UCS Grade 3/4 Newsletter
December 20, 2024
December 20, 2024
We had a wonderful day at Underhill Central School celebrating the Winter Solstice! Students enjoyed sipping hot chocolate around a cozy campfire while listening to stories, expressing their creativity with mandala coloring, exploring the outdoors with a winter scavenger hunt, and working together in fun cooperative PE games. We ended the day on a festive note with a movie, making it a memorable way to welcome the season.
As we head into winter break, we wish all our families a restful and enjoyable time with loved ones. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing everyone in the new year! Happy Holidays!
Fire Safety Calendar Contest Celebration
We had a special celebration for our Fire Safety Calendar winners this week! Our talented third-grade artists had the exciting opportunity to arrive at school in style—riding on a fire truck with the dedicated members of the Underhill-Jericho Fire Department (UJFD). The entire school came outside to greet them, cheering and celebrating their achievement.
It was a sweet and memorable moment that highlighted the importance of creativity, community, and fire safety awareness. A big thank you to the UJFD for making this day so special for our students!
Battery Blitz: SAVE YOUR OLD BATTERIES!
Mrs. Bernier’s class will be collecting used batteries from January 20 to February 18 as part of the Call2Recycle program! We’re excited about the chance to win a pizza party and up to $1,000 for our classroom. To reach our goal, we need your help!
Please start collecting old batteries from your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. If you have creative ideas for collecting batteries or would like to assist us in this effort, we’d love to hear from you—your support can make all the difference!
This week, students had the opportunity to learn how to organize and prepare batteries for recycling with Recycle Rhonda from CSWD. We’re a small but mighty team and are determined to go for the top prize. Let’s work together to make it happen! Thank you for your help and enthusiasm!
Dan Abdo Author Visit: Book Order
GIRLS ON THE RUN: Interest Survey
If your 3rd or 4th grader is interested in participating in Girls On The Run this Spring, please fill out this form: GOTRVT Participant Interest Form. This is not the registration, but will give us information about numbers for the Spring.
Our tentative schedule for the Spring will be:
Practice on Mondays and Thursdays (when school is in session) right after school until 3:45. *This is subject to change, but we will have it solidified closer to registration in February.
We will start meeting with Girls the week of March 17th.
The 5K celebration is on Saturday, May 31st. Every runner will need a running partner on this day.
Want to Coach?
If you or someone you know are interested in signing up to be a coach for Underhill Central School, you can sign up here: https://www.gotrvt.org/coach
If you have questions about Girls On The Run or the possibility of coaching, feel free to ask Abbie Bernier at abigail.bernier@mmuusd.org.
Extra Clothing for Cubbies/Backpacks
Please update your child's backpack with extra winter clothing (socks, extra pants, extra shirt, extra underwear). Students often get wet at recess when there is snow and it helps to have clothes to change into. Thank you for supporting your child with this!
All School Meetings: Families Invited
Throughout the rest of the school year, each class at UCS will lead a Friday all school meeting. The meetings are on Fridays from 8:00-8:30. When your child's class is leading the meeting, families will be invited to join and be in the audience. Here are the dates that each of our classes will be leading:
Ms. Melone's Class: Friday, January 24th
January Lunch Menu
Important Dates
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
December 23rd - January 1st ~ Winter Vacation (NO SCHOOL)
January 8th ~ Student Early Release Day (2hr earlier than normal)
January 20th ~ NO SCHOOL (MLK Day)
January 23rd ~ PTO Meeting (7:00p)
January 24th ~ All-School Meeting (Mrs. Melone's Class)
PTO News
Current Curriculum Units
We are learning about the geography of Vermont. We will explore its geographic features and how they affect its residents. We will also explore what features make Vermont unique and what it is known for.
The Focus Questions for this unit are:
What are Vermont's geographic features?
How do they affect its residents?
What do different maps tell us?
Which Vermont features make it unique?
What are Vermont's 14 counties?
This unit focuses on understanding and extending knowledge of place value and the number system to 1,000, and adding and subtracting accurately and efficiently. Students use a place value context (the Sticker Station) to represent numbers as hundreds, tens, and ones, and find equivalent ways to use 100s, 10s, and 1s to represent a given number. They construct and locate numbers on a 1,000 Chart. They also develop strategies for adding and subtracting 2-digit and 3-digit numbers with sums and differences to 400. Students encounter a variety of different addition and subtraction problems types.
Check out this letter that includes samples of the types of math that we’ll be exploring if you are interested in more details. Click Here.
Fourth graders have been working on multiplying a number by products of 10 and shift in place value when doing so. For example, 3 x 4 = 12 and 3 x 40 = 120. They have also been working on multiplication strategies such as doubling and halfing.
Check out this letter that includes samples of the types of math that we’ll be exploring if you are interested in more details. Click Here.
Students in third and fourth grade have literacy menus to complete each week. These consist of reading responses, independent reading, cursive practice, and word work. Students have been responding to text in their reader's notebooks. They are learning how to respond by restating the question, answering the question, citing evidence and then explaining their answer. This is the RACE model and we will be learning more about this throughout the year.
Social Media Sites
Abbie Bernier, Mia Melone, Kristy Giguere
Emails:
kristy.giguere@mmuusd.org
Location: 6 Irish Settlement Rd, Underhill, VT 05489
Phone: 802.899.4676