UCS Grade 3/4 Newsletter
September 19, 2025
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Sunshine, Sailing and Science
We couldn’t have asked for better weather for our sailing center field trips on Monday and Friday! Students had such a wonderful time out on Lake Champlain, spending an hour sailing and an hour in the classroom learning about erosion along the shoreline. It was the perfect mix of hands-on fun and science learning. We are so excited to continue our partnership with the Sailing Center throughout the year and already can’t wait to get back on the water in the spring! A huge thank you to all of our amazing chaperones who joined us. We couldn’t have done it without you!
For Third Grade Parents:
From the PTO:
Calling all 3rd grade parents! The PTO needs your help to lead UCS' participation in the Harvest Market Parade! The Parade is to be held on Saturday morning September 27th and is a tradition where many local schools and groups participate. We need two event leaders who are willing to have a vision and run point on logistics, a number of folks to help with decorations, parents to attend the parade and help oversee the parade morning, and parents to donate bags of candy. Please sign up to help using this link. The PTO will provide the event leaders with guidance, but this is 3rd grade's event for the year and it's up to you to make it awesome! For the event leaders, we expect this to take between 1-3 hours of time over the next two weeks, including Saturday's event.
If you have questions please email the PTO at UCSPTO@mmuusd.org. If we don't have enough volunteers, we will unfortunately not be able to host this event. Thank you in advance for volunteering to make this a fun community day for our students!
-- UCS PTO
Friday letters
Friday Letters Have Begun!
Friday Letters Have Begun!
On Friday, our learners (Mrs. Bernier's class and Ms. Melone's class) wrote their very first Friday Letters to their families! Mrs. Giguere's class will start Friday Letter's next week, but did not write them this week because of the field trip.
These letters come home in a composition notebook and share a little snippet about our week together. They’re a wonderful way for families to stay connected to classroom life and to see students’ growth as writers throughout the year.
Sometimes Friday Letters might be a little tricky to read. If that’s the case, please ask your child to tell you about their week instead. We also ask that you write a short note back. Students absolutely love reading your replies! Don’t forget to send the notebook back by next Friday so your learner can write to you again.
Math Through Art
Math Meets Art in Third Grade
Math Meets Art in Third Grade
Thanks to the generous support of our PTO, third graders will have the opportunity to participate in Math Through Art with Nancy Benerofe this year. Once a month during their regular math times, students will create art projects connected to the math concepts they are learning in class. These projects not only spark creativity but also deepen understanding of mathematical ideas. We are so grateful for this special opportunity and know students are excited for this unique blend of math and art. A big thank you to the PTO for making it possible!
Important Dates
September 25th ~ Student Picture Day
September 26th ~ Annual Zucchini Relays (more info to come)
September 27th ~ Harvest Market Parade (lineup @ 8:30 - more info below)
October 1st ~ Recycle Rhonda visit
October 2nd & 3rd ~ NO SCHOOL
October 6th ~ Kindergarten Field Trip to Chapin
October 8th ~ Student 2hr Early Release Day
October 9th ~ UCS Open House (6:00p)
Mrs. Bernier's Pictures
Ms. Melone's Pictures
Mrs. Giguere's Pictures
PTO News
Please consider volunteering for PTO events at UCS. The PTO helps to fund enrichment activities for students in the school. They are always looking for support!
Current Curriculum Units
Math
Math
Third Grade Math
Third Grade Math
Third graders are split into two classrooms this year with Mrs. Bernier and Ms. Melone. The first unit in third grade is called Understanding Equal Groups. Here is information about the unit: This unit focuses on understanding the meaning of multiplication, modeling multiplication using arrays, and understanding the inverse relationship between multiplication and division. Students make lists of things that come in groups and use them to write multiplication and division story problems, and equations to match. Multiples and arrays are introduced as two ways to represent multiplication. Students use arrays, and known facts, to develop fluency with the multiplication facts, and are assessed on those that involve multiplying numbers to 10 by 1, 2, 5 and 10. They find factors of numbers up to 100, and examine the relationship between multiplication and division. 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 Grade Math
Fourth Grade Math
Fourth graders are split into two classrooms with Mrs. Giguere and Mr. Menz this year. The first unit focuses on using arrays and multiplicative comparison problems to understand multiplication, and gaining familiarity with factors and multiples. Students use arrays to model multiplication situations and to find factors and identify prime numbers to 100. They use what they know about factors of 100 to find factors of multiples of 100, and examine the idea that factors of a number are also factors of a multiple of that number. 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.
Literacy
Literacy
All of MMUUSD has adopted a new literacy program for this school year. We will be using this format for reading and writing instruction this year. We are learning about the program throughout the year as it is implemented. Here is some information about the curriculum:
American Reading Company's high-quality comprehensive core curriculum, ARC Core, includes culturally responsive, inquiry-based, thematic units of study, available K–12 in English and K–5 in Spanish, that integrate reading, writing, science, and social studies content in a student-centered learning environment.
Teacher Contact Information
Underhill Central School 3/4 Teachers
Underhill Central School 3/4 Teachers
Abbie Bernier, Mia Melone, Kristy Giguere
Emails:
kristy.giguere@mmuusd.org
Location: 6 Irish Settlement Rd, Underhill, VT 05489
Phone: 802.899.4676
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