Holiday Fun

 Burg's Buzz

12/22/21

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

Pictures of all of the fun that was had over the past few days.

Important Dates

Thursday, December 23rd-Tuesday, January 4th-Winter Break (NO SCHOOL)

Wednesday, January 5th-School Resumes

12/16/21

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

12/16/21

Science

The third grade class has been learning about inherited plant and animal traits. 

Math

The class is currently preparing for the topic 5 (fluently multiply and divide within 100). I have planned to have the topic 5 assessment next Monday. Students will bring home the practice test that we completed in class together on Friday. Students need to continue to practice the basic facts at home.

Reading/Language Arts

This week the third grade class read "Tops and Bottoms" by Janet Stevens. In this trickster tale, clever Hare tricks lazy Bear into planting different types of vegetables based upon where the best parts are from bottom, middle, and top. Bear learns a valuable lesson in the process. The comprehension skill covered theme and point of view. Students also worked on writing sentences with quotation marks as the grammar skill. As a vocabulary skill, the students worked with idioms. The phonics skill covered homophones and words ending in -er and -le.

The lesson 11 weekly assessment results have been included in the take home folder.

Stocking Stuffers

Third graders can bring their stocking stuffer gifts beginning on Monday, December 20th. The students will be stuffing their classmates stockings Wednesday, December 22nd, during the class party.

Important Dates

Friday, December 17th-Spirit Day $1

Sunday, December 19th-Holy Spirit Christmas Party 10 AM

Tuesday, December 21st-Ugly Sweater Dress Up Day

Wednesday, December 22nd-Bring a Sack Lunch

St. Malachy School will be on Christmas vacation from Thursday, December 23rd-Tuesday, January 4th.

12/9/21

 Burg's Buzz

12/9/21

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

Christmas Program

The whole student body did a wonderful job a the Christmas program. Mrs. Stoner always put together a great show.

Math

The third grade students continue to work on multiplication and division. Students have been working on solving and writing word problems. Please continue to work on the basic facts at home. The students took a fluency test. I have included a copy in the take home folder for your viewing.

Science

Students are learning about animal life cycles. The class has compared and contract different animals. Some animals, such as mammals, have live births. Other animals, such as birds, hatch from eggs. The class has also discussed animals that go through metamorphosis from birth to adult.

Reading/Language Arts

This week the students are reading the nonfiction selection "Technology Wins the Game" by  Mark Andrews . In this selection, students learn about how different types of sports technology have changed over the years. Students are working on sequencing as the comprehension skill. The phonics skill covered words with -oi and -oy. The class also worked on the suffixes -less, -ful, and -ous as the vocabulary skill. The grammar skill covered plural nouns such as changing y to i and irregular nouns.

The results the of the Unit 2 Benchmark test have been included in the take home folder.

Mass Parts

The third grade class will lead the mass on Wednesday, December 15th. Parts have been included in the take home folder. While I will practice with the students at school, please practice the parts with them at home. Parents are more than welcome to come to the  liturgy beginning at 9:15 AM that day.

Reading Incentive Program

The November reading results are in. Braden, Presley, Natalie, Harlow, Finn, Leo, Harper, and Londyn all met the goal. Harper read the most minutes (902) during the month of November. The class read for 4,981 minutes total. This is an increase from the month of October.

Stocking Stuffers

The third grade class at St. Malachy will have a classroom Christmas party on Wednesday, December 22nd. This year the third graders will be stuffing classmate’s stockings. I will provide each student with a stocking. Students can bring in a stocking stuffer item for each of their classmates. Stocking stuffers ideas include pencils, erasers, candy, gum, stickers, etc. The Dollar Tree would be a good store to purchase items. There are 10 students in the class. It will be lots of fun, and the students will love giving and receiving the small goodies. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Important Dates

Wednesday, December 15th-3rd Grade Leads the Mass

Thursday, December 16th-PTO Meeting

Friday, December 17th-Spirit Day $1

Tuesday, December 21st-Ugly Sweater Dress Up

Wednesday, December 22nd-Red/Green Dress Up Day

Wednesday, December 22nd-Class Christmas Party

Christmas Break

St. Malachy School will be closed from Thursday, December 23rd through Tuesday, January 4th. Classes resume on Wednesday, January 5th. There will be mass on this day back to school.

12/2/21

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

12/2/21

Reading/Language Arts

This week the third grade students took the Unit 2 Benchmark test. Please look for the results in next week's take home folder.

The lesson 10 weekly assessment results have been included in the take home folder.

Math

Topic 5 in math will continue to focus on multiplication and division. Please continue to work on the multiplication and division facts at home. 

Science

The third grade class continues to learn about plants. Students have been learning about their life cycles and what can cause it to be interrupted. 

Permission Form

A permission form has been included in the take home folder. This is for permission for students to ride the bus to the high school for music program practice next Wednesday afternoon.

New Student

The third grade class welcomes new student, Rebecca, to our classroom.

Important Dates

Friday, December 2nd-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, December 8th-Christmas Program 5:30 PM

Wednesday, December 15th-3rd Grade Leads Mass

Thursday, December 16th-PTO Meeting

Friday, December 17th-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, December 22nd-Christmas Party

Thursday, December 23rd-Tuesday, January 4th-Christmas Break

11-18-21

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

11-18-21

Science

The next unit the third grade class will learn about is plant life cycles.

Reading/Language Arts

This week students are reading the biography "Young Thomas Edison by Micheal C. Dooling. Students learn all about the younger years of Thomas Edison learning about his childhood, jobs, and relationship with his mother.  The comprehension skill covered main idea and supporting details. Students also worked on pronouns as the grammar skill. The phonics skill covered the sound in words such as talk and wall. The vocabulary skill focused on shades of meaning in words.

The lesson 9 weekly assessment results have been included in the take home folder.

Math

The third graders continue to work on division. Students need to continue work on the basic division facts to improve fluency. Students have also been working on problem solving using all four operations. The class has been working 2 step word problems, which can be tricky at times. I have been discussing with students about breaking the problem apart and using the information that is given to help them solve it. I have also had to discuss using perseverance to try again when they get it wrong or get stuck. 

Video Permission Slip

Next week my daughter, a junior cinema major at the University of Iowa and a STM alumni will be creating a video for a class project next Monday, November 22nd. She is mostly using the 5th grade students, but 3rd and 4th grade students may be in the background scenes in the lunchroom or at recess Please sign and return the permission form allowing your child to be in the video. Once the video is completed, I hope to have a watch party at school.

Important Dates

Thursday, November 18th-PTO Meeting

Friday, November 19th-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, November 24th-Friday, November 26th-NO SCHOOL (Thanksgiving Break)

Monday, November 29th-NO SCHOOL (Teacher Professional Development)

Friday, December 3rd-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, December 8th-STM Christmas Program 5:30 PM

Kindness Week

 Kindness Week

World Kindness Day is celebrated on November 13th each year. The third grade class spent this past week spreading kindness. 

The kindness bingo cards were sent home and returned today. There were 155 kind acts done. 

Students also were introduced to the website freerice.com. This is an interactive vocabulary game in which players donate grains of rice to the World Foundation Program every time they answer a question correctly, allowing child to bolster their vocabulary and help feed the world's hungry.

Early in the week, third graders wrote kind notes to the entire STM staff that were very much appreciated. The third grade students also wrote kind notes to the fourth and fifth grade students and taped them to their lockers. Later in the week, the student wrote a letter and colored a picture for someone he/she knew that would brighten their day. The letters were later mailed. Students also colored pictures and wrote kind notes to some of the community workers. Those include doctors, nurses, police officers, firemen, postal employees, and librarians. The class ended the week discussing how each student could "sprinkle" kindness daily. Of course we had to end the week enjoying sprinkle doughnuts.

I asked the staff at STM to be on the look out this week for students exemplifying kindness. Students that received a shout out were Natalie, Quentin, Londyn, and Harper.

I hope STM families are able to celebrate by sharing kindness to others on Saturday, November 13th and throughout the whole year.

11-11-21

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

11-11-21

Math

Students continue to practice the process of division. The students have worked on the divisors of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9.  Please practice the division facts at home.

Reading/Language Arts

This week third grade read "The Kamishibai Man by Allen Say. In this realistic fiction selection, When an old man misses his work, he decides to bicycle into town and set up his cart again. Despite the daunting urbanization in his old location, he happily parks his cart, calling the children to buy sweets and to hear his traditional Japanese storytelling. The comprehension skill focused on cause and effect. Students worked on the vowel diphthongs ow and ou.  The vocabulary skill covered using a dictionary. Students worked with abstract nouns as the grammar skill.

The lesson 8 weekly assessment results have been included in the take home folder.

Science

The class is learning about simple machines (lever, screw, wheel and axle, incline plane, wedge, and pulley. Students have been experimenting with each simple machine.

Fire Prevention Poster Contest

Winners of the fire prevention posters was announced earlier this week. In third grade Londyn placed first, Presley placed second, and Braden placed third. The first place posters in third, fourth, and fifth grade will be sent on to the state competition.

World Kindness Day

This week students in 3rd grade have been writing kind notes to students and staff at St. Malachy. Students also sent out thank you to Creston community members.

Please return the "Kindness" bingo card back to school on Friday, November 12th, so we can celebrate all of the kind acts students performed.

I will post pictures of all of the kindness activities at the end of the week.

Important Dates

Friday, November 12th-End of 1st Trimester

Sunday, November 14th-Knights of Columbus Thanksgiving Dinner 11 AM-1 PM

Thursday, November 18th-PTO Meeting 6 PM

Friday, November 19th-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, November 24th-Friday, November 26th-Thanksgiving Break (No School)

Monday, November 29th-Teacher Professional Development (No School)

Friday, December 3rd-Spirit Day $1

11/4/21

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

11-4-21

Reading/Language Arts

This week the third grade class read "The Harvest Birds" by  Blanca Guadalupe Lopez Morales.  In this  folktale, Juan's dream is to be a farmer. When his father dies, the land is split among his two older brothers. Juan decides to ask the richest man in town for land, and the man laughs at him. Next, Juan ask the oldest man in town for land to farm. This man agrees, but offers a stipulation. Juan along with the zanate birds have a bountiful harvest to everyone's surprise. The old man gives Juan the land for future farming.  The comprehension skill focused on drawing conclusions.  Students worked on context clues as the vocabulary strategy. The phonics skill covered silent letters (kn- , wr-, and -tch). Students also worked using commas as the grammar skill.

Math

The next topic the third grade students are covering is division.  Students have related division to multiplication by making fact families (6 X 7=42, 7 X 6=42, 42/6=7, and 42/7=6). Students have also started practicing the divisors of 2. 3, 4, and 5.

Science

This week the class has been reviewing for a test on force. Students will complete a study guide on Thursday. We will review in class on Friday. The test will be on Monday, November 15th.

Reading Incentive Program

For the month of October,  eight students turned in reading calendars. Seven of those students met the reading goal of 400 minutes for the month. Congratulations to Presley, Natalie, Harlow, Finn, Leo, Harper, and Londyn on meeting the October reading goal.  Harper read the most minutes in October with 910 total. All together the third grade class read 4,310 minutes. Let's continue to keep reading. November calendars were sent home with parents at parent/teacher conferences.

World Kindness Day

World Kindness Day is on Saturday, November 13th. Leading up to that day from November 8th-12th, third grade will be doing acts of kindness at school and at home.  All week long, I will be reading books about showing kindness. Students will be writing kind notes to staff members and other students.  Third grade students will also be sending pictures of thanks to our local community workers (doctors, nurses, police officers, fire fighters, etc.) Another activity the students will be doing is sending a letter and picture to someone who needs a pick me up. In the take home folder is an envelope. Please write the mailing address on it of someone your child knows that he/she could send a letter to in the mail. Also, please include your return address  in the envelope.  Return the envelope to school. The class will write the letter and draw a picture during our class meeting on November 10th. The students will also walk to the post office to mail the letters. On November 12th, we will will have a "Kindness Party" to celebrate being kind. Students are asked to wear a cardigan sweater in honor of Mr. Rogers.

Coming home in the take home folder is a "Kindness" Bingo paper. Students are asked to do acts of kindness at home. Please have your child X off each act he/she does.  This should run from Friday, November 5th-Thursday, November 11th. Please return the bingo card back to school on Friday, November 12th, so the class can celebrate all the acts of kindness performed.

Book Order

Books make great Christmas gifts.  An email was sent out to parents earlier this week about a Scholastic book order. The order will be due on Friday, November 12th. Scholastic is having shipping issues, so this will be the last book order of 2021.  If wanting to order as a gift, books can be shipped to your house. If the books are not gives, feel free to have them shipped to school.  https://clubs.scholastic.com/grade3

 

Important Dates

Friday, November 5th-Spirit Day $1

Monday, November 8th-Mrs. Burg Absent in PM

Thursday, November 11th-Veteran's Day Program 2 PM

Sunday, November 11th-Knights of Columbus Dinner 11 AM

Thursday, November 18th-PTO Meeting 6 PM

Friday, November 19th-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, November 24th-Friday, November 26th-Thanksgiving Break (No School)

Monday, November 29th-NO SCHOOL (Teacher Professional Development)

10/28/21

   Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

10/28/21

Reading Incentive Program

October calendars are due back to school by Wednesday, November 3rd. Total minutes read should be counted and recorded on the calendar. Also, if your child met the goal,  please circle what reward choice your child would like. A parent signature is also required on the calendar. Please return the calendar even if your child didn't meet the goal. All minutes read go towards your child's overall total for the entire six months.  A November calendar will be sent home with parents at conferences. The  reading goal remains at 400 minutes.

NO SCHOOL DAYS

Due to parent/teacher conferences scheduled for Thursday, October 28th, there is NO school on this day. There is NO school on Friday, October 29th as it is a comp day for the conferences. There is NO school on Monday, November 1st due to teacher professional development. School resumes on Tuesday, November 2nd.

Trick-Or-Treating

I would love to have the third graders stop by my house for trick-or-treating on Halloween. My address is 1001 N. Birch Street in Creston.

Important Dates

Friday, October 29th-NO SCHOOL

Monday, November 1st-NO SCHOOL (Teacher Professional Development)

Friday, November 5th-Spirit Day $1

Thursday, November 11th-Veteran's Day Program 2 PM

Thursday, November 18th-PTO Meeting 6 PM

Friday, November 19th-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, November 24th-Friday, November 26th-Thanksgiving Break

Monday, November 29th-NO SCHOOL (Teacher Professional Development)

10/21/21

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

10/21/21

Science

The third grade students are learning about the force of magnetism. Students have experimented with magnets to learn about their poles, and how magnets attract and repel. Students have also be learning about electricity and static electricity.

Math

The class is finishing up Topic 3 in math. The students will have a test at the end of the week.

Reading/Language Arts

The third grade class is reading the informational text "What Do Illustrators Do?" by Eileen Christelow. Students learn about the process two illustrators go through when illustrating the same story.  The comprehension skill focused on graphic features such as captions, labels, speech bubbles, etc. The phonics skill covered the three letter clusters of scr-, spr-, str-, and thr-. Students worked on verb tenses (present, past, and future). The vocabulary skill focused on synonyms.

The lesson 6 weekly assessment results have been included in the take home folder.

Halloween Activities

St. Malachy School will celebrate Halloween during the afternoon of Wednesday, October 27th. Students will bring their costumes to school. The middle school has activities planned for elementary students after lunch/recess. The third graders will then enjoy a snack before getting ready for the parade. The parade starts at 2:30 PM. Guests are welcome to attend.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Conferences are scheduled for Thursday, October 28th. There is no school for the students on this day. Conferences run from 10:00 AM-1:00 PM and 2:00-6:00 PM. Times are slotted for 20 minutes. Each conference will be 15 minutes long. The remaining 5 minutes will be for me to disinfect and get ready for the next conference.  There is no school on Friday, October 29th. There is no school on Monday, November 1st due to teacher professional development.

Here is the link to sign up for a conference time if you have not already done so.    

Parent/Teacher Fall Conference Sign Up

Dress Code

Starting November 1st, the St. Malachy School dress code changes. Students are no longer allowed to wear shorts. Students can resume wearing shorts in March.

Also as a reminder, leggings may be worn as long as the bottom of the dress or skirt extends to at least mid-thigh. 

Important Dates

Thursday, October 21st-PTO Meeting

Friday, October 22nd-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, October 27th-Halloween Activities/Parade

Thursday, October 28th-Parent/Teacher Conferences (NO SCHOOL)

Friday, October 29th-NO SCHOOL

Monday, November 1st-NO SCHOOL (Teacher Professional Development)

Friday, November 5th-Spirit Day $1

Thursday, November 11th-Veteran's Day Program

Thursday, November 18th-PTO Meeting

10/13/21

 Burg's Buzz
nburg@crestonstmalachy.org
10/14/21

 Reading/Language Arts

This week students are reading the nonfiction selection "Bat Loves Night" by Nicola Davies. Night has fallen, and Bat awakens to find an evening meal. The reader follows Bat's journey as she swoops into the shadows on the hunt for a moth to eat. Bat then returns to the roost to feed her baby until nighttime comes again. The comprehension skill focused on sequencing. Students identified verbs as the grammar skill. The phonics skill covered words with the VCV pattern. The vocabulary strategy was understanding the suffixes -able and -ible.

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To put some fun into our Friday routine of rereading the story to get ready for weekly assessment, we will have Flashlight/Fort Friday. Students will be able to bring a blanket from home to create a "fort" using their desk and chair. I will turn the lights out,  and I provide each student with a flashlight to read his/her story while they are in their fort. There will also be a reflection writing activity, so students can respond to what they read. My desire with this is to help children grow to love reading. My hope is that the students are able to handle this fun in a responsible way that we can do it again later in the year.

The Unit 1 Benchmark test results have been included in the take home folder. These results are yours to keep. The benchmark assessment differs from the weekly assessments. The weekly tests assess students on the story and skills worked on during the week.The story is read several times and listen to the audio version of the story. The benchmark test assesses students on the skills covered in five units through a variety of fiction and nonfiction passages that the students have not read until the test. The benchmark tests show whether students are able to apply the skills learned to new text.

Science

The third grade class continue to learn about the forces of friction and gravity.

Math

The third grade students continue to learn the basic multiplication facts. The factors of 3, 4, 6, and 8 have been covered. Please continue to practice the basic multiplication facts at home.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

St. Malachy School will be having parent/teacher conferences on Thursday, October 28th from 10:00-6:00 PM. Please sign up for a conference using this link 3rd Grade Fall Conferences. If these times are not convenient for your family's schedule, please contact me to set up an alternate time that works. 

Please note there is no school on Friday, October 29th. There is also no school on Monday, November 1st due to teacher professional development.

Halloween

St. Malachy School will be celebrating Halloween during the afternoon of Wednesday, October 27th. The middle school has activities planned for the younger students after lunch. The parade will also take place during the afternoon. Students will bring costumes to school and change before the parade.

Important Dates

Thursday, October 21st-PTO Meeting

Friday, October 22nd-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, October 27th-Halloween Party/Parade

Thursday, October 28th-Parent/Teacher Conferences 

Friday, October 29th-NO SCHOOL

Monday, November 1st-Teacher Professional Development 

Friday, November 5th-Spirit Day $1

Creston Panther Homecoming 2021

 HAPPY HOMECOMING!

October 8, 2021

10/6/21

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

10/6/21

Science

The third grade students have been learning about balanced and unbalanced forces. Students have also learned about gravity and friction.

Reading/Language Arts

This week was spent taking the Unit 1 Benchmark test. Please look for the results in next week's take home folder.

Students also worked on writing Halloween stories. As a class, we brainstormed words and phrases associated with Halloween. Students then had a word bank to choose words from and help develop their thoughts. Students then wrote their rough draft. In small groups, students worked on revising and editing each others stories. The students have started typing their Halloween stories on their chromebooks. Once each has finished typing, I will help each student with editing on google docs. Students will then illustrate their story. Parents will be able to read their child's Halloween story at conferences later this month.

Math

Topic 3 will focus on the factors of 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8. Students have been introduced to the Distributive Property. An example of this is 6 X 7= (6 X 5) + (6 X 2), so 30 + 12=42, so 6 X 7=42. Students started out using manipulatives to cut apart arrays into two multiplication equations. The students LOVED using the Pop It fidgets to solve multiplication equations.

Homecoming

Creston High School will be celebrating Homecoming this upcoming weekend. There will be a pep rally this Thursday morning. On Friday, students are asked to wear Creston Panther gear. There is a 3 hour early dismissal on Friday, October 8th. The parade begins at 1:30 PM in uptown Creston. STM will also have a float in the parade. The football game begins at 7:00 PM Friday evening.

Mass

The third grade class will lead the mass on Wednesday, October 13th. Parts are being sent home in the take home folder. Please have your child practice their speaking part at home. Parents and guests are welcome to come to mass.

Important Dates

Friday, October 8th-Spirit Day $1

Friday, October 8th-3 Hour Dismissal

Wednesday, October 13th-3rd Grade Leads the Mass

Friday, October 22nd-Spirit Day $1 

Thursday, October 28th-Parent/Teacher Conferences

Friday, October 29th-NO SCHOOL

9/30/21

   Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

9/30/21

Math

Third grade students are preparing to take the Topic 2 math assessment. This test will cover the factors of 0, 1, 2, 5, 9, and 10 when multiplying. Students will have a test on Friday, October 1st.

Reading/Language Arts

This week third grade is reading the biography "Roberto Clemente-Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirate" by Jonah Winter. Students read about the triumphs and struggles of the baseball player Roberto Clemente. The comprehension skill covered cause and effect. The vocabulary strategy covered the prefix of mis-. Students worked on singular and plural nouns at the grammar skill.  The phonics skill focused on word with long i.

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

Next week, the third grade students will be taking the Unit 1 Benchmark Assessment. This will be taken over a couple of days. The class will not be moving ahead in the reading series.

Science

The third grade class is learning about force. Students learned about push and pulls, strong and weak forces, and directions of pushes and pulls.

October Book Order

The October book order is ready for viewing. All orders will be placed online paying with a credit card. The October order is due by Friday, October 8th. The Scholastic book order is a great way to add books to your child's library at an affordable price. Please use the following link to browse and order books.   https://clubs.scholastic.com/grade3

Reading Incentive Program

Third grade will be participating in a reading incentive program during the months of October through March. Students are asked to keep track of the "free" or "leisure" reading. There are books read outside of educational reading for school.  A note and October calendar have been included in the take home folder explaining how the program works. During the months of October, November, and December, the reading goal is 400 minutes total. The reading goal increases in January, February, and March to 500 minutes total. If the student meets the goal for the month, he/she will be given an incentive of a gift certificate for Pizza Ranch in Creston or Pizza Hut in Osceola or Winterset. There will also be an award for the student who reads the most minutes each month. Please return the calendar each month even if your child doesn't meet the goal. There is an award at the end of the program for the two students who read the most minutes in all six months. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Important Dates

Friday, October 8th-Spirit Day $1

Friday, October 8th-3 Hour Early Dismissal (Homecoming)

Wednesday, October 13th-3rd Grade Leads the Mass

Thursday, October 21st-PTO Meeting

Friday, October 22nd-Spirit Day $1

Thursday, October 28th-3 Hour Early Dismissal

Thursday, October 28th-Parent/Teacher Conferences