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.