12/11/25

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

12/11/25 

Science

Since we have reached the end of a unit, the plan is to wait until we return to school in January to start the next topic, organisms and their environments. 

Reading/Language Arts

The second play in Module 4 is "Gigi and the Wishing Ring" by Gail Herman. In this Italian fairy tale, a young man goes out to discover the world in hopes of finding riches. He meets an old woman, who gives him her cat, dog, and a magic ring. The only stipulation is that Gigi isn't supposed to tell anyone about the secret ring. Then, Gigi meets Maliarda, a beautiful girl, and eventually tells her about the ring. Maliarda uses the ring to send Gigi and his pets to the top of the highest mountain. The pets get down from the mountain and have a mouse steal the ring back. The pets wish for Gigi to return from the mountain. Gigi uses the wishing ring to send Maliarda to the cold mountain.

The comprehension skills that will be covered include retelling, understanding elements of drama, and theme. The decoding skill covers the /ou/ sound. Students will identify and write plural nouns as the grammar skill. The vocabulary skill

Next week, the class will take the selection quiz on the story. Students will not take a module assessment.

The results of the Module 3 assessments have been included in the take home folder.

Math

The third grade class is preparing for the Topic 4 assessment. The test will be on Monday, December 15th.

Dress Up Days

Monday, December 15th-Christmas Character

Tuesday, December 16th-Christmas Plaid

Wednesday, December 17th-Christmas Best (mass attire)

Thursday, December 18th-Shiny, Festive, and Bright

Friday, December 19th-Christmas Vacation (ugly sweater or pajamas)

Friday, December 19th

Advent Angels will be eating lunch together on Friday, December 19th. Students will need to bring a sack lunch. Afterwards, the whole school will sing Christmas carols in the gym. Parents are more than welcome to join us in caroling.

Students are allowed to bring their Advent Angel a Christmas gift. Please note this is not a requirement. 

Christmas Break

School will not be in session for Christmas break from Monday, December 22nd-Friday, January 2nd. I hope that all 3rd grade families can spend time with those they love. My husband and I will be traveling to Mesa, AZ, to spend the week at my mom's house. This is such an enjoyable week for me, as it's the longest amount of time I get to spend with my adult children since they no longer live at my house.

School resumes for students on Monday, January 5th.

Important Dates

Friday, December 12th-Reconciliation for 3rd graders

Wednesday, December 17th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, December 19th-Bring a Sack Lunch

12/7/25

Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalchy.org

12/7/25

Math

The 3rd grade class has been ta;ught the divisors of 0-10. Students need to continue practicing the division facts. Being able to multiply and divide fluently is a third grade math standard. The class will complete the Topic 4 assessment before Christmas break.

Science

The class will take an assessment on the topic of motion on Wednesday, December 10th. The students completed a study guide with a partner this past Friday. We will check the study guide tomorrow in class.

Reading/Language Arts

Module 4 focuses on stories told as plays. The first play the class is reading is "The Saga of Pecos Bill" by Edward O'Reilly. Students will take the weekly assessments along with the spelling post-test on Tuesday, December 9th.

Advent Angels

Advent Angel activities begin this week. Students have been paired up with another student in the building and will partake in several Advent-themed activities over the next two weeks.

Mass

Mass this week will be celebrated on Monday, December 8th, due to it being the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. This holy day of obligation is a Catholic feast celebrating Mary's conception without sin. There will be no mass on Wednesday, December 10th. There will be no PE class on Monday. PE classes will be on Wednesday and Thursday this week. Students will go to Library on Monday.

Christmas Dress Up Days

Monday, December 15th-Christmas Character Day

Tuesday, December 16th-Christmas Plaid

Wednesday, December 17th-Christmas Best Dress Up

Thursday, December 18th-Shiny, Festive, and Bright

Friday, December 19th-Ugly Sweater

Important Dates

Monday, December 8th-Mass (Feast of the Immaculate Conception)

Wednesday, December 10th-PE Class (tennis shoes needed)

Wednesday, December 10th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, December 12th-Donations for Nursing Home Residents Due

Friday, December 12th-Reconciliation for Grades 3rd-8th

Wednesday, December 17th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, December 19th-Sack Lunch and Caroling with Angels

Christmas Break

School is NOT in session from Monday, December 22nd, through Friday, January 2nd. School resumes on Monday, January 5th.

 

12/4/25

Burg's Buzz
nburg@crestonstmalachy.org
12/4/25 

Christmas Music Concert

The music concert was a wonderful performance by the St. Malachy student body and Mrs. Warner. It definitely puts you in the Christmas spirit.

Vacation

My husband and I had a wonderful time on our anniversary trip to Cabo San Lucas. It was nice to relax and enjoy the beautiful view. I was definitely not ready to return to the cold, snowy weather in Iowa.

Important Dates

11/20/25

Burg's Buzz
nburg@crestonstmalachy.org
11/20/25 

Reading/Language Arts

The third graders are reading Why is the Statue of Liberty Green written by Martha E. H. Rustad and illustrated by Holli Conger. In this narrative nonfiction story, students learn factual information about The Statue of Liberty by following students on a field trip. The comprehension skills covered identifying the central idea and providing evidence to support it, identifying the author's purpose for writing the story and providing evidence that proves the purpose, and being able to figure out the literary elements of the narrative section of the story. Students also worked on distinguishing between concrete and abstract nouns. The decoding skill focused on the silent letters kn, wr, gn, mb, and rh). The vocabulary skill covered the prefix of im-.

The spelling post and weekly assessments will be completed on Thursday, November 20th. The class will start on Module 4 upon returning from Thanksgiving break.

Science

During science class, the students learned about being able to predict patterns of motion. These patterns include up/down, back and forth, circular, and zigzag.

Math

Since the class has started learning about division, the students worked on identifying fact families. Just as addition and subtraction are related operations, so are multiplication and division. One of the strategies taught for learning division facts is to use the multiplication facts. The class has practiced the divisors of 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Book Order

A Scholastic book order was sent home in last week's take home folder. Please remember that orders must be placed online by Wednesday, December 3rd. If ordering a Christmas gift for your child, please notify me by email. I can notify you when the book order arrives.

Reading Incentive Program

November calendars are due back to school by Wednesday, December 3rd. I will hand out the awards for those students who meet the goal upon returning back to school on December 4th. A December calendar will go home with students next week.

Mrs. Burg Absent From School

As a reminder to parents, I will not be at school on Tuesday, November 25th, Monday, December 1, Tuesday, December 2nd, or on Wednesday, December 3rd. My husband and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on November 25th. We are taking a vacation to Los Cabos, Mexico. The substitute will be Mary Brown. I do plan on telling the students of my absence from school this Friday. My plan is to attend the Christmas concert on the evening of Wednesday, December 3rd.

Thanksgiving Break

School will not be in session beginning on Wednesday, November 26th, through Sunday, November 30th. School resumes on Monday, December 1st.

Read-A-Thon Fundraiser

Read-A-Thon information is coming home in the take home folder today. St. Malachy's PTO will be holding its fall fundraiser beginning on Monday, November 24th and running through Sunday, December 7th. Students track their minutes read throughout the two weeks and gather sponsors to pledge money. All money and reading logs need to be turned back into school by Tuesday, December 9th. 

Because this is a fundraiser, money raised will be used to repair the cement work in the outdoor commons area and to provide funds for the future outdoor classroom. There are prizes that the students can also win. There will be an award for the student who reads the most minutes and who is the top fundraiser per grade band. All students who raise $50 or more will be entered into a raffle for an Amazon gift card. There is also an award for the top fundraising class and the class with the top minutes read.

Minutes can be counted towards both the monthly reading minutes and the Read-A-Thon fundraiser.

Sweatpants Fundraiser

Students can pay $20 to wear sweatpants (no pajama bottoms) throughtout December. The only stipulation to this is not being able to wear sweatpants on Wednesdays due to mass. All of the money raised in this fundraiser will go towards the cost of the outdoor classroom. If your child wants to participate, please have the money turned in by Tuesday, December 2nd.

Important Dates

Friday, November 21st-Spirit Day $1

Tuesday, November 25th-Mrs. Burg Absent from School

Wednesday, November 26th-NO SCHOOL (Thanksgiving Break)

Thursday, November 27th-NO SCHOOL (Thanksgiving Day)

Friday, November 28th-NO SCHOOL (Thanksgiving Break)

Monday, December 1st-Mrs. Burg Absent from School

Tuesday, December 2nd-Mrs. Burg Absent from School

Wednesday, December 3rd-Mrs. Burg Absent from School

Wednesday, December 3rd-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Wednesday, December 3rd-Christmas Music Concert 6 PM

Friday, December 5th-Spirit Day $1

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/13/25

 Burg's Buzz
nburg@crestonstmalachy.org
11/13/25

Math

The class has finished the multiplication units in the book and will move on to learning the division facts.  Students still need to work on their multiplication fluency. The better the students know their multiplication facts, the easier it will be for them to learn the division facts.

Kindness Week Charity Project

Thank you to everyone who donated to the noisy change collection. In total $342 was collected. Donations are still being accepted until the end of the week.

Book Order

A book order has been included in the take home folder. Books make a great Christmas gift. If you would like to order books as a gift for your child, please email me, and I will notify you when the order arrives. All orders are placed online and are due by December 3rd.

Important Dates

 Friday, November 14th-End of the 1st Trimester

Wednesday, November 19th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, November 21st-Spirit Day

Thanksgiving Break

There will be no school on Wednesday, November 26th, through Friday, November 28th. School is not in session due to Thanksgiving break. School will resume on Monday, December 1st.

11/6/25

 Burg's Buzz
nburg@crestonstmalachy.org
11/6/25

Science

As the class learns about motion, students have studied what speed is and how to calculate it.

Reading/Language Arts

The story that the 3rd graders are reading is The Flag Maker by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. In this narrative nonfiction selection, the reader follows a young girl and her mother, who were commissioned to sew a large flag to fly over Fort McHenry, allowing the British to see it from afar. The flag became a symbol of pride, courage, and hope for the girl as it continued to stand as the war came to an end.

The comprehension skills focus on text structure, retelling, and vocabulary related to specific content areas. The decoding skills have students working with the sounds of /j/, /k/, and /kw/. Students are also identifying where commas go when there are words in a series of nouns and verbs. The vocabulary skill covers the suffixes of -er and -est.

Math

The students are preparing for the Topic 3 math assessment. This test will cover the factors of 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8. It will also focus on the student's ability to use the Distributive Property to solve multiplication problems. 

Kindness Week

The 3rd grade class will be celebrating Kindness Week from Monday, November 10th through Friday, November 14th. Each day, there will be a fun dress-up day and an activity related to kindness. There is a note in the take home folder about each dress up day. There is also a note in the take home folder about the charitable act that the third grade class will be partaking in. In years past, Kindness Week has always been such an enjoyable time for the students.  

Resident Artist

On November 10th, 11th, and 12th, artist Gre Preslicka will be at STM assisting all classes in creating a mural. The 3rd grade class will be painting on Monday, November 10th. I suggest students don't wear new clothing or bring a large t-shirt to put over themselves while they are painting.

Important Dates

Friday, November 7th-Spirit Day $1

Monday. November 10th-3rd grade with the resident artist 

Wednesday, November 12th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Wednesday, November 12th-Advent Night 6 PM

Friday, November 14th-End of the 1st Trimester

10/30/25

 Burg's Buzz 
10/30/25
nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

I enjoyed discussing students' progress in third grade with parents at conferences. Thank you for taking the time to attend. I appreciate the books that were also donated to the classroom library.

Dress Code

Shorts will no longer be allowed when students return to school on Monday, November 3rd.

Also, remember that if wearing leggings, the bottom of the garment needs to extend to at least mid-length.

Reading Calendars

October reading calendars are due back to school on Monday, November 3rd. A parent needs to ensure that the total number of minutes read is recorded and sign the calendar. November calendars were sent home with parents at their conference.

Important Dates

Thursday, October 30th-NO SCHOOL

Friday, October 31st-NO SCHOOL

Wednesday, November 5th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, November 7th-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, November 12th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, November 14th-End of the 1st Trimester