Hello Parents! What a wild week of weather! We did enjoy listening to the thunder on Tuesday morning ! 

Calendar Dates: 

April 18- Spend It or Save It Assembly for 5th-8th graders

April 19- No School / PD Day

April 24- Puberty Video 

April 26- Spirit Day/ Earth Day

May 2- Glow Run Lap-A-Thon

May 3- Public School Band Experience/ Spirit Day

May 15-  Final Book Report Due

May 17- 8th grade graduation

Reading- This week we finished up our story on The Gates. They had their spelling test and weekly test on Wednesday.  On Thursday, we have our spelling pretest and start our next story. This one is about two artists. They will read a short biography on Rita Moreno, the singer and actress. You may know her from West Side Story.  We will also be reading a fictionalized biography on Louis Armstrong.  That is a biography about a person's life, but it has some made up parts in it. I plan on showing the kids some of their performances.  I am excited to read about them. I know their work, but not a lot about their journey. In grammar we are moving on to adverbs. 

Religion- We finished up our Easter chapter with the focus being on The Road to Emmaus story. We are in a new chapter now. We read about the story of Saul and how he was against Christianity. We read a little about St. Stephen and how he taught about Jesus, but then was stoned to death for this. We learned that Saul was there at the time. He didn't participate in the death of Stephen, but he agreed with the people who were against Stephen. It wasn't until Saul lost his sight after his conversation with Jesus and then healed by Ananias that he had his conversion and later became Paul. I was so excited  when I asked the kids who Paul was and they told me...he wrote the Letter to the Corinthians and wrote letters from jail! YES! YES! YES!!! 

Math- We are working on FRACTIONS!! We started by estimating fractions to the nearest 0, 1/2 or 1. Next we are renaming fractions so they have the same denominator. Our next step will be to rename these fractions and then add them.  On Tuesday, we talked about always writing fraction in the simplest form which means one of those numbers has to be a prime number. So, I started the process of teaching them how to simplify using division. As always some get it quickly while others take a little longer, but I think they are happy we aren't doing long division!!! 

Permission Slip- In your child's folder is a permission slip from Mrs. Warner. She would like to take the 5th graders on Friday, May 3, to the public school so they can watch and listen to their 6th grade band. We talked and decided to take all the kids- not just the band kids. I figured the others would enjoy the experience as well! They will need to be at school early that morning and will travel over on the trolley. They will be back by 9 am. They should definitely eat breakfast at home! They won't be able to eat it at school. Please return the papers as soon as you can. Thank you!!! 

Friday, April 19- No School! It is a PD Day for us! We usually take a PD day to do some act of service. This year we are helping out Mark O'Riley fill the food bags at the Food Shelf. Then we are coming back to school and cleaning certain rooms.  Enjoy the extra day on your weekend! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Mrs. Sickels, Mrs. Burg, and I finished our LETRs class on Tuesday night so I won't have that homework! I may actually be able to read for fun! 

I plan on going to mass on Sunday so I can listen to the children's choir!

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

Dear Parents, I hope this week has been a good one! Watching the eclipse on Monday was really cool. I can't imagine the total blackout that some people were able to experience. My sister in Maine and my nephew in Ohio had quite the show ! 

Calendar Dates: 

April 18- Spend It or Save It Assembly for 5th-8th graders

April 19- No School / PD Day

April 26- Spirit Day/ Earth Day

Reading- We have been mostly testing this week so we haven't had a lot of reading class time. We are continuing to work on our story called The Gates when we get the opportunity. 

Math- We are starting our fractions chapter. 

Religion- we are working through our Easter chapter. Soon we will be adding our Guidance book to our religion class time. Just a reminder- the guidance book focuses more on relationships with family, friends, and God.  We will do this alongside religion classes. I won't replace it. 

April 19- No School! It is a PD day for the teachers! Enjoy your longer weekend! 

Permission Slip- There will be a form in your child's folder. I will be showing a puberty video to the boys and one to the girls on April 24. Before Covid the public school nurses would do this for me. Since Covid, I show the video in class. We separate the boys and girls so no one is uncomfortable! It really doesn't go into major details. Its a video of kids explaining how their bodies are changing and will change in the next few years. The girls' video does talk to them about their periods.  Please sign the slip and return as soon as possible.  When your child isn't watching the video, they will be in the kindergarten room helping kindergartners with whatever they are working on. Mrs. Chesling said she would be happy for the extra help! I plan on showing one video in the morning and the other in the afternoon on April 24.

ISASP- We will be done with testing on Thursday!  Then we can back to some normalcy with our schedule! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy the beautiful weather!!! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! I had a great time with my family in Waterloo and Waverly. 

Calendar Dates

April 5- Spirit Day

April 8- Eclipse Day

Apr. 8-12 ISASP Week

Apr. 19- No School/  PD Day

Apr.26- Earth Day Cleanup/ Spirit Day

Reading- We started a new module on Monday. This unit will be all about different kinds of art.  On Tuesday, we read the story The Gates.  It is a story about a couple of artists that worked for 26 years to get New York City to say "yes" to their art construction idea for Central Park. They finally agreed to it and made them sign a 43 page contract! It cost them 26 million dollars to create the art piece and erect it throughout Central Park! Then it was only up for 2 weeks in 2005.  We were all in shock by the the persistence of them to not give up! The 5th graders couldn't understand why it was up for only 2 weeks, but we inferred it was part of the contract deal they signed! https://images.app.goo.gl/4d6DxsqpxAugu8Cg8  Click here if you want to see a picture of the art piece! It went all throughout the park.  The grammar for this story will be adjectives. On Tuesday, we found adjectives in sentences and then figured out if they answered- how many? what kind? or origin?  Their spelling list this week is covering words that drop the final-y before adding their endings....-ier -ies  -ied  -iest

Math- On Tuesday, they started their practice test which was finished on Wednesday. They will go over it on Thursday with me. The real test will be on Friday. 

Religion- We are finishing up the movie we started last week. Once that is done we will work on the Easter chapter in our book. 

Spirit Day is this Friday! Sweats and/or a hat for $1!!! 

ISASPs- On Wednesday, I started giving the 5th graders practice tests for the ISASPs. This year they will have one extra test to take. They will take a test in science. That is a test for the 5th and 8th graders.  Next Monday we will start testing. My plan is to do one a day. They will have their tests in the mornings on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. On Wednesday, we will do one after their recess. I think our morning time will be too short after practicing mass and then going to  it.  I always tell the kids to try to get a good night's sleep, eat a good breakfast ( if they are breakfast people, and then just do their best). They aren't really timed anymore so they don't have that added pressure. I will try to keep the room quiet and relaxed during the tests. 

Dollars for Scholars Essays- The 3 winners from our class are Presley, Harlow, and Harper! One of these three will win the scholarship. We usually don't know who that is until May. Congrats!!! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Hopefully there will be some nice temperatures so that we can all be outside! I see tulips blooming in my yard! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! I hope everyone is having a great week! I can't believe it is Easter already! 

Calendar Dates

March 28- Seder Meal/Cross Walk/Wear White Shirt

March 29- Rosary at 2 pm

March 31- Easter Sunday

April 5- Spirit Day

Apr. 8-12 ISASP Week

Apr. 19- No School/  PD Day

Reading- They took their Module test on Monday! These were our best scores yet!!! I am really proud of them! I am really excited to see they are putting so much effort into those short answer questions!!! I assigned them their book report today! A few have already finished reading and taking notes! They are starting to make their Google slides for their presentation! The project will be due in May. 

This week they also wrote their rough draft for the Dollars for Scholars essay. They were given 5 words. They had to choose one and explain how that is important to their education. 

Math- They are working on problems as a review. Next week we will focus on the test. This week is just too busy with Holy Week  activities. 

Religion- They took their test today! All did well!! I will send home tomorrow to be signed by you. I am currently showing them the movie The Ten Commandments. I always show this to the 5th graders the week of Easter because our Seder Meal follows the Hebrew people as they left Egypt. Once they get passed the fact that the movie is from the 50s, they get involved in the story of Moses. 

Seder Meal and Cross Walk tomorrow! Thank you for returning the permission slips. The walk should start around 12:30 in our courtyard if you'd like to go with us! Remember to wear a white shirt for the photo we take at the church! 

Rosary- We will be praying the Rosary at 2:00 pm on Friday. The 8th graders will be leading us. This will be our final activity to celebrate our Lenten Season and Good Friday. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter with your family and friends. I am heading to Waterloo to spend it with my brother and sister. Safe travels for those of you going out of town! 🐰

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Everyone! I hope you all were able to enjoy your Spring Break!! My sister and I had a relaxing time in Galena. Our brother and nieces came to spend an afternoon with us so we didn't get a ton of reading in! The weather was perfection! 

Calendar Dates

March 22- Spirit Day

March 28- Seder Meal/Cross Walk/Wear White Shirt

March 29- Rosary at 2 pm

March 31- Easter Sunday

April 5- Spirit Day

Apr. 8-12 ISASP Week

Reading- We are finishing our story this week! They will have their spelling test and reading tests on Friday!  Hopefully they are studying those spelling words because it has been a little bit since we've worked with them! We did play our Tic Tac Toe game with them today! I was pleased that so many remembered to drop the -e before adding -ing!  On Monday they will take their Module Test (unit test). We will also be working on our essays for Dollars for Scholars next week. I will also assign the next book report - which I talked about at conferences. It isn't going to be due until the middle of May. 

Math- We will finish our worksheet on Thursday. Hopefully it will be a little easier after taking a break! We will probably do a little more practice with dividing larger numbers on Friday. Next week we will begin the finishing up of this chapter! The test is just around the corner! 

Religion- We are going to get back to our chapter, but we took a break on Monday to make birthday cards for Father Patrick. On Tuesday they went to Reconciliation! I was really proud of the 3-5th graders! They were able to answer ALL of Father's question about Easter and Jesus dying on the cross! 

Permission Slip- In your child's folder is a permission slip that we need back before next Thursday. It is for the Cross Walk on Thursday. We will do the Seder Meal first and then they will walk with their Angel partners to the church with stops along the way to remind us of the walk Jesus took on that first Good Friday. They need to wear a white shirt so we can take our picture in the church. If they don't have a plain white one, they can wear a white one and then we will have them flip it inside out before we leave for the walk. You are welcome to join us on the walk if you want to! It is a great experience. 

Students are expected to participate in the meal unless they have a documented food allergy/issue.

Middle School Ready?? I told the 5th graders this week I was going to start doing some things to get them prepared for middle school next year. So from this point on they won't be doing corrections on homework assignments unless I see that they really are lost and need to fix things. They will still correct their tests. I have told Mrs. Sickels and Mrs. Burg to do the same in their classes with them. I told the 5th graders- your score will be your score. 

Spirit Day on Friday! It looks like the temps will be perfect for sweats! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Palm Sunday is this weekend!

God Bless,

Miss Surma

Hello Parents, I hope you're having a great week and not suffering from any whiplash from our temperatures! 

Calendar Dates

Mar. 1- Shorts can be worn

Mar. 2- STM Foundation/ Gala 

Mar. 4-7 Parent Teacher Conferences

Mar. 6-Bishop's Mass

March 8-15 Spring Break/ No School

March 19- Reconciliation Grades 2-5

March 22- Spirit Day

Reading- The story we are reading about this week is called The Good Garden. It is about a family in Honduras living through a drought. The main character Maria is responsible for growing food while her dad is away looking for work. Her new teacher teaches her how to make compost as a fertilizer and terraces to grow their crops. She grows some radishes that they can then sell at the local market to help make them some money. This one is a realistic fiction story.  They continued to work on their grammar and using commas in sentences.  They will test over this story on Thursday. Their spelling test is also on Thursday. On Friday we will start our next story and continue to work on it next week. That story won't get finished until after break. 

Math- This week I taught them the standard algorithm for division. We've been working on it for a couple of days. Some have really caught on. On Thursday, I plan on doing some more work with them, but I have warned them that they will have homework and will have to try it on their own (don't worry- I will be right there with them if they get stuck!) This is division you know how to do if they would bring it home! 

Religion- This Lenten season part of our promises is saying the Rosary in the chapel once a week. We did that on Monday. The 5th graders are so good at knowing where we are on the Rosary and the prayer they are expected to lead. We have finished our chapter on Lent and have returned to our other chapters in the book. This chapter focuses on baptism and confirmation. We discussed how kids joining the church as they get older could receive Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation at one time.  We also talked about how Confirmation students pick out their patron saint. The 5th graders did research on a saint and will report on them on Thursday. 

Shorts- They can begin to wear shorts on Friday. Make sure they follow the dress code. We use the child's fingertip length to determine mid-thigh. Students who wear shorts that are too short will receive a dress code violation and could lose the privilege to wear shorts. 

Conferences begin on Monday ! Thank you for signing up for your time! 

I hope everyone has a great Spring Break! Enjoy the break time. My sister and I are heading to Galena, Illinois for a few days! We have gone there the last two years, but this year we are making it more of a reading retreat! I can't wait! If you are traveling at all during break whether to Des Moines or somewhere further I wish you safe travels! 

I hope to see some of you at the Auction and Gala on Saturday!  Looks like there will be some great baskets from the grade bands and silent auction items. 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, Okay this weather doesn't feel like February! I love it, but I also know we need the moisture. I'm okay with rain!  I was able to see my niece perform last weekend at All-State Speech in Ames. Their choral reading story was about the planes that landed in New Foundland on 9-11 because the airspace had been shut down. It was really cool. I need to read the book. 

Calendar Dates

Feb. 23- End of 2nd Trimester/ Spirit Day/ Fish Fry

Mar. 1- Shorts can be worn

Mar. 2- STM Foundation/ Gala 

Mar. 4-7 Parent Teacher Conferences

March 8-15 Spring Break/ No School

Friday, March 1st- Shorts can be worn. I will remind them that if they wear shorts, I don't want to hear complaints of being cold! Shorts MUST be mid thigh- they have to be below their fingertips. If they aren't I will be sending home a slip with them to show they have broken our dress code policy. 

Spirit Day is this Friday! Sweats or hats for $1.

Math- We started our division chapter by estimating our division using compatible numbers. This isn't rounding. They have to find math facts that actually work so there isn't a remainder. We also have started dividing using partial quotients. This is the method I told them they won't do at home with you! We will get to the standard algorithm next week. 

Religion- we will be finishing up our Lent chapter on Thursday. Our next chapter deals with a few of the sacraments but mostly confirmation. We are also going to be reading one of my favorite stories from the Bible- The Woman at the Well. I think we will finish the chapter before break, but we won't have time for a test. That's okay.  We just won't test over this chapter. 

 The Knights of Columbus Fish Fry is this Friday at St. Malachy.  You can eat in the gym or drive up and get your dinner to go!! 🐟🐠

Reading- Our new stories have to deal getting people to recycle and reduce  what they use. We also have a story about a family who doesn't have much for food, but they learn some gardening tricks that help them! We will be working on figurative language in this story as well. In grammar they are learning about where to place commas in sentences. For example: commas go in a sentence when listing a series, or when you have a compound or complex sentence. On Wednesday, they worked on putting commas after introductory words or phrases. We also worked with placing semicolons in sentences with commas. Their spelling list this week is base words with the added endings of -ed and -ing. Some of the words require them to double the consonant! 

Thank you to those who have donated to our silent auction item and the live auction basket! The last day to donate will be Friday. We are shopping this weekend to finish it! I have seen the silent auction picture. It's beautiful!! Thank you, Tiffany Ossian! Don't forget to buy your dinner ticket if you're going to attend the Gala! 

The 2nd Trimester ends on Friday. Our final trimester will begin on Monday! The lateslip record will be clean! 

Don't forget to sign up for your conference time! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma