Hello Parents! How many days until Christmas break???? I know the kids are counting...they may even be counting minutes!  

Celebrate Christmas with the Teachers! The teachers are going to do some dress up days just before Christmas break! We are inviting the kids to join us! They don't have to, but it sure would be fun! 

Dec. 17- wear the color red

Dec. 18- wear the color green

Dec. 21- wear something with the Christmas Spirit

Dec. 22- Ugly Christmas Sweater

Sack Lunch Needed- The kids will need a sack lunch and drink on Tuesday , Dec. 22.

We won't be able to eat lunch with our Angels, but we are still going to do a sack lunch.

They will meet up with their angels after lunch to sing Christmas carols. We won't be in the gym. 

We have a plan for the hallways to be used. They will be wearing their masks during our 

sing-a-long. 

Reading- This week we are reading a story about King George. He was an interesting King. He was 

the one who created the tax on tea. Our story is a nonfiction piece,but it's written with more of a 

humorous twist. He thought because he was King, that meant he was good. He thought colonists 

should just accept his rules because he was king and was doing this because he cared for them. 

When he was 50 years old, he became really sick. After that people thought he had gone mad. He 

didn't. His illness had affected his mind. It was a real sickness, but back then they didn't know about 

it.  He loved that people prayed for him, had huge parties with fireworks for him. He had his own zoo.

In grammar this week we are talking about the different tenses of verbs. Present, past, and future. The 

trick is knowing that some words change the spelling totally from present to past.  We talked about the

word : buy or buys...the past tense of that is bought, the future tense is will buy. You just have to love

 the English language for all of its rules!  

We also talked about figurative language. We talked about similes, metaphors, and idioms. I gave 

each kid an idiom on Wednesday. They had to draw what was written on their paper. We talked about

"It's raining cats and dogs--which really means that it is pouring rain. They had to draw a picture of it 

really raining cats and dogs.  Did you know in Africa they say, "It's raining old women and bats." 

I also taught them about the phrase-- he bought the farm! They didn't know that it meant someone 

died. Their faces were funny. I am excited to see their pictures! 

They will test on Friday over spelling and the story. Next week, we won't do another story. I think we 

will begin our next writing project. We will work on it again when we get back from break for those 3 days. 

Math- So I took that small worksheet and broke it down into about 5 days. I worked in small groups to

watch them divide. They also had to check by multiplying. Today was the last day of that! I told them 

tomorrow they would all get to divide on their own! I am breaking this worksheet down into 2 days as

well. It might be more for my sanity than theirs! 😁

Religion- This week we are starting to work on the Sacrament of Baptism.  We probably won't finish 

this chapter before we leave for break. 

Angel Gifts- your kids talked about getting Christmas gifts for their angels. I told them it is NOT required

but if they do to not spend a lot of money and get something their angels can easily carry. One year 

I had 5th graders buy giant stuffed animals that were as big as their partner. ( Not kidding). That child

had to get on the bus that night. That is just too much for them to handle. Please don't feel like you have

to buy them anything! 

As soon as the Christmas program link is out... it will get shared! 

I don't plan on writing a blog next week. Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Enjoy the 

holidays however you spend them! Stay safe and healthy.  See you on January 6! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

Hello Parents, 

How was your Thanksgiving??? I hope it was still full of great food and family. It was quiet here, but I did get to Zoom call with my siblings and some nieces and nephews. It was good to see their faces again. I am really hoping Christmas can be in person, but I doubt it. 

Reading- This week are taking the unit 2 test. On Friday I am going to go over the next book report with them. Actually, I am going to take them to the library so I can show them the books I am talking about. Their book will have to be a Newbery winner or honor book. We have quite a few in the library. I will show them and help them choose their book-- even the online kids! I will check out their book for them if they find one. If we don't have what they want, they can look at the library or online of course. They just have to each have their own book.  Typically, this is one of my favorites because they are forced to get out of their comfort zones and pick something they may not have heard of before. Usually they end up really loving the book, not always, but most times. The actual project won't be due until February because I am trying to put it at the end of our next unit. I also have to work around Christmas break.

Our next unit is 5 stories that cover people from the Revolutionary War. This is my favorite unit because I have learned so much about that war and time period. Plus, I will introduce some of them to Hamilton!  Just to let you know, I have the edited version of the CDs. I know there is a lot of swearing in the original. I would like to apologize now IF your child comes home singing Hamilton, but I just can't! 😉😂

Math- We are taking it slow this week with finding compatible numbers with division. This is how they will estimate with division-- no rounding!  For example the problem might be 5345 divided by 67. We'd round 67 to 70. Then we look at the first two numbers in 5345 (53). Now on their multiplication table they will look at the row of 7's and find two numbers close to 53. I would choose 49 and 56. So now they divide 4900 by 70 and 5600 by 70.  It's all mental math...they don't have to work anything out. Thursday will be the first attempt with it as actual homework. Next week we will do the actual dividing. I expect to go slow and probably even slower since there are kids online. I know some will be super frustrated. I expect that to happen. There might be tears, BUT they will get it! I promise you! We will take it slow! If that means only a few problems for homework...then that is what I will do.  

I also taught them how to check their division using multiplication this week! So, once they are dividing on their own...they WILL check their own work to see if they got it right. I told them this will be a great thing and fewer of them will have to correct homework because they will know for themselves. 

Religion- They tested this week on the Beatitudes. We will start a chapter on Advent next! They had reconciliation today. I didn't have the online kids do it because I couldn't figure out how to make it private for them without handing out different Google meet links. 

Mass- Next week Tuesday, Dec. 8, is a holy day of obligation...the Immaculate Conception. We are having mass on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. So they need to dress up on Tuesday. They will also do Advent Angels on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they will have music with Mrs. Stoner. 

Our prayers continue to go out for Mrs. Taylor. As I am writing this, there is no change. She is on a ventilator and they are working to lower the oxygen level so that she can get off of it. She is at Methodist in Des Moines. The kids made Get Well cards for her. We will eventually deliver those to her house when she gets home. I know her recovery will be a slow one. We are so thankful that Mrs. Stoner is able to come back and help with music classes, but she is still recovering as well so band will be postponed for awhile. 

Our prayers also go out to the Wieland family. They lost two loved ones last weekend. May God continue to hold them up during this difficult time. 

I also wanted to let you know that I am really proud of all the 5th graders for being so flexible. The kids online are working hard and we can't wait for them to return. The kids in the room are patient and let me help those online kids when needed. It's a team effort. 

Have a great weekend. Stay safe and healthy.

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, 

How is your week going?? I hope you're able to find some peace and quiet moments in all this crazy!  For my online parents.. thank you for your patience as I am learning daily! 

Math- We have been working on division with a single digit divisor. Their dividends have varied from 2 to 4 digits. I think we have done enough groundwork to move back into the book. They will continue working on division with single digit divisors for a bit, but not much longer. We are going to move into two digit divisors most likely after Thanksgiving break. I will see how things are going. I have discovered that long division quiets down the kids! Who knew??? 😄

Religion- This week we are working more on the Beatitudes. We read a story about a young saint named Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. He died at the age of 24. He spent his youth having fun, but also doing kind acts of charity. He gave his own shoes to a boy that was at his door. When he graduated from school, he was given the choice of a car or money as a gift. He chose money. Then he gave that money away to help those in need. We are trying to discuss how we can live the Beatitudes on a daily basis. 

The kids did great at mass! Thank you to the 5th graders for being so flexible with getting jobs at the last minute due to kids having to go online! Hopefully we will ALL be together soon! 

Christmas Concert- We are going to tape the program on Monday, the 23rd. The kids should dress in mass clothes that day. We plan on walking to the church unless the weather isn't cooperative. 

Reading- This week we are reading a nonfiction story called Cougars. It is an interesting story. There is much to learn about this animal!  I think the kids were even surprised at some of the facts!  Our grammar this week is on quotation marks. This can be tricky.  We are mostly working on where they belong in a direct address. 

I am not sure we will do reading next week with only two days. When we get back from Thanksgiving we will do the Unit test. I don't like waiting, but I also don't want to cram it into two days. 

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving. I decided to play it safe and not go see my family. The risk is just to great in my opinion. I have plans for reading a good book or two and maybe get some Christmas decorations up! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

Hello Parents! I hope you are all safe and healthy! Hopefully you are having a great week! 

Math- Well, it has been a slow start learning division as I expected it would be. That's okay, I know it is a difficult procedure to figure out. I saw some light bulbs turning on on Tuesday during class. Most of them could walk me through solving a problem! We actually did an entire worksheet today on division! There were a few tough spots, but I heard the kids say, "The more I do it, the more I get it! " YAHOO! 

Reading- This week we are reading a historical fiction story called Storm Warriors. This story takes place in the 1800s in North Carolina. A group of men are assigned the task of saving a crew from their ship that has run aground.  My guess is that this group is really the first of the Coast Guard. Nathan is the main character and is a teenager who wants to join this group, but after witnessing what they must do, he doesn't think he is brave enough to really do it. In the end, his studying of medical books comes in very handy with some of the passengers on the ship.  Spelling- This week their list consists of compound words. Some are two words written together as one ( wildlife), then there are words that have a space in between ( home run), and finally there are words with dashes or hyphens ( up-to-date). Tricky tricky!! They will test over this story on Friday along with their spelling words. 

Book Report Projects are due on Friday! 

Religion- We started a new chapter on the Beatitudes. These are not really rules,but more like guidelines from Jesus. He said this is the way to find true happiness. I talked to the 5th graders about things we find happiness in...they told me... ATV's , video games, sports, dance. We also talked about how we buy new cars, phones, take trips,etc. Those things bring us happiness, but it can be short lived. They will really delve into finding ways we live these Beatitudes.

Christmas Program- We will be recording their songs for the program on November 23. Taping will either happen at the church or in the music room...depending on the weather. We do want the kids to dress up that day as though they would dress up for the actual concert night! Mass day attire! 

Mass- We have our mass next week. Not everyone will get a part due to the limited jobs. 

This the last week of the Read -A- Thon! I hope some of your kids are participating in this! 

The end of the trimester is on Friday. The 2nd trimester will start on Monday. Mrs. Simmons will let you know when our progress reports are done!  Monday will be a clean slate for lateslips! Actually, your kids did really well overall. 

Have a great, but safe weekend! Stay healthy! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 

Hello Parents! Wow, we are actually doing a full week of school! I am not sure we will know what to do on Friday! 😊

Covid-19 Rules-  

FERPA stands for Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. This is very similar to the hospital's HIPAA laws.  I wanted to make sure you knew that I told your kids, I cannot, by law, tell any of them or you if a student in our room or school tests positive for Covid-19. It is natural that they ask me, but I tried to explain that I cannot give them this information. It is the job of Public Health  to contact trace and make notifications to families who are possibly exposed or have tested positive. The numbers are on the rise, there is no doubt about that. Families in our community are being affected. We are continuing our mitigation procedures at STM. Just know that we as teachers cannot give out any information. 

Religion- They have finished a new chapter. This one briefly discusses all 7 sacraments and sanctifying grace. They will be testing over it on Friday. Our class will be in charge of mass on November 18. 

 Book Reports will be due on November 13. I am not sure if we will be able to share all of them on that day, but I will sure try! 

Reading- This week they read a nonfiction story on the Florida Everglades. It is a difficult story to read and comprehend because there are a lot of vocabulary words in it that are difficult. One word that comes to mind is thermoregulation! Say that 5 times fast!  Plus they talk about the animals that live there and the plants that are native to the area. This week in grammar they are working on using conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.  Spelling is homophones! That is always a fun test to give just to see their faces. Ring and Wring! Lesson and Lessen! I did warn them that on the post test I mix them up so they need to pay attention to the sentence.  This is also our third story in the unit. That means they will get a cold read to do. They also have ten more questions. 

Math- Well, I think I have all the tests returned to me. All of them made improvements from their dress rehearsal test. I think next time, they will have to do the chapter review or test prep at home. I started this week with some division worksheets of basic facts. I wasn't letting them use their multiplication tables either just so I could see what they knew about their facts. On Thursday we will do an activity in class with division and remainders. On Friday, I plan to start the standard algorithm with them. They won't have to worry about remainders in that one. We will take it slow. I know this will throw some of them off. That's okay! We will get through it! 

Advent Angels- We weren't sure how to do this this year, but I think we have it figured out! I know this will make the kids really happy! This will start the first week of December. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Sounds like we should all enjoy the warm temps because they will be changing! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Dear Parents, I hope you are doing well. I am putting in a reminder about our plans for conferences. Make sure you look them over. 

Conferences   Tuesday, Oct. 27 3:30-6:00 pm

Thursday, October 29th 1-5pm & 6-9:30pm

• Conferences will last 12 minutes - this allows for time to clean between each visit.

• 1 Parent/guardian may attend (we recommend the other parents/guardians attend via facetime or speaker phone call)

• Teachers will take the temperature of the parent/guardian in attendance

• Masks are required

• To reduce exposure we ask that parents/guardians use the door nearest your child’s classroom door

• We ask that children to not attend

• We will have the Book Fair in the gym on Thursday from 1-9:30.  We ask parents to social distance and sanitize their hands before shopping.

Google Meet Conference - If you would like to attend virtually. Please let the teacher know when you sign up for your conference.

Please contact Mrs. Stoner/Mrs. Taylor and Ms. Lesan by email if you would like to meet with them separately about music or PE.  They can set up a time to chat with you.

Math- We finished the lessons this week. Today and tomorrow they are doing their "dress rehearsal". I am giving them the test to do and they can use their book to help them. We will go over it on Monday and then they will take the exact same test on Tuesday. As I told them, there should be a better score on their Tuesday test. IF they should get everything correct on their dress rehearsal test- they won't take the real one. The goal is to see improvement. I won't kid you though, some of them aren't using their book or their cards I made them on this first run, even though I suggested it. I keep telling them they have access to that tool right now. They should be using it.

Reading- I decided that I would extend this week's story into next week instead of cramming it all into 4 days. I don't know if that was a good decision or not. This means they will test over the story and the spelling words on Monday. They will reread the story again on Monday in class before the test. They are also typing up their Halloween stories. We will share those next week as well. Those will be in the hallway for you to check out at conferences.

Halloween Fun- We won't have the parent parade as usual. The kids should still bring a costume if they can! We are going to dress us. Our parade will be virtual and online! I don't have all the details yet, but I know our 7th and 8th grade filming crew will be putting on the virtual parade. There will be a link for you to watch if you are able ! That will be after 2:00 sometime. We will celebrate in our room with a little party and I have a game planned.

Lunch- today at lunch the kids got to try the new bar code scanner! I think they enjoyed the task of scanning their number into the computer! One of mine said, "It's like we're at Wal-Mart!" 😂

Conferences- Remember it is a 3 hour early out. Lunch will not be served that day.

Mass- I hope you got to see their mass today. They did a great job!

I know tomorrow is supposed to be in the 70s, but back to the 40s on Friday. Enjoy your long weekend. Mrs. Sickels had to show me the forecast for Sunday. I don't want to say what she was showing me. I'm not ready to shovel! 😐

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! I hope you are having a great week! 

Conferences   Thursday, October 29th 1-5pm & 6-9:30pm

• Conferences will last 12 minutes - this allows for time to clean between each visit.

• 1 Parent/guardian may attend (we recommend the other parents/guardians attend via facetime or speaker phone call)

• Teachers will take the temperature of the parent/guardian in attendance

• Masks are required

• To reduce exposure we ask that parents/guardians use the door nearest your child’s classroom door

• We ask that children to not attend

• We will have the Book Fair in the gym on Thursday from 1-9:30.  We ask parents to social distance and sanitize their hands before shopping.

Google Meet Conference - If you would like to attend virtually. Please let the teacher know when you sign up for your conference.

Please contact Mrs. Stoner/Mrs. Taylor and Ms. Lesan by email if you would like to meet with them separately about music or PE.  They can set up a time to chat with you.

I have shared out the Signup genius with you. I am doing them on Tuesday from 3:30-6 and then again on Thursday. Make sure to let me know if you are in person or virtual. I will send you an email link if you want to do it over Google Meet. The conferences will only last about 12 minutes due to Covid and we need to clean between parents. Look over your schedule.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0544A5AA23A2FF2-5thgrade3

Reading- In your child's folder are their scores from out unit test last week. Some were not very good. That isn't a total shock to me. They typically aren't. This is a harder test. They have more stories to read and fewer questions per story to answer. I did warn them before the test to read the story more than once, but as I watched them take the test, I know many did not. We talked about it on Tuesday. I showed them their scores. Some of them were not happy. I told them that was okay. We talked about the amount of effort being put into them, which I think for some of them...wasn't a lot. We will talk at conferences about the tests. I am trying to get them to show more effort into their homework and that grades will matter in middle school and high school.

This week we are reading a story about Kangaroo monkeys. They call them tree 'roos. It is a nonfiction story with a lot of specific vocabulary to the story. No, it's not the most exciting story to read unless you have a love for animals. It is good practice to read though because it reads more like a textbook in social studies or science. The comprehension is different. We are also working on cause and effect situations in the story. On Tuesday, I gave them pretend situations and they had to come up with the different causes and effects of that situation. In grammar we are working on verbs. On Tuesday we focused on action verbs. We will also be talking about helping and linking verbs.

Their rough draft for their Halloween story is due this Friday. I will edit the stories and give them back so they can type up their final draft.

Social Studies- They have been working with Mrs. Sickels daily on writing their rough drafts for their Iowa history town. Wednesday was the last day of working in class. The rough draft is due on Monday. IF they didn't finish in class, they will have to find time to finish it. It's a Google document, so they should be able to access that at home. The final project is due November 2.

Math- We are getting closer to the end of our chapter. This week they learned to write expressions and the word problems for them. They are going to also be learning the order of operations! This is easy for some, but difficult for others. Remember I said this chapter is packed! I give them little cue cards to remind them of the steps.

Spirit Day- This Friday they may wear sweats and or a hat for $1!

Wipes- I am almost out of the wipes you guys gave me plus the ones I still had from last year. I am going to use a spray with paper towels, but if you by chance come across any containers of wipers, could you donate some or let me know where they are so I can buy some?

Art- On Thursday, your kids are going to be painting rocks in the art room. This was an activity we planned last year, but never got to do it because of Covid. I read a couple of books to them about being unique and being your own person rather than being like everyone else. It talked about how it's okay to be unique. The rocks will be painted by all the kids in the school eventually. Once they are done, you will see them outside in the flowerbeds by the steps. I need to take a before and after picture! If they want to pack a paint shirt in their bag-- that is fine with me!

Religion- Their mysteries of the rosary are due on Friday. They will share those in class. I will get them hung up and take a picture for you guys to see too!

Fire Posters- They started working on these in art. Boy, the room was so quiet after they started those! This year they have to focus on the kitchen. They will work on these at school. We will eventually pick the top 3 from grades 3-5. The first place posters will be sent on to the state. We have the kids in 6-8 pick our top 3.

Have a great weekend! Sounds like our weather will be changing. Mrs. Sickels even said something about snow! I am going to pretend I didn't hear that!

God Bless,

Miss Surma ❤

Hello Parents! Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a great week! 

Reading- This week they are doing their unit test. I will send scores home next week. I am also having them write a Halloween story. On Friday, I will read some of my favorite ones that my 5th grade teacher read to my class. They will then write me a rough draft. I will have that written on paper. Once I edit them, the final copy will be typed. I hope to have them up in the hallway. I will post pictures. You will probably get a sneak peek at conferences. Next week, we will start unit 2. That means they will be having a spelling test, etc.  

Religion- At this point I only have 4 kids left who have to pass the Hail Holy Queen prayer. After they have passed we will move on to learning the different mysteries. 

Math- This week we moved on to using the Distributive Property to solve a division problem. I told them they can no longer say... I don't know how to divide. It isn't the standard way, but using multiplication, they are able to solve the problem. It does take a lot to remember the different steps. 

Spirit Day- They have Spirit Days this Friday and next Friday! Sweats and/or hat for $1.

COVID- There were changes made to quarantine last week by Governor Reynolds. Please make sure you looked at last week's S'more from Mrs. Simmons for details. My face shield didn't count as protection, so I have switched to a mask. I did tell the kids we were going to try and wear our masks more in the classroom to protect ourselves because we like being here!  We will take mask breaks throughout the day. 

 I have to be able to tell Mrs. Simmons who is wearing a mask 90% of the time if I had a case in my room for contact tracing purposes. It will be easier if we are all wearing them. Creston is getting more cases. I knew it would happen sooner or later. I want to keep them as safe as I can so that we don't have to go home. It changes every day it seems. This is definitely something I didn't learn at UNI. Thank you for your understanding and support and flexibility with the changes! 

Book IT- Don't forget to record your child's Book It minutes on the calendars I gave your kids.

Conferences- We will be sending out sign ups for conferences on Oct. 29. You will need to let me know if you are in-person or virtual. We will have some rules to follow. That will be put out next week. 

I hope you have a great weekend! Sounds like great weather for October! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! I hope you are having a great week! It sounds like you enjoyed your 3 day weekend last week from what the kids told me! I was able to get to Waterloo to see my niece at her first homecoming. The school didn't have any formal activities due to Covid, but she and her friends made plans! 

Math- We are working on multiplication still. As I check papers, I can see they all have the process down. The mistakes I see are in the multiplication. I keep reminding them to use their assignment book for help with their basic facts. Some do, many do not. Many are having to go back and correct their work. I also see a few not dropping the 0, but not too many. The final mistake I see is they do all the work, but the last step- the addition. I also think a few might be rushing because math is at the end of the day and they don't want homework.  Next week we will be moving on in the chapter. This chapter is pretty lengthy. I believe there are 12 lessons. 

Reading- This week they read a story about a girl named Elisa. She moved from Puerto Rico to the USA as a child. She struggled with speaking English when she arrived, but she could write it easily. She met a boy name Jose who also came to the USA from Guatemala. He could speak it, but not write it. I shared the story with them about my own dad. He moved to the US in 1945 at the end of WWII. He came from Poland and didn't know any English. He learned from watching TV...mostly soap operas. We talked about how today they offer classes or you can learn online.  In grammar they are learning about the different rules to make a noun plural. Again they created a page of rules in their composition book. They can use this on the test on Friday. 

Religion- We finished our cards for the soldiers. I will get those mailed off. October is the month of the rosary. They will say that in class every day or at least a decade. This is my favorite part. The kids do such a great job of being prayerful. They also have to learn the two prayers- The Apostle's Creed and Hail Holy Queen. I gave them a paper to use to study from. On Friday, I will start quizzing them to see if they know it. Once they pass one prayer, they just need to do the other one. Right now, we won't be doing much with the religion book in their desk. 

Friday, October 2 is homecoming for Creston. There is a 3 hour early out. They won't be served lunch here that day. It is a Spirit Day if they'd like to wear sweats or a hat for $1. They can also wear their Panther gear that day  or black and red to support them.

FAST testing is being done. I have the reading completed now. There is a new math test they will do as well. That is all on their computer. 

I have been chatting with the 5th graders about making good choices because we've been having some issues with following the classroom rules- mostly respecting each other.  There is a definite feeling that if you do something and you get "told on"...it is the fault of the person who told.  Some of them have a hard time accepting their part in what happened. I am really trying to get them to be responsible for their own actions and words and understand that what they do or say can affect others feelings, but also their learning. If I have to spend half of my time on discipline..then they are not getting the opportunity to learn like they should. We have to grow into being 5th graders and with that comes more responsibility. 

 I also want you aware that if the water bottle becomes a toy for them-- I do put it on the counter top. They may still get a drink from it, but it no longer sits on their desk. For some it is a huge distraction and they can't seem to do their work. Each day we start fresh and try again. 

October 7- No Mass that day. Father will be gone. The kids do NOT have to dress up that day. We will plan on saying the rosary that day. 

Dreambox- I learned how to assign lessons. Some of the kids go above and beyond the 7 lessons for the week, which I love. I have others who don't even get 5 done, not because it is hard, but because they don't want to . I see the eye rolls when when I say, "Get on Dreambox". 😀 The other reason I am doing this is to close that gap on standards that should be completed by now. I assigned two lessons and they have a week to do them in. If they aren't done, I reassign them. We have to make some ground here due to Covid.  It was kind of funny. When they went in to do them today, I heard a lot of them say, "Wow, I haven't done this one before!" I think it is a good challenge for them! 

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend! If you're going to homecoming pep rally or game...have a great time! I imagine I will be working this weekend,but I hope to get my fall stuff out at my house! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a good week! 

Testing- We started our FAST testing on Tuesday. Today I had a substitute and did another portion of it today. I have to work with each kid individually. We still have one more round in reading to go and then onto the math portion.

Math- We are working on multiplication now. They started with single digits. My plan for Thursday is to multiply by double digits. We have also been working on corrections from a few other math assignments. 

Reading- They are reading a nonfiction story this week. It is about a group of girls from Islip, NY that are part of a jump rope team. They go to competitions to show their skills and stunts. The story works in a time order to show how rough they had it in the beginning and then how they practiced and ended up state champs! We also are working on nouns in grammar. The hard part seems to be remembering that proper nouns are upper cased and common nouns are not. They will have to figure out which sentence is written correctly on the test on Thursday. 

Next week will be the 5th story in this unit. That means the first full week in October will be a unit test. They won't have spelling that week. ( I can almost hear the cheers now as I type this! 😉 ) 

Religion- They did GREAT on their tests! They worked on the mailing labels I told you about a couple of weeks ago. They really came up with some great little messages to write on those!  In art they are working on their Christmas cards for them. Once they are done, I will take some pictures to show you. Then I will put them in the mail to Doon. I know my friend Tracy will be so appreciative. 

Homecoming- Next Friday is Creston's homecoming. It is a 3 hour early out! I don't know if our kids will receive lunch that day or not. I will let you know. They can wear their Creston gear that day! It is also a Spirit Day, so they can wear sweats or a hat for $1. 

Friday, September 25- No School for your kids! The teachers have PD at the high school that day! 

Ala Carte- Remember your kids can buy ala carte now at lunch for 50 cents. 

 Dear Parents, Happy Wednesday or Thursday! (depends on when you read it) 😊

I like this weather much better! We have been able to get outside for recess and doing some classwork! 

Math- We moved onto exponents this week after reviewing the properties again on Monday. Some of the kids really struggle with breaking up a number into 2 numbers. For example 51. I would break that into 50 +1. 107= 100+ 7. They want to do 5 and 1 or 1 and 7. They aren't thinking about their actual values. On Tuesday, I taught them about exponents...we did a bunch together and many of them said, "Oh, this is so easy." That didn't seem to hold true when they had to do the assignment. We did more work on Wednesday with them. That went much better I think. Getting them to multiply by 10s can be tricky. Plus if the exponent was 4, some thought there should be a 4 in their answer. We are also working our way into multiplication. This should be review because I know they did that last year. They may need some extra work on doing double digits  and multiplication. I don't know if they remember to drop that 0 when multiplying in the tens column. 

Religion- They are finishing up their chapter this week. They will do a study guide and right now it looks like the test will be next Monday. I will let you know if that changes. They did great at mass! I heard there were some technical issues for those watching so I am sorry if you missed out. I think the kids did great, but it is very odd only having two grades in there and then the cameras. I told them we had some kinks to work out, but that we can do that at our next mass. 

Reading- This week we read a story about two 5th graders running for class president. They had to give a speech to their class to persuade the votes. Miata gave a very formal speech. She also is planning things that will beautify the school. Rudy was very informal. Rudy wants more recess for the kids and ice cream every day! While the kids liked his choices best, they knew that probably wouldn't happen. Our grammar this week is complete subjects and complete predicate parts of a sentence. This is difficult. Kids just have a hard time finding the verb in a sentence and then are thrown even more if they put an adverb in front of it. They are also working on subject/verb agreement.  They will have their posttest on Friday in spelling. This is our third story in the unit so there will be a cold read they have to do which means 10 more questions. 

FAST testing will be starting up soon! This year they will doing that in reading and math. The math portion is all on their computers. 

No school next Friday. We have PD at the public school that day. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Dear Parents, WOW! Mother Nature has certainly turned around on us! I loved the temps we had on Labor Day! I am not sure I am ready for cold. 

Being Sick or Gone- Parents are asking questions so I thought I would make some clarifications. If you know you are going to be gone ( taking a trip, Beef Expo, etc) please let me know. I will gather homework for them or at least send their books with them. If you have WiFi while you are gone, you can have them join us for class on their Google Classroom. That way they get the instruction. If I know in advance, I can make paper copies to send home as well, but if not, they may have to do work on Google Classroom using KAMI or whatever the teacher uses. IF they join us online, then they don't get counted as absent either ( as long as they are with us for most of the day).  If you are keeping your child home because they are sick or you're getting them tested for Covid, they can still join us for class online and they won't be counted absent. If they are really sick, feeling horrible, puking, high temps, etc... they don't need to be online. They can get the rest they need. I can still pull together homework and have you come pick it up. If it's just a 24 hour flu they can pick up the work when they get back to school. Boy, is that clear as mud? I hope that makes sense. If not, email and ask me. 

I do have a student on vacation right now. I sent her books and some paper copies with her last Friday. She is getting online with each of us during the day to get the instruction. She is taking a break during specials, lunch and recess or if I just tell her...you don't need to be on right now. So  far so good. She emails me with questions on homework.  

Now if you don't have WiFi...then I would just send home the books and copies. We also will do catch up when you get back if we need to. These are definitely strange times! 😀

Reading- We read A Royal Mystery this week. This is actually a play with a mystery involved. The two main characters find out they are really cousins. ( Kind of like Parent Trap) Due to our shortened week, they only had to do 5 vocabulary words.  This week in grammar we are discussing the 4 kinds of sentences there are and how to punctuate them. I reminded them that if they don't punctuate on their worksheets it will be wrong because that is the whole point of the lesson. They will take their post test in spelling on Friday. 

Spirit Day- Friday is a Spirit Day! They can wear sweats or a hat for $1. It was supposed to be the Cy-Hawk game weekend as well. IF they want to wear their favorite team jersey, sweatshirt, t-shirt...go ahead! It doesn't have to be a Cyclone or Hawkeye. Sorry, you will never see me in those. I prefer purple and gold!

Math- So it took me a few days to get through all the corrections. Sometimes, I feel okay about just giving it to them to correct on their own. These first few assignments are a lot. Those were corrections  that I needed to do with them individually. On Wednesday we started working on the different properties in addition and multiplication. Those should really be review for them. The new one is Distributive Property. As I told them, it might stress them out a bit. There is a lot for them to take in and do . This lesson will take a few days to fully cover  as well. I told them for the first test, they will get a "cheat sheet" from me. They can use to remind them of all the different things we cover in this chapter. We are not near a test yet! 

Religion- After we are done with our first chapter, I am going to have the kids in 3-5 help me with a service project.  A friend of my mom's back home has a charity called SALUTE. She sends care packages to military men and women who are serving overseas a couple of times a year. The Christmas ones go out November 15. I am going to have the kids make Christmas cards to put in the packages.  They will also be writing positive notes like "Stay Safe" or "God Bless America" or whatever they come up with on a mailing label. She uses those labels on the ziploc baggies or  items she includes in the packages. I will take pictures and post them so you can see what I am talking about. That should happen in the next couple of weeks. 

I hope everyone enjoys the weekend! I ended up last Saturday watching my niece from Waterloo play soccer in Waukee. It was so nice to see family again! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 

September 2, 2020

 Hello Parents, Well, we are making it through week 2!!  I think we are getting a routine down, but I better not say that too quickly! 

Reading- This week we read a piece from The Wayside School is Falling Down. This story has some great humor and irony in it! The kids say that Mrs. Meisenheimer read them the book in 2nd grade. I think they understand the jokes a little more now that they are older. It cracks me up every time! Our grammar was on the parts of a sentence: simple subject and predicate, fragmented sentences and complete sentences. They will have their post test in spelling on Friday. I give them a list of their words on Mondays (or pretest days) so they can take that home to study their words. If they get 100% on the pretest, they don't have to take the post test on Fridays. 😀 

Math- We started our chapter on Tuesday! The first lesson is about place value and increasing their numbers by 10 or decreasing by 1/10. It was really about being able to multiply and divide mentally by 10. I did show them the pattern of gaining a 0 or losing a 0. We also pretended we were going to the bank to withdraw 1/10 of our savings. For some of the kids that didn't amount to much! Some walked out with $1! Next, we will be working on writing numbers in standard, expanded, and word form. They also have to be able to write the value of a digit in a number. For example: 2,876. The value of the 8 is 800. 

Religion- Their first activity was finding Bible verses and their titles. I created it on Google Slides for them to do. That took me a few times to get it assigned correctly! Our first chapter is on creation. We will have our mass with 4th grade in 2 weeks on Sept. 16. You can join us on the link on YouTube. There won't be as many people with jobs because we don't have all the normal jobs anymore. 

Picture Day is TOMORROW! 📸

No School on Monday! Labor Day! Enjoy the long weekend! 

Social Studies- I know they walked to the post office on Tuesday with Mrs. Sickels. They mailed their letters to their towns in Iowa. You will probably be getting some mail in the coming weeks! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy the long one! I will probably stick around and be here one day doing some work. 😃

God Bless,

Miss Surma

August 27, 2020

 Hello Parents!  I hope you are having a good week! We are certainly working on getting used to our new routines. The heat is not helping us have outdoor classes this week! Maybe next week! 

Chromes- We got on the Chromebooks on Tuesday. That was a deal for some of them. I love technology...when it works! 😉 They are in their Google Classrooms now. So we will be posting assignments there as well. We don't want them to forget...just in case! They will be doing lessons in Dreambox as well. We just haven't gotten there yet. 

Reading- On Wednesday, they took a pretest in spelling. It is just to show me how they are as "spellers".  They will also be taking a pretest in reading on Thursday and Friday if needed. That just shows me areas they may need work in or things they understand really well.  Next week we will start in our book with a story and a spelling test. I will shorten lists from pretest to post test if I see your child struggles with spelling. But...if you want them or they want to do all 20 words on the posttest no matter what, just let me know. 

Google Slides- On Wednesday, I got them into their Google Classrooms and they did an assignment using the Google Slides. It was really just for fun. I just want them to practice using those.  They will also be doing a religion assignment on Google slides this week. 

Math- They will take a pretest just to show me what they know in math. It will probably take a couple of days. Next week we will start in the book with chapter one. We start with place value and multiplication. 

Spirit Day is on Friday! It's definitely too hot for sweats. If they would like to wear a hat for $1, they certainly may! 

Covid- The kids are being really good about wearing their masks when we need them too. Lunch is running pretty smoothly for our group! I just have to remind them in the room that the mask is on or the shield is up. Many are choosing the mask and no shield, which is totally fine! Recess and in the morning is the hardest. They still want to be right next to each other. That habit is going to be the harder one to break. 

Picture Day is on September 3. That is next Thursday! You will get their picture order form in their Take Home Folder. 

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! It sounds like we might get some cooler temps! Yay! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

Dear Parents, This is my final blog for our year. It is hard to believe. It will be just a few things.


Monday, May 25- All late work is due- that would also mean any reading or math they didn't get done on Friday
Tuesday, May 26- Any science and religion will be due that hasn't been turned in yet. 
Wednesday, May 27- Social Studies is due
Thursday, May 28- Pick up supplies. Mrs. Simmons put out a sign up sheet. I hope you picked your time. 

That's it. I am putting a little something special in their pick up bags.


I hope you know that while this was not my favorite way of  teaching your children, we did it! I so wish we could have been back in the classroom. I am trying NOT to think about the things we didn't get to do. Your kids are all awesome! I love every one of them!!!! This has not been an easy time for any of us, but thank you so much for your support and understanding. That means a great deal to me too. I also know I am done with some of you because it is your youngest. UGH! Thank you for sending your kids to our school. Thank you for entrusting me with them for the year. Thank you for letting me spend this time with them and hopefully given them some new information, but also some new memories. They will always be my Covid class!  ( Not sure if that is a good thing or not, but that is part of our memories I guess).


They told me their hopes for after Covid-19... I hope they get to see them come true!  Have a wonderful summer. Hopefully it will feel more normal than our spring. I know I can't give your kids hugs right now, so please give them a squeeze from me!
God Bless,
Miss Surma

Hello Parents, First, thank you so much for that awesome poster you created with your kids! I absolutely love it! It made my day!!! ❤❤❤


Reading- Book Report Slides are due on Monday morning by 9 am. We also will be meeting that day . They need to come dressed in their costume and be ready to share 5 facts about their person. I am loving the pictures you guys are sending me! They are so cute! Cute might not be the right word...but I love them. My niece is making a video of them. I chose a song to be used. You CANNOT share the video publicly. I don't have copyright permission. This is just for you to enjoy. I won't be posting it on our Facebook page. I will email you the video once I have it.  Again, please don't post it anywhere. 

Photos are due this Friday. Thanks again! 


Math- Well, I have discovered that teaching fractions this way is not my cup of tea. Some of your kids are struggling. Part of the problem is that they aren't watching the videos and just do the work, they watch it one time and think they understand, or they are just googling the answers and not learning the process. I am thankful they at least admit these things to me. 
The biggest is watching the video one time and thinking they understand. They need to watch a few times and practice because they are having to redo a lot of assignments OR we are sitting on the phone together to get it done correctly. I don't mind the phone calls, I really don't, but I think if they would watch videos more than once, things might be a little better. If we were at school, I'd stamp their work with a stamp that says, "Did with teacher". I will probably mark that on their assignments online from now on. I know we don't have a lot of time left but they will have a lot more paper work they have to do in order to get their answers because I am going to continue moving on. It will require more work from them. 
(Adding fractions with unlike denominators) That work will have to be shown to me.  If they are really struggling, please have them call me and we will walk through it together.

Religion- This week they read the story of Saul and how he became blind, but could then see and changed his name to Paul. We will also be talking about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit as well as the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Next Wednesday will be the final religion assignment. 

May 22, 2020- This is the last day we will give assignments. 

May 28, 2020- This will be the day you can come pick up your child's belongings as  well as turn in any library books or chromes you've been using during this time. Mrs. Simmons will put out a plan for that day and how we will do the pick up. It might look a little like that day in March. 

Moms- I hope you all had a great Mother's Day! My trip back home was great...even if it was 8 hours in a car. 

I hope you have a great weekend! 
God Bless,
Miss Surma

Hello Parents, How are you doing this week? I hope everyone is well. The weather is a tad cooler this week. Looking ahead...we really only have 2 weeks left.

Religion- The Google slides last week were really good. I am excited to see what they do in reading!
This week is their lesson on Maria Goretti.

Math- We moved on to being able to compare fractions this week. We are also going to work on comparing mixed numbers.  Once we have that we will move on to adding and subtracting fractions.

Reading - I have seen everyone's notes now! They should be working on their slides now. I posted instructions and emailed them to them. Don't forget to take a picture of your child in their costume and send to me by May 15. You can just have them stand there in it or give it some life... Dolly Parton could be singing in a mic, Michael Jordan might be shooting hoops, Amelia could be flying...maybe not the crashing :) , Bill Gates could be working at his computer, Anne might be writing in her journal , Thomas Jefferson might be taking his oath of office or signing the Declaration! Tim might be scoring a goal! Josie could be riding her horse! Tara...studying or writing her book. Lafayette might be heading into battle! Jackie Kennedy might be writing or waving to people in a parade... again..not the shooting. Babe Ruth might be at batting practice or working on a farm. Stan Lee could be drawing a new comic.
Either email or text me the picture. Thanks! 

Slides are due on May 18. They will need to be in costume during our Google meet on May 18.


On their daily work I am being really picky on writing in complete sentences. Some could put more effort into their answers, especially when it asks them how they know. They really should be giving me as many details as possible. This is not all 5th graders...just some of them.  They usually have to correct if they get docked too many points.

Science- this will be due on Monday. Some are having a hard time completing the assignment. They do part of it but not all. Mrs. Burg is sending them back to finish.

Social Studies - the new assignment comes out tomorrow (Thursday). It will be due next Wednesday. I know she was waiting for some things to be turned in today (they were due at 3:00 today)


Mother's Day- I hope all of you Moms get spoiled by your kids this weekend! I know you deserve it. Hopefully you are able to celebrate in some way. My mom was my best friend...know that your kids love you more than anything!  I plan on keeping my normal plans for the day- I am going to drive home on Sunday. I create a flower box that stays with my parents in the cemetery from spring until late fall. Each year, I have a theme or reason for the flowers. This year, I asked my nieces and nephews their favorite colors. I bought silk flowers in those colors and added Mom and Dad's favorites as well. I always put them out on Mother's Day weekend. I will do that on Sunday and drive back to Creston. Yes, it will be a lot of car time, but totally worth it for me. No place I'd rather be. Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

God Bless,
Miss Surma

Hello Parents,

Religion- The Google slides are due this Friday. Many of your kids have let me know they are already done. No "turn in" button when we do the slides. 

Reading- The making inferences worksheet on Tuesday was much better overall from all of them! Complete sentences! Capitalization! Punctuation and they showed real proof from the story! Now, most of them were like that. Some still need to work on that one.  Tuesday's main idea isn't looking too bad. Some are missing a point because they don't explain their answer fully. 

Book Report Notes are due on Monday. I sent them instructions on the final project. I also sent them to you just so you would know.  There is also homework for you.... creating a costume and sending me a picture of them in it by May 15. Thank you! 


Math- I so wish we were in the classroom. This week's work would be a lot easier for them, you and me. I am trying to get them to create simplified fractions by dividing by the biggest factor they both share. The biggest problem I have seen is that they leave it as an even number over an even number...which can be made smaller. 

On Monday, at 9 am I will meet with them on Google Meet again. 

Can you believe that Friday is May 1?  I can't believe we haven't been in school since mid March....it is just so weird. 

Thanks again for all your help! I hope you enjoy the weekend. I am anxious to see Father's Christmas display Saturday night by school! That will be fun! 

God Bless,
Miss Surma

Hi Parents,

Math- we have moved on to equivalent fractions. Most of them look to be doing okay on this. Next week we will move on to finding the Greatest Common Factor of a set a of numbers. This will lead us into simplifying fractions.

They need to remember to get on Dreambox and do their 7 lessons as well. I see that some haven't gotten on at all this week. 

Reading- I am continuing to work on reading comprehension skills by focusing on making inferences. This week I added finding the main idea. The biggest problem I see is having them write in complete sentences, remembering to punctuate and capitalize. The other thing both of these require is showing me proof from the story as to why it is true or false or why they think that way.  They can't just say....it said so in the story.

They should also be working on their book report book and notes. The notes will be due on May 4 to me. I want to go through them a little bit to make sure I don't have any questions before they create their project. I think we will use the Google Slides for this. They are getting some good practice in right now with religion.

Religion- They should be creating their 8 slides for the Spiritual Works of Mercy . Those will be due to me on May 1. I posted a video on their Google Classroom to make sure they know how to insert pictures.

Thanks again for being patient as we all learn this new of teaching and using online services!
Give your kids a hug from me! I miss them. Let me know if they need my help!

It was great to see so many at the parade on Monday! Loved seeing all of your faces again! 😃

Have a great weekend! Enjoy this beautiful weather! Is Father Adam blessing your house? He is blessing mine on Saturday.

Stay healthy ❤ Stay home.

God Bless,
Miss Surma

Hello Parents! Well, I hope you are all doing well. Isn't this just a crazy life we are living these days???


Thank you for being patient, especially this week! I know that Moby Max on Wednesday was a pain for some of your kids! I am still trying to figure out what happened.

I think we are figuring out KAMI between reading, math, and science. They just need to remember that most times they need to use the TEXT box, not the drawing.

In math-- we are working on fractions. I am just trying to see where they are with it. Some of them have done this with Dreambox so they are a step ahead. That's okay! If I see a lot of errors, I am sending it back to them to correct. I will re score it. Just like doing corrections at schools.

In reading they are working on making inferences. That is what they were supposed to do on Moby Max. I did see that some of the kids were missing questions but only spent 45 seconds on it...so I am not sure they are really reading the story or the question. They will do more of that on Thursday, but this time they need to write out their answers.

Religion- We are just starting to work on the Spiritual Works of Mercy. We will do more with that in our Google Hangout on Monday morning at 9 am.

The one thing I am noticing is that they aren't reading the instructions we post with the assignment. So they either don't do it all or do it incorrectly.

They also need to pay attention to the SCROLL on their Google Classroom pages. Many ask questions that have been answered  and then someone repeats the same question. Hey wait...that is kind of like in the classroom too! LOL

Thank you for the quick response to the T-shirt order. I have them all and turned it in to Mrs. Stoner.

Again, thank you! For your support and patience! I hope this hasn't created too many headaches at home, but I understand. I feel like I am at my computer all day and into the evening. We will get through this, but I am praying for May 1!!!

Drive-by Parade is set for Thursday, April 16 from 3-4. Come down Clark Street from Elm St. Now, I see the weather forecast...so I guess don't be surprised if we postpone it. 

Please give your kids a hug from me! Tell them I miss them! I will see them Monday morning at 9 am.
Stay safe. Stay home. Stay well!
God Bless,
Miss Surma

Dear Parents,  WOW! I am loving this weather! It was great to see so many of you at the auction on Saturday. I hope everyone had a great time.


Spirit Day- We are moving this to Thursday since we are going to the Civic Center on Friday. They can wear sweats on Thursday for $1. K-2 will have their Spirit Day on Friday.



Field Trip- I told them to wear jeans on Friday. No shorts. They will also need a sack lunch and drink for the trip. I don't care if they have their devices for the bus ride. We do not allow anything that can use data to access the internet. All devices will stay on the bus while we are in the Civics Center. We will return by bus time. 

8:11 AM (7 hours ago)

Shorts- I told them that we are now in March and while the dress code says we can wear shorts, it doesn't mean we should. I reminded them that high of the day doesn't really occur until they are going home. Their recesses could still be cold or chilly. 

Math- This week they worked mostly on dividing decimals by decimals, but we also added zeros into our dividend.  We will be finishing up our lessons in the chapter this week. That means they will take a test before spring break. When we return from break we will begin with fractions.

Reading- This week they read a story about a boy who was trying to get his community to change an old basketball court  by his school into a community garden with focusing on helping the homeless. He had to attend the city council meeting to plead his case. He didn't win there. They voted on turning it into a parking lot for the teachers.  In the end , someone else from the town decided there was another location that would work for the garden...so he did win in a way. Plus, he gets to write another article for the town's newspaper. In grammar we are focusing on  indefinite and possessive pronouns. They will test over this tomorrow (Thursday) since we are gone on Friday.  Next week will most likely be the same since we only have 4 days.

Last week they learned to write haikus and cinquains. This week they picked one and typed it for me. They will be posted in the hallway during conferences so you can check them out!

Book Fair will be next week during conferences! 

Tomorrow the 5th graders will be taking the ACRE test. It is a standardized religion test. The 5th graders and 8th graders take it. This year we are trying it online! This is a test to see what they have learned over their time here about our Catholic faith. It is multiple choice.

March 30-Apr. 3 will be Iowa Assessments

I will see you next week for conferences! Have a good weekend! Enjoy the nice temps again! Don't forget to spring forward on your clock! 

God Bless, 
Miss Surma