Dear Parents, 
I hope you are having a great week! We actually have 5 days! Woo hoo! I hope you all received the email with the link to sign up for a conference with me! I can't believe we are here already! 

Reading - This week they are reading a nonfiction story about the Everglades.  A class of 5th graders go there for a field trip. This story is really trying to persuade the readers to see the importance of saving them and what we can do to help. They also use a lot of vocabulary that is a little harder. We talk about the brackish water. We talk about the animals that live there. The two seasons that exist (wet and dry) and what that means. 
Spelling- This week our list is full of homophones. I told them that they would have to understand the difference in meanings for Friday's posttest because I will mix the list up. 
Grammar- They are using the conjunctions ( and, but, or) in sentences. They other key to remember is that they need  a comma before the conjunction. 

Halloween stories-- All of them have been edited. Many are already typed and printed. Next week we will share them aloud. I will post them in the hallway so you can read them while you wait for conferences. Thanks to the movie IT, there are a lot of killer clowns. :)


Math- We started our new chapter on Wednesday. This is division. We went over the basic rules again. Some of them still remember it from 4th grade. Some are struggling to remember what numbers I multiply and subtract. It is the standard algorithm, so it's the same as you learned as a kid. I try to stress that while it may be easy for some of them, it isn't for everyone. We need to help those kids that struggle with it! 

Religion- They have all passed the Sorrowful Mystery Quiz. They will quiz over the Glorious Mysteries on Friday. 

Service- They are making Christmas cards for me now. I will be mailing them to Doon and they will be included in care packages for our soldiers who will be overseas this Christmas. 

Social Studies- Mrs. Sickels and I changed the due date for their Iowa project due to Halloween festivities. The 5th graders should bring in their project and final paper on Wednesday, November 1. It is no longer on on Halloween. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Don't forget about the Vendor Fair here at STM on Saturday! I have to head to Doon to get some more stuff and to do some more packing so I will unfortunately not be able to go! :( 

God Bless,
Miss Surma