4/16/26

Burg's Buzz
nburg@crestonstmalachy.org
4/16/26 

Reading/Language Arts

The class is reading One Plastic Bag by Miranda Paul. In this biography, the students follow Isatou Ceesay from a young woman to a mother herself as she realizes the need to clean up all the plastic bags that have created a trash problem in her village. She comes up with an idea to turn the plastic bags into purses by cutting the bags into strips and crocheting them together. Eventually, the purses get sold, and this helps with the trash problem. One of the comprehension skills covered was text structure, specifically cause and effect. Another comprehension skill covered is point of view. The students were introduced to adverbs as the grammar skill. The vocabulary skill focused on the suffixes of -ness and -able. The decoding skill went over irregular plurals.

Science

The class continues to study the weather. Last week, Doug Welch, grandfather of kindergarten student Connor Smith, talked to the third, fourth, and fifth grade students about weather balloons. Students have been learning about typical weather conditions to identify patterns and make predictions.

Math

The next topic the third grade class will be covering is figuring time to the nearest minute. The class will also continue to review addition and subtraction using the algorithm.

Mass

The 3rd grade class will lead the liturgy on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mass parts have been included in the take home folder. Please practice speaking parts at home. Mass begins at 9:15 AM. Parents are more than welcome to attend.

Biography Book Reports

Biography book reports are due on Thursday, May 7th. Please let me know if you need any necessary supplies from me. I can provide the pizza box, poster board, construction paper, or the directions to the foldable person. 

Important Dates

Wednesday, April 22nd-3rd Grade Leads Mass

Wednesday, April 22nd-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, April 24th-Spirit Day $1

Monday, April 27th-Glow-A-Thon

Wednesday, April 29th-1 Hour Early Dismissal 

4/9/26

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

4/9/26

ISASP Testing

ISASP testing will be finished after today. I appreciate the students taking their time on these standardized tests. The school will notify you when the results are in. A big thanks to the PTO for supplying snacks for the students. 

Reading/Language Arts

Since there was no testing this past Wednesday, the third grade students completed a spelling pretest. The class will resume in our reading series on Friday, April 10th.

Math

The class is reviewing for an assessment on estimation by rounding and strategies used for addition and subtraction.

Biography Book Report Projects

Biography book reports were assigned to third-grade students this week. Students were excited to pick out their books on Wednesday. A packet has been included in the take home folder. This packet includes two report forms. I send two home in case of mistakes. Students should write on the report form in pencil using legible handwriting with proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Only one form needs to be returned to school. Also, in the packet are the project options. I have poster boards, pizza boxes, construction paper, and directions for the foldable person. Please have your child let me know when any of those supplies are needed. The rubric that I will use for grading has also been included in the packet.

Projects are due back to school on Thursday, May 7th. I know spring schedules are busy. I talked with the students about not waiting until the night before the project is due to start working on it. Students will present to their classmates on May 7th and 8th.

Parents, grandparents, and other family and friends are invited to the "Biography Bash" on Tuesday, May 12th, from 2-3 PM to view all the projects.

Important Dates

Friday, April 10th-Spirit Day $1

Monday, April 13th-NO SCHOOL (Teacher Professional Development)

Wednesday, April 15th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Wednesday, April 22nd-3rd Grade Leads Mass

Wednesday, April 22nd-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, April 24th-Spirit Day $1

Monday, April 27th-Glow-A-Thon

4/2/26

 Burg's Buzz
nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

4/2/26

Happy Easter to all St. Malachy 3rd Grade Families from Mrs. Burg.

ISASP Testing

This week has been spent completing the practice ISASP tests to prepare the 3rd grade students for the actual testing.

Students will need to make sure they have a book available to read when they finish testing. 

A note card with an envelope was sent home in last week's take home folder. The note card was for parents to write a positive and encouraging note to their child. Notes will be given out to students before testing begins on Monday, April 6th.

Science

The 3rd grade class continues to learn about weather. The students have learned about predicting different types of weather.

Math

Students worked on estimating differences to the nearest ten and hundred, then solved the actual problem. A review of concepts for ISASP testing was also covered.

Peep Adoption

Each third grade student has adopted a Peep to care for over the Easter weekend. Each student filled out a certificate of adoption. Students are asked to complete one journal entry per day, which includes Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Each journal entry should be at least three sentences. Each sentence should start with an uppercase letter and end with punctuation. Students should also include an illustration to go along with the journal entry.  The journal needs to be completed and returned to school on Monday.

Needed

The 3rd grade classroom needs more boxes of Kleenex. Any donation for the classroom is greatly appreciated.

Important Dates

Friday, April 3rd-NO SCHOOL

Wednesday, April 8th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, April 10th-Spirit Day $1

Monday, April 13th-NO SCHOOL (Teacher Professional Development)

Wednesday, April 15th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

3/26/26

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

3/26/26

Welcome back to school! I hope the students enjoyed their time away from school. From now until the end of the year, there will be lots of activities going on.

Latest Edition Bookstore

The field trip to the bookstore is planned for Friday, March 27th. We will leave St. Malachy at 12:30 pm. While at the bookstore, Creston native author Terri Higgins will visit with the students about her experience as an author. We will head back to St. Malachy around 2:15. There will be time for the students to browse the store's selection of books. If your child is bringing money, please put it in a sealed envelope with their name on it. I will collect envelopes on Friday morning, and then hand them out to the students when it is time for the purchase of books.

ISASP Testing

During the week of April 6th, students in third through eighth grade will be taking the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress standardized tests. These tests will be administered on chromebooks. The third grade students take three separate tests that include reading, math, and writing. Practice tests and review of concepts will be done during the week of March 30th.

In your child's take home folder, you will find a note card and an envelope. Please write an encouraging note to your child about the testing. You can decorate the note card and envelope how you wish. Then, return the envelope sealed with the note card inside. I will hand out the notes for the students to read before testing. Please have this returned to school by Thursday, April 2nd, due to no school on Friday.

Reading Bingo Sheet

The reading bingo sheet that was sent home at the beginning of March can still be turned in for prizes. I will accept them until Wednesday, April 1st.

Reading Incentive Program

March reading calendars are due back to school by Thursday, April 2nd. Minutes for March will then be tallied.

Since March is the last month for the program, recognition will be given to students who met the goal during all six months. The total minutes read for all six months will also be calculated. Awards will be given to the top two finishers.

Math

In 3rd grade, the class has been working on estimation. Students have practiced rounding to the nearest ten and hundred. The class will next be working on estimating sums and differences.

Reading/Language Arts

Module 7 focuses on how people are making a difference in their communities. This week's story, Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table. In this biography, the reader is introduced to Will Allen, a former basketball player turned farmer and educator. He recognizes the need for better food options in the inner city. Will Allen turns an abandoned city lot into a community farm as he faces many challenges along the way. The comprehension strategies covered included the text structure of chronological order, the author's purpose, and the point of view. Students also worked with compound words and abbreviations as the decoding skill. The grammar skill focused on irregular verbs. The class also worked on the vocabulary strategy of using the suffix -ion.

Important Dates

Friday, March 27th-Sprit Day $1

Friday, March 27th-Bookstore Field Trip

Wednesday, April 1st-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Thursday, April 2nd-Seder Meal/Bring Sack Lunch

Friday, April 3rd-NO SCHOOL (GOOD FRIDAY)

Monday, April 6th-ISASP Testing Begins

3/5/26

Burg's Buzz 

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

3/5/26 

Science

The next topic the third grade class is learning about in science is weather.

Reading/Language Arts

This week's story, TJ The Siberian Tiger Cub by Ann Whitehead Nagda and Cindy Bickel, is an informational text that follows TJ from birth to adulthood. Students learn about the death of TJ's mother when he was six weeks old and, and the struggles TJ faced gaining weight due to not eating. Students also learn how TJ was raised at an animal hospital until he was ready to return to the tiger exhibit at the Denver Zoo. TJ is eventually moved to a new zoo in Billings, Montana. The comprehension skill for this story focused on text structure, text/graphic features, and identifying the central idea. Students worked on decoding words with -air, 

-are, and -ear. The vocabulary skill covered the suffix of -ly. Students also work on the verb "be" and linking verbs as the grammar skill.

Math

In third grade this week, the class began working with addition properties. We compared them to the multiplication properties. Students were also asked to identify which property was being used in addition problems. Students also had to find the missing numbers in problems to make both sides of the equations equal.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

With parent-teacher conferences next week, I am sending home a form for parents to fill out with any specific topics they would like to discuss during their child's conference. Please return it before your child's scheduled conference time next week.

Author Visit

On Friday, March 27th, the 3rd grade class, will be going to The Latest Edition Bookstore uptown.  Author and Creston native, Terri Higgins, will be reading her book, Bella Bean on Blue Berry Lane, aloud to the class. She will also be discussing the process she went through from beginning to end to having a book published. There will be time for the students to shop at the bookstore. A permission slip for walking uptown has been included in your child's take home folder. Please fill out and return back to school.  I am sending it home early since there is no school on Thursday, March 12th, because of parent/teacher conferences. There is also no school the following week due to Spring Break. The week in which school resumes is the week of the field trip.

Important Dates

Friday, March 6th-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, March 11th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Thursday, March 12th-NO SCHOOL

Friday, March 13th-NO SCHOOL

Spring Break

St. Malachy School will be closed from Monday, March 16th, through Friday, March 20th, for Spring Break. Classes resume on Monday, March 23rd.

2/26/26

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

2/26/26

Science

There will be a test on Friday, February 27th, that covers living things and their environment.

Math

The next concept the 3rd grade class will be working on is addition and subtraction.  This will include using math properties, mental math strategies, and estimation.

Reading/Language Arts

This week, the third grade is reading the narrative nonfiction selection Octopus Escapes Again by Laurie Ellen Angus. The reader follows Octopus spending her day trying to find something to eat. Meanwhile, she also has to escape predators trying to eat her. The comprehension skills reviewed the central idea, text/graphic features, and figurative language. The grammar skill continued to focus on adjectives. Students worked on adding -er and    -est as well as more and most to adjectives when comparing. The class covered the prefix of un- as the vocabulary skill. The decoding skill focused on words with -er, -or, -ir, and -ur.

Reading Incentive Program Calendars

February calendars are due back to school on Monday, March 2nd. Please make sure a parent totals the amount of minutes read and signs the calendar. A calendar for March has been included in the take home folder. March is the last month for tracking minutes at home.

National Reading Month

March is National Reading Month. Last week a calendar went home with the dress up days planned for the month. This week, a Bingo card is being sent home. If your child completes a square on the sheet, have your child X it out, and an adult should sign the square. When your child has a BINGO (up and down, across, or diagonal), he/she can return the sheet and get a prize. The Bingo sheet will then be sent back home. Each time your child gets another BINGO, he/she can return to get a prize. The goal is to complete all of the reading tasks by the end of March.

Late Slips

As a reminder, with the start of the 3rd trimester on Monday, March 2nd, the third grade students start late slips.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Monday, March 9th, through Thursday, March 12th. Please sign up for a time on JMC if you have not already done so.

Important Dates

Saturday, February 28th-STM Foundation Gala

Monday, March 6-3rd Trimester Begins

Wednesday, March 4th-1 Hour Dismissal

Friday, March 6th-Spirit Day $1

Monday, March 9th-Thursday, March 12th-Conferences

Friday, March 13th-NO SCHOOL

Monday, March 16th-Friday, March 20th-Spring Break

2/19/26

 Burg's Buzz

2/19/26

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

Reading/Language Arts

Module 6 focuses on animal behaviors. This week, the students are reading This is Your Life Cycle by Heather Lynn Miller. In this multi-genre text (narrative nonfiction and fantasy), the students learn about the life cycle of a dragonfly through a talking insect who hosts a game show. The comprehension skills covered text and graphic features, the author's purpose, and the author's craft. Students worked on identifying adjectives as the grammar skill. The vocabulary skill focused on the prefixes of uni-, bi-, and tri-. The decoding skill worked on vowels + r words.

Science

The class has been learning about how an environment can affect the living things living in it. Some changes to the environment include wildfires, mudslides, hurricanes, drought, significant changes in temperature, and humans cutting down trees for building homes, highways, and businesses.

Math

The third graders continue to work on measurement. Students have been measuring length to the nearest 1/4. The class also continues to work on fractions.

Reading FAST Testing

Results for reading of the winter screening of FAST testing have been included in the take-home folder. The results are yours to keep.

Late Slips

Late slips will start in third grade, starting with the third trimester on Monday, March 2nd. A late slip is what a student receives when he/she does not complete his/her homework on time. This is what is followed in fourth through eighth grades at STM. This is started at this point in 3rd grade, so students understand the expectations. A note has been included in the take-home folder outlining how the late slip policy works. Please reach out if you have any questions.

National Reading Month

In March, the third-grade classroom will be celebrating National Reading Month. Included in the take-home folder is a list of dress-up days planned throughout the month. At the end of March, there is also a trip planned to The Latest Edition Bookstore. More information will be sent home about that at a later date.

Important Dates

Friday, February 20th-Spirit Day $1

Tuesday, February 24th-Mrs. Burg Absent From School

Tuesday, February 25th-1 Hour Early Dismissal

Friday, February 27th-End of the 2nd Trimester

Saturday, February 28th-STM Foundation Gala 5 PM

Monday, March 2nd-Late Slips Start