Hello Parents- We are in with a week down! I think it is going well. We are very busy! Last week they took some pretests in reading, spelling, and math. This week we are going at it! 


Reading- We read a short part from The Wayside School book. We had to discuss what was Louis' problem in the story and then how it was resolved. We will do more of that on Thursday. This is a funny story with an ending that isn't really expected (unless you've read the book). We will take a test over this on Friday. They will also have their spelling posttest on Friday.  Since we don't have school on Monday, they will have their pretest on  Tuesday.  In grammar we are working on what makes up a complete sentence and a fragment. We also identify the two parts of a sentence: subject and predicate. I did talk to them about picking out the who or what (noun) and the action or linking verbs. This is usually a difficult task. We will get more specific with those parts of speech as we go on. 

Mrs. Mitchell is doing the BRI tests right now. Once she is done, we will have small group time with her.

Vocabulary- I want to give you a heads-up on this!  We are doing the Frayer Model with our definitions in reading. They did this last year in social studies, but I am tweaking it for reading.  We did it this week together in class so I could show them how it would look.  They will have a big box for each word. They will write the word, a short definition, use the word in a sentence, and then they need to find two antonyms and two synonyms.  Now, if you have a thesaurus at home they can certainly use that, but some words are located in there. We used the internet. I went to www.thesaurus.com  and was able to type in their vocabulary word and a list came up! It does take some time.  They can do most everything here, but they may need the internet at home to do that research. We will do what we can in class, but I can't promise this won't be homework. They will have most of the week to do it. I would like them to have it done on Thursdays so we can go over the words. 

Math- We are starting with place value positions of numbers and learning how to write a number in word, standard, and expanded form. For example: If the number is 1,234. That is standard form. Word form- one thousand,two hundred thirty-four.  Expanded form- (1 x 1.000) + (2 x 100) + (3 x 10)+ (4 x 1).  This is a little new compared to how I taught it before, but it makes much more sense to them when I ask--how many 100s does it take to equal 200?  We started this today (Wednesday).  We will do more together tomorrow.  One thing I have noticed is that some need to refresh themselves on their multiplication facts. They can use the chart in their assignment book, but those basic facts should be a little quicker. Maybe quiz them in the car when you drive to practice, a game, or Des Moines. 

Religion- They have been working with the Bible this week. I always start the year by reviewing how we look up verses in the Bible. This coming Sunday Mother Teresa will be canonized (named a saint). We will celebrate this at mass next week. I also have some information on her that I will share with them in class next week. 

We don't have really any study halls except on band days and that is first thing in the morning. Right now they have some extra time with our mornings because we haven't been on the computers yet, but we will be.  I have been trying to stress that if they have homework they need to make use of any free chance they get to work on it, especially if they have signed up for other things outside of school. I can tell you this... I don't give homework for major holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break. I can't guarantee that your child won't have something to do on Halloween. I also remind them their job right now is school. So that has to come first. I am not going to work around their extra activities outside of school.  If they use their time, they really shouldn't have much to do, but with a lot of the core classes in the afternoon, they will have to be smart about not wasting time. They can do this! 

Any questions or concerns please email me or call the school! 

I hope everyone has a great long weekend. Please be safe! I am planning on heading home to Doon. Take Care!!!

God Bless, 
Miss Surma

I made a mistake about our website! 

Go to www.crestonstmalachy.org  


Thanks!

Hello Parents!  We are on Day 2 and everyone returned! Woo hoo!!! 

In your child's folder is a  letter from me that describes a little bit more about 5th grade and the subjects. From this point on I will put things on my blog unless it is a last minute thing I need you to know about. You can get to my blog through our new school website. Just visit www.stmalachy.org!  



As of right now we are at 25 in my room. Aydan White didn't return.  I will have a para with us during some points in our day. We will most of the time have Mrs. Kendrick, but Miss Ashton may see us too. 


Please feel free to email me if you have questions or concerns. 

This week we aren't doing much in the textbooks. There is some pretesting going on in math, reading, and spelling, but they won't have real homework this week. 

Next week we will start with the signing of assignment books. 

Have a great weekend! I plan to head to Waverly for my great-niece's birthday party! 

God Bless,
Miss Surma

The first day of school for 5th grade!!!! 2016-2017 here we come!!!!