1/19/23

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

1/19/23

Science

The third grade continue to learn about adaptations in animals and plants. Students have learned about characteristics and traits that help living things survive.  The class has also discussed the advantages of animals living in groups.

Language Arts

This week  the class is reading The Extra Good Sunday by Beverly Clearly. In this humorous fiction story, Ramona and Beezus had complained about what their mom made for dinner the night before, so now the girls are in charge of making supper. The story follows the girls through the ups and downs of preparing the meal. In the end, the reader finds how the girls' parents feel about the meal that was made. The comprehension skill covered understanding characters. Students also worked on using a thesaurus as the vocabulary skill. The phonics skill focused on vowel + r words. The grammar skill focused on verb tense.

The lesson 14 weekly assessment has been included in the take home folder.

Next week, third grade students will be taking the Unit 3 Benchmark test.

Math

Topic 7 in math will cover representing and interpreting data on a graph. Students have interpreted the data picture graph and bar graph. The students have also picture and bar graphs when give data.

Important Dates

 Thursday,  January 19th-PTO Meeting 6 PM

Friday, January 20th-Spirit Day $1

Monday, January 30th-STM Gear Day

Tuesday, January 31st-Favorite Saint or Bible Character Day

Wednesday, February 1st-Pajama Day

Thursday, February 2nd-Hero/Patriotic Day

Friday, February 3rd-Dress Up Day

1/12/23

 Burg's Buzz

1/12/23

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

Reading/Language Arts

This week the third grade class is reading the story Aero and Officer Mike by Joan Plummer Russell. In this informational text, students follow Mike and his K-9 dog Aero on a day of work. Students learn about what happens when Mike and Aero are on duty, signals and commands that Aero needs to know, the training the dog receives, and how Mike and Aero interact with the community. The comprehension skill covered author's purpose. Students worked on the prefixes of in- and im- as the vocabulary skill. The phonics skill focused on words with ar, or, and ore. The grammar skill had students working on pronoun-verb agreement.

Math

The 3rd grade class is continuing to learn about finding area of squares, rectangles, and irregular shapes. Students will have a test over the topic of area on Friday, January 13th.

Science

Students continue to learn about animal adaptations. Each student in the class was assigned an animal group (fish, mammal, reptile, fish, or amphibian). Students got to choose an animal from the assigned group, then researched a physical and behavioral adaptation. In another activity, students modeled different bird beaks using tools such as chopsticks, clothespin, a straw, a spoon, and a toothpick to try and pick up different items that represented food a bird might eat.

Catholic Schools Week

St. Malachy School will be celebrating CSW beginning Sunday, January 29th-Friday, February 3rd. There are fun dress up days and activities planned. Please check the take home folder for notes pertaining to all the fun to be had. One of the activities that will take place this year is the return of the talent show. Students will need to try out to be in the show. A sign up sheet will be posted at school beginning next week for try outs. Students can perform by themselves or in a group. I am excited to see all of the talent in our STM students.

Important Dates

FAST Screening-Begins Monday, January 16th

PTO Meeting-Thursday, January 19th 6 PM

Friday, January 20th-Spirit Day $1

 Sunday, January 29th-Friday, February 3rd-Catholic Schools Week

1/5/23

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

1/5/23

Happy New Year!

The third grade is "Poppin" into the new year. During the first three days back to school, the students learned about the history of the ball dropping, researched how other countries celebrate the New Year, made party hats, brainstormed and developed resolutions, and of course enjoyed popcorn to celebrate.

Book Order

A note has been included in the take home folder about the January book order. Use the link provided on the note to access Scholastic and order books for your child.

FAST Testing

The winter screening for FAST Testing will take place Monday, January 16th-Friday, January 27th. Students will be assessed in both math and reading during this two week period.

Dress Code

Just a friendly reminder to parents about the STM dress code. If your child is wear leggings, their dress/top should extend to the mid-thigh (bottoms covered). Clothing should be free of rips, tears, or holes. Also if there is snow on the ground, students will need to wear boots.

Important Dates

Friday, January 6th-Spirit Day $1

Thursday, January 19th-PTO Meeting

Friday, January 20th-Spirit Day $1 

Sunday, January 29th-Friday, February 3rd-Catholic Schools Week

12/21/22

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

12/22/22

Happy Holidays

I wish all STM 3rd grade families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thank you for the generous gifts. They are truly appreciated. I am so lucky to work at an amazing school with wonderful students and supportive families  . I hope everyone is able to spend time with their family and friends. My family and I will be traveling to Mesa, AZ to visit my mom who is spending her first year wintering there. The weather for the time my family will be there looks fabulous in the upper 60s and lower 70s.  I am very excited to be leaving the cold behind.

Reading Incentive Program

Please continue to keep track of the December minutes read. December calendars will be due back to school by Friday, January 6th. January calendars will be sent home with students upon returning to school on January 4th. The goal will increase to 500 minutes total.

Important Dates

Friday, December 23rd-Tuesday, January 3rd-Christmas Break

Wednesday, January 4th-Classes Resume

Friday, January 6th-Spirit Day $1

Monday, January 16th-FAST Testing Begins

12/15/22

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

12/15/22

Reading/Language Arts

This week the third grade class is reading Yonder Mountain by Robert Bushyhead. In this Cherokee legend, Chief Sky is choosing a new chief since he is too old to handle responsibilities.  Chief Sky offers a challenge to three younger men in the tribe to see who will be the next best fit to be chief. The story follows Brown Bear, Grey Wolf, and Soaring Eagle on their journeys to the top of yonder mountain. The comprehension skill covered compare and contrast. Students also worked on subject verb agreement as the grammar skill. The phonics skill focused on contractions. Students identified homophones and homographs as the vocabulary skill.

The lesson 12 weekly assessment results have been included in the take home folder.

Next week the class will NOT be moving ahead in the reading series. There will be no spelling or weekly assessment. The plan is to focus on some Christmas writing projects.

Science

Students are learning about plant and animal adaptations in science.

Math

The class was finally able to start topic 6 (area and perimeter). Topic 5 focused on more multiplication and division, and I thought the class was ready for a new concept.

Class Christmas Party

The third grade class will celebrate Christmas during the afternoon of Thursday, December 22nd. Students will need to bring a sack lunch (milk provided) to school. They will eat with their Advent Angels on this day. Caroling will take place from 12:30-1:00 PM. The students will return to the classroom for treats and a cute holiday movie. 

On the day that the Advent Angels get together, many of them exchange gifts with each other. Please know that this is a nice gesture, but certainly not required. 

Important Dates

Friday, December 16th-Flannel Day/Spirit Day $1

Monday, December 19th-Tree Topper Day

Tuesday, December 20th-"Toe"sty Tuesday

Wednesday, December 21-Mass Attire

Thursday, December 22nd-Jingle Bell Day

Thursday, December 22nd-Class Christmas Party

Friday, December 23rd-Tuesday, January 3rd-Winter Break

Friday, January 6th-Spirit Day $1

12/8/22

 Burg's Buzz

 12/8/22

nburg@crestonstmalachy.org

Math

The next concept the third grade class will be working on is area and perimeter. It has taken the class a few days to get throught the Topic 4 assessment due to absences due to sickness.

Science

The next unit the 3rd grade class will be studying about plants animals and their environment effects each.

Reading/Language Arts

This week the third grade is reading Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stephens. In this trickster tale, clever Hare tricks lazy Bear into planting different types of vegetables based upon the best part from the top, middle, or bottom. Bear learns a valuable lesson about working hard to reap the results. The comprehension skill focused on theme. Students covered using quotation marks as the grammar skill. The phonics skill focused on homophones. The class also learned about idioms as the vocabulary skill.

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

November Reading Incentive Results

Ten students turned in their November calendars for a total of 

6,727 minutes for the month. This is an increase over one thousand six hundred minutes from October. Nine students met the 400 minute goal for November. Those students include Brandy, Mary, Zoe, Ali, Norah, Reid, Ava, and Grayson. Zoe read the most minutes for the past month. Please continue to track the total number of minutes read each month. The goal for December is 400 minutes. The goal for January, February, and March increases to 500 minutes total.

Mass Parts

The third grade class is scheduled to lead the mass on Wednesday, December 14th. Mass parts have been included in take home folders. Please practice at home for extra practice with fluency.

 

Holiday Dress Up Days

Thursday, December 15th-Candy Candy Day-Wear red and white

Friday, December 16th-Flannel Friday

Monday. December 19th-Tree Topper Day-Wear Santa hat, Elf ears, Reindeer antlers

Tuesday, December 20th-"Toe"sty Tuesday-Festive Socks

Wednesday, December 21st-Wear Your Christmas Best-Mass Clothes

Thursday, December 22nd-Jingle Bells Day-Christmas Sweaters

Important Dates

Wednesday, December 14th-3rd Grade Leads Mass

Friday, December 16th-Spirit Day $1

Thursday, December 22nd-Bring A Sack Lunch (milk provided)

Thursday, December 22nd-Class Christmas Party

Friday, December 23rd-Tuesday, January 3rd-Christmas Vacation

12/1/22

 Burg's Buzz

nburg@crestonstmalalachy.org

12/1/22

Reading/Language Arts

This week the third grade class is reading the informational text Technology Wins the Game by Mark Andrews. In this selection, students learned about how technology has changed over time in variety of sports such as the helmets in football and the rackets in tennis. The comprehension skill reviewed sequencing. The phonics skill covered the sound made by oi and oy. Students worked on plural nouns as the grammar skill. The vocabulary skill reviewed the suffixes -ful, -ous, and -less.

Included in the take home folder is the lesson 10 weekly assessment that was taken the week before Thanksgiving.

Also included in the take home folder are the results of the Unit 2 Benchmark assessment. Again, this is a test that assesses how well the students are applying the concepts and skills learned in lessons 6-10. The goal is to be at or above the acceptable score.

Science

The third grade class is preparing for an assessment covering motion.

Math

Students are preparing for the Topic 4 assessment in math on Monday, December 5th.

Ugly Sweater Activity

Ugly sweaters have become a holy tradition. Earlier in the week, a blank sweater was sent home to have your child decorate. Be as creative as you can using objects that you already have at home. Ugly sweaters are due back to school on Wednesday, December 7th.

Seeking Donations

St. Malachy School is collecting items to donate to male and female residents in care facilities in Creston and Afton. Possible items to donate include lotions, games, large print books, socks, trinkets, puzzles, body spray, slippers, etc.  All donations are due at school by December 16th.

Christmas Music Concert

The St. Malachy School Christmas music concert is scheduled for Wednesday, December 7th at 6:30 PM. A permission slip has been included in the take home folder for the rehearsal practice during the afternoon. 

Important Dates

Friday, December 2nd-Spirit Day $1

Wednesday, December 7th-Christmas Concert 6:30 PM

Wednesday, December 14th-3rd Grade Mass

Friday, December 16th-Spirit Day $1