9-27-18

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

9-27-18

Science

Third grade students are starting a unit on force. Students have been learning about push and pulls. Students have studied about strong and weak forces and about the direction forces can move.

Math

Students in third grade are working on subtraction strategies. Students have been working on estimating differences and mental math subtraction strategies. Please continue to 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 focused on cause and effect. The vocabulary strategy covered the prefix mis-. Students worked with long i as the phonics skill.  In grammar, students worked on singular and plural nouns.

The results of the lesson 4 weekly assessment have been included in this week's take home folder.

The FAST testing results have been included in the take home folder. These helps help determine students who need interventions, progress monitoring, and necessary support.

Next week, the third grade class will be taking the Unit 1 Benchmark Test. This assessment will test the vocabulary, comprehension, phonics, and grammar skills that have been taught in lessons one through five. These assessments show if students are applying the skills they have been taught. The class will also be learning about writing a personal narrative. 

Due to this test, we will not be moving ahead in the reading series next week. There  will be no spelling or weekly assessment given next week.

Coin Wars

Creston High School FBLA will once again be sponsoring "Coin Wars" to raise money for Union County Veterans to go on honor flights. Each class fills a jar with money from Monday, October 1-Friday, October 5th. There is a prize for the class that raises the most money.

"History of My Name" Family Interview

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 that needs to be completed. Your child needs to ask a parent the questions listed on how he/she got his/her name. The 3rd grade students needs to be the one writing the answers on the paper. Students will discuss their answers at our class meeting on October 5th. Please have your child complete and return by Thursday, October 4th.

Reading Incentive Program

As stated in last week's blog, we will be starting the reading incentive program in October. A copy of the note and calendar have been included in today's take home folder. Please keep track of the number of minutes read each day and return at the end of each month.

Important Dates

Friday, October 5th-Spirit Day

Wednesday, October 10th-3rd Grade Mass

Friday, October 12th-Volunteer at Food Pantry

Saturday, October 13th-PTO Spaghetti Supper

Monday, October 15th-NO SCHOOL (Teacher Professional Development)

Homecoming 2018

Homecoming 2018

Go Creston Panthers!

9-20-18

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

9-20-18

Reading/Language Arts

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

The results of the lesson 4 weekly assessment have been included in this week's Thursday folder. These are yours to keep. The weekly assessments are taken on the Chromebooks. This assessment tests each child's understanding of the skills covered in class each week. Accommodations are made according to each student's abilities.

Math

Students continue to work on addition problems using a variety of strategies. Students have been using place value to solve problems. The class has also been taught the standard algorithm (regrouping process) for addition.  

Science

The third grade is finishing the first unit on Engineering. Students learned about the design process. To wrap up the chapter, students completed an online Egg Drop Challenge. Students designed a holder that would protect and egg from cracking when dropped. Students were given criteria and constraints to follow as they designed a solution to the problem. Students had the opportunity to to test, modify, and retest their solution. The next until will focus on forces.

Homecoming

This is Homecoming week for the Creston Panthers. Friday is a $1 Spirit Day. Students need to wear their black and red to support the team. Due to the parade being moved up until 1:30 PM, St. Malachy dismisses at 12:40 PM. Lunch will be served earlier on this day. Third through fifth grade will have lunch from 11:45-12:10. Recess will be from 12:10-12:30 PM. Please notify the school of any changes to your child's schedule.

Reading Incentive Program

Students in kindergarten through fifth grade at St. Malachy School are going to be participating in a reading incentive program for the months of October through March.  The goal of the program is to get students reading at home and develop lifelong readers. Each month a calendar will be sent home with the students. Please keep track of the numbers of minutes read each day.  This can include what the child reads individually, and the reading parents and students do together. At the end of the month, please calculate the number of minutes read, sign, and return the calendar to school.  The goal in third grade for the months of October, November, and December is 400 total minutes for the month. The goal will increase in January, February, and March to 500 minutes. If your child meets the goal he or she can choose a gift certificate from Pizza Hut for a free personal pan pizza or a gift certificate from Pizza Ranch for $4 off a child’s buffet.  You will see a spot on each calendar to circle the option your child would like to have. The certificate your child receives can change from month to month if they would like. Certificates will be sent home in take home folders. Please return the calendar each month even if your child does not make the goal for the month. I will let the students know the total minutes read in third grade for each month. There will be an award for the student that reads the most minutes each month and for students who meet the goal in all six months. Calendars will be sent home in next week's take home folder.

Important Dates

Friday, September 21st-Spirit Day ($1)

Friday, September 21st-12:40 PM Dismissal for 1:30 PM Homecoming Parade

Sunday, September 30th-Color Run at McKinley Park

Friday, October 1st-Spirit Day ($1)

Wednesday, October 10th-3rd Grade Mass

Friday, October 12th-Food Pantry

Saturday, October 13th-PTO Spaghetti Supper

Monday, October 15th-NO SCHOOL at STM

9-13-18

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

9-13-18

Math

This week third graders are working on mental math strategies. Students are using place value, compatible numbers, and addition properties to solve problems. Knowing the basic facts will help students will help students' understanding better of mental math. Please practice the basic facts at home. Flashcards and online math games are great resources. A website we use at school for practicing basic facts is http://ascendmath.com/fcm/html5/.

Reading/Language Arts

This week third grade read the realistic fiction story Destiny's Gift in which a young girl and a bookstore owner share a special friendship. Destiny senses something is wrong and learns the bookstore may have to close because the owner, Mrs. Wade, cannot afford the raised rent. Determined to save the store, Destiny rallies the community to help save it. The comprehension skill focused on analyzing characters. Students studied antonyms as the vocabulary strategy. In phonics, students learned long vowel pairs of ay, ai, ea, and ee. The grammar skill focused on compound sentences.

The lesson 2 weekly assessment scores have been included in the Thursday folder. These are yours to keep. I am trying to accommodate all student needs when testing. Some students need the test read, some students need to be able to read the rest aloud to themselves, and some students can read the test quietly to themselves.

Science

With the engineering process, students are learning about how to test and improve solutions.

Important Dates to Remember

Monday, September 17th-School in Session at STM (no bus service)
Wednesday, September 19th-Ribbon Cutting at 5 PM
Thursday, September 20th-PTO Meeting
Friday, September 21st-Spirit Day ($1)
Friday, September 21st-Early Dismissal for Homecoming
Sunday, September 23rd-Color Run at 2 PM

9-6-18

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

9-6-18

Math

3rd grade students are working on rounding and estimating sums. Students hear me say quite often "4 or less do not mess, and 5 and above give it a shove" when rounding to the nearest ten and hundred. This is a skill students can practice at home as well.

Science

The third grade class is learning about engineering. Students have been learning about defining problems based about wants and needs, the specific criteria the solution must meet, and identifying possible constraints.

Reading/Language Arts

In this week's fantasy story The Trial of Cardigan Jones" students read about a moose that is put on trail and falsely accused of taking an apple pie. The comprehension skill focused on drawing conclusions and inferring. The vocabulary skill had students using a dictionary/glossary. Students also worked on long vowels with the VCe pattern in phonics. The grammar skill identified the four types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory).

The results of the lesson 1 weekly assessment have been included in the take home folder. These results are yours to keep. These weekly tests assess your child's understanding of the concepts covered in class. These assessments are taken on the computer this year.

Food Pantry

The third grade class will be volunteering at the O'Riley Center on Friday, September 7th. Students need to wear tennis shoes for walking. The class will be unloading the truck, filling shelves, and sorting food into packages to be given out.

Important Dates

Friday, September 7th-Spirit Day Cy/Hawk gear ($1)

Sunday, September 9th-Holy Spirit Food Fair

Thursday, September 20th-PTO Meeting

Friday, September 21st-Spirit Day ($1)

Friday, September 21st-2 Hour Early Out (Homecoming)