Third Grade Week 10 in Review

We finished up week 10 on Thursday, and it was another successful week.  I’m so thankful that we are keeping on schedule; however, that will change when we take off next week for a week at the beach.  Oh well…we’ll catch up those 4 days soon enough…or maybe I can convince Caleb to double up some this week.  Hmmm…
Here’s how week 10 went for us:
Bible – Our lessons focused on “God Made All things For His Praise” and “God Always Does What is Best.”  We read from Psalm 150 and Matthew 27:27-31.  Caleb’s memory work was Psalm 69:34a.  I have to admit, the latter lesson about God always doing what is best for us really hit home due to Caleb’s Tourette’s diagnosis.  I explained to Caleb that although he sometimes gets upset because of his tics, that it’s all happening for a reason.  Right now, we don’t know what that reason may be; however, God is using all of this for HIS purpose.  He’s got a master plan, and we aren’t always sure what it is…however, as long as HE is in control, we can rest assured that the master plan will work out according to his purpose.
Science – This week we started a new lesson on Ecosystems.  We discussed the characteristics of all living things, what an ecosystem is, the difference between a community and a population, the difference between producers/consumers/decomposers, and about food chains and food webs. 
Social Studies – This week our lesson focused on “The English Come to America.”  We discussed that the English wanted colonies in the New World in hopes that they would find fish, furs, and lumber.  They also wanted to “outdue” or catch up to the Spanish.  Caleb learned about Roanoke and how it was the “lost colony”…this intrigued him, and he now wants to find out what happened to all of the people.    We reviewed that Jamestown was the first English settlement, and we reviewed John Smith’s role there.  Next week, we’ll spend some time reading stories on these topics.
Reading – This week we spent some time discussing non-fiction books.  We learned the different parts of a non-fiction book – title page, table of contents, text, glossary, and index.  Caleb learned how to use each part, and he completed the lesson by choosing a non-fiction book and answering questions using the parts of the book.
Vocabulary – Caleb studied his words for a few days, and he took his test and scored 95%.
Math – I’m still debating what to do in math, so until I make up my mind we’ll continue with Math U See.  This week we discussed ordinal numbers and tally marks.  Caleb did really well with this, and that made me happy.
English – This week Caleb started a new ACE Pace, and we started discussing nouns.  We learned that a noun is a person, place, or thing.  He learned all the different ways to make a singular noun plural, and he learned the difference between a common and proper noun.  He says that he’s enjoying English this year, and that, too, makes my heart proud. 
I have to brag on his spelling once again.  Like I’ve mentioned, we’re using Spelling Power, and he has made a 100 on EVERY test except for ONE!  He is LOVING spelling.  Heck, I’m loving that HE’S loving it and doing so well!
How’d your school week go?