Well, it is definitely feeling more like fall this week! Perfect weather for trick-or-treating on Saturday!
The October Book-It Calendars are due on Monday. Make sure you sign them first! Even if they don't make the goal, if they have attempted to keep track of their minutes, send it back. I like to see how they are doing. I will give them their new one on Monday. The goal for November will be the same.
Conferences- last week I sent you a link to sign up for your child's conference. Please make sure you do that before November 5. If you are having trouble with that date, email me. We can make other arrangements. It looks like I only need a few more.
Math- This week we started working on division with placing the first digit. The way I taught them is the same way we all grew up learning it. Divide, Multiply, Subtract, Bring Down, Repeat. They are dealing with remainders and we have discussed how the remainder can not be equal to or larger than the divisor. On Tuesday, I taught them how to check their division by multiplying the divisor times the quotient and adding the remainder. It was funny how many of them still said, "Did I get it right?" We will be learning other strategies, but the overall one we will use is the strategy above. The next one we cover is one I learned a few years ago in my math class. Division using partial quotients. I really liked because for those kids who struggle with basic facts, this is pretty easy. You multiply by 10s until you can't go any further, then you start your single digits. I will try to send home a hard copy for you to check it out. They still are multiplying and subtracting, but it gets their dividend smaller in bigger chunks! It is pretty cool. Some kids like it, others don't. That's the great thing about math--- there are multiple ways to solve a problem. They just need to find the one that works for them!
Halloween Stories-- They are all typed and attached to their Frankensteins! They will be in the hallway for you to read during conferences.
Reading- This week we read a nonfiction story about the Everglades. A 5th grade class took a field trip to see them. The story really talks about how the Everglades are home to many different habitats and species. It also talked about how it needs saving. On Tuesday they had to find key details in the story to prove the author's purpose that it needed saving. Our grammar this week is writing compound sentences with a conjunction. We will also be writing complex sentences. Their spelling list was a list of homophones--words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and mean different things.
Friday-- We will celebrate Halloween! They will participate in some games and activities provided by 6-8 graders. The Halloween parade will be at 2:30. You are welcome to join us in the gym for that!
Iowa History Projects are due on Monday! Mrs. Sickels is planning on having the Iowa History Fair on Wednesday from 1:15-2:00 in the gym. You are welcome to attend!
I am heading to Doon this weekend. My plan is to bring my mom back here with me. She will stay with me for most of November, maybe all of it. We will have to see if she is enjoying her vacation away! :) Have a great weekend! Happy Halloween!
God Bless, Miss Surma
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Dear Parents! Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a great week!
On Wednesday I emailed you a link for our fall parent teacher conferences! That is where you will sign up! It should be pretty simple! I just checked my emails! I have 3 already signed up! Yay!!!
I know our school website is down. I hope you have subscribed to getting my blog because then it will be sent to your email automatically. I will try to send the link to this as well through my emails.
Reading- This week they are reading a short excerpt from Old Yeller. We have spent time talking about the dialect in that story and that it is different from an accent. They are also working on discussing character traits to figure out what each character is like. We are discussing adages and proverbs too. This can be difficult with some context. We worked on ones like A penny saved is a penny earned. or Laughter is the best medicine.
Halloween Stories- I am editing those and have been handing them back as quickly as I can. I have given them each a due date and the requirements for typing.
Math-- We are just beginning our new chapter on division. I will talk to you about their test scores at conferences, but if you have any questions, please call me or email.
Religion- They are really working on their decades of the rosary! We will probably be back in the book next week!
Back to the Future Day- I hope they enjoyed the day as much as I did! They went to the 21st Century room in the library and were able to play with the robots and the goggles that took them on a 3D ride! We were the first group, so some of the stuff wasn't working for us. The person from the AEA couldn't be here due to a family emergency. We did the best we could, but we will get another chance next week! They will need their phones or ipods again for that. Father Halbur did a great job of relating the movie to today's gospel! In my room they made posters comparing trends and current events and prices from the 50s, 80s, and today! That took pretty much the rest of our day! I loved reliving the 80s.
Halloween Activities-- Next Friday we will have activities for Halloween in the afternoon. They should also come to school with their costume in their bag or in another bag. We will do the Halloween parade again that afternoon at 2:30 in the gym. You are welcome to attend! If you want to take your child home after the parade, that is okay, but just see me before you do so I know they are leaving.
Spirit Day is this Friday! $1 to wear sweats!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy these great fall temps!
God Bless, Miss Surma
On Wednesday I emailed you a link for our fall parent teacher conferences! That is where you will sign up! It should be pretty simple! I just checked my emails! I have 3 already signed up! Yay!!!
I know our school website is down. I hope you have subscribed to getting my blog because then it will be sent to your email automatically. I will try to send the link to this as well through my emails.
Reading- This week they are reading a short excerpt from Old Yeller. We have spent time talking about the dialect in that story and that it is different from an accent. They are also working on discussing character traits to figure out what each character is like. We are discussing adages and proverbs too. This can be difficult with some context. We worked on ones like A penny saved is a penny earned. or Laughter is the best medicine.
Halloween Stories- I am editing those and have been handing them back as quickly as I can. I have given them each a due date and the requirements for typing.
Math-- We are just beginning our new chapter on division. I will talk to you about their test scores at conferences, but if you have any questions, please call me or email.
Religion- They are really working on their decades of the rosary! We will probably be back in the book next week!
Back to the Future Day- I hope they enjoyed the day as much as I did! They went to the 21st Century room in the library and were able to play with the robots and the goggles that took them on a 3D ride! We were the first group, so some of the stuff wasn't working for us. The person from the AEA couldn't be here due to a family emergency. We did the best we could, but we will get another chance next week! They will need their phones or ipods again for that. Father Halbur did a great job of relating the movie to today's gospel! In my room they made posters comparing trends and current events and prices from the 50s, 80s, and today! That took pretty much the rest of our day! I loved reliving the 80s.
Halloween Activities-- Next Friday we will have activities for Halloween in the afternoon. They should also come to school with their costume in their bag or in another bag. We will do the Halloween parade again that afternoon at 2:30 in the gym. You are welcome to attend! If you want to take your child home after the parade, that is okay, but just see me before you do so I know they are leaving.
Spirit Day is this Friday! $1 to wear sweats!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy these great fall temps!
God Bless, Miss Surma
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Happy Thursday!!! I hope everyone is having a great week!
Reading- This week you will find your child's scores from the unit test in the take home folder. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me, otherwise we will discuss at conferences in November. This week they read a nonfiction story about tree kangaroos or tree 'roos. A group of scientists were studying them. The story was mostly about how the scientists are able to capture them and attach a collar around their necks. This would send information to a satellite. A skill we focused on was cause and effect. We identified the causes from a particular page and then they had to tell me the effect from that cause. We also are working on verbs in grammar. They are learning about action verbs and helping verbs. On Wednesday, they had to identify the verb and then tell me if that verb conveyed sequence, time, condition, or state. We are also going to talk about picking verbs that are vague and verbs that are more exact. For example a vague verb would be went, but an exact verb would be scrambled. I told them to think about that as they write their rough drafts for their Halloween stories. In our small groups on Monday and Tuesday, we worked on synonyms and antonyms. They also had to come up with a definition of the main word based on its synonyms or antonyms.
Halloween rough drafts are due Friday. I told them they should write it in print and skip lines ( that part is for me when I edit them). The final draft needs to be typed. I will edit them and return as quickly as possible. I will give them a due date for their final draft when I return it to them. If you don't have access to a computer, please let me know. We can use the lab before or after school to get them to type up their final story. IF you just have trouble printing it out, email me the paper, and I will print it off.
Math- They are testing over chapter 1 on Thursday. The last two lessons in this chapter were really the beginning steps to algebra. They thought at first it was going to be difficult, but the more we worked on them, the easier they became for them. I heard many of them say, "Wow, this is way easier than I thought it was going to be!" I hope to send home the tests on Friday with their scores, but that will depend on if there are a lot of corrections to do.
Religion- Everyone has passed their prayers!! Woo hoo! They are now working on knowing all the decades to rosary. I told them they will have their first quiz over the Sorrowful Mysteries on Friday. If they don't pass it then, they will retake it on Monday. We went to the chapel last Friday to say the entire rosary. I was so impressed! I started it out, but then each student ended up leading a prayer or announcing the next decade. What impressed me most was that I didn't have to tell them which prayer was next or remind them where we were on the rosary. They knew it! It flowed so smoothly. They were so reverent. I just really enjoyed that prayer time with them!
Art- Last week I showed them a how to video on drawing Anger from the movie Inside Out. We didn't finish it then, but we did this week! They loved it! Their pictures are so cute! I will post a picture when I remember my phone! I know many of them told me they went home and did others last week!
Conferences--Keep a look out for a sign up for conference times! Let me know if you cannot meet on November 5. We can make other arrangements.
School Website-- It is down and has been for 2 weeks. I know Mrs. Simmons has decided to make her own blog so that you can get information. Hopefully you are all getting mine as well in your emails!
Book Order- I sent home a book order. If you are interested in ordering, please have the order returned by Friday. Thank you!
I hope everyone has a great weekend. I am heading home to Doon on Friday after work to visit Mom for the weekend.
God Bless, Miss Surma
Reading- This week you will find your child's scores from the unit test in the take home folder. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me, otherwise we will discuss at conferences in November. This week they read a nonfiction story about tree kangaroos or tree 'roos. A group of scientists were studying them. The story was mostly about how the scientists are able to capture them and attach a collar around their necks. This would send information to a satellite. A skill we focused on was cause and effect. We identified the causes from a particular page and then they had to tell me the effect from that cause. We also are working on verbs in grammar. They are learning about action verbs and helping verbs. On Wednesday, they had to identify the verb and then tell me if that verb conveyed sequence, time, condition, or state. We are also going to talk about picking verbs that are vague and verbs that are more exact. For example a vague verb would be went, but an exact verb would be scrambled. I told them to think about that as they write their rough drafts for their Halloween stories. In our small groups on Monday and Tuesday, we worked on synonyms and antonyms. They also had to come up with a definition of the main word based on its synonyms or antonyms.
Halloween rough drafts are due Friday. I told them they should write it in print and skip lines ( that part is for me when I edit them). The final draft needs to be typed. I will edit them and return as quickly as possible. I will give them a due date for their final draft when I return it to them. If you don't have access to a computer, please let me know. We can use the lab before or after school to get them to type up their final story. IF you just have trouble printing it out, email me the paper, and I will print it off.
Math- They are testing over chapter 1 on Thursday. The last two lessons in this chapter were really the beginning steps to algebra. They thought at first it was going to be difficult, but the more we worked on them, the easier they became for them. I heard many of them say, "Wow, this is way easier than I thought it was going to be!" I hope to send home the tests on Friday with their scores, but that will depend on if there are a lot of corrections to do.
Religion- Everyone has passed their prayers!! Woo hoo! They are now working on knowing all the decades to rosary. I told them they will have their first quiz over the Sorrowful Mysteries on Friday. If they don't pass it then, they will retake it on Monday. We went to the chapel last Friday to say the entire rosary. I was so impressed! I started it out, but then each student ended up leading a prayer or announcing the next decade. What impressed me most was that I didn't have to tell them which prayer was next or remind them where we were on the rosary. They knew it! It flowed so smoothly. They were so reverent. I just really enjoyed that prayer time with them!
Art- Last week I showed them a how to video on drawing Anger from the movie Inside Out. We didn't finish it then, but we did this week! They loved it! Their pictures are so cute! I will post a picture when I remember my phone! I know many of them told me they went home and did others last week!
Conferences--Keep a look out for a sign up for conference times! Let me know if you cannot meet on November 5. We can make other arrangements.
School Website-- It is down and has been for 2 weeks. I know Mrs. Simmons has decided to make her own blog so that you can get information. Hopefully you are all getting mine as well in your emails!
Book Order- I sent home a book order. If you are interested in ordering, please have the order returned by Friday. Thank you!
I hope everyone has a great weekend. I am heading home to Doon on Friday after work to visit Mom for the weekend.
God Bless, Miss Surma
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Hi Parents! Well, I guess my blog fixed itself! Love when that happens! I hope you are having a good week!
Reading- This week they are taking their first unit test. I have broken it up each day. You will get the test results next week in their take home folder. We will start a new story on Monday. They will also have spelling again next week!
Book Report- I assigned the report on Tuesday. They have all chosen a book to read. I gave them until next Tuesday, Oct. 13, to decide if they need to change their book choice. They project will be due on Friday, November 13.
Book Order- They have an order form for October in their folders. If you are ordering, please return the order by Oct. 16.
Math- We are working on algebraic expressions this week and order of operations. This can be tricky. They are working hard though and have figured out the steps to solve it. I told them on Wednesday that they will most likely be testing next week. I have also discussed with the 5th graders that unless it says "mental math", I want to see their work. I want to see what they are thinking in order to solve that problem. We also discussed that there are some things such as basic facts that I don't need to see on paper, but if it is a multi-step problem, I want to see what they are doing to solve it. This is mostly when I see them doing a multiple choice math problem and they fill in the answer, but I don't see how they got it. That is especially true if they are multiplying large numbers.
Religion- WOW! They have really taken off on memorizing their two prayers. Almost everyone has already passed this piece! The next step will be learning all of the decades of the rosary.
Art- This week, I had them follow the steps of an artist online to create the character Anger from the movie Inside Out by Disney. They aren't finished yet, but what they have done is awesome! They watch, I pause the video, they draw, and we repeat the steps.
Mrs. Mitchell is on maternity leave now. Susan Weight will be her substitute.
Have a great weekend! Don't forget to attend the Spaghetti Supper if you are in town!!!
God Bless, Miss Surma
Reading- This week they are taking their first unit test. I have broken it up each day. You will get the test results next week in their take home folder. We will start a new story on Monday. They will also have spelling again next week!
Book Report- I assigned the report on Tuesday. They have all chosen a book to read. I gave them until next Tuesday, Oct. 13, to decide if they need to change their book choice. They project will be due on Friday, November 13.
Book Order- They have an order form for October in their folders. If you are ordering, please return the order by Oct. 16.
Math- We are working on algebraic expressions this week and order of operations. This can be tricky. They are working hard though and have figured out the steps to solve it. I told them on Wednesday that they will most likely be testing next week. I have also discussed with the 5th graders that unless it says "mental math", I want to see their work. I want to see what they are thinking in order to solve that problem. We also discussed that there are some things such as basic facts that I don't need to see on paper, but if it is a multi-step problem, I want to see what they are doing to solve it. This is mostly when I see them doing a multiple choice math problem and they fill in the answer, but I don't see how they got it. That is especially true if they are multiplying large numbers.
Religion- WOW! They have really taken off on memorizing their two prayers. Almost everyone has already passed this piece! The next step will be learning all of the decades of the rosary.
Art- This week, I had them follow the steps of an artist online to create the character Anger from the movie Inside Out by Disney. They aren't finished yet, but what they have done is awesome! They watch, I pause the video, they draw, and we repeat the steps.
Mrs. Mitchell is on maternity leave now. Susan Weight will be her substitute.
Have a great weekend! Don't forget to attend the Spaghetti Supper if you are in town!!!
God Bless, Miss Surma
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Please check out the link for information about the Spaghetti Supper!
https://stmalachy.bringit.bz/
https://stmalachy.bringit.bz/
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