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
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
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
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