why the regions are divided this way. What are the similar features and characteristics?

Let me know if there are any other questions.

Thanks for your support!

Dear Families,

It’s getting colder and we’ll soon see snow! Please help your child remember to wear a coat to school. Also please wear gloves, hats, mittens, boots as the snow arrives.

Thanks!

Our silly November Scavenger Hunt has started.

Check out the post below!

In the next couple of weeks we will begin writing poetry. We have some wonderful sites about poetry listed on our blog. They include some fun games as well.

Click on reading and choose the Jack Prelutsky poetry or Shel Silverstein poetry.

Check it out!

Science News from Mrs. McDonald:

Our class is beginning a new science unit. We will be studying basic concepts in chemistry, finding out how materials interact with each other and whether it is a mixture or solution. The children will learn what happens when simple materials, like gravel, salt, and water, are put together. They will also learn techniques for separating the resulting mixtures and solutions. We will investigate combinations of materials, like baking soda and calcium chloride (the salt used to melt ice on roads), that react when mixed, producing new products, like chalk, carbon-dioxide gas, and table salt. These are exciting discoveries. This is more than we need to do for this unit but it is loaded with experiments.

Today we did an experiment with static electricity. Thanks for volunteering Jake!

Can you recognize me with shaving cream all over my face? As a youth group leader I sometimes find myself in some silly situations. This was definitely one of them. I think it took about three days for my hair to feel normal again! 

Happy Hunting