Hi Parents, Wow! Such a week!
Reading- This week we are reading one of my favorite stories in this unit. We read a story called They Called Her Molly Pitcher. This is a great story to give them details of the harshness the soldiers went through during their battles in 1777 and 1778. Ask your children what life was like for them on the battlefields and in the camps. I would guess you have heard of Molly Pitcher, but I never knew her story. She definitely helped during the war. Ask your kids how she got her name because her real name was Mary Hays. She was definitely a brave woman! They will test over this on Friday along with the spelling test.
When we get back from break, I will be giving them a writing assignment that goes along with our unit. I will also be assigning the next book report project.
Math- We have started our next chapter on decimals. We are starting with learning the place value position and names for them: tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. They have to learn how to write it in expanded form, written form, and standard form. I can tell some have had no experience with this, which is totally fine. I keep referring to it as money and it seems to make more sense.
Religion- I did push getting through the end of our chapter so they could take a test over it before Christmas break. They have a study guide and will test tomorrow. When we get back from break we will do a little with Christmas.
Friday- It is a Spirit Day- they can wear sweats for $1. It is also Ugly Christmas Sweater Day! They can wear one if they have it. Please don't feel you need to go out and buy one! I am wearing a Christmas sweatshirt, but I don't feel it is ugly! :)
They will need a sack lunch as well. They do not need a drink. Milk will be provided. They will eat with their angels around 11:45. Afterwards, they will sing Christmas carols in the gym from 12:15-12:45. You are welcome to join us if you are free! If you want to take your child home afterwards...you can! Just let me know before you leave.
I hope everyone has an AMAZING Christmas and break! I am heading to Waterloo on Sunday. I will be at my brother's house. Two of my sisters and their families will be joining us. My sister Eva is driving in from Pennsylvania on Sunday! I can't wait to see her! Mrs. Sickels and I will be spending New Years in Branson, MO. We have never been there so that will be a fun little trip! Have fun. Enjoy your time with family. Eat a ton.Be safe. Enjoy the break. Remember the real reason for this season: the magic of Christmas is not in the presents, but in HIS presence. Merry Christmas!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Hello Parents,
I hope you are having a great week! I can't believe we only have one full week until Christmas. So Crazy!
Reading- This week we read a story about King George. It is a narrative nonfiction piece. There are facts in it about the war and King George, but the author also add some funny information into it. We have had big discussions on how he thought he was in the right and doing only good things as a king for the colonists. He couldn't understand their unhappiness with him. He said they were like children who weren't listening to their parents. When they disobeyed he would punish them. One of the things he did was close the port to Massachusetts to them. We also discussed how he became really ill at the age of 50 and people thought he was basically crazy. He wasn't, but the illness did affect his brain.
I showed them a YouTube video from Hamilton of King George singing his song. It kind of goes along with our story because he sings about he will kill your friends and family because he loves you. I also showed them a video of the original cast singing for President Obama and his wife in the White House. I just wanted them to put a face to the many voices they listen to on my cd. They were excited to realize that one of the singers was also the teacher in the movie Wonder that we saw last year.
In grammar we are focusing on present, past and future tense verbs. We have also spent a lot of time on figurative language. Today we discussed similes, metaphors, alliteration, and idioms. Those can be difficult to remember which is which. They will be tested over those on Friday.
Math- They took their chapter test today! I told them yesterday that checking by multiplying was up to them on the test. I don't know that anyone chose to do that. I also told them that based on their work, I really expect some good scores. They have really caught on much quicker than other classes I have taught in the past. I have a good feeling. Our next chapter will start with learning about the place value names of decimals, but then we will turn it into adding and subtracting them. I think decimals will be in the next 3 chapters. They will learn to multiply and divide them.
Food Pantry- This Friday we will walk down to help out Mark and the others. We will also be bringing him the collection we have of items outside the office. I know the 4th graders took some stuff down last week. We have quite a bit gathered. I may need to have them come along too. Thanks so much for the donations. I know Mark and Mary really appreciate it.
Geography Bee- The 2nd round is next week. I know none of the 5th graders made it to that round, but you are welcome to join us in the gym to watch it if you like.
Friday, December 21- We will get out 2 hours early that day. They need a sack lunch. The milk or water will be provided. They will be eating with their Advent Angels. We will be singing Christmas carols with them from 12:15-12:45. You are more than welcome to join us for the singing! It is one of my favorite things!!! That day they can also dress up in their favorite Christmas sweaters, clothes, antlers, jewelry,etc! I know I have some girls with the onesy Christmas pajamas. They can wear those too. It is not required. I know in the past some kids get their angel a Christmas gift, which is fine, but NOT required or expected. If you do this, please keep it reasonable and small...something they can carry or put in their bag at the end of the day.
Loved the Christmas concert last week! I thought the 4th and 5th graders did an outstanding job! Mrs. Stoner always does a great job. The 5th graders did it again on Thursday when they sang at church!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! The weather is certainly warmer! I am not complaining!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
I hope you are having a great week! I can't believe we only have one full week until Christmas. So Crazy!
Reading- This week we read a story about King George. It is a narrative nonfiction piece. There are facts in it about the war and King George, but the author also add some funny information into it. We have had big discussions on how he thought he was in the right and doing only good things as a king for the colonists. He couldn't understand their unhappiness with him. He said they were like children who weren't listening to their parents. When they disobeyed he would punish them. One of the things he did was close the port to Massachusetts to them. We also discussed how he became really ill at the age of 50 and people thought he was basically crazy. He wasn't, but the illness did affect his brain.
I showed them a YouTube video from Hamilton of King George singing his song. It kind of goes along with our story because he sings about he will kill your friends and family because he loves you. I also showed them a video of the original cast singing for President Obama and his wife in the White House. I just wanted them to put a face to the many voices they listen to on my cd. They were excited to realize that one of the singers was also the teacher in the movie Wonder that we saw last year.
In grammar we are focusing on present, past and future tense verbs. We have also spent a lot of time on figurative language. Today we discussed similes, metaphors, alliteration, and idioms. Those can be difficult to remember which is which. They will be tested over those on Friday.
Math- They took their chapter test today! I told them yesterday that checking by multiplying was up to them on the test. I don't know that anyone chose to do that. I also told them that based on their work, I really expect some good scores. They have really caught on much quicker than other classes I have taught in the past. I have a good feeling. Our next chapter will start with learning about the place value names of decimals, but then we will turn it into adding and subtracting them. I think decimals will be in the next 3 chapters. They will learn to multiply and divide them.
Food Pantry- This Friday we will walk down to help out Mark and the others. We will also be bringing him the collection we have of items outside the office. I know the 4th graders took some stuff down last week. We have quite a bit gathered. I may need to have them come along too. Thanks so much for the donations. I know Mark and Mary really appreciate it.
Geography Bee- The 2nd round is next week. I know none of the 5th graders made it to that round, but you are welcome to join us in the gym to watch it if you like.
Friday, December 21- We will get out 2 hours early that day. They need a sack lunch. The milk or water will be provided. They will be eating with their Advent Angels. We will be singing Christmas carols with them from 12:15-12:45. You are more than welcome to join us for the singing! It is one of my favorite things!!! That day they can also dress up in their favorite Christmas sweaters, clothes, antlers, jewelry,etc! I know I have some girls with the onesy Christmas pajamas. They can wear those too. It is not required. I know in the past some kids get their angel a Christmas gift, which is fine, but NOT required or expected. If you do this, please keep it reasonable and small...something they can carry or put in their bag at the end of the day.
Loved the Christmas concert last week! I thought the 4th and 5th graders did an outstanding job! Mrs. Stoner always does a great job. The 5th graders did it again on Thursday when they sang at church!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! The weather is certainly warmer! I am not complaining!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Dear Parents,
How are you? I am writing this on our CraZY Wednesday! WOW! Such a day! I will see your kids tonight at the concert! They did an awesome job at practice today...to the point that I had goosebumps and teary eyes! I told them that is a sign of success! Make Miss Surma cry! Okay...not really.
Reading- This week we are reading the story called Dangerous Crossing. It is the story of John Adams and his young son Johnny on the ship called the Boston. They are sailing to France to get help during the Revolutionary War. Part of our story has what we call primary sources. This is actual sentences or quotes from John Adams journal.It adds a reality to the story that we wouldn't get if it was just from the author's creativity. We are starting to discuss this war more. They are very interested. We also compared the primary sources to us reading a book that someone wrote about 9-11. If there is someone's actual account from being there, we will get a different perspective of that day. Your kids asked a lot of questions about that day. I forget that they weren't alive yet. It was a good discussion. They also listened to the first song of the Hamilton soundtrack and were shocked when they discovered it was done in a rap! I think I have their curiosity piqued. 😊
In grammar they are working on pronouns. We made an interactive notebook entry on the different kinds of pronouns (subjective and objective are the focus). The difficult part is remembering that objective pronouns come after the verb in their sentences. The job of a pronoun is to replace a noun so it doesn't become too repetitive.
They will test over this story on Friday along with their spelling words.
Math- This week they were given the first number in their quotient to decide if that will work or if they need to adjust it. This is good practice at estimating for them. It does require them to do a lot of work and their eraser gets a lot of use. What I noticed with the kids who asked for help is still the same problem as before: either they forget they have another number to bring down to finish the problem or they are wrong in their multiplication. Some have been right in the multiplying area, but they write the wrong number in their quotient. When it comes time for the test, they will have to find their errors themselves. I won't be able to do that . (I haven't really shared that yet with them). We have one more lesson in this chapter. I am looking at them testing next week.
Religion- We are working on the Beatitudes right now. We have been having long discussions on how we can live them out. They will be creating a booklet to go along with our discussion.
Spirit Day- Friday is a Spirit Day! Wear sweats for $1!!!
Church Singing- Tomorrow we will head to the church around 11:30 to sing for the ladies and have lunch with them. The 5th graders will be very full by the time we return to school!
Food Pantry- The 5th graders will go work next Friday, December 14. Don't forget we are asking for donations. Kids in 3-5 are being asked to donate toilet paper. Please do what you can to help! We are taking donations until Dec. 14.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
How are you? I am writing this on our CraZY Wednesday! WOW! Such a day! I will see your kids tonight at the concert! They did an awesome job at practice today...to the point that I had goosebumps and teary eyes! I told them that is a sign of success! Make Miss Surma cry! Okay...not really.
Reading- This week we are reading the story called Dangerous Crossing. It is the story of John Adams and his young son Johnny on the ship called the Boston. They are sailing to France to get help during the Revolutionary War. Part of our story has what we call primary sources. This is actual sentences or quotes from John Adams journal.It adds a reality to the story that we wouldn't get if it was just from the author's creativity. We are starting to discuss this war more. They are very interested. We also compared the primary sources to us reading a book that someone wrote about 9-11. If there is someone's actual account from being there, we will get a different perspective of that day. Your kids asked a lot of questions about that day. I forget that they weren't alive yet. It was a good discussion. They also listened to the first song of the Hamilton soundtrack and were shocked when they discovered it was done in a rap! I think I have their curiosity piqued. 😊
In grammar they are working on pronouns. We made an interactive notebook entry on the different kinds of pronouns (subjective and objective are the focus). The difficult part is remembering that objective pronouns come after the verb in their sentences. The job of a pronoun is to replace a noun so it doesn't become too repetitive.
They will test over this story on Friday along with their spelling words.
Math- This week they were given the first number in their quotient to decide if that will work or if they need to adjust it. This is good practice at estimating for them. It does require them to do a lot of work and their eraser gets a lot of use. What I noticed with the kids who asked for help is still the same problem as before: either they forget they have another number to bring down to finish the problem or they are wrong in their multiplication. Some have been right in the multiplying area, but they write the wrong number in their quotient. When it comes time for the test, they will have to find their errors themselves. I won't be able to do that . (I haven't really shared that yet with them). We have one more lesson in this chapter. I am looking at them testing next week.
Religion- We are working on the Beatitudes right now. We have been having long discussions on how we can live them out. They will be creating a booklet to go along with our discussion.
Spirit Day- Friday is a Spirit Day! Wear sweats for $1!!!
Church Singing- Tomorrow we will head to the church around 11:30 to sing for the ladies and have lunch with them. The 5th graders will be very full by the time we return to school!
Food Pantry- The 5th graders will go work next Friday, December 14. Don't forget we are asking for donations. Kids in 3-5 are being asked to donate toilet paper. Please do what you can to help! We are taking donations until Dec. 14.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Hello Parents, I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving break! You even got an extra day! I had a great time with my brother's family in Waterloo. I even got up at 5 am to watch my nephew do his live broadcast for KWWL News on Black Friday. While the hour wasn't my fave, it was fun to see him on TV!
Reading-This week we are taking the Unit 2 test. I will get you scores next week. Next week I am excited because I get to start my Revolutionary War unit. All of our stories in the next unit will be in some way dealing with the war. I think there are a lot of great stories and we get to meet some cool people! They will also get to hear my Hamilton soundtrack! They will learn about King George and laugh when they hear him sing!
Math-This week they are just working more on long division. The struggle is real. They are doing fine really, better than I anticipated! They just get frustrated because now I have taught them to check their work by multiplying which is another step, but also it teaches them to slow down. They get frustrated when things don't match up, but usually the errors are in their initial multiplication when dividing or subtracting. Some are forgetting they have more numbers to bring down to finish the problem. We will also be looking at the remainders to see what they could possibly do with them. Could we cut them up so that we have a fraction? Do we just add one more bus so that everyone gets to go on the field trip if the dividing didn't work out evenly? Maybe there is nothing you can do, so it is just a remainder. This chapter will be done in the next couple of weeks.
Religion- We focused on getting ready for mass so far, but now we will be back in the books and focusing on the Beatitudes. Thank you for helping with the noisy change collection. There will be another one next week. I believe our family has 4 kids that want new clothes.
Food Pantry- There is a flyer going home to help with donations for the Food Pantry this month. We are starting the collection on Dec. 3 and it will end on the 14th. If you can help, please do. Thank you!
Spirit Day- They can wear sweats on Friday, Nov. 30 for $1!!
Book It Calendar- The November calendars will be due on Monday because if they want to read anymore at home on Friday, they can add on those minutes. The December calendar will be given to them on Friday. I believe it goes up to 700 minutes. That's about 23 minutes a day, but they need to think about Christmas break. Will they read over break? I hope so, but I know they may be too busy.
Advent - It starts this weekend! They will get to work with their Advent Angels starting next Wednesday.
Music Program- The Christmas program is next Wednesday night, December 5 at 6 pm. It is held at the high school in their auditorium. There is a permission form in your child's folder for you to fill out. We will go over by bus on Wednesday afternoon to practice.
On Dec. 6 the 5th graders will be singing for the ladies in our church. They will also get to eat there! They put out a really nice spread! I believe Mrs. Stoner will be sending home a permission form for that as well. They don't have to dress up for that. They can just dress like a normal school day.
I know there is a weather change coming for when our kids can be outside before school and at recess. Mrs. Simmons will be putting it in her blog. I will get it to you once she has it posted.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. If the weather is cooperative, I am supposed to go to Des Moines on Sunday to meet up with my sister and her daughters and granddaughter. We have tickets to Aladdin!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Reading-This week we are taking the Unit 2 test. I will get you scores next week. Next week I am excited because I get to start my Revolutionary War unit. All of our stories in the next unit will be in some way dealing with the war. I think there are a lot of great stories and we get to meet some cool people! They will also get to hear my Hamilton soundtrack! They will learn about King George and laugh when they hear him sing!
Math-This week they are just working more on long division. The struggle is real. They are doing fine really, better than I anticipated! They just get frustrated because now I have taught them to check their work by multiplying which is another step, but also it teaches them to slow down. They get frustrated when things don't match up, but usually the errors are in their initial multiplication when dividing or subtracting. Some are forgetting they have more numbers to bring down to finish the problem. We will also be looking at the remainders to see what they could possibly do with them. Could we cut them up so that we have a fraction? Do we just add one more bus so that everyone gets to go on the field trip if the dividing didn't work out evenly? Maybe there is nothing you can do, so it is just a remainder. This chapter will be done in the next couple of weeks.
Religion- We focused on getting ready for mass so far, but now we will be back in the books and focusing on the Beatitudes. Thank you for helping with the noisy change collection. There will be another one next week. I believe our family has 4 kids that want new clothes.
Food Pantry- There is a flyer going home to help with donations for the Food Pantry this month. We are starting the collection on Dec. 3 and it will end on the 14th. If you can help, please do. Thank you!
Spirit Day- They can wear sweats on Friday, Nov. 30 for $1!!
Book It Calendar- The November calendars will be due on Monday because if they want to read anymore at home on Friday, they can add on those minutes. The December calendar will be given to them on Friday. I believe it goes up to 700 minutes. That's about 23 minutes a day, but they need to think about Christmas break. Will they read over break? I hope so, but I know they may be too busy.
Advent - It starts this weekend! They will get to work with their Advent Angels starting next Wednesday.
Music Program- The Christmas program is next Wednesday night, December 5 at 6 pm. It is held at the high school in their auditorium. There is a permission form in your child's folder for you to fill out. We will go over by bus on Wednesday afternoon to practice.
On Dec. 6 the 5th graders will be singing for the ladies in our church. They will also get to eat there! They put out a really nice spread! I believe Mrs. Stoner will be sending home a permission form for that as well. They don't have to dress up for that. They can just dress like a normal school day.
I know there is a weather change coming for when our kids can be outside before school and at recess. Mrs. Simmons will be putting it in her blog. I will get it to you once she has it posted.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. If the weather is cooperative, I am supposed to go to Des Moines on Sunday to meet up with my sister and her daughters and granddaughter. We have tickets to Aladdin!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Hello Parents, Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a great week! The temperatures make me think of January. I'm not ready for this!
Religion- We are wrapping up our last mystery of the rosary. They are working on the Sorrowful Mysteries. The sad ones. We will be back in the book and then we are going to focus on the Beatitudes.
Math- This week we have done some review, but also started working on compatible numbers to estimate. The kids don't really round to do this. They have to find compatible numbers so they don't end up with a remainder. So if they are dividing 562 by 23. They would change 23 to 20 and then think what is close to that 5 and it works with 2s. They might choose to divide 400 by 20 or 600 by 20. Either answer will work out perfectly! We just started this today. For some the concept comes easily, for others it does not. We will be working on more of this tomorrow.
Reading- We are in our last story of this unit. This week's story is called Cougars. That is exactly what it is about as well. This one is an informational article that they would find maybe in a science book. They learn different facts about cougars. How there fur helps them. How the mothers take care of them. They say that cougars leave their moms at about 18 months old. I asked them, "Can you imagine leaving your house at that age?" We also learned that their sight is their strongest sense. Cougars also go by different names depending on where they live. Our grammar this week is working with quotation marks. We have done most of that together. Today I gave them some graph paper and they had to create a wordsearch with their spelling words. Tomorrow they will trade papers and have to find the 20 words in someone else's puzzle. They will test on Friday. Next week we will not begin our unit test. I will have them doing other things. When they get back from Thanksgiving break we will do the unit test.
I loved all the book reports! They did a great job on their projects! So many different ones-- that was an extra perk!
Geography Bee- Next week we will do the first round. We do that in the classrooms in the upper wing. The top 10 from that round will go to the next round. We usually do that in December. That is the one you will be invited to come watch. This is for kids in grades 4-8.
Mass- The 5th graders will be in charge of mass on November 28-- the week after Thanksgiving. I will give them their parts next week.
St. Malachy Vendor Fair- This Saturday in the gym! Get some Christmas shopping done early! 😄
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am heading back to UNI. They are hosting educators at the football game on Saturday night. I received free tickets in the mail. My sister and sister-in-law are also teachers who graduated from UNI-- we all got tickets! It will be fun to be back in the Dome watching the Panthers!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Religion- We are wrapping up our last mystery of the rosary. They are working on the Sorrowful Mysteries. The sad ones. We will be back in the book and then we are going to focus on the Beatitudes.
Math- This week we have done some review, but also started working on compatible numbers to estimate. The kids don't really round to do this. They have to find compatible numbers so they don't end up with a remainder. So if they are dividing 562 by 23. They would change 23 to 20 and then think what is close to that 5 and it works with 2s. They might choose to divide 400 by 20 or 600 by 20. Either answer will work out perfectly! We just started this today. For some the concept comes easily, for others it does not. We will be working on more of this tomorrow.
Reading- We are in our last story of this unit. This week's story is called Cougars. That is exactly what it is about as well. This one is an informational article that they would find maybe in a science book. They learn different facts about cougars. How there fur helps them. How the mothers take care of them. They say that cougars leave their moms at about 18 months old. I asked them, "Can you imagine leaving your house at that age?" We also learned that their sight is their strongest sense. Cougars also go by different names depending on where they live. Our grammar this week is working with quotation marks. We have done most of that together. Today I gave them some graph paper and they had to create a wordsearch with their spelling words. Tomorrow they will trade papers and have to find the 20 words in someone else's puzzle. They will test on Friday. Next week we will not begin our unit test. I will have them doing other things. When they get back from Thanksgiving break we will do the unit test.
I loved all the book reports! They did a great job on their projects! So many different ones-- that was an extra perk!
Geography Bee- Next week we will do the first round. We do that in the classrooms in the upper wing. The top 10 from that round will go to the next round. We usually do that in December. That is the one you will be invited to come watch. This is for kids in grades 4-8.
Mass- The 5th graders will be in charge of mass on November 28-- the week after Thanksgiving. I will give them their parts next week.
St. Malachy Vendor Fair- This Saturday in the gym! Get some Christmas shopping done early! 😄
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am heading back to UNI. They are hosting educators at the football game on Saturday night. I received free tickets in the mail. My sister and sister-in-law are also teachers who graduated from UNI-- we all got tickets! It will be fun to be back in the Dome watching the Panthers!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Hello Parents, I hope you enjoyed the long weekend. I was able to get my house cleaned finally, so I know I did! haha The time change and the weather change has certainly reminded us of the time of year!
Reading- This week we read a historical fiction story called Storm Warriors. It takes place in the 1800s. It is about a young man named Nathan and his desire to be a surfman. That was the job of saving people from shipwrecks, etc. I would imagine..the Coast Guard now. Nathan doesn't think he can do the job until he is really put to the test and is required to his medical knowledge to save some people that were on the boat. This is a good story and I think the kids were really interested in it. Tomorrow we will read a short story about the real men that did this job. Our grammar has continued to work on subordinating conjunctions and how they can be used to connect a dependent and independent clause. The spelling list was fun on Monday because it was compound words. Did you know that those can be written as one word, two words, or connected with hyphens??? Your kids weren't so sure either. Some of their words are: life preserver, homework, up-to-date.
The book reports are due tomorrow. We will probably start to share those, but will finish them up on Friday.
Math- This week we are working on partial quotients. This is the new way of dividing that I told your kids...you won't take this home to Mom and Dad. You might ask them to show you though! It is pretty cool and they figured it out really quickly! The trick seems to be watching the subtraction. We will go into estimation next and finding compatible numbers. We don't round when we estimate in division. When we find compatible numbers, we don't have to worry about a remainder. They all work out evenly.
Religion- We are still working on our mysteries. This time they are drawing out the Glorious Mysteries.
Veteran's Day- You are welcome to join us for the program in the gym at 2:00. We are asking the kids to wear red, white, and blue that day. It is also a Spirit Day-- so they can wear sweats for $1. If they have any in red, white, or blue...that would be cool!
Food Pantry- We will also be walking to the Food Pantry on Friday. We will be back in time for the program. I have already talked to Mark about that.
Book It Calendars-- I got a great return on them for the month of October! Keep it up!!!!
Weather Change-- The weather is getting colder and from what I see in our forecast for Thursday and Friday we may even see some of that white stuff. Please make sure your child has hats and gloves for recess. I am not sure the sweatshirts are going to be warm enough anymore. The winter coats may need to start showing up.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! If you have no plans, the high school is doing Footloose as their musical. I know a lot of STM Alumni will be in it!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Reading- This week we read a historical fiction story called Storm Warriors. It takes place in the 1800s. It is about a young man named Nathan and his desire to be a surfman. That was the job of saving people from shipwrecks, etc. I would imagine..the Coast Guard now. Nathan doesn't think he can do the job until he is really put to the test and is required to his medical knowledge to save some people that were on the boat. This is a good story and I think the kids were really interested in it. Tomorrow we will read a short story about the real men that did this job. Our grammar has continued to work on subordinating conjunctions and how they can be used to connect a dependent and independent clause. The spelling list was fun on Monday because it was compound words. Did you know that those can be written as one word, two words, or connected with hyphens??? Your kids weren't so sure either. Some of their words are: life preserver, homework, up-to-date.
The book reports are due tomorrow. We will probably start to share those, but will finish them up on Friday.
Math- This week we are working on partial quotients. This is the new way of dividing that I told your kids...you won't take this home to Mom and Dad. You might ask them to show you though! It is pretty cool and they figured it out really quickly! The trick seems to be watching the subtraction. We will go into estimation next and finding compatible numbers. We don't round when we estimate in division. When we find compatible numbers, we don't have to worry about a remainder. They all work out evenly.
Religion- We are still working on our mysteries. This time they are drawing out the Glorious Mysteries.
Veteran's Day- You are welcome to join us for the program in the gym at 2:00. We are asking the kids to wear red, white, and blue that day. It is also a Spirit Day-- so they can wear sweats for $1. If they have any in red, white, or blue...that would be cool!
Food Pantry- We will also be walking to the Food Pantry on Friday. We will be back in time for the program. I have already talked to Mark about that.
Book It Calendars-- I got a great return on them for the month of October! Keep it up!!!!
Weather Change-- The weather is getting colder and from what I see in our forecast for Thursday and Friday we may even see some of that white stuff. Please make sure your child has hats and gloves for recess. I am not sure the sweatshirts are going to be warm enough anymore. The winter coats may need to start showing up.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! If you have no plans, the high school is doing Footloose as their musical. I know a lot of STM Alumni will be in it!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Monday, November 5, 2018
Veteran's Day Program- You're invited to join us this Friday, November 9 at 2pm for our school program to thank our veterans. If you know of a veteran, ask them to join you! Students should wear red, white, and blue that day. It is also a Spirit Day so they can wear sweats for $1. We'd love to see you there!
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Hello Parents,
I hope you are all having a great week! I can't believe next week is conferences! Thank you all for getting a time signed up! I will see you either Tuesday or Thursday.
Fire Poster Contest- Congrats to our winners! 1st Place- Kenna Ford, 2nd Place- Kadley Bailey, 3rd Place- Kaycie Britten. The first place winners in 3-5 grades will get sent on to compete in the state level. This is the last year the 5th graders will participate in this contest. We have the kids in 6-8 grades vote for us.
Social Studies- Their Iowa history papers and 3D models are due on Monday. They will be on display during the conferences. Please drop off the projects on Monday morning before school. Just bring them on down to Mrs. Sickels' room.
Halloween- We will celebrate on Halloween. The kids should have their costumes packed with them that day. We will not have mass that day. The parade will be at 2:30. You are welcome to join us! If you come and want to take your child home after the parade, just find me and let me know you are leaving with them. Thanks! I don't do any kind of class party. They usually get some kind of treat or snack when they visit the Civics Club!
Reading- This week they are reading a story called Everglades Forever. It is a nonfiction informational reading. It teaches the kids about the plants and animals that live in the Everglades. We are focusing on the purpose the author had in writing it this week. On Tuesday, we focused on the different purposes there are for writing. This author really focuses on two things: informing and persuading. They are giving us information about the Everglades and what lives there. They are also persuading us to help take care of them. The Everglades is main source of water for the people in Florida. It does read a little bit like a story, but also like a science textbook.
In grammar they are working on conjunctions (and, but, or). We are also writing sentences that can be joined by using a conjunction.
Our spelling list this week is homophones. They have to spell words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Some of their words are : ring and wring, allowed and aloud, steel and steal.
Math- They started the math test today. Not everyone finished. They will be able to do that tomorrow. I hope to be able to show you the tests on Friday or Monday at the latest. I give them a "cheat sheet" for this test because there is so much for them to remember. They also were able to use their cue cards for the order of operations. Our next chapter covers long division. We do a lot of dividing!
Religion- Everyone has passed their prayers. Now they are working on the mysteries. I broke them into groups to draw one of the Luminous Mysteries. They had to include the quote from the Bible of that mystery. Then I made them think about Mary. What would she have said in that situation...either about it or about Jesus. The rosary is the life of Jesus but through her eyes. These will be hung in the hallway as we get them done. They will share their posters on Friday.
Book-It Calendars- The last day is coming up next week. Please sign your child's calendar and have them return it on Thursday, November 1. I would like to see them even if they didn't make the goal. The goal this month was 600 minutes. They usually get 10 minutes for sure during our DEAR time. I will give them the next calendar on that same date- November 1.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. I am heading to Sioux Falls to my sister and spend some time with her and her family.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
I hope you are all having a great week! I can't believe next week is conferences! Thank you all for getting a time signed up! I will see you either Tuesday or Thursday.
Fire Poster Contest- Congrats to our winners! 1st Place- Kenna Ford, 2nd Place- Kadley Bailey, 3rd Place- Kaycie Britten. The first place winners in 3-5 grades will get sent on to compete in the state level. This is the last year the 5th graders will participate in this contest. We have the kids in 6-8 grades vote for us.
Social Studies- Their Iowa history papers and 3D models are due on Monday. They will be on display during the conferences. Please drop off the projects on Monday morning before school. Just bring them on down to Mrs. Sickels' room.
Halloween- We will celebrate on Halloween. The kids should have their costumes packed with them that day. We will not have mass that day. The parade will be at 2:30. You are welcome to join us! If you come and want to take your child home after the parade, just find me and let me know you are leaving with them. Thanks! I don't do any kind of class party. They usually get some kind of treat or snack when they visit the Civics Club!
Reading- This week they are reading a story called Everglades Forever. It is a nonfiction informational reading. It teaches the kids about the plants and animals that live in the Everglades. We are focusing on the purpose the author had in writing it this week. On Tuesday, we focused on the different purposes there are for writing. This author really focuses on two things: informing and persuading. They are giving us information about the Everglades and what lives there. They are also persuading us to help take care of them. The Everglades is main source of water for the people in Florida. It does read a little bit like a story, but also like a science textbook.
In grammar they are working on conjunctions (and, but, or). We are also writing sentences that can be joined by using a conjunction.
Our spelling list this week is homophones. They have to spell words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Some of their words are : ring and wring, allowed and aloud, steel and steal.
Math- They started the math test today. Not everyone finished. They will be able to do that tomorrow. I hope to be able to show you the tests on Friday or Monday at the latest. I give them a "cheat sheet" for this test because there is so much for them to remember. They also were able to use their cue cards for the order of operations. Our next chapter covers long division. We do a lot of dividing!
Religion- Everyone has passed their prayers. Now they are working on the mysteries. I broke them into groups to draw one of the Luminous Mysteries. They had to include the quote from the Bible of that mystery. Then I made them think about Mary. What would she have said in that situation...either about it or about Jesus. The rosary is the life of Jesus but through her eyes. These will be hung in the hallway as we get them done. They will share their posters on Friday.
Book-It Calendars- The last day is coming up next week. Please sign your child's calendar and have them return it on Thursday, November 1. I would like to see them even if they didn't make the goal. The goal this month was 600 minutes. They usually get 10 minutes for sure during our DEAR time. I will give them the next calendar on that same date- November 1.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. I am heading to Sioux Falls to my sister and spend some time with her and her family.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Dear Parents,
Happy Wednesday! I just want to remind you that tomorrow morning is Muffins with Mom. It starts at 7:30. Once the kids are done eating and you need to go, send your children outside to the courtyard. I hope many of you are able to join us!
Reading- This week they are reading the story Old Yeller. They are only getting a little bit of the story. We had kids talking about the story who have seen the movie. So, the kids know that it is a sad story. We also discussed how many dog books and movies are sad. :( One of the things we talk about during this story is the use of dialect. We have to discuss that dialect and accents are not the same thing. It is how we say the words. The best example is the title...Yeller which is really the word yellow. We also focus on talking about the characters which I think I have turned into a game for Thursday.
Our grammar this week is focusing on direct and indirect objects. I will probably give them some key questions to remind themselves during the test on Friday. The two can be confusing. I already told them they will need to slow down on that section of the test to make sure they are answering the correct way.
They are getting their Halloween stories back from me this week. I was able to edit many of them over the weekend. They are typing them up here on their chromebooks. I will have them posted in the hallway during conferences if you want to read your child's story. It's been a great thing because they are learning how to indent, choose their font style and size and use things like quotation marks!
Math- We are working on writing and solving expressions. Today we are solving expressions that are in parentheses, brackets, and braces. I have given them little cue cards to they remember the order in which to solve the problems. They will be able to use those when we test, which I believe will be next week sometime. I also remind them that their tests are 25 word problems...not basic computation. They will have to read the problem to figure out what it is they have to do in order to solve the problem. The key being--show your work!
Religion- This week we are going to start working on knowing the mysteries of the rosary. I got an idea from a teacher in Des Moines on Monday, so I am switching things up. They will be working in groups to draw a certain mystery. Plus they will have to look it up in the Bible. I am also going to require them to write a quote of what they think Mary was thinking or saying at that point. The rosary is really about Jesus through Mary's eyes.
Social Studies- Just your final reminder that their rough draft for their town/city report is due on Friday. Many of them have been working on them here during their free time.
Mass- We have mass next week with 3rd and 4th graders. NOT all the kids of course will get a part because we just cannot do that. I have given the kids their parts if they are reading something so they can practice that at home with you. All of you are welcome to come, especially since after mass we are having a donut/coffee/juice reception for you and your kids. It would be great to see you!
Conferences- I have posted on my FB page, blog and sent emails. Please sign up for your day and time to meet with me!
I hope you have a great weekend. I may be at a niece's soccer game in Des Moines this weekend, but I haven't received the information from my brother yet. We shall see! As long as it isn't raining this time, life will be great!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Happy Wednesday! I just want to remind you that tomorrow morning is Muffins with Mom. It starts at 7:30. Once the kids are done eating and you need to go, send your children outside to the courtyard. I hope many of you are able to join us!
Reading- This week they are reading the story Old Yeller. They are only getting a little bit of the story. We had kids talking about the story who have seen the movie. So, the kids know that it is a sad story. We also discussed how many dog books and movies are sad. :( One of the things we talk about during this story is the use of dialect. We have to discuss that dialect and accents are not the same thing. It is how we say the words. The best example is the title...Yeller which is really the word yellow. We also focus on talking about the characters which I think I have turned into a game for Thursday.
Our grammar this week is focusing on direct and indirect objects. I will probably give them some key questions to remind themselves during the test on Friday. The two can be confusing. I already told them they will need to slow down on that section of the test to make sure they are answering the correct way.
They are getting their Halloween stories back from me this week. I was able to edit many of them over the weekend. They are typing them up here on their chromebooks. I will have them posted in the hallway during conferences if you want to read your child's story. It's been a great thing because they are learning how to indent, choose their font style and size and use things like quotation marks!
Math- We are working on writing and solving expressions. Today we are solving expressions that are in parentheses, brackets, and braces. I have given them little cue cards to they remember the order in which to solve the problems. They will be able to use those when we test, which I believe will be next week sometime. I also remind them that their tests are 25 word problems...not basic computation. They will have to read the problem to figure out what it is they have to do in order to solve the problem. The key being--show your work!
Religion- This week we are going to start working on knowing the mysteries of the rosary. I got an idea from a teacher in Des Moines on Monday, so I am switching things up. They will be working in groups to draw a certain mystery. Plus they will have to look it up in the Bible. I am also going to require them to write a quote of what they think Mary was thinking or saying at that point. The rosary is really about Jesus through Mary's eyes.
Social Studies- Just your final reminder that their rough draft for their town/city report is due on Friday. Many of them have been working on them here during their free time.
Mass- We have mass next week with 3rd and 4th graders. NOT all the kids of course will get a part because we just cannot do that. I have given the kids their parts if they are reading something so they can practice that at home with you. All of you are welcome to come, especially since after mass we are having a donut/coffee/juice reception for you and your kids. It would be great to see you!
Conferences- I have posted on my FB page, blog and sent emails. Please sign up for your day and time to meet with me!
I hope you have a great weekend. I may be at a niece's soccer game in Des Moines this weekend, but I haven't received the information from my brother yet. We shall see! As long as it isn't raining this time, life will be great!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Hello Parents, I hope you are having a good week. I really really hope the rain is done for awhile!
Religion- The kids are passing their prayers! Some still have to work on memorizing them. They need to take them home and practice with you. We did say the Rosary in the chapel on Monday. They led it. I didn't really have to do much but pray with them. It was so nice. They were very respectful of being in there. If I haven't said it before, this is my favorite thing in religion.
Math- This week they were learning to solve division problems using the Distributive Property! It is much like they did last week, but now they can't tell me, "I don't remember how to divide!" They now have another strategy until we get into the division chapter. We are also working on some algebra. They learned about writing numerical expressions today. This means they can write 3+2, but there is no equal sign being used. They are also learning to write word problems that match up with their expression. That part is tricky. We are also going to be working using the order of operations with brackets, braces, and parentheses. We are nearing the end of this chapter. I see a test in the near future. This chapter packs a lot of information.
Reading- This week we read an informative story about the tree kangaroos. We also focused on cause and effect. This group was in Papua New Guinea trying to track them so they could put collars on them and get information from the chip in the collar. Tree 'roos are an elusive animal. In grammar we worked on action verbs, helping verbs and main verbs.
In your child's folder is a score sheet from the Unit test. The first test is a Benchmark test. It has the same number of questions, but there are more stories for them to read and they are longer. Scores were a little bit of what I expected,but I did go over that with your kids on Monday. I talked about how in a normal week we read our story 3 times. This test is all cold reads, but it doesn't mean they can only read it once. I suggested on the test days that they take the time to read it more than once. I don't expect them to retain all that information on the first read-through. I don't how many did that. I don't know how many went back to the story to look up the answers. If the question was asking something more fact oriented, they should be able to find it. I really think some were rushing through to be done so they could read their free reading book because it was the start of our Book It calendars. I will discuss these with you at conferences. Something you could do at home is have your child tell you each day what is happening in the book they are reading or about the story we are reading in class. That can only help with their comprehension. This would be good to do with their book report book.Maybe you are reading a book together at home...ask them questions as you go. The book I am reading aloud to them, we often stop and make predictions or have these A-HA moments.
Speaking of the book I am reading aloud, just to let you know, this week they had a lesson in puberty. That is what I get for not having read the book before this. I even told them I might skip the chapter, I wasn't sure they could handle it. They assured me, they could handle it fine. I read it. It was about one of the girls getting her period. I know there were some looks across the room, but no giggles. I was impressed. They will be ready for the "talk" with the nurse in the spring. 😂😂
Money-- I just wanted to make sure you were aware that many of the 5th graders are loaning 50 cents to their friends for Ala Cart at lunch, which is totally fine. I am glad so many are so generous. I also know that some of them are not paying those people back in a timely manner. I have been talking to them that if they don't have money at home to pay someone back, they shouldn't be taking it. I have also told the others that maybe they don't loan out the money. I told them that in the real world if they borrow money from a bank and don't pay it back, they will be charged interest. I just wanted you aware of our conversations. I am not saying they can't loan the money, but I want them to understand there can be consequences sometimes for that. I also want the others to be responsible and have their own money with them and not keep taking from others. It will stop some arguments that are starting to occur.
Friday, October 12, the public school doesn't have school. We do. There won't be any buses on Friday. You will need to drop off and pick up your child.
Monday, October 15, we don't have school. The teachers will be in Des Moines for PD.
Spaghetti Supper is this Saturday from 5-7! I will be working the dessert table so maybe I will see you! There are some really nice raffle prizes. The Civics Club will also be providing activities and games in the classrooms. Hope to see you there!!
Have a great weekend! God Bless,
Miss Surma
Religion- The kids are passing their prayers! Some still have to work on memorizing them. They need to take them home and practice with you. We did say the Rosary in the chapel on Monday. They led it. I didn't really have to do much but pray with them. It was so nice. They were very respectful of being in there. If I haven't said it before, this is my favorite thing in religion.
Math- This week they were learning to solve division problems using the Distributive Property! It is much like they did last week, but now they can't tell me, "I don't remember how to divide!" They now have another strategy until we get into the division chapter. We are also working on some algebra. They learned about writing numerical expressions today. This means they can write 3+2, but there is no equal sign being used. They are also learning to write word problems that match up with their expression. That part is tricky. We are also going to be working using the order of operations with brackets, braces, and parentheses. We are nearing the end of this chapter. I see a test in the near future. This chapter packs a lot of information.
Reading- This week we read an informative story about the tree kangaroos. We also focused on cause and effect. This group was in Papua New Guinea trying to track them so they could put collars on them and get information from the chip in the collar. Tree 'roos are an elusive animal. In grammar we worked on action verbs, helping verbs and main verbs.
In your child's folder is a score sheet from the Unit test. The first test is a Benchmark test. It has the same number of questions, but there are more stories for them to read and they are longer. Scores were a little bit of what I expected,but I did go over that with your kids on Monday. I talked about how in a normal week we read our story 3 times. This test is all cold reads, but it doesn't mean they can only read it once. I suggested on the test days that they take the time to read it more than once. I don't expect them to retain all that information on the first read-through. I don't how many did that. I don't know how many went back to the story to look up the answers. If the question was asking something more fact oriented, they should be able to find it. I really think some were rushing through to be done so they could read their free reading book because it was the start of our Book It calendars. I will discuss these with you at conferences. Something you could do at home is have your child tell you each day what is happening in the book they are reading or about the story we are reading in class. That can only help with their comprehension. This would be good to do with their book report book.Maybe you are reading a book together at home...ask them questions as you go. The book I am reading aloud to them, we often stop and make predictions or have these A-HA moments.
Speaking of the book I am reading aloud, just to let you know, this week they had a lesson in puberty. That is what I get for not having read the book before this. I even told them I might skip the chapter, I wasn't sure they could handle it. They assured me, they could handle it fine. I read it. It was about one of the girls getting her period. I know there were some looks across the room, but no giggles. I was impressed. They will be ready for the "talk" with the nurse in the spring. 😂😂
Money-- I just wanted to make sure you were aware that many of the 5th graders are loaning 50 cents to their friends for Ala Cart at lunch, which is totally fine. I am glad so many are so generous. I also know that some of them are not paying those people back in a timely manner. I have been talking to them that if they don't have money at home to pay someone back, they shouldn't be taking it. I have also told the others that maybe they don't loan out the money. I told them that in the real world if they borrow money from a bank and don't pay it back, they will be charged interest. I just wanted you aware of our conversations. I am not saying they can't loan the money, but I want them to understand there can be consequences sometimes for that. I also want the others to be responsible and have their own money with them and not keep taking from others. It will stop some arguments that are starting to occur.
Friday, October 12, the public school doesn't have school. We do. There won't be any buses on Friday. You will need to drop off and pick up your child.
Monday, October 15, we don't have school. The teachers will be in Des Moines for PD.
Spaghetti Supper is this Saturday from 5-7! I will be working the dessert table so maybe I will see you! There are some really nice raffle prizes. The Civics Club will also be providing activities and games in the classrooms. Hope to see you there!!
Have a great weekend! God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Dear Parents,
Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a great week. Sounds like we are in for more rain! Ugh! I ended up soaked last weekend watching my niece play soccer for Loras.
October 4 I am gone to a Tier 2 Training class. Mrs. Burg and Mrs. Levine took this last year. Mrs. Sickels and I are taking it this year. There will be 3 days that we are gone throughout the year. As I do anytime I am gone, I put out a warning to your kids on the kind of report I want to see when I get back.
Reading- They should be finishing up their unit 1 test tomorrow when I am gone. I will get you scores next week in your child's folder. On Tuesday, I gave them a packet with their book report choices in it. I believe there are about 8 different choices. They need to choose one. The project is due on November 8. They have all chosen a book, but I told them if they needed to change, they had until next Wednesday, Oct. 10.
I gave them their October Book It calendars on Monday. The goal is 600 minutes. It is about 20 minutes a day. Some of them are really going to town! I also put them into reading teams. Every time a member finishes a book, they write the title down on their team's colored strip. We are making chains. I will dangle them from the ceiling. The goal to reach the floor and then start a new chain. I'd like to see how many books we can read by the end of Book It. We might go until the end of the year. I did put some rules in place. They can't just grab the shortest books on the shelf to get more strips for their team. They also can't use picture books. They have to be a chapter book. This has also motivated them to read.
Next week we will start with a new story in our textbook and a spelling test.
Math- this week we started some more challenging work. They are multiplying by double digits as well as estimating. They are also solving division problems using the Distributive Property. When I started it yesterday, they were kind of confused. Today I heard , "This is easy." I will see when I get to check their work, but it really is another way to solve a division problem, but there are no remainders at this point either. 😁
Religion- We started praying the rosary this week. They are also working on memorizing a prayer. On Friday, I will begin listening to them to see if they know it. They have to memorize the Apostles' Creed and Hail Holy Queen.
Folders- Due to me not being at school tomorrow, I will send the folders home on Friday. One less thing for my sub to do.
Social Studies- On Friday they have to give Mrs. Sickels a short description of what they are going to make for their 3D project for their Iowa town. They need to include an idea of what they are going to use to build it. For example, if they were doing Creston, they might say, "I am making the train depot for Creston. I am going to use Legos." They could use a box, wood, clay, styrofoam,etc. It is just to give her an idea of what the plan is. Now, she knows that sometimes you have to change what you are using. That's fine.
On October 19 they have to have their rough draft of their paper written or typed for her. They have a pink sheet with all the things to include in that paper. They will need to rephrase things and put it in their own words. They can't copy word for word from a brochure or the internet. I know some kids haven't gotten their mail yet either. They should probably start looking up the information on the internet. Don't wait until the 18th in hopes that your mail will show up. Some years, it just doesn't.
Friday is the last day to bring money in for the Coin Wars. It is also a Spirit Day. They may wear sweats for $1. We will also be going to the Food Pantry, unless it is raining.
Morning Prayer- in your child's folder is a new list of people we are praying for during the month of October. Sorry for any misspellings. I do my best with what your kids tell me. :)
I hope everyone has a great weekend! My oldest sister Mary is coming down for a visit.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a great week. Sounds like we are in for more rain! Ugh! I ended up soaked last weekend watching my niece play soccer for Loras.
October 4 I am gone to a Tier 2 Training class. Mrs. Burg and Mrs. Levine took this last year. Mrs. Sickels and I are taking it this year. There will be 3 days that we are gone throughout the year. As I do anytime I am gone, I put out a warning to your kids on the kind of report I want to see when I get back.
Reading- They should be finishing up their unit 1 test tomorrow when I am gone. I will get you scores next week in your child's folder. On Tuesday, I gave them a packet with their book report choices in it. I believe there are about 8 different choices. They need to choose one. The project is due on November 8. They have all chosen a book, but I told them if they needed to change, they had until next Wednesday, Oct. 10.
I gave them their October Book It calendars on Monday. The goal is 600 minutes. It is about 20 minutes a day. Some of them are really going to town! I also put them into reading teams. Every time a member finishes a book, they write the title down on their team's colored strip. We are making chains. I will dangle them from the ceiling. The goal to reach the floor and then start a new chain. I'd like to see how many books we can read by the end of Book It. We might go until the end of the year. I did put some rules in place. They can't just grab the shortest books on the shelf to get more strips for their team. They also can't use picture books. They have to be a chapter book. This has also motivated them to read.
Next week we will start with a new story in our textbook and a spelling test.
Math- this week we started some more challenging work. They are multiplying by double digits as well as estimating. They are also solving division problems using the Distributive Property. When I started it yesterday, they were kind of confused. Today I heard , "This is easy." I will see when I get to check their work, but it really is another way to solve a division problem, but there are no remainders at this point either. 😁
Religion- We started praying the rosary this week. They are also working on memorizing a prayer. On Friday, I will begin listening to them to see if they know it. They have to memorize the Apostles' Creed and Hail Holy Queen.
Folders- Due to me not being at school tomorrow, I will send the folders home on Friday. One less thing for my sub to do.
Social Studies- On Friday they have to give Mrs. Sickels a short description of what they are going to make for their 3D project for their Iowa town. They need to include an idea of what they are going to use to build it. For example, if they were doing Creston, they might say, "I am making the train depot for Creston. I am going to use Legos." They could use a box, wood, clay, styrofoam,etc. It is just to give her an idea of what the plan is. Now, she knows that sometimes you have to change what you are using. That's fine.
On October 19 they have to have their rough draft of their paper written or typed for her. They have a pink sheet with all the things to include in that paper. They will need to rephrase things and put it in their own words. They can't copy word for word from a brochure or the internet. I know some kids haven't gotten their mail yet either. They should probably start looking up the information on the internet. Don't wait until the 18th in hopes that your mail will show up. Some years, it just doesn't.
Friday is the last day to bring money in for the Coin Wars. It is also a Spirit Day. They may wear sweats for $1. We will also be going to the Food Pantry, unless it is raining.
Morning Prayer- in your child's folder is a new list of people we are praying for during the month of October. Sorry for any misspellings. I do my best with what your kids tell me. :)
I hope everyone has a great weekend! My oldest sister Mary is coming down for a visit.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Hello Parents, I hope you're enjoying our fall temperatures!!! I know I am!
FAST- In your child's folder you will find their score sheet from our fall testing. It will show their score and the benchmark score we want them to reach. This will go up in the winter of course.
Religion- We have ended our chapter. They will be taking a test over it on Friday. October is next week. That means it is the month of the rosary. The 5th graders will be focusing on that. They will have 2 prayers to learn as well as all the mysteries of the rosary. We will be saying a decade of the rosary in class each day. On Fridays I usually take the class to the chapel and we say the entire rosary. There is going to be a prayer service next Wednesday because Father Halbur will be gone. The 8th graders will also be praying the rosary beforehand at 9:15. You are welcome to join us!
Reading- This week they read a story called Elisa's Diary. It is about a young girl who moves from Puerto Rico to the USA. She isn't too happy about it because she will have to start at a new school and she has a difficult time speaking the English language. She can write it though. She meets a boy who is from Guatemala. He can speak English, but has a hard time writing it. They end up helping each other out. In the end we see that she has graduated from college and has become a teacher. She tries to teach her students about not giving up and getting help from others. In grammar we are working on making nouns plural and how we write them out. The lovely rules our English language has can sometimes be confusing-- you can't just add an -s or -es to all nouns. On Wednesday they also worked in small groups and were given short passages to read and figure out the theme or lesson to be learned in that story. Then I made them get in smaller groups with other kids. They each had to retell their story and explain the theme of their story. We will be doing this again. Some didn't really pay much attention to the stories so they couldn't retell it very well or explain why they had chosen that theme.
Next week will be a unit test week. They will not have any spelling tests. This test is a bit long so I will break it up over the week. I will also be talking to them about their first book report. They will get a packet with book report options to choose from. I also talk about writing a Halloween story. They will write rough drafts and their final copies will be typed here at school on their Chromebooks.
Math- We are working on multiplication! On Thursday we will begin multiplying by double digits. I'm not sure how much they did that last year. The trick of course is remembering to drop the zero. They are also working on estimating the products.
Food Pantry- They will go back to work on Friday, October 5.
Coin Wars- Starting on Monday we are having our challenge of collecting money for the high school fundraiser to send the veterans on an honor flight. Kids can bring in cash or coins. The class with the highest amount collected wins a prize. I told your kids that if they were thinking of bringing in big amounts they had to get permission from you FIRST! It is a worthy cause. That will run from Monday to Friday.
Book It-- This will start on Monday. I will give them a calendar to record their minutes on. The goal for October is 600 minutes, which is about 20 minutes a day. You will need to sign it at the end of the month and have them return it so they can get their Pizza Ranch or Pizza Hut coupon. Pizza Ranch changed theirs to be $4 off a student buffet. At the end of the 6 months, I usually give prizes out to those who read 5 or 6 months of the challenge.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am heading to Waterloo and Dubuque. My niece plays soccer on the Loras college team. I am going to go watch her. Hopefully the rain will stay away.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
FAST- In your child's folder you will find their score sheet from our fall testing. It will show their score and the benchmark score we want them to reach. This will go up in the winter of course.
Religion- We have ended our chapter. They will be taking a test over it on Friday. October is next week. That means it is the month of the rosary. The 5th graders will be focusing on that. They will have 2 prayers to learn as well as all the mysteries of the rosary. We will be saying a decade of the rosary in class each day. On Fridays I usually take the class to the chapel and we say the entire rosary. There is going to be a prayer service next Wednesday because Father Halbur will be gone. The 8th graders will also be praying the rosary beforehand at 9:15. You are welcome to join us!
Reading- This week they read a story called Elisa's Diary. It is about a young girl who moves from Puerto Rico to the USA. She isn't too happy about it because she will have to start at a new school and she has a difficult time speaking the English language. She can write it though. She meets a boy who is from Guatemala. He can speak English, but has a hard time writing it. They end up helping each other out. In the end we see that she has graduated from college and has become a teacher. She tries to teach her students about not giving up and getting help from others. In grammar we are working on making nouns plural and how we write them out. The lovely rules our English language has can sometimes be confusing-- you can't just add an -s or -es to all nouns. On Wednesday they also worked in small groups and were given short passages to read and figure out the theme or lesson to be learned in that story. Then I made them get in smaller groups with other kids. They each had to retell their story and explain the theme of their story. We will be doing this again. Some didn't really pay much attention to the stories so they couldn't retell it very well or explain why they had chosen that theme.
Next week will be a unit test week. They will not have any spelling tests. This test is a bit long so I will break it up over the week. I will also be talking to them about their first book report. They will get a packet with book report options to choose from. I also talk about writing a Halloween story. They will write rough drafts and their final copies will be typed here at school on their Chromebooks.
Math- We are working on multiplication! On Thursday we will begin multiplying by double digits. I'm not sure how much they did that last year. The trick of course is remembering to drop the zero. They are also working on estimating the products.
Food Pantry- They will go back to work on Friday, October 5.
Coin Wars- Starting on Monday we are having our challenge of collecting money for the high school fundraiser to send the veterans on an honor flight. Kids can bring in cash or coins. The class with the highest amount collected wins a prize. I told your kids that if they were thinking of bringing in big amounts they had to get permission from you FIRST! It is a worthy cause. That will run from Monday to Friday.
Book It-- This will start on Monday. I will give them a calendar to record their minutes on. The goal for October is 600 minutes, which is about 20 minutes a day. You will need to sign it at the end of the month and have them return it so they can get their Pizza Ranch or Pizza Hut coupon. Pizza Ranch changed theirs to be $4 off a student buffet. At the end of the 6 months, I usually give prizes out to those who read 5 or 6 months of the challenge.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am heading to Waterloo and Dubuque. My niece plays soccer on the Loras college team. I am going to go watch her. Hopefully the rain will stay away.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Hi Parents, Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a great week! The kids and teachers are enjoying the new building this week that is for sure! I also have my room pretty much back in shape since all the water issues. I am just waiting on a new cupboard. Feels so good to be complete again.
Reading- This week we read a story about a group of girls in New York who are on a double Dutch jump rope team. They had a teacher who created the group and then took them to different competitions. The story is our first one in this unit that is nonfiction, which means you read it differently. We are looking for information and facts. We also talked about dialogue and that in stories that means--people talking. The clue would be the use of quotation marks around the things that are being said. We talked about how the coach is talking in this to give us the best idea of how things went when the girls started. That firsthand knowledge is BEST! We also focused on the skill of sequencing events. Our grammar this week was working on picking out nouns in sentences. They also had to clarify whether they were common or proper nouns. If they were proper, they had to be capitalized. A new one for them is acronyms: letters that stand for something. I gave them the example of our DEAR time. It means "Drop Everything And Read".
FAST Testing- We started this week on these reading tests. We should be done by Monday. Just a reminder this a test on their fluency. The aReading test they do is a test on comprehension. We use this information to figure out which of my kiddos I need to work with in small group time on their reading skills.
Religion- This week we really focused on practicing for mass. I have to say they did an AWESOME job too!!! I was so proud of them. They will be working on a chapter review and taking a test over their first chapter next week.
Math- We are halfway through our chapter. We just worked on using multiplication and exponents. They will be working on multiplication now. They will start by multiplying by a single digit, but we will move into bigger numbers.
Homecoming- They can wear sweatpants on Friday for $1. They can also wear their red and black to support the Panthers. We will have a Pep Rally sometime that morning. Remember they are getting dismissed at 12:40 on Friday. Please let me know if there are special or different pick up plans for your child that day. Thank you!
Food Pantry- Mark contacted Mrs. Sickels because he needs help on Thursday (tomorrow). I said the 5th could go help out. That is our plan for tomorrow as long as it isn't raining.
Art- We had our first 4th/5th art class today in the ART ROOM!!!! WOW! After 22 years of doing it in my own room, that was a big event. I know so many past teachers who are probably so excited for us and that room! Today we talked about Andy Warhol with the kids and his creation of POP art. We did our own little spin on it with fall. They will continue to work on it next week.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. Enjoy the homecoming festivities too! I am heading to Des Moines on Saturday to watch my niece Olivia play some soccer at the James Cownie Field. Maybe I will see you on Sunday at the Color Run! I will be that person walking!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Reading- This week we read a story about a group of girls in New York who are on a double Dutch jump rope team. They had a teacher who created the group and then took them to different competitions. The story is our first one in this unit that is nonfiction, which means you read it differently. We are looking for information and facts. We also talked about dialogue and that in stories that means--people talking. The clue would be the use of quotation marks around the things that are being said. We talked about how the coach is talking in this to give us the best idea of how things went when the girls started. That firsthand knowledge is BEST! We also focused on the skill of sequencing events. Our grammar this week was working on picking out nouns in sentences. They also had to clarify whether they were common or proper nouns. If they were proper, they had to be capitalized. A new one for them is acronyms: letters that stand for something. I gave them the example of our DEAR time. It means "Drop Everything And Read".
FAST Testing- We started this week on these reading tests. We should be done by Monday. Just a reminder this a test on their fluency. The aReading test they do is a test on comprehension. We use this information to figure out which of my kiddos I need to work with in small group time on their reading skills.
Religion- This week we really focused on practicing for mass. I have to say they did an AWESOME job too!!! I was so proud of them. They will be working on a chapter review and taking a test over their first chapter next week.
Math- We are halfway through our chapter. We just worked on using multiplication and exponents. They will be working on multiplication now. They will start by multiplying by a single digit, but we will move into bigger numbers.
Homecoming- They can wear sweatpants on Friday for $1. They can also wear their red and black to support the Panthers. We will have a Pep Rally sometime that morning. Remember they are getting dismissed at 12:40 on Friday. Please let me know if there are special or different pick up plans for your child that day. Thank you!
Food Pantry- Mark contacted Mrs. Sickels because he needs help on Thursday (tomorrow). I said the 5th could go help out. That is our plan for tomorrow as long as it isn't raining.
Art- We had our first 4th/5th art class today in the ART ROOM!!!! WOW! After 22 years of doing it in my own room, that was a big event. I know so many past teachers who are probably so excited for us and that room! Today we talked about Andy Warhol with the kids and his creation of POP art. We did our own little spin on it with fall. They will continue to work on it next week.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. Enjoy the homecoming festivities too! I am heading to Des Moines on Saturday to watch my niece Olivia play some soccer at the James Cownie Field. Maybe I will see you on Sunday at the Color Run! I will be that person walking!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Book Order- I forgot to add this in my blog. I am sending home a book order form if you would like to purchase any books for your child. Any orders are due back by Sept. 21. Write checks to Scholastic or me. I also have had parents order them online. You can use my code to do that. The code is DVT3G. You will pay them online. It's pretty easy!
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Dear Parents,
I hope you are enjoying the sunny and dry weather for a change!!! I know I love having a dry room again!
Reading- This week we read a story called Off and Running. This is a story about two kids who are running for class president. The hold a debate with the entire grade listening. We discussed in class that Miata uses more formal language with her speech and really wants to improve the looks of the school. Rudy uses more informal language and wants things like longer recesses and ice cream every day. They filled out a Venn diagram on the characters in pairs on Tuesday. We were looking for more than Miata is a girl, Rudy is a boy kind of information. In grammar they are working on the subject and predicate parts of sentences. On Wednesday, they worked in pairs using Scrabble tiles to find out which of their spelling words was worth the most in points. They are also breaking up words based on the VCCV pattern.
This is week 3 in our unit. That means that on Friday they will have an extra story to read and 10 comprehension questions to answer based on that story. They will still be asked the questions from our regular story as well. This test will be worth 50 points.
Math- This week they are working on the properties of addition and multiplication. The focus is really on Distributive property, but they also work on commutative and associative. I am not sure they have a handle on it yet, so we may work some more before moving on. If you want to help out at home...work on their multiplication facts. I have noticed many of them don't have them down very well and spend time thinking. It wouldn't hurt them to work on those a little more.
Religion- They performed their commercials on Tuesday. I hope you watched them on our Facebook page. They had a lot of fun doing those. We are also working on the Blessed Trinity. They will be drawing a picture of that for me. I will explain more later!
On Tuesday, during our class meeting, I presented to them a Mindset activity. Mindset means getting them to change the idea of , "This is too hard or I can't do this to I can't do this...yet." YET is a big statement. Many of them I have noticed shut down or get really negative when things get hard for them.
So I made them work alone to draw a sketch and then they worked in groups. They were given 12 recipe cards, 20 dot stickers and a scissors. They were to create the tallest tower they could using those items. I took pictures and will post on Facebook. Sorry, but a couple of them collapsed BEFORE I got a picture. Next week they will get back with their groups and try to rebuild, but make the changes they think will help them create their tower. This also turned out to be frustrating for some because theirs didn't work and they kept saying... I don't know what to do differently. We talked as a class about how that happens sometimes in real life, but you can't walk away. You have to try again. I was really pleased with them. There wasn't a lot of negativity throughout the entire thing.I know it isn't easy, but there is no reward in the end for the tallest one. It is just to see how tall you can get it to be for YOUR group. It also forces them to think outside the box a little which can be difficult.
Mass- They will get their mass parts on Friday. You are welcome to join us for mass next Wednesday.
Homecoming Dismissal- Just making sure you understand we are having an earlier out than usual. The kids will be dismissed at 12:40 next Friday.
Volunteers needed this Friday at 4pm. We will be moving the classrooms into the new building! So exciting! Mrs. Simmons gave the teachers a sneak peek tour the other day after school. It is so nice! I can't wait to use that hallway to get to the other building! It is still hard to believe that I was parking back there a year ago! :)
Have a great Balloon Days weekend! Hopefully the balloons will lift off many times!
God Bless, Miss Surma
I hope you are enjoying the sunny and dry weather for a change!!! I know I love having a dry room again!
Reading- This week we read a story called Off and Running. This is a story about two kids who are running for class president. The hold a debate with the entire grade listening. We discussed in class that Miata uses more formal language with her speech and really wants to improve the looks of the school. Rudy uses more informal language and wants things like longer recesses and ice cream every day. They filled out a Venn diagram on the characters in pairs on Tuesday. We were looking for more than Miata is a girl, Rudy is a boy kind of information. In grammar they are working on the subject and predicate parts of sentences. On Wednesday, they worked in pairs using Scrabble tiles to find out which of their spelling words was worth the most in points. They are also breaking up words based on the VCCV pattern.
This is week 3 in our unit. That means that on Friday they will have an extra story to read and 10 comprehension questions to answer based on that story. They will still be asked the questions from our regular story as well. This test will be worth 50 points.
Math- This week they are working on the properties of addition and multiplication. The focus is really on Distributive property, but they also work on commutative and associative. I am not sure they have a handle on it yet, so we may work some more before moving on. If you want to help out at home...work on their multiplication facts. I have noticed many of them don't have them down very well and spend time thinking. It wouldn't hurt them to work on those a little more.
Religion- They performed their commercials on Tuesday. I hope you watched them on our Facebook page. They had a lot of fun doing those. We are also working on the Blessed Trinity. They will be drawing a picture of that for me. I will explain more later!
On Tuesday, during our class meeting, I presented to them a Mindset activity. Mindset means getting them to change the idea of , "This is too hard or I can't do this to I can't do this...yet." YET is a big statement. Many of them I have noticed shut down or get really negative when things get hard for them.
So I made them work alone to draw a sketch and then they worked in groups. They were given 12 recipe cards, 20 dot stickers and a scissors. They were to create the tallest tower they could using those items. I took pictures and will post on Facebook. Sorry, but a couple of them collapsed BEFORE I got a picture. Next week they will get back with their groups and try to rebuild, but make the changes they think will help them create their tower. This also turned out to be frustrating for some because theirs didn't work and they kept saying... I don't know what to do differently. We talked as a class about how that happens sometimes in real life, but you can't walk away. You have to try again. I was really pleased with them. There wasn't a lot of negativity throughout the entire thing.I know it isn't easy, but there is no reward in the end for the tallest one. It is just to see how tall you can get it to be for YOUR group. It also forces them to think outside the box a little which can be difficult.
Mass- They will get their mass parts on Friday. You are welcome to join us for mass next Wednesday.
Homecoming Dismissal- Just making sure you understand we are having an earlier out than usual. The kids will be dismissed at 12:40 next Friday.
Volunteers needed this Friday at 4pm. We will be moving the classrooms into the new building! So exciting! Mrs. Simmons gave the teachers a sneak peek tour the other day after school. It is so nice! I can't wait to use that hallway to get to the other building! It is still hard to believe that I was parking back there a year ago! :)
Have a great Balloon Days weekend! Hopefully the balloons will lift off many times!
God Bless, Miss Surma
Thursday, September 6, 2018
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Hello Parents, I hope you enjoyed your long weekend! I had a really nice visit in Arkansas. I much prefer our hilly drives compared to their winding roads! Due to the amount of rain we've been getting, my classroom received a lot of water over the weekend at different times. The 5th graders have been really good about being flexible on having to move to the gym on Wednesday. They have helped me move stuff out of the way of the water as well! Right now there is a temporary wall outside my window. They will be putting in gutters when the rain ends! That will divert the water.
Reading- Even though this is a short week, we are still reading a story. They read a play this week that is a modernized version of The Princess and the Pea . This story has a bit of a mystery to it and as they read the ending... Owen's face was fantastic! That Home Alone moment of shock! In grammar we are focusing on the four kinds of sentences. I have them using their composition notebook to take notes in to remember things as we go along. They will have a posttest on Friday of their spelling words. I have started to enter scores on Powerschool, but in your child's folder you will find their reading scores from last week.
Math- We are going slowly on our 2nd lesson. They are writing large numbers in standard, word, and expanded form. The expanded form has changed, but this one has always been hardest for the kids to understand. For example: 1,235 (standard form) , one thousand two hundred thirty-five (word form),
(1x1,000)+ (2x100) + (3x10)+ (5x1) (expanded form). We are dealing with numbers in the millions and billions.
Religion- We are focusing our first chapter on God's creation. They are also going to be talking about being a good steward. I am going to have them work in groups to create an ad that would show up in a magazine or a TV commercial to show being a good steward and how we need to be responsible for taking care of God's creation.
Your kids are learning how things are different in 5th grade and my expectations. We have had to go over bathroom behavior a couple of times now. They are also finding that they are so busy talking to their neighbors that they are missing out on directions or how to do the assignment. I have found myself repeating myself a lot. Some of them just can't stop the visiting. They are also realizing that STOP means STOP when doing their work. They like to keep working when they are supposed to be transitioning to the next thing. We are working on that. I know they will get there, but the beginning is always a time of learning that Miss Surma may do things a little differently from Mrs. Sickels. Some need to work on using their free time to do their work. Many should go home without anything in their bag...if they are using their time. That doesn't mean there won't be days that we just couldn't do all of it at school. We are all learning. Please don't feel like you need to email me to find out if I am talking about your child. If I am ... I would email you first! :) We are just beginning to learn-- it is normal.
Art- If you're in the building next week, make sure to walk down the hall once I have the posters up in the hallway. They are drawing pictures of themselves. Will you be able to pick out your child??? That's the fun part!
I hope you have a great weekend! I hope to see you at the Food Fair here on Sunday! I will be working the dessert booth! I am heading to Waterloo on Friday to see my niece. It is her school's homecoming.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Reading- Even though this is a short week, we are still reading a story. They read a play this week that is a modernized version of The Princess and the Pea . This story has a bit of a mystery to it and as they read the ending... Owen's face was fantastic! That Home Alone moment of shock! In grammar we are focusing on the four kinds of sentences. I have them using their composition notebook to take notes in to remember things as we go along. They will have a posttest on Friday of their spelling words. I have started to enter scores on Powerschool, but in your child's folder you will find their reading scores from last week.
Math- We are going slowly on our 2nd lesson. They are writing large numbers in standard, word, and expanded form. The expanded form has changed, but this one has always been hardest for the kids to understand. For example: 1,235 (standard form) , one thousand two hundred thirty-five (word form),
(1x1,000)+ (2x100) + (3x10)+ (5x1) (expanded form). We are dealing with numbers in the millions and billions.
Religion- We are focusing our first chapter on God's creation. They are also going to be talking about being a good steward. I am going to have them work in groups to create an ad that would show up in a magazine or a TV commercial to show being a good steward and how we need to be responsible for taking care of God's creation.
Your kids are learning how things are different in 5th grade and my expectations. We have had to go over bathroom behavior a couple of times now. They are also finding that they are so busy talking to their neighbors that they are missing out on directions or how to do the assignment. I have found myself repeating myself a lot. Some of them just can't stop the visiting. They are also realizing that STOP means STOP when doing their work. They like to keep working when they are supposed to be transitioning to the next thing. We are working on that. I know they will get there, but the beginning is always a time of learning that Miss Surma may do things a little differently from Mrs. Sickels. Some need to work on using their free time to do their work. Many should go home without anything in their bag...if they are using their time. That doesn't mean there won't be days that we just couldn't do all of it at school. We are all learning. Please don't feel like you need to email me to find out if I am talking about your child. If I am ... I would email you first! :) We are just beginning to learn-- it is normal.
Art- If you're in the building next week, make sure to walk down the hall once I have the posters up in the hallway. They are drawing pictures of themselves. Will you be able to pick out your child??? That's the fun part!
I hope you have a great weekend! I hope to see you at the Food Fair here on Sunday! I will be working the dessert booth! I am heading to Waterloo on Friday to see my niece. It is her school's homecoming.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Hello Parents,
I hope you are having a good week! Welcome to 5th grade. I hope you have signed up to receive these blogs or are finding them on my Facebook page for our class.
The 5th graders are learning our new routine this week. I am too. I'm not used to having most of their core classes in the morning! Those hours fly by so quickly!
Reading- Last week they took a pretest for me in reading and in spelling. It's purpose is to give me an idea of what kind of readers they are.
This week they read a story called " A Package for Mrs. Jewls". It is from the book Wayside School.
The purpose of this story is to entertain. The kids enjoy the fact that the school is 30 stories tall, but there is no 19th floor. Louis is a maintenance man and he has to deliver a package to Mrs. Jewls. When he arrives, she decides to hold a spelling bee to decide who will open the door. One of the words is package, but the child spells B-O-X. This happens a few times. Again we laugh at these parts. In grammar they are learning the basics again. We are talking about writing sentences and that a complete sentence needs a subject (noun or pronoun) and a predicate (verb). They are also determining if sentences are complete or fragments.
Their spelling words this week have short vowel sounds. They will take their posttest on Friday. I told them that if they ACE their pretests, they don't take the posttest. No one aced it this week. They also have a list of spelling words that they can study with you. I send those home each week. I will give bonus words eventually, but I look at pretest scores to determine who will get the extra 5. I also lessen the load for kids who struggle with their spelling-- again this is based on how they do each week on their pretest.
I also told them they have to have a chapter book with them at all times. We will do 3 book reports this year, but I haven't assigned the first one yet. I want them to get used to the work.
Math- They have taken a pretest in math. It was 50 problems. It does have problems they may not know how to do yet. That has taken 3 days to get it done by everyone. Our first chapter will start on Thursday. We cover decimals first with the focus being place value names. We will be adding and subtracting them eventually.
Religion- We start our year learning how to find chapter and verses in the Bible. They are working on that now. We will move into our first chapter on creation when we are done with the Bible activity. Bishop Pates will be with us for mass next week!
Pictures- Pictures are tomorrow! If you haven't sent it in yet, please do! Some parents pack an extra shirt if they don't want them to wear that one all day. It is up to you!
GROUP BAND TOMORROW!!!!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! It is a 3 day weekend! I am heading to Arkansas with my sister. She is going to visit her mother-in-law and I'm just going for the fun! Whatever you are doing, have a great time. Be safe. See your kids on Tuesday! If you need to reach me, my email is asurma@crestonstmalachy.org.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
I hope you are having a good week! Welcome to 5th grade. I hope you have signed up to receive these blogs or are finding them on my Facebook page for our class.
The 5th graders are learning our new routine this week. I am too. I'm not used to having most of their core classes in the morning! Those hours fly by so quickly!
Reading- Last week they took a pretest for me in reading and in spelling. It's purpose is to give me an idea of what kind of readers they are.
This week they read a story called " A Package for Mrs. Jewls". It is from the book Wayside School.
The purpose of this story is to entertain. The kids enjoy the fact that the school is 30 stories tall, but there is no 19th floor. Louis is a maintenance man and he has to deliver a package to Mrs. Jewls. When he arrives, she decides to hold a spelling bee to decide who will open the door. One of the words is package, but the child spells B-O-X. This happens a few times. Again we laugh at these parts. In grammar they are learning the basics again. We are talking about writing sentences and that a complete sentence needs a subject (noun or pronoun) and a predicate (verb). They are also determining if sentences are complete or fragments.
Their spelling words this week have short vowel sounds. They will take their posttest on Friday. I told them that if they ACE their pretests, they don't take the posttest. No one aced it this week. They also have a list of spelling words that they can study with you. I send those home each week. I will give bonus words eventually, but I look at pretest scores to determine who will get the extra 5. I also lessen the load for kids who struggle with their spelling-- again this is based on how they do each week on their pretest.
I also told them they have to have a chapter book with them at all times. We will do 3 book reports this year, but I haven't assigned the first one yet. I want them to get used to the work.
Math- They have taken a pretest in math. It was 50 problems. It does have problems they may not know how to do yet. That has taken 3 days to get it done by everyone. Our first chapter will start on Thursday. We cover decimals first with the focus being place value names. We will be adding and subtracting them eventually.
Religion- We start our year learning how to find chapter and verses in the Bible. They are working on that now. We will move into our first chapter on creation when we are done with the Bible activity. Bishop Pates will be with us for mass next week!
Pictures- Pictures are tomorrow! If you haven't sent it in yet, please do! Some parents pack an extra shirt if they don't want them to wear that one all day. It is up to you!
GROUP BAND TOMORROW!!!!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! It is a 3 day weekend! I am heading to Arkansas with my sister. She is going to visit her mother-in-law and I'm just going for the fun! Whatever you are doing, have a great time. Be safe. See your kids on Tuesday! If you need to reach me, my email is asurma@crestonstmalachy.org.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Monday, August 20, 2018
Hi Parents,
Please make sure you sign up on the bottom of the Blog to receive these as an email each week!
I will also post it to our private 5th grade Facebook page. You will need to ask to join that ! Please search for:
St. Malachy Fabulous Fifth Grade on Facebook and ask to join.
Open House is set for Wednesday, August 22 from 4-6pm! Can't wait to see you and your kids! I will be making introductions this year as this is the first time I have had your children!
See you soon!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Please make sure you sign up on the bottom of the Blog to receive these as an email each week!
I will also post it to our private 5th grade Facebook page. You will need to ask to join that ! Please search for:
St. Malachy Fabulous Fifth Grade on Facebook and ask to join.
Open House is set for Wednesday, August 22 from 4-6pm! Can't wait to see you and your kids! I will be making introductions this year as this is the first time I have had your children!
See you soon!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Hello Parents,
I cannot believe I am typing my final blog for the school year. I am just not sure where our time went!
Reading-- They read a story this week and will test over it on Tuesday. They will have their spelling test that day too. This week's story was another play. It is funny how "into character" they were when we read the story. Hmmmm.... I think they picked up the acting bug a little bit.
Today they were to pick a city somewhere in the world and find information on it. They are creating a brochure that you might find in a travel agency. We have kids research Hawaii, Russia, India, Mexico, Australia, and Ireland plus many more. They will share their brochures with the class before our year is done next week.
Math- We are getting close to the end of our chapter. Today they are using fractions with the associative and commutative properties. The most common issues I see are remembering that you need a common denominator before you can add or subtract and that all answers need to be simplified! Even if the fraction is something like 13/7. It should be written as 1-6/7. I plan on them taking a test next Wednesday over this chapter. That will be their final test for me in math.
Religion- On Tuesday we celebrated our room's patron saint...Saint Rita of Cascia. We were given a movie on her so we watched it. It was more of a documentary with subtitles. We would stop it once in awhile to discuss her life. The kids were in shock that the laws on marriage said that boys had to be at least 14 years old and girls 12. You can be happy to know...none of yours were ready for that kind of commitment yet! They were also really impressed by her stigmata. It is legend that a thorn pierced her forehead and took over 15 year to heal. There is a lot more to that story, but they were really interested in that part.
In Guidance we are talking about families and what makes up a family. They broke up into groups on Monday and created skits to show a word and how we see it being used in families. Some of the words are respect, loyalty, commitment, and compassion. They will work on those and share with the class on Thursday.
Play- Thank you to all who were able to make it to our play last week. We hope you enjoyed it! I have been doing it for so long, but every year I enjoy how each class takes it on as their own. They did a terrific job!
Congratulations to Ava Adamson for winning the Dollars for Scholars essay contest for our room.
Next week Thursday, May 31 we will do field day in the afternoon at 1:00. You are welcome to join us! Pack your lawn chairs and maybe some sunblock! I am also having them clean out their desks on this day as well. Make sure you have an empty bookbag or another bag for all of their belongings. They definitely need tennis shoes for field day.
Friday, June 1st-- We will have mass. They do not need to dress up. Shorts are fine! We will do awards at 10:00 or around there-- it will follow mass. I believe I am getting a pie in the face. :)
They will need a sack lunch today. Milk is provided.
I am almost finished. I just want to say a final good-bye. It's always bittersweet letting them go because they have been in our wing for 3 years, so I have gotten to know them better each year. Over that time I always see the growth and changes they make. They have done that again this year. They are different kids from when they first arrived in my door. I am proud of the growth and the changes I have seen them take. Their relationship as a class has even grown. I don't hear the fighting (as much) as in the beginning of the year. I see more support and laughter for and with each other. I have seen growth in reading and math and religion! I hope they have a terrific summer. I hope they have some fun and continue to work on their math or even pick up a book now and again. I wish them well in middle school. I hope they wave when they see me in the hallways or the gym. Thank you for choosing St. Malachy. Thank you for allowing me to spend some time with your kids! ❤
Finally, enjoy your 3 day weekend. I will not be at the 8th grade graduation because I am heading to Doon. The bench we created for our parents is finished. We have a spot by our town park we are going to put it and that will be done on Saturday morning. I will post a picture on our Facebook page. It's the final item my siblings and I can do for our parents. We wanted to leave something behind for the town because of all Doon had done for them, but also each of us. We may not have a house to go to anymore,but it is and always will be home.
God Bless and have a wonderful summer!!!!!
Miss Surma
I cannot believe I am typing my final blog for the school year. I am just not sure where our time went!
Reading-- They read a story this week and will test over it on Tuesday. They will have their spelling test that day too. This week's story was another play. It is funny how "into character" they were when we read the story. Hmmmm.... I think they picked up the acting bug a little bit.
Today they were to pick a city somewhere in the world and find information on it. They are creating a brochure that you might find in a travel agency. We have kids research Hawaii, Russia, India, Mexico, Australia, and Ireland plus many more. They will share their brochures with the class before our year is done next week.
Math- We are getting close to the end of our chapter. Today they are using fractions with the associative and commutative properties. The most common issues I see are remembering that you need a common denominator before you can add or subtract and that all answers need to be simplified! Even if the fraction is something like 13/7. It should be written as 1-6/7. I plan on them taking a test next Wednesday over this chapter. That will be their final test for me in math.
Religion- On Tuesday we celebrated our room's patron saint...Saint Rita of Cascia. We were given a movie on her so we watched it. It was more of a documentary with subtitles. We would stop it once in awhile to discuss her life. The kids were in shock that the laws on marriage said that boys had to be at least 14 years old and girls 12. You can be happy to know...none of yours were ready for that kind of commitment yet! They were also really impressed by her stigmata. It is legend that a thorn pierced her forehead and took over 15 year to heal. There is a lot more to that story, but they were really interested in that part.
In Guidance we are talking about families and what makes up a family. They broke up into groups on Monday and created skits to show a word and how we see it being used in families. Some of the words are respect, loyalty, commitment, and compassion. They will work on those and share with the class on Thursday.
Play- Thank you to all who were able to make it to our play last week. We hope you enjoyed it! I have been doing it for so long, but every year I enjoy how each class takes it on as their own. They did a terrific job!
Congratulations to Ava Adamson for winning the Dollars for Scholars essay contest for our room.
Next week Thursday, May 31 we will do field day in the afternoon at 1:00. You are welcome to join us! Pack your lawn chairs and maybe some sunblock! I am also having them clean out their desks on this day as well. Make sure you have an empty bookbag or another bag for all of their belongings. They definitely need tennis shoes for field day.
Friday, June 1st-- We will have mass. They do not need to dress up. Shorts are fine! We will do awards at 10:00 or around there-- it will follow mass. I believe I am getting a pie in the face. :)
They will need a sack lunch today. Milk is provided.
I am almost finished. I just want to say a final good-bye. It's always bittersweet letting them go because they have been in our wing for 3 years, so I have gotten to know them better each year. Over that time I always see the growth and changes they make. They have done that again this year. They are different kids from when they first arrived in my door. I am proud of the growth and the changes I have seen them take. Their relationship as a class has even grown. I don't hear the fighting (as much) as in the beginning of the year. I see more support and laughter for and with each other. I have seen growth in reading and math and religion! I hope they have a terrific summer. I hope they have some fun and continue to work on their math or even pick up a book now and again. I wish them well in middle school. I hope they wave when they see me in the hallways or the gym. Thank you for choosing St. Malachy. Thank you for allowing me to spend some time with your kids! ❤
Finally, enjoy your 3 day weekend. I will not be at the 8th grade graduation because I am heading to Doon. The bench we created for our parents is finished. We have a spot by our town park we are going to put it and that will be done on Saturday morning. I will post a picture on our Facebook page. It's the final item my siblings and I can do for our parents. We wanted to leave something behind for the town because of all Doon had done for them, but also each of us. We may not have a house to go to anymore,but it is and always will be home.
God Bless and have a wonderful summer!!!!!
Miss Surma
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Hi Parents,
I hope you are enjoying your week. Boy, these last weeks seems to fly by us!
Play- Just a reminder that our play is on Friday at 2:15 in the gym. The first graders will be joining us. Grandparents are welcome to come if you cannot make it! The play lasts about 10 minutes. The 5th graders will come down to my room afterwards for our little celebration. They get to eat the the pink frosted cake! If you are taking them home with you instead, please just let me know. Thanks! They should have their costumes with them when they comes to school on Friday. I have discussed with them what they should wear. Please don't go out and buy brand new stuff! Hit their closet or yours first!
Math- Last week we spent the entire week subtracting mixed numbers with borrowing. This week we are working on numbers in a series. There is spot for them to figure out what the next number in the series would be. Their job is to figure out the pattern first-- are the numbers increasing or decreasing? Once they know that-- they know they have to add or subtract to get that missing number. The toughest spot right now is when they have to subtract a mixed number from a whole number. An example would be 8-3-4/6=?
Religion-They are taking a test today. After this we are getting into our guidance books. That will probably be how we end our year.
Reading- Next week they will read a story and do spelling again. I decided not to do that this week because of our crazy week with the field trip , our play, and the visit to the middle school. In your child's folder are their scores for our last unit test. I copied off the wrong sheet, but I made it work.
FAST- In their folder next week will be a score sheet to show you their scores from their FAST testing. These are the reading tests they have done to show their work in fluency. I was really excited about their scores! I was also so so so happy with the class overall with our Iowa Assessments! 100% proficient in reading! WOO HOO!!!!! 83% were proficient in math! That made me so happy too!
Permission Slips- I am still missing these from 4 kids. Please return them as soon as possible. Thanks!
Middle School Visit- Today they are visiting the 6th and 7th graders. They split our class in half. So they are getting a taste of science, math, and language arts. They are learning about block scheduling.
Train Ride--- Our field trip was great fun! I really enjoyed the trip even if I hate heights! I would love to tell you that your children were so understanding, but instead I heard things like...Miss Surma, what if we tip over? Miss Surma, what if the brakes go out? Miss Surma, we didn't die!!!!! hahahaha
Many of them need to go to confession for trying to convince me we were over the 156 ft bridge! haha It was a lot of fun and I think they enjoyed it more than they thought they would!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! The weather looks perfect!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
I hope you are enjoying your week. Boy, these last weeks seems to fly by us!
Play- Just a reminder that our play is on Friday at 2:15 in the gym. The first graders will be joining us. Grandparents are welcome to come if you cannot make it! The play lasts about 10 minutes. The 5th graders will come down to my room afterwards for our little celebration. They get to eat the the pink frosted cake! If you are taking them home with you instead, please just let me know. Thanks! They should have their costumes with them when they comes to school on Friday. I have discussed with them what they should wear. Please don't go out and buy brand new stuff! Hit their closet or yours first!
Math- Last week we spent the entire week subtracting mixed numbers with borrowing. This week we are working on numbers in a series. There is spot for them to figure out what the next number in the series would be. Their job is to figure out the pattern first-- are the numbers increasing or decreasing? Once they know that-- they know they have to add or subtract to get that missing number. The toughest spot right now is when they have to subtract a mixed number from a whole number. An example would be 8-3-4/6=?
Religion-They are taking a test today. After this we are getting into our guidance books. That will probably be how we end our year.
Reading- Next week they will read a story and do spelling again. I decided not to do that this week because of our crazy week with the field trip , our play, and the visit to the middle school. In your child's folder are their scores for our last unit test. I copied off the wrong sheet, but I made it work.
FAST- In their folder next week will be a score sheet to show you their scores from their FAST testing. These are the reading tests they have done to show their work in fluency. I was really excited about their scores! I was also so so so happy with the class overall with our Iowa Assessments! 100% proficient in reading! WOO HOO!!!!! 83% were proficient in math! That made me so happy too!
Permission Slips- I am still missing these from 4 kids. Please return them as soon as possible. Thanks!
Middle School Visit- Today they are visiting the 6th and 7th graders. They split our class in half. So they are getting a taste of science, math, and language arts. They are learning about block scheduling.
Train Ride--- Our field trip was great fun! I really enjoyed the trip even if I hate heights! I would love to tell you that your children were so understanding, but instead I heard things like...Miss Surma, what if we tip over? Miss Surma, what if the brakes go out? Miss Surma, we didn't die!!!!! hahahaha
Many of them need to go to confession for trying to convince me we were over the 156 ft bridge! haha It was a lot of fun and I think they enjoyed it more than they thought they would!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! The weather looks perfect!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going well. The weather is so nice! It is making it difficult to be in the classroom for the students and the teachers!
Reading- They are taking their unit test this week. That should be finished up on Friday. Next week we will focus on the play. I may do some grammar and spelling with them. We will see how our practices go.
They tried out for the play on today. I will give them their roles tomorrow. Their job is to start memorizing their lines after that. I know there will be some that are disappointed that they didn't get the role they wanted,but I need those extras just as much as I need the people with more lines. EVERY role is important! By Wednesday of next week, they need to have it memorized. I will be the one with the script.
As for their parts-- I have talked to them about costumes. The hardest ones will be the villagers and women. I usually tell them to dress more like an adult in town. They can also dress up as little old ladies and men. I have had kids use walkers and canes. They have taken dresses from their Grandma's closet. Some of the boys dress like farmers or they wear dress clothes and ties. They just need to be an adult!
Manuel- mass clothes
Pablo- mass clothes with a hat
Kids- wear their own clothes (shorts, etc)
Judge- Mass clothes, I will provide the black robe
The play is next Friday, the 18th at 2:15. It's only about 10 minutes. The kids will go back to the room for cake and juice afterwards. If you are taking them home instead, just let me know.
Math- This week we have spent most of our time subtracting mixed numbers. This time they have had to borrow from the whole number to be able to finish it. I showed them two ways to do it. One way is the way we were all taught-- turning them into improper fractions first. The other way is dealing only with the fraction portion first and making sure we have like denominators. I would say most of the class chose the second route. To me it is a lot easier than dealing with improper fractions and bigger numbers. Either way is correct! I gave them the option. The next step will be looking at mixed numbers and figuring out the pattern.
Religion- This week they were learning about the Vatican Councils and the Ecumenical Council-- just what it is. Next year I need to have Father in for those conversations. He was telling me some interesting history of it during lunch today.
Field Trip- I have 9 forms returned. I would really like the others by Friday so I don't have to remind them on Monday. Remember it will cost them $10. They will need a sack lunch and drink that day. We are leaving here at 8! If they are a breakfast eater at school--it will have to be a quick one! Sorry. We need to stay on schedule.
Substitute- I am gone on Friday. I am leaving after work tomorrow. I am going home to leave some flowers by my mom's grave for Mother's Day and then heading to Waterloo.I know it is a long trip for flowers, but worth it in my eyes. My niece Emily has a soccer tournament in Waverly on Saturday with her high school team. This is my chance to see her play. Mrs. Bearden will be here in my place. If you change how your child is getting home--contact Sarah in the office. She will let them know.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Happy Mother's Day to all the moms! I hope you get spoiled a little bit !
Thank you to the PTO for our teacher gifts each day! It has been lots of fun this week! Thanks for your work with the Lap-A-Thon last week! I am soooooo excited to take that pie in the face on the last day of school!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Reading- They are taking their unit test this week. That should be finished up on Friday. Next week we will focus on the play. I may do some grammar and spelling with them. We will see how our practices go.
They tried out for the play on today. I will give them their roles tomorrow. Their job is to start memorizing their lines after that. I know there will be some that are disappointed that they didn't get the role they wanted,but I need those extras just as much as I need the people with more lines. EVERY role is important! By Wednesday of next week, they need to have it memorized. I will be the one with the script.
As for their parts-- I have talked to them about costumes. The hardest ones will be the villagers and women. I usually tell them to dress more like an adult in town. They can also dress up as little old ladies and men. I have had kids use walkers and canes. They have taken dresses from their Grandma's closet. Some of the boys dress like farmers or they wear dress clothes and ties. They just need to be an adult!
Manuel- mass clothes
Pablo- mass clothes with a hat
Kids- wear their own clothes (shorts, etc)
Judge- Mass clothes, I will provide the black robe
The play is next Friday, the 18th at 2:15. It's only about 10 minutes. The kids will go back to the room for cake and juice afterwards. If you are taking them home instead, just let me know.
Math- This week we have spent most of our time subtracting mixed numbers. This time they have had to borrow from the whole number to be able to finish it. I showed them two ways to do it. One way is the way we were all taught-- turning them into improper fractions first. The other way is dealing only with the fraction portion first and making sure we have like denominators. I would say most of the class chose the second route. To me it is a lot easier than dealing with improper fractions and bigger numbers. Either way is correct! I gave them the option. The next step will be looking at mixed numbers and figuring out the pattern.
Religion- This week they were learning about the Vatican Councils and the Ecumenical Council-- just what it is. Next year I need to have Father in for those conversations. He was telling me some interesting history of it during lunch today.
Field Trip- I have 9 forms returned. I would really like the others by Friday so I don't have to remind them on Monday. Remember it will cost them $10. They will need a sack lunch and drink that day. We are leaving here at 8! If they are a breakfast eater at school--it will have to be a quick one! Sorry. We need to stay on schedule.
Substitute- I am gone on Friday. I am leaving after work tomorrow. I am going home to leave some flowers by my mom's grave for Mother's Day and then heading to Waterloo.I know it is a long trip for flowers, but worth it in my eyes. My niece Emily has a soccer tournament in Waverly on Saturday with her high school team. This is my chance to see her play. Mrs. Bearden will be here in my place. If you change how your child is getting home--contact Sarah in the office. She will let them know.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Happy Mother's Day to all the moms! I hope you get spoiled a little bit !
Thank you to the PTO for our teacher gifts each day! It has been lots of fun this week! Thanks for your work with the Lap-A-Thon last week! I am soooooo excited to take that pie in the face on the last day of school!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Hello Parents,
Well, if you hadn't heard-- the flu bug has hit our room. So far I have had 5 kids come down with it. I am hoping the others will not!
Reading- They are taking their test over the story and spelling test on Thursday. I want to dedicate Friday to their book reports. That usually takes a little longer. They should have their project and their costume with them on Friday. They won't be wearing it all day. It will be something they change into and they will be back to their normal clothes when we are done.
Next week they will be doing their unit 5 testing. I believe this one is a benchmark test which means more stories, but the same number of questions. They will also be trying out for our Baker's Neighbor play. They will have a script and their part by next Friday. My plan is to show the play on Friday, May 18 at 2:15 pm. Mark your calendar. The play is only about 10 minutes.
Math- They are adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. I had to do some background work this week on changing improper fractions to a mixed number and vice versa. Then add making sure it is in simplest form to the that as well. I know the kids that were out sick on Tuesday had a difficult time understanding, but we did a small group session on Wednesday morning and they grabbed on quickly. The trick will be teaching them to have to borrow with subtraction. That one is always a little slower.
Religion- We are in our new chapter and it is one I haven't taught before, but looking it over, I felt it was needed. We are talking about the hierarchy in the church-- the pope, bishops, priests. We are reading some of the stories from the Bible when Jesus was gathering his Apostles. We watched a quick 5 minute video from the movie The Bible on when Jesus met with Peter and helped him gather his fish in the nets. Peter being the rock of the church is a very important Apostle. We also read where the Apostles had to choose someone to take Judas' spot and they chose Matthias.
Food Pantry- I am switching our dates with Mrs. Sickels' class because of our play. The 5th graders will go to the Food Pantry on May 11, next Friday, instead of the 18th.
Lap-A-Thon- I know this is tomorrow. I am praying they will be outside. They should have an extra pair of shoes and socks to change into AFTER they are done running. They should also have a water bottle with their name on it to use during the run. I think they will run outside as long as it isn't pouring rain.
Yearbook Cover Contest- Anyone interested in drawing/coloring the possible cover for this year's yearbook is asked to submit it by May 9 to Mrs. Simmons. If they want to do something digital on a Google document, they can do that as well.
Field Trip-In your child's folder is the permission form and letter about our trip on Tuesday, May 15. Please fill it out and return by Friday, May 11. Make sure you also pay for the trip as well at the same time. I am excited and a little nervous to go. I don't do heights very well so I may not look out the windows very much! I am excited because I used to read a story in our old series about Kate Shelley. I am going to read that to the 5th graders before we go so they have some background knowledge of this famous Iowan.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I know First Communion is Saturday night.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Well, if you hadn't heard-- the flu bug has hit our room. So far I have had 5 kids come down with it. I am hoping the others will not!
Reading- They are taking their test over the story and spelling test on Thursday. I want to dedicate Friday to their book reports. That usually takes a little longer. They should have their project and their costume with them on Friday. They won't be wearing it all day. It will be something they change into and they will be back to their normal clothes when we are done.
Next week they will be doing their unit 5 testing. I believe this one is a benchmark test which means more stories, but the same number of questions. They will also be trying out for our Baker's Neighbor play. They will have a script and their part by next Friday. My plan is to show the play on Friday, May 18 at 2:15 pm. Mark your calendar. The play is only about 10 minutes.
Math- They are adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. I had to do some background work this week on changing improper fractions to a mixed number and vice versa. Then add making sure it is in simplest form to the that as well. I know the kids that were out sick on Tuesday had a difficult time understanding, but we did a small group session on Wednesday morning and they grabbed on quickly. The trick will be teaching them to have to borrow with subtraction. That one is always a little slower.
Religion- We are in our new chapter and it is one I haven't taught before, but looking it over, I felt it was needed. We are talking about the hierarchy in the church-- the pope, bishops, priests. We are reading some of the stories from the Bible when Jesus was gathering his Apostles. We watched a quick 5 minute video from the movie The Bible on when Jesus met with Peter and helped him gather his fish in the nets. Peter being the rock of the church is a very important Apostle. We also read where the Apostles had to choose someone to take Judas' spot and they chose Matthias.
Food Pantry- I am switching our dates with Mrs. Sickels' class because of our play. The 5th graders will go to the Food Pantry on May 11, next Friday, instead of the 18th.
Lap-A-Thon- I know this is tomorrow. I am praying they will be outside. They should have an extra pair of shoes and socks to change into AFTER they are done running. They should also have a water bottle with their name on it to use during the run. I think they will run outside as long as it isn't pouring rain.
Yearbook Cover Contest- Anyone interested in drawing/coloring the possible cover for this year's yearbook is asked to submit it by May 9 to Mrs. Simmons. If they want to do something digital on a Google document, they can do that as well.
Field Trip-In your child's folder is the permission form and letter about our trip on Tuesday, May 15. Please fill it out and return by Friday, May 11. Make sure you also pay for the trip as well at the same time. I am excited and a little nervous to go. I don't do heights very well so I may not look out the windows very much! I am excited because I used to read a story in our old series about Kate Shelley. I am going to read that to the 5th graders before we go so they have some background knowledge of this famous Iowan.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I know First Communion is Saturday night.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
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