3-5-20

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

3-5-20

Science

Students learned characteristics of a star. Students learned that the sun is a star because its makes its own light and is made of gases. The class also discussed light years.

Math

The third grade class has worked on dividing by 2, 5, and 10.

Please continue to practice the basic multiplication and division facts at home.

Reading/Language Arts

This week third grade is reading the nonfiction selection The Journey-The Story of Migration. Students learn about reasons why locusts and whales migrate. The comprehension skill focused on comparing and contrasting. The vocabulary skill covered word roots. Students continued to work on adjectives and adverbs that compare as the grammar skill. The phonics skill covered how a word can change when add -s, -es, -ed, and -ing. Students also reviewed less common plural words such as 

The Unit 4 Benchmark test results and the lesson 21 weekly test results have been included in the take home folder.

There is no school next Friday, March 13th. Third grade will take the spelling post test and weekly reading assessment on Thursday, March 12th.

Reading Incentive Program

During the month of February 2,134 minutes were read. Ryder and Matthew met the goal for the month of February. Congratulations to Matthew for reading the most minutes (790) during the month. There is one more month to go for the reading incentive program. Please continue to track and record minutes read.

Field Trip

Third grade through eighth grade students will be attending a field trip to the Civic Center in Des Moines on Friday, March 6th. Students will be watching a fine arts performance "Yamoto-The Drummers of Japan." The bus will leave Creston around 8:30 AM and return around 2:30 PM. Students need a sack lunch (meatless due to Lent) with a drink. Students in grades third through eighth grade are asked to follow school dress code on this day. 

Yamato was founded by in 1993 in Nara, ‘the land of Yamato” which is said to be the birthplace of Japanese culture. Yamato travels all over the word with Japan’s traditional Wadaiko drums, putting its very souls into the unusual instruments, whose sound stirs the hearts of people everywhere.

In the village of Asuka, a place with more than a thousand years of history and culture, Yamato seeks new expression with Wadaiko as its backbone.  They think of the sound of the drums – made of animal skin and ancient trees, some of which are more than 400 years old – as a pulse or heartbeat (Shin-on), the center of life and the source of power which pulsates within the human body. Like the strong and sturdy heartbeats of a lonely runner with a sleek and powerful body, Yamato attempts to create the energy of life, which envelops the audience and performers.  What one feels when surrounded by the sound of Wadaiko, brought out by these highly trained performers, is what the Japanese call “Tamashy”, translated as soul, spirit, and psyche – the basic elements of life. It is something which is invisible and intangible but whose existence is certainly felt.  The pulse, carried down from antiquity, will resonate within all the bodies gathered at any given performance. 

Mass

3rd grade will be leading the liturgy on Wednesday, March 11th. Parts have been included in the take home folder.  Please practice speaking parts at home. We will practice at school as well.

Auction Items

The second/third grade basket sold for $250. The third grade silent auction canvas went to Mackenzie Emerson for $115. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the items for auction and to all parents who were able to attend the Gala.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Parent/teacher conferences are scheduled for Thursday, March 12th. School is dismissed at 12:10 PM on this day. Conferences run from 1:00-5:00 PM and 6:00-9:30 PM. There is no school on Friday, March 13th.

Dates to Remember

Friday, March 6th-Field Trip (Bring sack lunch/drink)

Wednesday, March 11th-3rd Grade Leads the Liturgy (9:15 AM)

Thursday, March 12th-12:10 Dismissal from School

Thursday, March 12th-Parent/Teacher Conferences 

Friday, March 13th-NO SCHOOL

St. Malachy School is not in session from Monday, March 16th-Friday, March  20th for Spring Break. Classes resume on Monday, March 23rd.

Thursday, March 26th-PTO Meeting
Friday, March 27th-St. Malachy/Holy Spirit Fish Fry
Monday, March 30th-Friday, April 3rd-Iowa Assessment Testing

2-27-20

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

2-27-20

Reading/Language Arts

This week third grade is reading the historical fiction selection Sarah, Plain and Tall. This story that takes place in the pioneer times. Papa takes out an advertisement in the newspaper looking for a wife and mother. After writing letters back and forth, Sarah eventually comes to visit Papa, Anna, and Caleb. The comprehension skill focused on story structure (setting, characters, and plot). Students worked on the word ending of -ed and -ing in phonics. The vocabulary strategy covered the prefix non-. Students continued to work on adverbs in grammar.This week students used adverbs to compare.

The lesson 20 weekly assessment results have been included in the take home folder.

Science

Third grade has been studying stars and constellations. Students have learned how Earth's revolution around the sun effects what constellations we see in the night's sky.

Math

Students have been relating multiplication and division. Students have been identifying missing numbers when solving problems and writing fact families. Students have also learned the division rules for dividing one and zero.

There will be a test over chapter 6 on Monday, March 2nd. A practice page has been included in the take home folder.

Reading Incentive Program

February calendars are due back to school by Tuesday, March 3rd. A March calendar has been included in the take home folder.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Parent/teacher conferences are scheduled for Thursday, March 12th. School dismisses for the day at 12:10 PM. Conferences are from 1:00-5:00 PM and 6:00-9:30 PM. There is no school on Friday, March 13th.

Important Dates

Saturday, February 29th-Foundation Gala and Auction at Supertel 

Friday, March 6th-3rd-8th Field Trip to Civic Center

Wednesday, March 11th-3rd Grade Mass (9:15 AM)

Thursday, March 12th-12:10 PM Dismissal

Thursday, March 12th-Parent/Teacher Conferences

Friday, March 13th-NO SCHOOL

Spring Break runs from Monday, March 16th-Friday, March 20th. School resumes on Monday, March 23rd.

2-20-20

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

2-20-20

Reading/Language Arts

The third grade students read  the informational text called "Life on the Ice" by Susan Goodman. Students learned what life was like in the Arctic and Antarctica.  The comprehension skill focused on main idea and supporting details. The vocabulary strategy covered using a dictionary. Students worked on compound words as the phonics skill. The grammar skill covered adverbs.

The results of the lesson 18 and 19 weekly assessments have been included in the take home folder.

Next week students will be taking the Unit 4 Benchmark test.

Science

In class students are learning about the moon. Students made a phases of the moon wheel model.

Math

Third grade students continue to work on the process of division. Students have practiced repeated subtraction to solve division problems.

Late Slips

The third trimester begins on Monday, February 24th, which means late slips will be starting in third grade. Every time a student doesn’t not have an assignment (spelling packet, writing missed words, getting a test signed, etc) completed, he or she receives a late slip. The student must get the late slip signed and the homework completed and returned the next day.  If the homework is completed and the late slip is signed there is no other consequence. If the late slip is not signed or the homework is not completed by the next day, the student will have to serve a detention. On the sixth late slip received, the student gets an automatic detention. If any more late slips are received after the sixth one also results in detention being served.  Parents will be notified when a detention is to be served. Students receive late slips from Mrs. Sickels, Miss Surma, and me, so the six late slips allowed are per teacher. I have talked with the third graders about the late slip policy. The best way to avoid late slips is to just get homework completed on time! Please continue to check assignment books to see what was done during the day, what still needs to be completed, and what needs to be signed.  

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the late slip policy. By starting the late slip policy now, students know what to expect in the upper grades.  Please take a few minutes to talk to your third grader about the late slip policy and what the consequences are for not getting work completed.

Important Dates

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

Friday, February 21st-End of the Second Trimester

Saturday, February 29th-Foundation Gala and Auction

Friday, March 6th-Spirit Day ($1)

Friday, March 6th-Field Trip to Civic Center

Wednesday, March 11th-3rd Grade Mass

Thursday, March 12th-12:10 PM Dismissal

Thursday, March 12th-Parent/Teacher Conferences

Friday, March 13th-No School

Monday, March 16th-Friday, March 20th-Spring Break (NO SCHOOL)

Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences

Spring parent/teacher conferences are scheduled for Thursday, March 12th from 1:00-5:00 PM and  6:00-9:30 PM. Please use the link below to sign up for a time slot. Thank you.

 3rd Grade Spring Conference Sign Up

2-13-20

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

2-13-20

Science

The third grade class has been learning about Earth's rotation on its axis, and its revolution around the sun.

Reading/Language Arts

This week students are reading the play "Two Bear Cubs." In this story, brother bear cubs disobey their mother grizzly and end up in a predicament. The comprehension skill focused on story structure (characters, setting, and plot). Students covered irregular verbs in grammar. The class worked on words that sounded like spoon and blew in phonics. The vocabulary strategy centered on the prefixes of re-, bi-, and pre-

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

Math

Students are learning about the process of division. Students identified the size of equal groups and the number of equal groups. Third grade students continue to work on solving multiplication basic facts.

Valentine's Day Party

Third grade will be having a Valentine's Day party on Friday, February 14th. Students may bring valentines card for their classmates. A class list was sent home last week. Please do not bring cards from home until Friday.

Important Dates

Friday, February 14th-Valentine's Day Party

Wednesday, February 19th-NO SCHOOL (Professional Development)

Thursday, February 20th-PTO Meeting

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

Saturday, February 29th-Gala and Auction

Friday, March 6th-3rd-8th Grade Field Trip to Civic Center

Wednesday, March 11th-3rd Grade Mass

Thursday, March 12th-Parent/Teacher Conferences

Friday, March 13th-NO SCHOOL

2-6-20

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

2-6-20

Math

The next topic third grade will learning about the process of division. Please continue to review the basic multiplication facts.

Science

Third grade students continue to learn about the solar system. Students have been learning about how gravity effects objects.

Reading/Language Arts

This week third grade is reading "A Tree is Growing." In this informational text, students learned about the different parts of a tree and it grows and changes. The comprehension skill focused on graphic sources such as captions, labels, diagrams, etc. Students studied word roots as the vocabulary strategy. The grammar skill worked on the verbs of be and helping verbs. Students also worked with words with c, k, ck, and qu.

The lesson 17 weekly assessment results have been included in the take home folder.

Reading Incentive Program

Two students met the reading goal for the month of January. Congratulations to Matthew and Mason! The total minutes read for the month of January were 1,769. Matthew read the most with 825 minutes.

Valentine's Day Party

The third grade class will be having a Valentine's Day class party on Friday, February 14th.  Students will be making containers to hold valentines in art class next week. Students may bring valentine cards with a small piece of candy/toy. If bringing cards, please bring one for each student in the class. Please do not send valentines to school until next Friday. A class list is being sent home in today's take home folder.

St. Malachy Gala

The St. Malachy Foundation will be holding their annual Gala and Auction on Saturday, February 29th at the Supertel Inn. The cocktail hour begins at 5 PM, followed by a prime rib dinner at 6 PM. The live auction begins at 7 PM. Tickets are available for $35.

Donations for the 2nd/3rd grade "Southwest Iowa" basket are still being accepted. Please have donations turned in by Friday, February 7th. Thank you to everyone who has donated.

Important Dates
Friday, February 7th-Spirit Day ($1)
Friday, February 14th-Valentine's Day Party
Wednesday, February 19th-NO SCHOOL (Professional Development)
Thursday, February 20th-PTO Meeting
Friday, February 21st-Spirit Day ($1)

1-30-20

3rd Grade News

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

1-30-20

Math

Students continue to work on multiplication strategies with multiples of 10. Students have used the Distributive Property and place value. Third grade will have a test over Chapter 5 next week.

Science

The third graders are studying about the solar system. Students have learned about the Earth is a sphere. Students are also learning about gravity.

Reading/Language Arts

This week third grade is reading the nonfiction selection "The Albertosaurus Mystery-Philip Currie's Hunt in the Badlands." Students learned about how fossil hunters use evidence to form conclusions. Phillip Currie had to use what Barnum Brown had discovered and recorded to help him prove that meat eating dinosaurs traveled and lived in groups. The comprehension skill covered drawing conclusions. Students continued to work with adjectives by adding -er, est, more, and most. Third graders also worked with words with the suffix of -ly as the vocabulary strategy. The phonics skill covered the the soft /c/ and soft /g/.

The lesson 16 weekly assessment results have been included in the take home folder.

Reading Incentive Calendars

January reading calendars are due back to school by Tuesday, February 4th. Please add up the minutes read and return the calendar if your child does not meet the goal. All minutes read can counts towards the whole class total. February calendars have been included in the take home folder.

Auction Items

A note was sent home a couple of weeks ago about the basket for the St. Malachy Foundation Gala that will be held on Saturday, February 29th. This year 2nd and 3rd grade are doing a "Southwest Iowa" basket. The basket is being created around supporting local businesses and showcasing all there is to do, visit, and explore in our area. Each family has been asked to donate $20 towards the purchase of items to build the basket or provide a gift certificate or favorite items. Please send the cash donation, gift certificate, or item to school by Friday, February 7th. If you have any questions, please contact Jenny Studer, Beth Knustrom, or Tiffany Johnson. All donations are greatly appreciated.

Next week Dustin Baird will be coming to the third grade class to take some pictures of the students to use for the silent auction item.

Important Dates

Friday, January 31st-Grandparent's Day Mass 1:30 PM at Holy Spirit

Friday, February 7th-Spirit Day ($1)

Friday, February 14th-Valentine's Day Party

Wednesday, February 19th-NO SCHOOL (Professional Development)

Thursday, February 20th-PTO Meeting

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