Dear Parents, Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a good week.
Religion- They made their Lenten promises this week. You probably need to ask them so you know at home what they are doing or giving up. We celebrated Fat Tuesday with donuts made by the 4th graders. A fun tradition! We are also starting a Lenten chapter in class. They will begin Lenten angels next week.
Math- We are working on dividing decimals by whole numbers. It was funny to hear them say, "Well, this is easy." I reminded them that they already know how to divide! The trick is now remembering where to put the decimal. They may change their minds a little bit when we start to divide decimals by decimals! I don't think that will change their opinion too much though.
Conferences- If you haven't signed up for a time, please do!
Reading-This week they read a nonfiction story by Peg Kehret. I have some of her books on my shelf. She writes a great mystery! This one was about her start as a writer and she had her own dog newspaper. It didn't last long. She couldn't seem to keep the audience interested with stories about her dog or the neighborhood dogs. The 5th graders agreed...there wouldn't be much to tell. They are also working with prepositions in grammar. They are finding the prepositional phrases and combining sentences using a prepositional phrase. They are also working on finding a fact or an opinion in our story.
Field Trip to Des Moines- We leave next Friday for our visit to the Civic Center. The students will need a sack lunch and drink that day. We will be back by 2:30 so they will make the bus home. I have a couple of students who still need to pay their $5.
Auction- I hope to see some of you at the auction/dinner on Saturday.
This seems like a short letter. I really can't think of anything else, but I am probably forgetting something!
Have a great weekend! Sounds like our temps will be nice again!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Hello Parents! I hope you are having a great week! It feels weird not having school on a Wednesday. Our PD day started at the high school with an excellent speaker! He is a superintendent in Wisconsin. He was highly motivating and great at making us all feel good for our career choice! He also just kept telling us to promote what we do at our schools. I think we do a pretty good job of that!
Reading- This week we are reading a science fiction story called LAFFF. It is about a girl who travels forward in time using her neighbor's time machine. The story has a great twist! I love reading it aloud the first time because their faces at the end are always classic! Lots of disbelief! This week in grammar we are working on adverbs. These are a little harder than adjectives because now they have to find the verb to figure out what is being described. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all of them. They will test over this story and the spelling words on Friday
Math- This week they began dividing decimals by whole numbers and decimals using a calculator. On Tuesday and Thursday, they worked in small groups to divide decimals by whole numbers. They weren't doing the process on paper. They had to use Base 10 blocks. The beginning is always a trial and error, but once they get it into their heads that they can trade ones for tenths or tenths for hundredths...the process becomes easier and more fun. Plus, who doesn't like playing with blocks??? They will learn the same process on paper...back to divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, but this time they will have to have a decimal in their answer.
Religion- This week Friday they will be testing over our current chapter. The focus has been baptism and confirmation. Next week we will be preparing for our mass. They will get their parts on Friday so they can practice. This is a bigger mass because it is Ash Wednesday mass. There will be two readings from the students. They will also be receiving their ashes. Next week they will also be making their Lenten promises. If it is something big they want to give up, I usually make sure they get the okay from you. I remind them that if they are giving up something...it shouldn't bother their family or friends. By that I mean, they shouldn't make others miserable because they gave up a favorite TV show or snack or drink,etc.
Spirit Day this Friday! They can wear sweats for $1!!!
Auction/ Dinner-- This is just around the corner! February 29th! You can get your dinner tickets in the office! They are also doing online bidding on select items this year...if you cannot be there in person!
http://events.handbid.com/auctions/st-malachy-school-aucton
Dustin Baird took the picture of the 5th graders for us! Sarah Lane and I got the picture ordered. Thank you, Merry Driskell for helping us out while you were in the office! :) Thank you for making sure your child had on blue!!!
New trimester begins on Monday!!!! That means the late slip record is clean!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Reading- This week we are reading a science fiction story called LAFFF. It is about a girl who travels forward in time using her neighbor's time machine. The story has a great twist! I love reading it aloud the first time because their faces at the end are always classic! Lots of disbelief! This week in grammar we are working on adverbs. These are a little harder than adjectives because now they have to find the verb to figure out what is being described. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all of them. They will test over this story and the spelling words on Friday
Math- This week they began dividing decimals by whole numbers and decimals using a calculator. On Tuesday and Thursday, they worked in small groups to divide decimals by whole numbers. They weren't doing the process on paper. They had to use Base 10 blocks. The beginning is always a trial and error, but once they get it into their heads that they can trade ones for tenths or tenths for hundredths...the process becomes easier and more fun. Plus, who doesn't like playing with blocks??? They will learn the same process on paper...back to divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, but this time they will have to have a decimal in their answer.
Religion- This week Friday they will be testing over our current chapter. The focus has been baptism and confirmation. Next week we will be preparing for our mass. They will get their parts on Friday so they can practice. This is a bigger mass because it is Ash Wednesday mass. There will be two readings from the students. They will also be receiving their ashes. Next week they will also be making their Lenten promises. If it is something big they want to give up, I usually make sure they get the okay from you. I remind them that if they are giving up something...it shouldn't bother their family or friends. By that I mean, they shouldn't make others miserable because they gave up a favorite TV show or snack or drink,etc.
Spirit Day this Friday! They can wear sweats for $1!!!
Auction/ Dinner-- This is just around the corner! February 29th! You can get your dinner tickets in the office! They are also doing online bidding on select items this year...if you cannot be there in person!
http://events.handbid.com/auctions/st-malachy-school-aucton
Dustin Baird took the picture of the 5th graders for us! Sarah Lane and I got the picture ordered. Thank you, Merry Driskell for helping us out while you were in the office! :) Thank you for making sure your child had on blue!!!
New trimester begins on Monday!!!! That means the late slip record is clean!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Dear Parents, I hope you're having a good week!
Auction Donations are due on Friday! Please do what you can to help. I have received a few more! Thanks so much!
Math- On Tuesday, the 5th graders worked on their "dress rehearsal" of the math test for chapter 4. Most of the errors were because they put their decimals in the wrong place. The real test is tomorrow (Thursday). I did have one student not miss any on the dress rehearsal...so I told them it is like a pretest in spelling. If you ace it, you don't retake it! Their next chapter will be on dividing decimals... I can almost hear the groan now.
Reading- This week we read an excerpt from the book Lunch Money. It is about a kid named Greg who creates his own comic books and they are about the size of a credit card. He is trying to sell them at his school for $0.25. He even goes over his 10 step process. In grammar we are learning about adjectives that answer how many? what kind? which one? and origin? We also worked on linking verbs that connect the adjective to the noun. On Thursday we will focus on the articles: a, an, and the.
They will test over the story on Friday.
Religion- We are nearing the end of our chapter. They will be testing soon!
The 5th graders will be working at the Food Pantry on Friday. It is NOT a Spirit Day.
Valentine's Day- We will celebrate Valentine's Day whenever we get back from the Food Pantry on Friday. If they are bringing in Valentines, they should bring them that morning.
Silent Auction- Sarah Lane and I are working on getting a picture taken of the kids early next week. We haven't fully decided on the details, but we may be asking your child to wear a blue shirt of any shade.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! It looks like if we can make it through Wednesday and Thursday temps...we will be good!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Auction Donations are due on Friday! Please do what you can to help. I have received a few more! Thanks so much!
Math- On Tuesday, the 5th graders worked on their "dress rehearsal" of the math test for chapter 4. Most of the errors were because they put their decimals in the wrong place. The real test is tomorrow (Thursday). I did have one student not miss any on the dress rehearsal...so I told them it is like a pretest in spelling. If you ace it, you don't retake it! Their next chapter will be on dividing decimals... I can almost hear the groan now.
Reading- This week we read an excerpt from the book Lunch Money. It is about a kid named Greg who creates his own comic books and they are about the size of a credit card. He is trying to sell them at his school for $0.25. He even goes over his 10 step process. In grammar we are learning about adjectives that answer how many? what kind? which one? and origin? We also worked on linking verbs that connect the adjective to the noun. On Thursday we will focus on the articles: a, an, and the.
They will test over the story on Friday.
Religion- We are nearing the end of our chapter. They will be testing soon!
The 5th graders will be working at the Food Pantry on Friday. It is NOT a Spirit Day.
Valentine's Day- We will celebrate Valentine's Day whenever we get back from the Food Pantry on Friday. If they are bringing in Valentines, they should bring them that morning.
Silent Auction- Sarah Lane and I are working on getting a picture taken of the kids early next week. We haven't fully decided on the details, but we may be asking your child to wear a blue shirt of any shade.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! It looks like if we can make it through Wednesday and Thursday temps...we will be good!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Dear Parents, While I love CSW, it is really nice to be back in a routine! I think they had a great week last week. Everyone seemed to enjoy the activities and dress up days!
Auction- I sent home a paper last week in the folders. I am doing it again this week. Our 4th and 5th grade basket needs donations to be successful at the auction. Please do what you can. I know Mrs. Sickels has received a few things from her 4th graders, but I have only gotten one. Donations are due by next Friday, February 14. You can donate money or an item. Please do what you can to help out!
Math- We are now multiplying decimals times decimals! This chapter is pretty short. We should be looking at a test next week sometime. Our next one will be dividing decimals! I am not sure they will be excited about doing that one though!
Reading- This week they took their Unit 3 test. Next week we will begin a new story with spelling words. I will send their scores from this week's test home next week in their folders. Their essays on their Revolutionary War people are finished! They will share them with the class on Friday. I hope to hang them outside in our hallway so that others can read them!
Religion- Our chapter is on the Sacraments of Initiation with the focus being more on confirmation. The way the chapter talks about it ...is for when kids or adults are getting confirmed during the Easter Vigil mass. One thing we do talk about is picking your saint's name. The Catholic kids won't do that really until they are sophomores in high school. I did have them pick a saint to research. They are finding facts about them, but they also have to come up with ways they want to resemble that saint in their daily life. They have chosen some saints that I have not heard of so I am excited to learn about them.
Spirit Day is this Friday, February 7! $1 for sweats!
Valentine's Day- We will celebrate at the end of the day on the 14th. We work at the Food Pantry that afternoon. I don't need any treats brought in. I take care of that... part of my treat to them. If your child is going to pass out treats, just make sure they do all the kids in the classroom. We will decorate bags next week in art class. We won't pass them out until that day, so they don't need to bring them in any earlier than Friday of next week.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I guess we probably won't get the nice temps like last weekend.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Auction- I sent home a paper last week in the folders. I am doing it again this week. Our 4th and 5th grade basket needs donations to be successful at the auction. Please do what you can. I know Mrs. Sickels has received a few things from her 4th graders, but I have only gotten one. Donations are due by next Friday, February 14. You can donate money or an item. Please do what you can to help out!
Math- We are now multiplying decimals times decimals! This chapter is pretty short. We should be looking at a test next week sometime. Our next one will be dividing decimals! I am not sure they will be excited about doing that one though!
Reading- This week they took their Unit 3 test. Next week we will begin a new story with spelling words. I will send their scores from this week's test home next week in their folders. Their essays on their Revolutionary War people are finished! They will share them with the class on Friday. I hope to hang them outside in our hallway so that others can read them!
Religion- Our chapter is on the Sacraments of Initiation with the focus being more on confirmation. The way the chapter talks about it ...is for when kids or adults are getting confirmed during the Easter Vigil mass. One thing we do talk about is picking your saint's name. The Catholic kids won't do that really until they are sophomores in high school. I did have them pick a saint to research. They are finding facts about them, but they also have to come up with ways they want to resemble that saint in their daily life. They have chosen some saints that I have not heard of so I am excited to learn about them.
Spirit Day is this Friday, February 7! $1 for sweats!
Valentine's Day- We will celebrate at the end of the day on the 14th. We work at the Food Pantry that afternoon. I don't need any treats brought in. I take care of that... part of my treat to them. If your child is going to pass out treats, just make sure they do all the kids in the classroom. We will decorate bags next week in art class. We won't pass them out until that day, so they don't need to bring them in any earlier than Friday of next week.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I guess we probably won't get the nice temps like last weekend.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
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