April 2, 2015

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

4-2-14

Math

Third grade is now learning about fractions.  Earlier this week the class did a fun activity exploring the idea of fractions with a Hershey's candy bar.  Ask your child about this fun and yummy activity that helped them learn about fractions.

Students from the Creston High School's FBLA came and talked to the students about saving money. The third graders decorated piggy banks.  The high school students gave out three awards along with $1 to the students for their decorated piggy banks.  Abby received "The Most Colorful Award." Denton got the award for "The Most Unique."  The "Most Money Smart Award" went to Dillon. FBLA students took picture of the piggy banks.  There is a note in the take home folder about voting for the piggy bank that you like best on Pinterest.  The student with the most likes will receive $100.

Science

The class has spent the week preparing for an upcoming test on matter.  Students completed the chapter review, then filled out the study guide with a partner.  This is the first time this year doing it that way.  I am working on making students more independent in their work.  We went over the answers in class.  The test will be on Monday, April 6th.

Reading/Language Arts

The informational text read this week was Mountains-Surviving on Mt. Everest.  Students learned about a young man's journey to climb the mountain.  The comprehension skill covered using text and graphic features to better understand what was read.  Text features include headings, captions, and bold text.  Graphic features include maps, labeled diagrams, photos, and illustrations.  The vocabulary strategy covered analogies.  An analogy is a kind of comparison in which one pair of words is compared to another.  The pairs relate by definition,  meaning, or characteristics.  Students worked on the suffixes -able, -ness, and -less in phonics.  The grammar skill reviewed adjectives and adverbs that compare.

The results from the lesson 24 reading test are included in the take home folder.  Next week students will be taking the Benchmark 5 Assessment.

Iowa Assessments

Students at St. Malachy will be taking Iowa Assessments during the week of April 13th-17th. Testing will take place in morning.  Please make sure your child gets a good night's sleep, eats a good breakfast, and has several #2 pencils available.  Mechanical pencils are not allowed.  Iowa Assessments are just one form of testing that St. Malachy School uses to track students' progress.

Book Order

Included in the take home folder this week are book orders for April.  Orders are due by Friday, April 10th.  Orders may be returned to school with cash or check or submitted online at www.scholastic.com.  There will be one more book order sent out in May.

Young Writer's Conference

On Wednesday, April 8th, nine students from St. Malachy School will be attending the Young Writer's Conference at Graceland College in Lamoni, IA.  Those students include Ashlyn Baker, Makenna Brown, Cecilia Zachary, Patrick Varner, Brooklyn McKinney, Keegan Bailey, Rowan Pope, Mallory Tallmon, and Macy Adamson.  I will be accompanying these students, so there will be a substitute teacher in 3rd grade on this day. Next year, three different students from this class will get to attend as fourth graders and then again three different students will attend as fifth graders. There is also a writing conference for middle schoolers, so even more students from the class will get to attend.

Upcoming Dates

Thursday, April 1st-Sedar Meal
Friday, April 2nd-NO SCHOOL (Teacher Professional Development)
Wednesday, April 8th-1 Hour Early Dismissal
Monday, April 13th-Friday, April 17th-Iowa Assessments
Wednesday, April 15th-1 Hour Early Dismissal
Wednesday, April 22nd-3rd Grade Mass
Wednesday, April 22nd-1 Hour Early Dismissal
Wednesday, April 29th-1 Hour Early Dismissal