9-29-16

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

9-29-16

SCIENCE

Third grade survived their first test covering the topic of plants. Overall, the students did a good job on the assessment. The next topic to be discussed is animals.

MATH

The third grade class is moving on to subtraction. We will continue to use estimation, place value, and regrouping to solve subtraction problems.  Please practice the basic subtraction facts at home.

READING/LANGUAGE ARTS

Third grade read a biography this week about Roberto Clemente, a baseball player from the Pittsburgh Pirates from the late 1950s through the early 1970s.  The comprehension skill covered cause and effect.  The vocabulary strategy focused on the prefix mis-. The phonics skill covered long o.  In grammar students worked on singular and plural nouns. 

Results of the lesson 4 weekly assessment have been included in the take home folder. These are yours to keep.

Next week third grade will be taking the Unit 1 Benchmark test. This will cover skills learned throughout the first five lessons. This test is more difficult than the weekly tests.  These students see whether students are applying the skills they have learned.   In addition, third grade will be doing a Halloween writing unit. Third grade will not be moving ahead in the reading series.

PRAYER SERVICE

Third grade will be leading a prayer service on Wednesday, October 5th.  Every child has a part in the prayer service. Your child's part has been being sent home in the take home folder. If your child has a speaking part, please have him/her practice at home to improve fluency.  The prayer service begins at 9:15 AM.

READING INCENTIVE PROGRAM

During the months of October through March, St. Malachy kindergarten through fifth grade students will be participating in a reading incentive program. A note and calendar has been included in the take home folder. During the months of October, November, and December the goal for third grade is 400 minutes. Please keep track of minutes read each day.  At the end of the month, please sign and return the calendar to school. If the goal is met, please have your child choose his or her reward of a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut or a free mini single topping pizza from Pizza Ranch. In third grade, there was also be a reward for the students who reads the most minutes each month. Certificates will be sent home in the take home folders.  

IMPORTANT DATES

Saturday, October 1st-Reading Incentive Program Starts
Wednesday, October 5th-3rd Grade Prayer Service at 9:15 AM
Friday, October 7th-Spirit Day ($1)
Friday, October 7th-Optional Sack Lunch
Wednesday, October 12th-Mass at 9:15 AM
Friday, October 14th-NO SCHOOL (Professional Development)

Upcoming Tests

Dear Parents,

   The third grade class has some upcoming tests next week. There will be a religion test on Monday, September 26th. Students have a study guide to help them prepare for the test. Third grade also has a science test this Monday. A study guide was completed together today in class. There will be a social studies test on Tuesday, September 27th. The study guide is due on this Monday. Students worked on during class this past Thursday and Friday. Mrs. Sickels will be having the students check the study guide Monday in class. Please help your child in studying for these tests.  All of the material on the study guides were lessons that were covered in class with the students.

    The name interview form was sent home in the take home folder this past Thursday. Please have it back to school by next Thursday, September 29th. We will be sharing the information in our class meeting next Friday.

    Enjoy Homecoming and have a great weekend!

9-2216

3rd Grade News

9-22-16

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

Math

The third grade class continues to work on addition. Students have been using place value to solve problems.  Students have also been using the using the traditional algorithm of regrouping to add.

  

Science

This week third grade has been preparing for an upcoming test on plants. Students have completed a review of the material. In class students are completing a study guide with the teacher's direction. The study guide will come home with the students for them to use in aiding the studying process. The test will be next week.

Reading/Language Arts

The story read this week was called "Pop's Bridge."  In this historical fiction story a young boy thinks his father's job is is the most important part of the process of building the Golden Gate Bridge.  After an accident occurs, the boy realizes that each of the jobs that the crew has is equally important to the completion of the project.  The comprehension skill focused on was compare and contrast. The vocabulary strategy was word families.  In grammar students learned about common and proper nouns.  The phonics skill focused on long o words, specifically words with oa and ow.

The weekly test results from lesson 3 have been included in the take home folder.  The results are yours to keep.  The tests measure the understanding of each concept covered during the week.  I am reminding the students that these tests are important.  They need to take their time and do their best each week.

Service

Students in third, fourth, and fifth grade will be participating in a community service project for The Food Bank of Iowa. Each grade will be walking down to the food pantry located on the corner of Division and Wyoming once a month to help unload the truck. The truck arrives around 1:30 PM and takes about 20-30 minutes to unload.  The Food Bank provides supplemental food for those in need.  Third grade will be going the third Friday of each month weather permitting. In the take home folder is a permission slip regarding this opportunity. Please complete and return to school.

Class Meeting

In next week's class meeting we are going to discuss the importance of our names.  In your child's take home folder is an interview form.  Your child needs to ask a parent at home these questions about how he/she got his/her name. The child needs to be the one writing the answers on the paper.  Students will share at our class meeting on Friday, September 230th. Please have your child complete and return the form by Thursday, September 29th.

PTO

The St. Malachy PTO is always for for parent volunteers.  The PTO has many great activities planned and helps to financially support many great projects that benefit the students. This year the class with the highest total of parents at the meetings will be rewarded with a pizza party.  Please help the third grade class win the pizza party at the end of the year. The next St. Malachy PTO meeting is scheduled for October 20th.

Friday, September 23rd

There are several exciting events taking place this Friday. This Friday is Homecoming at the high school. There will be a pep rally with the high school football players and cheerleaders at St. Malachy during the morning. This is a spirit day. Students may pay $1 to wear sweat pants. Students are encourage to wear their Creston Panther gear. This is also an optional sack lunch day.  School dismisses at 1:10 PM, and the parade begins at 2:00 PM.

Important Dates

Friday, September 23rd- Spirit Day ($1)

Friday, September 23rd-Optional Sack Lunch Day

Friday, September 23-2 Hour Early Dismissal (Homecoming)
Sunday, September 25th-Color Run at 2 PM
Wednesday, September 28th-Mass at 9:15 AM
Saturday, October 1st-Reading Incentive Program Begins
Wednesday, October 5th-3rd Grade Prayer Service at 9:15 AM

9-15-16

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

9-15-16

SCIENCE

Third grade continues to learn about plants. Students have learned about simple plants such as mosses and liverworts.  Seeds have also been studied.  Students learned about the parts of seed by dissecting a lima bean seed. Students were able to examine the seed coat, the stored food, and the seedling of the bean.

MATH

Skills students are working on include mental math when adding, using addition properties (commutative and associative) to add, and using place value to add.  It is extremely important for students know the basic addition facts. Please practice the basic facts at home.

READING/LANGUAGE ARTS

Third grade read "Destiny's Gift" in which a young girl and a bookstore owner share a special friendship. Destiny sense that something is wrong with Mrs. Wade and learns that the store may have to close. Determined to save the store, Destiny rallies the community to help save the store.  The comprehension skill focused on analyzing the characters.  The vocabulary strategy covered antonyms. The phonics skill covered the long vowel pairs of ay, ai, ea, and ee. In grammar students learned about compound sentences.

The weekly assessment results from Lesson 2 have been included in the take home folder. These are yours to keep.  These tests show the students' understanding of the concepts learned during the week.

Just a reminder to parents and students, please remember to return the spelling pretest along with the missed words that have been written for homework. Both papers need turned in together.

BOOK ORDERS

A book order was sent home in last week's take home folder.  Orders are due back to school or completed online by Friday, September 16th.

CHROME BOOKS

Third graders have been busy using technology in class. Students have been completing ST Math on the chrome books.  Students are also learning about coding.  In the future, there will be lessons that students complete on the computer.

SOCIAL CONTRACT

Students following the social contract is an issue that gets discussed each day. Each student is responsible for following the "rules" that were established at the beginning of the year. There are consequences for not following the social contract. Please continue to discuss behaviors at school with your child.

IMPORTANT DATES

Monday, September 19th-NO SCHOOL (Professional Development)

Wednesday, September 21st-Mass at 9:15 AM

Friday, September 23rd-2 Hour Early Dismissal (Homecoming)

Sunday, September 25th-St. Malachy Color Run at 2 PM

Wednesday, September 28th-Mass at 9:15 PM

9-8-16

3rd Grade News

9-8-17

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

Math

This week students worked on estimating sums by using compatible number and rounding. Students are working on rounding to the nearest ten and hundred.  Another skill we have covered in class is using mental math strategies to add.  Knowing the basic facts is a great way to aid in mental math.  Please practice the basic facts at home.

Reading/Language Arts

This week third grade read a fantasy selection entitled "The Trial of Cardigan Jones" in which a moose is put on trial and falsely accused of taking an apple pie.  Students worked on conclusions and inferring for the comprehension strategy. The vocabulary strategy focused on using a dictionary.  Students worked with long vowel words with the VCe pattern. The class continued to work on dividing words into syllables. The grammar skill identified the four types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory).

In the take home folder this week are the Lesson 1 weekly assessment results.  These are yours to keep.  The weekly assessments let me know if you child is understanding and applying strategies learned in class. 

Science

Third grade continues to study about plants. Students learned about plants cells.

Book Orders

A book order is being sent home in the take home folders. If you are ordering by cash or check (made payable to Mrs. Burg), please return the order to school by Friday, September 16th.  Directions for ordering online with a credit card were also sent home with the students.  The website is www.scholastic.com.

Important Dates

Friday, September 9th-Spirit Day ($1)

Sunday, September 11th-Holy Spirit International Food Fair 

Wednesday, September 14th-Mass at 9:15 AM

Thursday, September 15th-PTO at 6 PM

Monday, September 19th-NO SCHOOL (Professional Development)

Wednesday, September 21st-Mass at 9:15 AM

Friday, September 23rd-Spirit Day ($1)

Friday, September 23rd-2 Hour Early Dismissal for Homecoming (1:10 PM)

Sunday, September 25th-Color Run

9-1-16

3rd Grade News

9-1-16

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

Math

Third grade starts the year with addition and subtraction. This week students have learned about different properties of addition including the Identity Property (7 + 0 = 7) and the Commutative Property (3 + 4 = 4 + 3). Another important concept learned was rounding. Student rounded numbers to the nearest ten and hundred.  Students are taught 4 or less do not mess and 5 or above give it shove. Please practice the basic addition and subtraction facts at home.

Science

Third grade is beginning the year learning about plants. There has been discussion about plant needs and plant parts.

Reading/Language Arts

This week third grade read the humorous fiction story called A Fine, Fine School.  In this story a principal thinks everything about his school is fine,  so he decides to have school on the weekends which then leads to school during summer vacation.  The principal doesn't realize the kids are missing out on learning things away from school like teaching a dog to do tricks or a little brother to skip rope.  In the end, the principal decides school should only be on the weekdays so the kids can also learn new things away from school as well.  The comprehension skill covered learning about story structure.  Students identified the setting, characters, and the plot.  Students worked on short vowels for the phonics skill.  The vocabulary strategy demonstrated how to use context clues.  Students also learned about complete subjects and complete predicates in grammar.

Hopefully all students and parents understand how spelling works in third grade.  There will be a post test on Friday.  Please study the spelling list with your child.

There will be a weekly assessment given on Friday in reading.  It will cover the skills and concepts we worked on during the week. 

STUDENT OF SERVICE

Creston High School has a program for seniors called Student of Service (SOS).  Students must complete a semester of service to graduate. Madison Callahan will be completing her SOS this fall in the third grade classroom.  She will be here from 2:00-3:00 PM every other day.

CLASS MEETING

Third grade will be having weekly class meetings.  This past week the students of third, fourth, and fifth grade developed a social contract.  A social contract is an agreement of behavior.  All of the students and teachers signed the social contract.  The students know if they do not follow the social contract there are consequences.  You can find a copy of the social contract in my blog pages. Please discuss the social contract with your child at home as you see necessary.

HIGHLIGHTS MAGAZINE

In your child's take home folder are two different order forms for Highlight Magazine. Complete the order form and return to school by next Thursday. Please return the forms even if you do not intend to purchase the magazines. Educational classroom supplies are earned based upon the number of returns.

IMPORTANT DATES
Monday, September 5-NO SCHOOL
Wednesday, September 7-Mass at 9:15 AM
Friday, September 9-Spirit Day $1
Sunday, September 11-Holy Spirit International Food Fair
Wednesday, September 14th-Mass at 9:15 AM
Thursday, September 15th-PTO Meeting