1-29-15

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

1-29-15

MATH

Chapters 6 and 7 will focus on division.  Chapter 6 will focus on the process of division.

SCIENCE

Third grade is learning about the solar system.  Students learned about the sun, eight planets, comets, and asteroids.  Students have learned that the planets are divided into two groups, the inner planets and outer planets.  In Library class, students are researching a planet to later share information with the class.  

READING/LANGUUAGE ARTS

This week students are reading the play "Two Bear Cubs" in which a mother bear is unable to find her two bear cubs.  An unlikely hero saves the day.  The comprehesion skill focused on story structure (setting, characters, and plot).  The vocabulary strategy covered prefixes pre-, re-, and bi-.  Students learned about irregular verbs in grammar.  The phonics skill focused on the vowel sounds in wood and spoon.

The results from the Lesson 18 weekly assessment have been included in the take home folder.  

AUCTION DONATIONS

Please remember to turn in your child's pictures (4 X 6 or smaller) for the silent auction item. We want every student represented on the project.  Any monetary donation for the  Bed and Breakfast Auction is greatly appreciated.  Please have these things to school by Friday, February 6th.

VALENTINE'S DAY PARTY

St. Malachy School will hold Valentine's Day parties during the afternoon of February 12th. There is no school on Friday, February 13th.  A class list has been included in the take home folder to use for addressing valentines.  Please if bringing valentines to school make sure to bring one for each child in the class.

IMPORTANT DATES

Friday, January 30th-Grandparents Mass at Holy Spirit Church at 1:30 PM

Wednesday, February 4th-1 Hour Early Dismissal
Wednesday, February 11th-1 Hour Early Dismissal
Thursday, February 12th-Valentine's Day Party in the PM
Friday, February 13th-NO SCHOOL
Wednesday, February 18th-3rd Grade Mass
Wednesday, February 18th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Classroom Theme Day-Sports

2015 Catholic Schools Week

Classroom Theme Day-Sports

Come As You Are Day

Catholic Schools Week 2015

Come as You Are Day

Sleepy 3rd Graders

Hat Day

Catholic Schools Week 2015

Hat Day

January 22, 2015

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

1-22-15

Catholic Schools Week

St. Malachy will be celebrating Catholic Schools Week from Sunday, January 25th-Friday, January 30th.  There are many fun filled activities planned.  There is a kick off mass on Sunday, January 25th at Holy Spirit Church followed by brunch in the basement of the church sponsored by the PTO.  On Monday, January 26th, students need to bring a sack lunch (milk provided) and will eat with their Advent Angel.  Faculty and staff will be eating lunch at Pizza Ranch.  This is also Hat Day.  Tuesday, January 27th, is Come as You Are Day. Students can wear pajamas, robes, slippers, sweats, etc.  Please make sure that students do have proper shoes for going outside. Class Theme Day is on Wednesday, January 28th.  Third grade has chosen "Sports" as their theme.  Students can bring an accessory (ball glove, football, shin guards, etc.) as long as it doesn't become a distraction.  Please NO cleats for safety reasons.  I don't want toes to get stepped on. The Chamber of Commerce Coffee will take place at 10:00 AM in the gym.  There is NO mass on this day. Thursday, January 29th, is Blue and Gold Day.  Please wear your St. Malachy gear.  Please contact the PTO if you are in need of new clothing.  The talent show will begin at 9:30 AM in the gym.  Dress up Day is on Friday, January 30th.  The grandparents/special guest Mass will begin at 1:30 PM at Holy Spirit Church.  Students will be bused to the church.  A reception follows mass.  Students may leave the church with their guest.  

St.Malachy Foundation Dinner and Auction

The St. Malachy Foundation will be holding their annual dinner and auction on Saturday, February 28th.  A note was sent home last week about the live auction basket and silent auction item that 3rd grade is going to donate.  The basket is a Bed and Breakfast Getaway to Weston, Missouri.  Donations are being accepted for the basket.  The silent auction item is a picture collage.  Each family is asked to contribute five photographs of your child.  Pictures need brought to school by Friday, February 6th.  Please contact Wendy Hayes if you have any questions.

Assignment Books and Homework

One of the goals of third grade is to increase responsibilty.  One way to do this is through homework. Students are responsible for writing down the assignments that are written on the board.  Since returning from Christmas break, some students are struggling to complete homework on time.  Another issue students are having is getting assignment books signed on a daily basis.  With the start of the third trimester on February 23, third graders will begin receiving late slips for not having homework complete or the assignment book not signed over a number of days.  Too many late slips, result in dententions. A note will come home further explaining late slips closer to the date.  Please talk with your child about the homework and assignment book expectations.

Reading/Language Arts

In the take home folder this week are the results of the Unit 3 Benchmark test and lesson 17 weekly assessment.  These are yours to keep.

Students learned about information about trees in this week's story "A Tree is Growing." The selection focused on text and graphic features as the comprehension skill to help the students better understand what they read.  Students looked at diagrams, captions, labels, timelines, etc. The vocabulary strategy

Math

Students continue to learn strategies for multiplying by multiples of ten.  Students have learned how to use the Distributive Property (4 X 30 = 4 X 10=40, 4 X 10=40, 4 X 10=40, so 40+40+40=120). Students have also used a number line to skip count and used place value (4 X 30=4 X 3 tens=12 tens=120).  Next week there will be the Chapter 5 test.

Science

Third grade is now learning about the solar system in science. First the class is learning about the planets.  We will study the inner and outer planets.  In Library, students will be researching a planet using the Internet. 

Important Dates

Wednesday, January 28th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, January 30th-Mass at Holy Spirit Church at 1:30 PM

Wednesday, February 4th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Wednesday, February 11th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Thursday, February 12th-Valentine's Day Party in PM

Friday, February 13th-NO SCHOOL

Wednesday, February 18th-3rd Grade Mass

Wednesday, February 18th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

January 15, 2015

3rd Grade News

1-15-15

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

Finally the weather has warmed up and students are able to be outside at recess.  Please make sure if there is snow on the ground, students come to school with boots, snowpants, hats, and gloves.  

Catholic Schools Week is Sunday, January 25th-Friday, January 30th.  Exciting activities and dress up days are planned.  Volunteers are still needed for the mass on Sunday, January 25th at Holy Spirit Church.  Please let Miss Surma or Mrs. Root know if your child would like to participate.  The talent show is looking for entertaining acts to be in the show. Tryouts for the talent show begin at the end of this week and will continue into the next week.  There is a sign up sheet in the hallway for students to sign up.  All students are welcomed and encouraged to be in the talent show.  The talent show is scheduled for Thursday, January 29th.

St. Malachy Foundation Dinner/Auction

Please check your child's homework folder for a note pertaining to the third grade basket and silent auction for the St. Malachy Foundation Auction on Saturday, February 28th.  The committee has come up with some great ideas for the basket and silent auction item.  All donations for these projects are greatly appreciated. Please look for more information about the fun filled night in future blogs.

Science

The next unit that third grade will be covering will be the solar system.  Third graders seem to love this topic.

Math

Chapter 5 in the math series focuses on using the multiplication facts.  Students will describe a number pattern, find unknown factors using an array or multiplication table, use strategies to multiply a one digit number by multiples of 10,  Please continue to work on the basic facts at home.  Students also took a timed multiplication test to see how many problems they could solve in five minutes.

Reading/Language Arts

This week's informational text "The Albertosaurus Mystery" gave students information about paleontologist Phillip Currie discovering the fossils of dinosaurs.  Students worked on drawing conclusions for the comprehension skill.  The vocabulary strategy covered the suffix of -ly.  Students worked on words with the /j/ and /s/ sound and words with VCCCV in phonics.  The class continued to work on adjectives in grammar.  This week students used adjectives to compare.

The weekly assessment results from lesson 17 have been included in the take home folder.  A few students are still finishing up with the Unit 3 Benchmark testing.  Results will go home next week.

New Faces at St. Malachy School

Alyssa Ogburn has been hired for the aide position in grades third through fifth.  Alyssa lives in Corning and is a recent graduate of Central College with a degree in history.  Miss Ogburn will rotate amongst the classrooms helping students.

This semester the third grade classroom will have Jake Miller as an SOS (Student of Service) from the high school.  Jake will be here in the mornings every other day.  Jake is a graduate of St. Malachy School.

Important Dates

Wednesday, January 21st-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Sunday, January 25th-Catholic Schools Week Mass at Holy Spirit Church at 9 AM

Wednesday, January 27th-Chamber of Commerce Coffee at 10 AM

Wednesday, January 27th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, January 30th-Grandparent Day Mass at Holy Spirit  Church at 1:30 PM

Wednesday, February 4th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

January 8, 2014

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

1-8-15

Happy 2015!  I hope everyone had a good break and is ready to be back at school. Third grade has a lot to learn before the next break in March.  I am ready for warmer weather that spring has to offer.

Please check with your child about needing new school supplies such as crayons, markers, glue, etc.  We are halfway through the year and supplies are either broken, worn down, or completely gone.

Math

Third grade are taking the Chapter 4 test today and tomorrow.  Tests will come home at a later date for parents to view.  

Chapter 5 will focus on using the multiplication facts 0-10 that have been learned.  Please continue to work on the basic facts at home.

Science

Third grader are learning about how living things survive in ecosystems. Students have learned about food chains and food webs.  Important vocabulary introduced to the students include producer, consumer, and decomposer.  There will be a test next week over this topic.

Reading/Language Arts

This week the class is reading the humerous fiction selection "Judy Moody Saves the World." In this story Judy learns about was to help the environment at school.  She has difficulties convincing her family they need to give up products from the the rainforest, reduce, reuse, and recycle. The comprehension skill covered story structure (characters, setting, and plot).  The vocabulary strategy focused on using context clues to figure out the meaning of a word.  The phonics strategy focused on words with -air, -ear, and -are.  Students were introduced to adjectives in grammar.

In the take home folder this week are the results of the lesson 15 weekly assessment taken before break.  These are yours to keep.

This week third grade is also taking the Unit 3 Benchmark test.  The reading and analyzing test focused on comprehension and vocabulary strategies.  The comprehension skills covered included understanding characters, story structure, author's purpose, main idea and details, sequence of events, point of view, text and graphic features, drawing conclusions, cause and effect, and comparing texts.  Students were assessed on idioms, synonyms, homophones and homographs, using a thesaurus, suffixes, shades of meaning for the vocabulary strategies.  Students also completed the revisiong and editing section of the test.  Skills tested included subject-verb agreement, verb tenses, sentence fluency, contractions, pronouns and antecedents, plural nouns, and homophones.  Due to a no school day and a late start this week, third grade will finish the benchmark testing next week.

Important Dates

Wednesday, January 14th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Wednesday, January 21st-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Sunday, January 25th-Friday, January 30th-Catholic Schools Week

Wednesday, February 4th-1 Hour Early Dismissal