UCS Grade 3/4 Newsletter
January 17th, 2025
Giant Vermont Map🗺️
This week, our students have been diving into the geography of Vermont with a giant map! They've been exploring the state's counties, towns, roads, lakes, regions, and mountains through fun and interactive activities. Through a scavenger hunt and Simon Says, our learners have been having a blast while discovering the unique features of our home state. It’s been a week full of exploration and learning, as students navigate Vermont's landscape in exciting new ways!
Snow Motion Reminder:
We are very excited to be starting our Snowmotion program at Cochran’s next week! All students will be participating on Thursdays:
Grades 3,4 from 9-10am
Grades K-2 from 10-11am
If your child is using their own equipment, please bring it to school Thursday morning. There will be large containers near the drop off for you to put skis/snowboards into. Please note: skis and snowboards are not allowed on the bus, they must be dropped off. **Please label your child’s equipment, including helmets!** Ski boots and helmets will go to your child’s classroom. If your child is borrowing equipment, but has their own helmet, please send them with it!! We will have some helmets for students to use if they don’t have their own. Equipment will be outside at end of day during dismissal for pick up. Any equipment not picked up then will be left in the hallway inside main entrance (outside multipurpose room). It can be picked up any time before 6pm.
If you are volunteering at Cochrans, please arrive 15 min early. Thank you so much to all of you who have volunteered your time to help our students. We couldn’t do this program without you!! Please email Mrs. Cowan at Amanda.Cowan@mmuusd.org if you have any questions.
Volunteer Form Updates
Are you interested in volunteering for Snow Motion, Field Trips, or any class events at UCS? Please take a moment to complete the quick and easy VOLUNTEER FORM ... Note that the form is valid for 5 years, so if you previously filled it out for older siblings, it may have expired. If you'd like to volunteer, please submit the form again. Thank you!
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!
Dan Abdo Author Visit, February 5th
If you did not place an order with the school for the Dan Abdo author visit, you can still order or buy your own books to bring to school on February 5th and have them signed!
To learn more about Dan Abdo, you can visit his website at: https://www.danandjason.net/
GIRLS ON THE RUN: Interest Survey
GOTR Participant 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.
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
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
Social Studies
Vermont Geography
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?
Math
Third Grade
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 Grade
Fourth graders are focused on understanding the meaning of addition and subtraction, understanding the base-10 number system with numbers to 1,000,000, and adding and subtracting multidigit numbers fluently, including with the U.S. standard algorithms.
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
Third and Fourth Graders are learning about characteristics of nonfiction. Students have been exploring how the nonfiction genre differs from fiction. Students are also continuing to write reading responses using the R.A.C.E. model. Finally, students have started to learn about informational writing and are brainstorming ideas to write their own informational report.
Social Media Sites
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