Dear Parents, I hope this week has been running smoothly for you! Hold on...just a few more days until Christmas break! That's what I keep telling myself! They did a great job singing at the church! Steve was there filming so keep an out for the video! 

 Important Dates: 

Dec. 17- Spirit Day

Dec. 21- Wear your Ugly Christmas Sweater

Dec. 22- Mass with Bishop Joensen/ Sack Lunch Day

Dec. 23- Jan. 4. Christmas Break

Jan. 5- Classes Resume

Dress Up Days-

Tuesday- Ugly Christmas Sweater

Wednesday- Dress up for Mass with the bishop and wear red or green if you can! 

Reading- This week we read the story called Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? If you have watched Hamilton, you've seen King George sing. His lyrics kind of portray a man that sounded a little crazy. In fact, when he was 50 he had a horrible illness that affected his brain. Back then they thought he was crazy. He wasn't. It was due to his illness. He thought he was making great decisions for his country and that the American colonists were just being stubborn kids. In grammar we are working on the proper tenses of verbs- present, past, and future.  They will have their reading and spelling test this Friday. 

With only three days next week, I don't plan on doing another story. We will work on writing our Harris Burdick stories.  I will also be assigning the next book report. I will go over that with them and have them choose their book. I am doing this before break, in case they want to start reading it! The project will be due on February 4.

Math- They are beginning to multiply whole numbers and decimals. They are also multiplying by 10s, 100s, and 1000 to see how the decimal moves each time.  The process is the same, this time it is all about dropping the decimal in the answer. 

Religion- On Monday, I stopped our religion work and we prayed the rosary for the people suffering from the tornadoes last weekend. I told them this was something we could do for them from Iowa.  We are finishing up our Advent chapter. Our next chapter will be covering the Beatitudes. They don't have to memorize them, but we do get into an indepth conversation about how we should be living them every day.  We talk about how finding true happiness is by living these- happiness in money, things, power, etc. is only short term because we usually want the "next best thing". 

Spirit Day this Friday, December 17- sweats for $1!

They will need a sack lunch on Wednesday, December 22. They will be eating with their Advent Angel and then we will sing Christmas carols in the gym.  If they are buying their angel a gift, that is usually when they give them. 

We will have some fun in the afternoon on the 22nd in our room. I haven't got it fully planned yet, but we may watch a movie or play some games or maybe both! 

Thank you for the gifts for the nursing homes! Our tables are getting fuller every day! Thank you for the help with noisy change collection as well! 

I won't write a blog next week so I am going to wish you a very Merry Christmas now! I hope your holidays are packed with family and fun and are as stress-free as possible! May 2022 bring all of you joy and happiness!  I will be traveling to Waterloo for Christmas with my brother Joe and his family. I am sure my sister Penny will be there as well. Penny and I maybe traveling to Arkansas during Christmas break to see her mother-in-law. 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

Dear Parents, Well, the temperatures this week definitely remind us that we are in the month of December! I hope everyone is having a great week! 

 Important Dates: 

Dec. 15-Lunch/Singing at church

Dec. 19- Spirit Day

Dec. 21- Wear your Ugly Christmas Sweater

Dec. 22- 4th/5th Mass with Bishop Joensen, wear mass clothes and Red or Green if you have it! 

Dec. 23- Jan. 4. Christmas Break

Jan. 5- Classes Resume

Reading- This week they are reading a story called Dangerous Crossing. It is a historical fiction story about John Adams traveling by ship to France three years into the Revolutionary War.  We hear about the adventure from him and his young son Johnny. While the story is fiction, John did travel to France to try and get help for the Americans during the war.  The spelling this week has a VCCV pattern. Have your kids explain that one! It was funny on Monday, they were actually trying to make sure they saw the pattern in each word during their pretest. I think that was a first!  In grammar we are working on replacing nouns with pronouns! 

Unit test scores are in their folders. They are much better than Unit 1, but I am not surprised! Benchmark test scores are typically lower. They did a great job! 

Math- Test scores were really good! I was wrong. Our next chapter is multiplying decimals! Division gets to be put off a little longer! 

Religion- They went to confession on Monday. One of them said, "Well, that was refreshing!" That's exactly how they should feel afterwards! We are in our Advent chapter now. We also have discussed the church calendar and gone over the seasons of the church. We also went over the holy days of obligation. 

Dress Up Days for Christmas-

Tuesday, Dec. 21- Wear your Ugly Christmas Sweater Day! 🎄

Wednesday, Dec. 22-Dress up in your Sunday Best while showing off your Christmas spirit by wearing Red/ Green ! Bishop Joensen will be at this mass! ❤

Donations for the Nursing Home- Please send your donations in ASAP. I think all items need to be in by the 14th.  If you haven't signed up yet, there are still women to buy for! 

Just a reminder that on the 15th, the 5th graders will go to the church and sing for the ladies and have lunch with them! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I heard snow is in the forecast for my hometown of Doon! (I'm okay if they keep it)

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

Dear Parents, I hope everyone had a great holiday! I spent it in Waverly with my sister Penny. We went to her daughter's house for dinner! I got to play with my great nieces!  December is going to be packed with activities and I know it will fly! 

Important Dates: 

Dec. 3- Spirit Day

Dec.8- Noisy Change Collection at mass/ Christmas Concert 5:30 pm at high school

Dec. 15-Lunch/Singing at church

Dec. 19- Spirit Day

Dec. 21- Wear your Ugly Christmas Sweater

Dec. 22- 4th/5th Mass with Bishop Joensen, wear mass clothes and Red or Green if you have it! 

Dec. 23- Jan. 4. Christmas Break

Jan. 5- Classes Resume

Reading- This week they are taking their Unit 2 test. I will send home scores next week in their Take Home Folders. We will also start Unit 3- my favorite! We will be reading stories about people who were involved in some way with the Revolutionary War. The first story is about John Adams and his son. This is also the time I will be breaking out the music to Hamilton. The spelling tests will return next week! 

Math- We are finishing up our chapter on multiplication this week! They will test over it next week! 

Religion- The test is on Thursday. I will move into Advent next!  Please check your folders for the flyer about the Christmas party at church on December 19. The hope is to get more families and kids to return to church. It sounds like a great time for you and your kids! 

Reconciliation- Father Adam will be listening to confessions on Monday for kids in grades 3-8. 

Christmas Concert- The concert is Wednesday, December 8 at 5:30 at the high school.  The kids should wear mass attire. There is a permission form in your child's folder  for us to take them to the high school to practice. Please sign and return ASAP. 

By the way, next Wednesday is also the holy day the Immaculate Conception. Mass will be at church at 7pm. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I really wish these warmer temperatures would stick around, but I also like a white Christmas! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Dear Parents, I hope you are having a great week! I can't believe we only have a couple of days next week and are celebrating Thanksgiving next week! 

Important Dates: 

Nov. 18- PTO Meeting

Nov. 19- Spirit Day/ Sweats for $1

Nov. 24-26 Thanksgiving Break/ No School

Nov. 28- First Sunday of Advent

Nov. 29- No School/ PD Day

Dec. 15-Lunch/Singing at church

Reading- This week they are reading an informational article called Cougars.  We learned about the different names of them and the different places they live. They got their rulers out to figure out the length of the tail. In grammar they are working on quotation marks. This is the last story in our unit. When we get back from Thanksgiving, they will take the Unit 2 test. I don't want to try and get it done in two days next week. I also have a feeling they will be a little too excited for their break and maybe not focused the best. The next unit is all about people from the Revolutionary War. This is when I will introduce them to the Hamilton music as well!! 

Math- They are getting closer to finishing up this chapter on multiplication. They won't test until after Thanksgiving.  They know the process, but some are making errors in their adding and some aren't copying problems down correctly when showing their work on other paper. 

College Project- Payton Burg ( Mrs. Burg's daughter)  is creating a video for one of her college classes at IOWA. She is going to film the 5th graders next week in a play. She has created a permission slip for you to sign. It is in your child's take home folder. Please fill it out and return by Monday!  I don't know the amount of time it will take, but I decided not to do a story or testing in reading due to this project.  I have made copies of the script for the kids. Most of them don't really have lines, but they will appear in the scenes. They should look those over this weekend. 

Coin Wars- We are participating in Coin Wars with the high school FBLA. The kids can start bringing in any money they'd like to donate on Tuesday, November 30th. The class with the highest total will win prizes. I believe they told us a Pizza Party- 1st place, Cupcake or Cookie Party- 2nd place, and a Sucker party for 3rd place. This will run to December 3. 

Christmas Concert- Mark your calendar for December 8! They will have a concert at the high school that evening! 

Advent begins the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The kids will be doing activities with Advent Angels. I know there will be a couple of Noisy Change Collections at mass for the Adopted Family. 

Just a reminder, we only have school next Monday and Tuesday. Then you have Thanksgiving break which will include the Monday after! We will have a PD Day that day. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving next week! Enjoy your family time and all the yummy fixings! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Dear Parents, I hope you are having a super week! You realize that next week is our last full week of school for November?? Time is flying by so quickly! 

Important Dates: 

Nov. 11- Veteran's Day Program 2 pm

Nov. 12-14 Big Fish Musical at the high school (Ryder is in it! ) 

Nov.17- 5th and 4th grade mass

Nov. 18- PTO Meeting

Nov. 19- Spirit Day/ Sweats for $1

Nov. 24-26 Thanksgiving Break/ No School

Nov. 29- No School/ PD Day

Mass- It is our mass next Wednesday! You are always invited to come join us! They will get their mass part on Friday. 

Reading- This week they are reading a story called Storm Warriors. This story takes place in the 1800s. This is about a young boy named Nathan who wants to join this group of men who rescue people from the ocean. We have the Coast Guard now. At the beginning of the story he doesn't think he can do the job after watching men walk into the stormy seas to rescue others, but later proves his ability. Nathan helps the people who were injured. In grammar we are working on subordinating conjunctions in sentences to create a complex sentence. One part of the complex sentence cannot stand alone that is why it is dependent on the other sentence. The spelling list this week was confusing again because it is compound words, but there are different kinds! Their words are like: up-to-date, wildlife, and light bulb. 

Religion- We are back in the book and are discussing the 7 sacraments. 

Math-- This week they are multiplying by single and double digits. This is pretty much review for them from 4th grade!  They have the option of choosing which strategy they like better to use to solve the problems. They choose between the standard algorithm and partial products. So far most of them are choosing the standard algorithm. 

The new trimester will begin on Monday. That means the lateslip board will be wiped clean! They will start again with 0!!! I will be working on progress reports this weekend! 

Temperature changes- Friday is supposed to be colder! Make sure your kids have winter coats, hats, gloves for recess! 

Veteran's Day Progam is at 2:00 on Thursday! All are welcome to attend! I know this is a late reminder, but your kids can wear red, white, and blue! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

Hello Parents, I hope everyone had a great long weekend! I enjoyed it! I went home on Friday to Doon to take care of the cemetery where my parents are buried. I also did a little shopping while I was there. It sounded like Halloween was a success for your kids!

Important Dates: 

Nov. 5- Spirit Day - Sweats for $1

Nov. 11- Veteran's Day Program 2 pm

Nov. 12-14 Big Fish Musical at the high school (Ryder is in it! ) 

Nov. 24-26 Thanksgiving Break/ No School

Nov. 29- No School/ PD Day

Reading- This week they are reading a nonfiction story about the Everglades. They learn about the different animals and plants that live there and what you can do to help that area stay alive and growing. In grammar this week they are learning about adding the conjunctions and, but , or or in a sentence to join two complete sentences. Their spelling list is homophones this week! That was a fun pretest to give! Wring and ring, lessen and lesson, aloud and allowed. I will mix them up on Friday so they have to listen to how they are being used in the sentence! 

Book Reports are due on Friday! Most are done already! There next one won't be for awhile! 

Math- This week they are multiplying with 10s, 100s, 1000s mentally. They did great with that one! They picked it up really quickly. On Wednesday, we went to rounding the numbers and then multiplying them. Again they caught on quickly and most of them know their basic facts! The trick is adding those zeros. Next week we will begin multiplication. I will show them two strategies and they can pick which ever way works best for them. We will start out with multiplying by one digit and then we move into double digits.  Both strategies are ones they learned in 4th grade...so it really should be review! 

Religion- They finished their posters for the Sorrowful Mysteries and so they will finish up with the Glorious Mysteries. I would think next week we should be back in the book. 

Social Studies projects- These are due on Friday. The kids can bring them in the building when they arrive. Mrs. Sickels will have an Iowa History Fair on Wednesday, Nov. 10 in the afternoon. I don't have the exact time. Look for a flyer from your child. You are welcome to come that day and look at all the different projects. 

Spirit Day on Friday- Wear sweats for $1!

I feel like this is the shortest letter! I just talked to you so I can't think of anything new!

Have a great weekend! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

Hello Parents! I hope you are having a great week! I hope you were able to enjoy the weekend outside! The weather was so nice! I had a great time with my sisters! We did some shopping in Winterset and Des Moines and then caught the new James Bond movie. We stayed up way to late visiting!  

Important Dates:

• Oct. 20- 4th/5th grade mass
• Oct. 21- PTO Meeting
• Oct. 22- Spirit Day
• Oct. 28- Conferences/ No School
• Oct. 29- No School
• Nov. 1- No School/PD Day

Reading- This week we are reading part of a classic! Old Yeller is the story this week, but not the sad part!  We also have to focus on how they talk in this story. They pronounce words a little bit differently! In grammar we are working on direct and indirect objects. I am giving them a little cheat sheet to help them on the test on Friday. That part of the test can be a little tricky. 

Next week we only have 3 days of school so I am not going to try and do a story in that amount of time. So there won't be a spelling test either. I think next week we will work on creating some Halloween stories. Due to the time crunch, I am going to have them work in partners to create a story. 

Just a reminder that the book report is due on Friday, November 5. 

October Book IT Calendar will be due on Tuesday, November 2. Make sure you sign it! Even if they don't make the goal...I can record any minutes they did read. 

Book Fair- The kids will be looking and buying any books they choose on Wednesday at their library time. They will need to come with money on that day if they plan on making any purchases. It will also be open during your conferences on Thursday if you want to do any shopping! 

Math- this week we are ending our chapter on adding and subtracting decimals. By Friday, we should be going over the dress rehearsal with the test being on Monday. Our next chapter is on multiplication. 

Halloween Celebration- We will celebrate Halloween on Wednesday, October 27 in the afternoon. The 6-8th graders are providing activities for PK-5. We are doing the parade again! You are welcome to join us in the gym. The parade will begin at 2:30 pm.  The kids DON'T have to dress for mass that day. They should pack their costumes in their bags. They will change into those before the parade. If you want to take your child after the parade, that is fine, just see me before you leave so that I know you have them and we can make sure they have everything! 

Spirit Day on Friday! $1 for sweats! 

Reminder: No school on October 28 and 29 and November 1. I will see you at your child's conference!  

Religion- Most everyone has the prayers memorized now. We are moving on to the next topic! They are drawing and coloring posters to represent each of the mysteries of the rosary. Right now they are focused on the Joyful Mysteries. You will see them in the hallway when you come for conferences! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Next week will be very short! I probably won't do a blog next week since I see you for conferences, unless something comes up! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed the early out on Friday! I got to my niece's soccer game, but she didn't get the chance to play. It was still great to see her and visit with my brother! 

 Important Dates:

• Oct. 20- 4th/5th grade mass
• Oct. 21- PTO Meeting
• Oct. 28- Conferences/ No School
• Oct. 29- No School
• Nov. 1- No School/PD Day

Wipes- I am in need of more wipes. I bought 5 containers a couple of weeks ago and we are nearing the end of that supply. If anyone can help and donate some, that would be much appreciated!  We go through about 45 wipes a day! Thanks so much for your help! 

Reading-  this week they are reading an informational article on tree kangaroos that are found in Papa New Guinea. The scientists in the story are putting collars on them so they can track them and learn about this elusive animal. We are focusing on cause and effect as our skill. In grammar we are talking about action, linking, and helping verbs. 

I have their unit test scores in your child's Take Home Folder. Some of the comprehension scores are not the greatest. This doesn't surprise me. This is pretty typical. This was a Benchmark test and they have more stories to read. I am also not sure they actually went back to look anything up in their stories to help them. Most don't fully comprehend the story when they read it one time. They do have time to read it more than once, if they take the opportunity. 

Math- this week they have been working on adding and subtracting decimals. We getting through this chapter pretty quickly. There is a lesson coming up on problem solving that I think will slow us down a bit. We will most likely do that together in class. I think next week we will be finishing this chapter up. 

Religion- I have given your kids a copy of the two prayers they are to memorize. I am going to start quizzing them on Thursday. I told them to choose whichever prayer they want to do first. It doesn't matter the order. Once they pass one, they will move on to the next. I also told them to focus on learning one prayer at a time, not try to do both. One of the other standards in 5th religion is focusing on the mysteries of the rosaries. That will begin next week. They don't need to memorize them. They are going to use their art skills to display them! 

Conferences- Below is a link to the sign up. This year, we are following little bit of the schedule the public school is doing.  The kids will NOT have school on Thursday, October 28. I am doing conferences that day from 10 am to 6 pm.  This year both parents/guardians are welcome to attend the conferences, unlike last year when we only allowed one person.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0544A5AA23A2FF2-5thgrade5

Halloween Celebration- we will celebrate Halloween on Wednesday, Oct. 27. The kids can bring their costumes to school that day to change into before the parade. It is a mass day, so they will still have to dress up. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Two of my older sisters are coming down this weekend for a little sister bonding! I can't wait to see them! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

Dear Parents, 

Happy Crazy Week! I think we packed a ton into this week and it isn't even over yet. 

 Important Dates:

• Oct. 8- 3 hour early out/ Homecoming
• Oct. 20- 4th/5th grade mass
• Oct. 21- PTO Meeting
• Oct. 29- No School
• Nov. 1- No School/ PD Day/ All Saints Day

Reading- They are taking their unit test this week. They also got a packet to choose an activity for their book report project.  They each have a purple packet with the possible activities listed. They only choose one to do. The project is due on Friday, Nov. 5. Next week we will get back to spelling. I will send home their unit test scores next week in their folders. 

Thursday- Oct. 7.- The high school cheerleaders will be here on Thursday morning for a Pep Rally.  We have the fire station coming in the afternoon. They will be talking to the 3-5th graders. We have our annual poster contest too. The 5th graders will start that in art next week. 

Friday, Oct. 8- We have a 3 hour early out for homecoming. There is a parade!  We also have a Spirit Day too! They can wear sweatpants or a hat for $1 if they want to. They can also wear their PANTHER gear to support homecoming! 

Mass- Next week is the 4th and 5th grade mass, but your kids won't have a part. This will be the rest of the 4th graders having the jobs since the 5th graders had roles in our last mass. 

Religion- October is the month of the rosary. We aren't really focusing on that in religion this week due to finishing our chapter and our field trip. Next week we will be! I have plenty of rosaries here at school, but if they want to bring their own they may. They are responsible for them! 

Math- we are working on adding and subtracting decimals. The first lesson was on mental math and using the commutative and associative properties. The next lesson is on estimating the decimals to find the sum or difference. 

Thank you, Lara, for going with us to Kansas City! We hope you enjoyed the day!!! Thank you to everyone for helping us make this once in a lifetime opportunity come true! 

I hope everyone enjoys their early out on Friday ! I am heading to watch the Loras Women's Soccer Team on Saturday play at Pella! My niece is on the team! Hopefully she will get some play time!  Have a great weekend! 

God Bless

 Hello Parents, WOW! I can't believe Friday is October already!  Time is already flying by so quickly! 

Important Dates:

• Oct. 1- Book It Begins! 
• Oct. 6- Auschwitz Field Trip
• Oct. 8- 3 hour early out/ Homecoming
• Oct. 20- 4th/5th grade mass
• Oct. 21- PTO Meeting
• Oct. 28- Parent Teacher Conferences
• Oct. 29- No School

Field Trip- In your child's folder is the permission slip that needs to be filled out and returned before next Wednesday. Please return ASAP. There is a detailed letter attached. Please read it so you are aware of the information for that day, especially the times. They will need a sack lunch and drink that day. 

Reading- This week they are reading a story called Elisa's Diary.  This is the story of a little girl who moves from Puerto Rico the USA. She has difficulty speaking the English language, but she can write it just fine. She meets a boy name Jose who is from Guatemala. He can speak the language,but not write it correctly. By the end of the story it fast forwards in time to show that she did learn it. She grew up and became a teacher! I told them that my dad learned to speak English from watching soap operas and other television shows when he came from Poland.  They then asked if that meant I was part Polish??? Yes! You might have that conversation at home with your kids to talk about your ethnic backgrounds. A couple of them told me they were American, which they absolutely are, but I did suggest they go home and ask about their ancestors and find out their heritage. I said your relatives most likely came to America from a different country unless you have a Native American bloodline, which is very possible!  

The grammar this week is working on plural nouns. They filled out a form on Monday with me with the most common plural noun rules. We added words to each rule. They cut that paper down into a smaller one and glued it in their vocabulary notebook. I told them they can refer to the rules when they take their Friday test. 

This is our last story in our first unit. Next week will be a unit test week. That also means there will not be a spelling test next week. 

Book It- The reading contest starts this Friday! I am giving the kids their calendar on Friday so they can keep track of their minutes. The goal for October is 600 minutes. That's about 20 minutes a day. They can count any free reading they do at school as well. At the end of the month, you sign it. They return it. I only have Pizza Ranch coupons for those who meet the goal. 

Math- They take the test over our first chapter on Wednesday.  The nice thing about these tests are there are only 12 problems. I guess that is a good and bad thing. Some of the questions ask them for two different answers. They need to pay attention to that because those are extra points they could be missing out on. Our next chapter is adding and subtracting decimals. They will also be working on commutative and associative properties. 

Religion- I jumped ahead a few chapters because of our field trip. In this chapter we learn about Saint Maximilian Kolbe. He was a priest who died at Auschwitz. They will see his picture in KC at the exhibit. We also are talking about Jesus' baptism by the John the Baptist.

Friday, October 8 we will be celebrating homecoming.  The kids can wear their Panther gear. There is a form from PTO in your child's folder if you want to buy tattoos, etc. We will have a 3 hour early out that day. Lunch will NOT be served.

Have a GREAT weekend! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Dear Parents, I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend! The kids sounded like they did! I had a great time at my great niece's first birthday party! Her mom told me she is expecting #4 in March! Wow! She will have 3 under 3 years old. My niece Olivia looked beautiful for her homecoming dance! 

 Upcoming Important Dates:

• Friday, Sept. 24- No School/ PD Day
• Oct. 6- Field Trip to KC for Auschwitz Exhibit/ Need a sack lunch
• Oct. 8- Homecoming/3 hour early out/ Spirit Day
• Oct. 22- Spirit Day

Reading- This we we have our first nonfiction story. It is called Double Dutch.  This is a story about a group of girls in NY who compete in double Dutch contests. It took them 5 years to win a championship. The kids were busy jumping rope at recess on Monday.  In grammar this week they are working on nouns- common an proper. We made lists of each on Tuesday. They had to also identify nouns in sentences and then label them either common or proper. We then worked on identifying proper nouns in sentences that need to be capitalized. That also includes initials, abbreviations, and acronyms. We also talked about capitalizing nouns that represent a certain language- Russian, Chinese, American,etc. 

Math- We are ending our first chapter! On Tuesday, they worked in groups  and were given clues that they had to match to a certain math problem. For example, which problem has a sum that is between 19,000 and 20,000. It was great estimation work. Some were looking for an exact sum or difference. The remainder of the week will be working on the math review and then a dress rehearsal. The actual test won't be until next week. 

FAST Testing- In your child's folder are their scores for our Fall Fast Reading. They did really well. If they have to work with me during intervention time, I made a note of it on their sheet. They will test again in the winter. 

Religion- This week we focused mostly on practicing our parts for mass. We will be starting our second chapter !  October will be the month of the Rosary. We will be going back to the chapel for this. There will be two prayers that the kids will be memorizing for this, but I will wait until we get there to talk to them about it. 

Friday, September 24- This is a NO SCHOOL day! Teachers have professional development. I will be with the Lead Team going to the public school to work with our PLC instructor. I hope you enjoy your 3 days!!! 

Field Trip to KC- more information will be coming, but it is just around the corner!  It will be  long day! We leave EARLY and get back later! They will need a sack lunch that day! We will be eating our lunch at Union Station. I would say they should wear good walking shoes that day! In the exhibit, there are really only a few spots to sit down...and they are small benches so only a few can sit at a time. There is a lot of standing! I am excited for the kids to get this opportunity! This is something that means a great deal to me and my siblings. Our dad came to America from Poland at the end of WWII. He was 21. He had $2 in his pocket and couldn't speak English.  He was on the run from the age of 12 when his village was taken over. He didn't end up in a concentration camp, but was in a labor camp. We just found out last year that his dad spent a couple of years in Auschwitz, but survived. 

October 8 Homecoming- The public school has notified us that this will be  a 3 hour early out. We will not be serving lunch on that day. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I have no major plans except cleaning my house! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I hope everyone is having a great week! 

Reading- This week they are reading a story called Off and Running. It is about two 5th graders who are running for class president. Miata takes the role very seriously and speaks formally to her class. Rudy is kind of a jokester. He wants to get things like ice cream every day and extra recess minutes. He also speaks using slang terms when giving his speech. This is our third story in the unit which means on Friday they will have questions over the story, but also they will do a cold read. They will have to read a story to themselves and then answer questions about it. In grammar they are focusing on identifying parts of the sentence- subject and predicate as well as making sure their verbs work with their nouns. 

Math- They are learning compare decimals and then write them in order from least to greatest and greatest to least. They are also working on rounding decimals to a certain place value like tenths, hundredths and ones. Rounding is always a bit tricky! We are spending a couple of days on it! 

Religion- They will have their first test on Thursday. They have a study guide to use to study from! I will give them their reading parts for mass on Friday. Please take some time to have them practice with you! 

 Upcoming important dates:

• Thursday, Sept. 16- PTO Meeting 6pm
• Saturday, Sept. 18- Holy Spirit Block Party 3-8pm
• Wednesday, Sept. 22- 5th and 4th grade mass @ 9:15
• Friday, Sept. 24- No School/ PD Day

Block Party- This Saturday during Balloon Days, come by the school for your dinner! This Block Party is in place of the Food Fair. 

Have a great weekend! If you are here for Balloon Days have a great time! I am planning on going to Waterloo for my niece's homecoming and a great niece's first birthday party! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

Dear Parents, I apologize for changing formats again! The Smore I sent last week was great, but I am using the free version and they don't give me enough to use in a month's time and I don't really want to pay the $70 for an upgrade! So... I am going to use this until Blogger decides to be no more! 

 Upcoming important dates:

• 🏈Friday, Sept. 10- Spirit Day! Hawkeye/ Cyclone Day ( or any other team you cheer for!) 
• Thursday, Sept. 16- PTO Meeting 6pm
• Saturday, Sept. 18- Holy Spirit Block Party 3-8pm
• Wednesday, Sept. 22- 5th and 4th grade mass @ 9:15
• Friday, Sept. 24- No School/ PD Day

Reading- This week we have to kind of crunch things together since we are only doing 4 days. This week our story is rather long. It is also a play called A Royal Mystery. It is a different take on The Princess and the Pea. It also reminds me of the movie The Parent Trap. There is a fun little twist at the end! In grammar we are working on recognizing the 4 kinds of sentences...declarative, imperative, exclamatory, and interrogative. They will have a spelling test on Friday as well as the test over the story. 

Math- We are continuing our work on place value. Last Friday they worked on writing decimals. They also wrote those decimals as fractions. For example: they wrote 0.32 and then 32/100. They only go to the thousandths. I try to get them to think of decimals in monetary form, but that doesn't work with thousandths.  It is difficult to wrap their head around the fact that hundredths can mean pennies and tenths as dimes. They are doing great! They will also be working on writing decimals in word, expanded form, and standard form. 

They have also been taking a placement test on Successmaker. This coincides with our new math series. It is a different form of Dreambox. So far, I like this much better and I think they do too! So far I don't see as much frustration on the students' part. If they get it wrong, they give them a clue to help try once more. Once they complete the placement test it will align them with problems and activities to do based on their score. This is not something they will do at home. 

Spirit Day - This Friday they can wear sweats or a hat for $1. It is also Cy/Hawk game weekend so if they want to support their favorite team they can! Sorry, I'm allergic to those colors!😉 I will be in purple and gold! 💜💛

Religion- This week they are learning about Saint Damian of Molokai. He worked as a priest in Hawaii to care for the lepers. He was very young and eventually he contracted the disease and passed away. He dedicated his life to teaching the sick about Jesus. 

FAST Testing- Next week I will conducting the FAST tests in reading and math with the 5th graders. I  will send home reading scores as soon as I can.  Emily, our AEA consultant will be here the week after to go over the scores with me to see if there are any interventions I need to do with your kids. 

I hope you enjoyed your long weekend! I didn't do much,but I did get a book read in a day so that was fun! This weekend I will be in Des Moines again to watch my niece play soccer. 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, Welcome to 5th grade! I hope you are having a great week! I hope your child is too! We are just doing a little each day to break them back into the routine of school! They did a great job at mass on Monday when I volunteered them to sing Sanctuary! 

Math- We have a new series this year! We are all going to be learning. The philosophy is a little different so there will be days when they work together to solve the math problems, rather than me just "teach" and they "do". IT is new for me as well, so we will take this one day at a time! 

Homework policy- They have returned their policies! Thank you! Just a reminder...they get three late slips in 5th grade and the 4th is automatic detention. I keep track, so I will let you know each time where they are in their count. That will go for Mrs. Burg and Mrs. Sickels as well. 

Reading- we won't start our series until Monday. They took a spelling inventory test on Tuesday. That just gives me an idea of where your child is when it comes to spelling. They will have a pretest on Monday and their posttest will be on Friday. I will give them a list of words that they can take home and practice with you! You can stick it on the fridge or whatever works for you! Their reading tests will be online again just like last year. They will have 3 book report projects, one each trimester. I will let you know when I assign that.  They will need a chapter book at their desk for free time. They go to the library on Wednesdays, but they can also look through my books or bring one from home! 

Religion- We started in the books on Tuesday. We begin our year identifying certain Bible passages just so they know how to look them up when needed.  This is a year they have to learn a couple of prayers we use in the Rosary. They also learn learn all the mysteries of the rosary. 

Cleaning - the 5th graders clean their desks about 3-4 times a day. We are having the kids switch rooms this year so they have to clean their desks and chairs before they leave. We are going to go through wipes like crazy! If you're at the store and see a bottle, feel free to grab it! I am going to do the same! The wipes work better than the sprays! The spray leaves a weird residue. 

Spirit Day- Friday is our first one! Due to the temps, I would imagine they won't want to wear sweatpants, but if they want to wear a hat for $1, that would work! 

Social Studies- they started on Tuesday, but just to let you know, the first trimester is focused on Iowa History.  They don't really have tests with this part. Mrs. Sickels has a project for them and your child will receive information on that at some point. 

Picture Day!!! 📸 The form is in your child's folder. Please return ASAP. Picture day is set for Thursday, Sept. 2. It is PE day and we usually get them done before their PE time. IF they need to change clothes, that shouldn't be a problem. 

I have really enjoyed getting to know the 5th graders more this week! Next week the real fun begins! Homework!  They will have to get their assignment books signed starting on Monday. IF it isn't signed 3 days in a row, that will result in a late slip. 

Car Line- Just some safety reminders for parents: Do not get out of car to buckle your child. You must wait and then pull up to Father's house to buckle them. 

Pull all the way up in the line, don't stop your car when you see your child.

Don't back up and pull away. Wait for the cars in front of you to move ahead. 

Lunch- if your child has a sack lunch they cannot pack any carbonated beverages as their drink. If they want milk, they must have the 50 cents. 

Have a great weekend! Hopefully our temps will cool down a little bit! I am going to watch my niece play soccer with her club team in Des Moines on Saturday. She is a sophmore at Columbus High School in Waterloo. 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

Hello Parents, We are getting down the wire here! WOW!  Where did this year go? 

Slushy Party- We moved this to Monday. Thank you PTO! 

Pizza Party- They will get this on Friday from Lesha and Ethan!  It is also a Spirit Day! 

Book Reports- The kids did a great job.  I was excited to learn about some new people this year! I have gone over all their slides and graded them. Now, many of them aren't very happy. I gave them a rubric to follow when I gave the assignment. I am not sure how many looked at it. There is one item that looks at the number of events they include. Over 7 is the highest score. I had heard some kids say, "Why would you do more than 7?" I reminded them that doing more than 7 got you more points. If they chose to do less than 7 their score went down. Grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization took the biggest hit. Commas between cities and states, commas for dates and years. Periods at the end of sentences. Capitalizing names of people or places. Some of the kids didn't really cover the information very well for their person.  

Reading- We started the book Freak the Mighty this week. They are really enjoying the story. Mrs. Hensel does this book with the 6th graders. I know we won't finish it this year, so I am giving the books to Mrs. Hensel next week with a note to let her know where we finished. She will do the rest of the book with them in 6th grade.

Math- We are dividing decimals by whole numbers. On Monday, they did fine remembering how to divide, but were making little mistakes along the way like trying to subtract 6 from 5 and not catching their errors. 

The next step is dividing decimals by decimals! Moooove over decimal!!!! 

Field Day - this will begin at 12:45 on Thursday, May 27. The kids will need a sack lunch and drink  that day. 

FAST Testing- Their scores are in their folders. They did really well. Next year in 6th grade they won't do this testing. They do MAP testing in reading and math. All 6-8th graders take this test. They take it 3 times a year just like FAST testing. 

They will be cleaning out their desks and lockers on Wednesday afternoon before they go home. They should make sure they take an empty book bag to school that day or pack another one just in case. 

I don't plan on writing a blog again next week. I am pretty sure any announcements I have will come by email or on Facebook. I hope everyone has a wonderful summer and you are able to get away for a little bit at least. I plan on reading books, going on walks, and seeing my family! I am hoping I can make a trip to Ohio to watch my niece perform in a Shakespeare play. I know the kids are so ready for summer and I won't lie...I am too! We did it! We did in-person learning all year long with some virtual along the way! What a year!!!!  Thank you for your support as the changes seemed never ending down to our last week of school. I pray you all have a safe, happy, and healthy summer! You deserve it and your kids do too! Welcome to 6th grade!!! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I think we are down to me writing two more Blogs after this! I can't believe how quickly our year together has gone!  I hope all the moms had a great Mother's Day! I had a great time in Waterloo. My brother took Friday off as well, so we hung out together! My niece did awesome at her soccer game! They won 5-0! She also played in the JV game and scored the two points there! 

Reading- This week they are taking the Unit 5 test. I will get the scores to you next week. On Friday, they need to come to school with their costume in their bag. We will do as many as we can on Friday and then we will finish up next week. 

Next up??? I have a book given to them by the First National Bank in Creston. I chose the chapter book, Freak the Mighty.  We are going to focus on reading this and doing activities before the end of the year. I thought this would be good practice for next year in middle school. I might still do spelling, but not sure at this point. 

On Wednesday, I am doing the FAST testing in reading. Mrs. Struble will be in the room with them while I am testing them.  On Monday, they all took the a-Reading portion of the test. The majority of the class went up in their scores!! I think there were only 3 who dropped a little. 

Math- So first they divided decimals using a calculator. Now they are using Base 10 blocks to show how to divide! 

Religion- We are working through our Guidance book. On Tuesday we read and talked about the kinds of imaging that social media puts out for us to see, plus the kinds of things we post on social media and the images that we may be showing. 

Congrats to the 5th graders for getting the most laps ! They won the Slushy Party!!! It will be next Thursday in the afternoon. 

Spring Concert- This is being held in McKinley Park on May 26 at 6pm. Bring your lawn chairs! Students should dress up as always- mass day attire! They will sit with their family instead of sitting as classes. The band students will also be playing! It will be great to see everyone together for the first time!

Pizza Party- Lesha and Ethan in the kitchen are throwing a pizza and juice party for the 5th graders on May 21st at lunch! They wanted to do something for them since they are leaving elementary school and heading into middle school next year! We will eat lunch in our room that day. 

Last day of School- This has been moved to May 27. It will be a full day....no early out. We will do Field Day in the afternoon if you'd like to come and watch! There will be a Clap-Out for the 8th graders. The kids will need a sack lunch that day with a drink. 

This is the last week to check out books from the library. If the kids have any returns, they need to start doing that. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy the warmer temps. I hope they stick around! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

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

PTO- Thank you for the gifts this week! They have been fun little surprises each day! Thank you to all of you for your support this year! I am so happy we were in person! Your patience and support has helped so much as we learned to teach in a Pandemic! 

Lap-A-Thon- The kids are going to run on Thursday, May 6. They should bring their envelopes back to school that day with their donations. Even if they didn't raise any money, return the envelope if you still have it. That makes it easier for the PTO to count and know they don't have to wait on returning envelopes. If they like to listen to music while they run, they certainly can bring their devices for that time. I told them they need to make sure they have tennis shoes for that day... shoes with good support. That grassy area can be a pain to run on. 

Substitute- I am gone on Friday. I am heading to Waterloo so that I can watch my niece Olivia play soccer for her high school team. I never can make it to her games and her team is doing really well! 

Reading- They are reading their final story in this unit. It is called Lewis and Clark.  It is about their expedition to the west looking for a waterway that would connect them directly to the Pacific Ocean. Sadly, they didn't find one. We did a little geography test on where the Missouri River was located and the Mississippi! The spelling list is a bit tricky this week. They have the base word elect and then the suffix-ion is added to create election. Contribute- contribution.  The grammar this week is not too hard-- contractions! The trick there is the spelling and getting that part correct. 

Next week will be a unit test week. On that Friday, we will start sharing the book reports! I can't wait to see them in their costumes! 

Math- we are done with chapter 4! They did pretty great on their tests! Now we move on to dividing decimals. This week they are going to do some of that hands-on with Base 10 blocks so it won't be about showing the work on paper. It is a fun activity! I don't know if we will make it through the end of the chapter by the end of the year, but I will work towards that! 

Mass- Today was their last time doing mass for the year. The next time they are in charge of mass...they will be 6th graders! 

Religion- We have moved on to our guidance books. On Monday I took them outside and they had to create a skit to show a certain word: respect, loyalty, communication, companionship,  and responsibility. We hadn't done skits this year, but going outside helped for space with a big group. They had fun and want to do it again! 

PE- Next week their PE times will move to the afternoon. They are going to be instructed in archery by Levi Evans. They will be with the 4th graders for this. I will make sure to get some pictures posted to Facebook! 

Have a great weekend! 3 more weeks...the countdown is on. 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, Hopefully everyone is having a good week this week! 

Book Report- Just a reminder their slides are due two weeks... Friday, May 14. Many have already turned them into me. They will need to bring their costume of their person on May 14. The costume will most likely just stay at school (unless they need it at home) . I know they all won't be able to share on the 14th so I plan on just spreading them out the next week. 

Lap-A-Thon- The forms and envelopes went home last week in Take Home Folders. The PTO says to bring them back on May 6, the day of the lap-a-thon. There are some fun incentives for raising money this year! 

Math- We are wrapping up our chapter this week in math. On Tuesday, I showed them a quicker way of multiplying decimals that have zeros in the problem. I wished I had taught me that method when I was a kid. I showed them that they didn't need to multiply and show all the 0's. We could a  couple if we needed to for our decimal point.  They will take the test on Monday. Our next chapter will be on dividing decimals. 

Reading- This week we read a story called Rachel's Journal. This is a young pioneer girl that is on the Oregon Trail with her family in the 1850s. They had to cross the flooded Platte River in the story. The story also talked briefly about the Donner Party...so I shared a little background on who they were and what happened to them. Rachel also talks about the song Turkey in the Straw. I shared a video of that song as well. It's one of those that you don't want stuck in your head. In grammar they are working on comparative and superlative adjectives-- big, bigger, biggest, etc. On Wednesday, we covered good, better, best and bad, worse, worst. I tried to emphasize that funner , bestest, worser are not words.  Some adjectives need the words more or most in front of them-- more beautiful, most beautiful.

Religion- They shared their posters this week of the Easter traditions in other countries. We are finishing our our chapter and then moving on to the Guidance book. 

By the way--- they all survived the Growth Talk video and did really well! 

I did send you all an email for any student interested in trying out for Color Guard or Winter Guard next year. Their dates are coming up in May! It would be great to see some STM kids out there! 

Middle School- In the past we have gone out to the middle school wing to spend some time with the students to see what it is like. Due to Covid restrictions...we aren't doing that this year. Miss Steinkamp and an 8th grader will be coming to talk to the 5th graders on Friday to give them some ideas about middle school next year. Seriously??? I can't believe we are already having these end of the year conversations! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy the warm temps! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hi Parents, I hope you are having a good week besides these crazy temperatures! It was so great to see some of my siblings again last weekend and spend time with them. 

Reading- This week they are reading a story called Vaqueros. It is a story about the history of the cowboys. It talks about the history of them arriving in the US, the clothing they wore, the conditions they had to deal with, and the changes it has seen over the years. Our grammar this week is commonly confused verbs such as: lay and lie, rise and raise, can and may. I gave them a "cheat sheet" to use on the test on Friday so that they can remember when you use each word. 

Math- We started some story problems on Friday and it lead into Monday and Tuesday. Some caught on really quickly, others...not so much. They have to read the problems and pick up on the clues, but some aren't doing that. They have to do a couple of steps in order to get to the final answer. 

Religion- This week they are working in pairs to do some research on how Easter is celebrated in other countries. They are finding some really interesting things! For example, in Russia they dye eggs as well, but they use red onion skin to do it.  In Mexico they burn "fake Judases". In Australia, they don't have Easter bunnies, they have an Easter Bilby! 

Clean- Up Day- On Friday we will be cleaning the school grounds as long as the weather cooperates. As many kids that can bring a rake and work gloves ....please do. They usually ending up picking up some garbage, the dead leaves,and sticks while they are raking! Make sure you have your name on the rake. They will be by the office. 

Spirit Day on Friday- sweats or a hat for $1! The temps are only supposed to be in the 50s so that is good weather for sweats! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Sounds like our warmer temps will be back. I have Confirmation on Saturday. I am a sponsor for Keely Coen. On Sunday, I get to watch my nieces play soccer for Loras at Simpson. This will be Grace's final soccer game! She has been at it since she was 4 years old! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

Hello Parents! I hope you  are doing well ! Testing week has been going pretty good. The 5th graders are taking their time which is a good thing. I do like that they aren't timed anymore. That was always my biggest hurdle. Thank you to the PTO for providing snacks! Those were a big hit! I just realized this week that we have only 6 weeks of school left! 6!!! Wow, this pandemic school year is flying by! 

Reading- We will get back into a story next week! They will have a spelling pretest on Monday!  Many are working on their book report slides. I have told them that they will have to turn in their notes as well. 

Math- We have started our new chapter on multiplying decimals. On Monday and Tuesday, I had them use a calculator for our problems. I want them to just see how the decimal moves to the right or to the left, depending on what they are multiplying by- they were using 10, 100, and 1000 as well as 0.1, 0.01, and 0.001. We also had to do a bit of refresh on exponents. I am taking out some extra lessons and getting to the route of strategies with the hope that we can get further along. 

Religion- we finished our movie on Monday of the Ten Commandments. They had great questions throughout. We are going to cover a chapter on Easter in our book before moving on to something else. 

Clean Up Day- April 23-- We will be raking school grounds that afternoon. The kids should bring a rake and work gloves if they have them! Make sure your family name is on the rake. Typically we do the fence line in the alley and behind the building up to Father's yard. It is a good day's work! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  I am heading to Waterloo and Waverly. On Saturday we are helping my sister Penny move into her new house. I get to see my sister Eva from PA as well! I haven't seen her in over a year! On Sunday, Eva is hosting a wedding shower for her son Vinny and fiancee Katerina. They both live in Waterloo. 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! Hopefully everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend! I was able to clean out my flowerbed, so that was good for me! 

ISASP- Testing begins on Monday. They will do 1-2 tests a day. The 5th graders will have an extra one to do for science. The 3rd and 4th graders don't have to take that one. We are moving our schedules around to fit the tests. All tests will be taken in the morning. I don't plan on doing a story in reading next week due to these tests. So that will mean no spelling tests next week. They will get plenty of others to do instead. They will need to have a book or magazine to read in between tests. You might want to talk to your kids about it being important that they take these seriously. The thing I have noticed with this class is that when we do tests... they tend to just do random blurting or talking about whatever during the tests. I have constantly reminded them that they are testing and to be quiet. They need to for themselves and others.  

Math- This week we are wrapping up our chapter with the test. We will be working on multiplying decimals next! I am not sure if I will start that this week or not. There are practice tests the kids have to do before the ISASP tests next week. I may use some math time this week for that. 

Reading- This week they are reading a historical fiction story called The Birchbark House. It is about a Native American girl who is walking through the woods on her way home and comes upon a couple of bear cubs. She wants to befriend them so she can take them home and impress her older sister, Angeline. The mother bear comes out first and stops her! We talked about how she acted foolishly and acted on her emotions instead of doing what she knows is right, and leave the cubs alone. 

Religion- we have our mass on Wednesday. In class we are watching The Ten Commandments. They are enjoying it! We will most likely cover an Easter chapter after this movie. 

Spirit Day- This Friday is a Spirit Day! They can wear sweats and/or hat for $1!!! 

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the temps! I am attending a virtual wedding shower for my nephew's fiancee! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I hope you are having a great week! The sun is such a huge help! 

Cross Walk- Just a reminder that I need your child's permission form returned before they can go on the walk. They need to wear a white shirt or polo that day for our group picture. I am recommending they at least have a sweatshirt or hoodie for the walk looking at the temps for Thursday.  They will also need a sack lunch and drink that day. 

Friday- No school for the kids. We will have PD that day. Happy Good Friday! 

Math- This week we finished up the chapter with word problems. There were many steps for them on some of the problems. They had to add and subtract. They even had to work with sales tax a little bit! We will be doing our dress rehearsal for the math test this week. It looks like they will take the test on Monday or Tuesday. 

Reading- This week they are reading a historical fiction story called Tuck's Travels. This story takes place roughly in the 1800s. Tuck is 15 and on his own trying to survive when he comes across two other kids whose parents died due to cholera. The three of them are now on the run from the Comancheros. If caught, there is a chance they will be sold into slavery. 

In grammar this week they are focusing on the verb forms of BE and HAVE as well as verb phrases.  They will test over this story on Thursday since we don't have school on Friday. That also means their spelling test will be on Thursday. 

Book Reports- They are busy working on these! Many have finished reading their book and taking notes. They are busy working on their Google Slides. 

Religion- They are testing over this chapter on Thursday. They have been learning about the Sacraments of Healing-- Penance and Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick. 

My plan next week is to show them the old movie The Ten Commandments. I usually show it during Holy Week, but with our chapter ending, I didn't want the interruption. 

Mass- They 5th graders will be doing mass on April 7. The kids who had parts in the 4th grade mass, will not have a part this time. I have given the parts out so they should be practicing at home with you. 

Growth Talk Video- Just to let you know I did watch the video over spring break. It isn't the same one the kids have seen in the past. This one is not separated into two videos. I am just letting you know now...when I do show it...the girls will be hearing about boys and the boys will be hearing about girls. I will still separate them into two rooms so they don't have to watch together. I will also do this at the end of the day whenever I choose to show it. It just makes it a lot more comfortable for all the kids. 😌 They go home shortly after that. 

ISASP Testing- Just a reminder this is coming up in a couple of weeks. 

Have a terrific weekend and a blessed Easter! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break! I ended up going to Waterloo and seeing my siblings for a couple of days. It was so good to see family in person again! 

Reading- They are taking their unit test this week. On Friday, I am going to start our next story since next week is a 4 day week. That way I won't have to cram stuff into 4 days.  So they will have a spelling pretest on Friday. I haven't told them that yet.  I showed them the Google slides I made on my dad as an example for their future book report. We are going to go over specifics on Thursday. On Friday, we will pick out books. If they can't find one at school, they will need to look elsewhere. 

Math- We started our week with subtracting decimals. We then moved into figuring out which number comes next in a series of numbers. They had to figure out the rule of add or subtract and by how much. That was a little tricky for some of them. We have a couple of lessons left in this chapter and then we will be testing. I don't think the actual test will happen next week, I haven't mapped that out yet. 

Religion- We are working on our chapter of the Sacraments of Healing. Those would be Penance and Reconciliation as well as Anointing of the Sick. Both of these sacraments can be received more than once. They will test over this chapter next week. 

April 12- On the original school calendar we didn't have school on that day. That is now changed. Due to our snow days, we ARE going to be in school that day! Our last day of school is now May 28. 

Donations- We are still taking donations for the Food Shelf if you'd like to help out. We will deliver them next week on our Cross Walk. 

Paper Towels- I hate to ask for this, but I am out of these in the classroom. I don't want everyone to donate! I don't have the room for them, but I could use maybe 5 rolls. If you can help out, that would be so great! I am doing just great on the wipes! 

Cross Walk- Look in your child's Take Home Folder for information on the Cross Walk! 

No School on April 2, Good Friday. There is PD for teachers that day! 

The ISASP testing week is coming up the week of April 12. These are the new Iowa Assessments. These are different. They will not fill in bubble sheets. These tests are online. I am going to talk to the 5th graders about taking these seriously. We did the ACRE religion test before break, and I am not sure they understood that it was a test...even though Mrs. Simmons talked to them beforehand. I had quite a few kids just blurting out during the test and disrupting others. Their focus seemed to be on how many questions and NOT the actual questions. I don't want to see or hear that during the ISASP. They will need a book to read in-between tests. They all have to have head phones or ear buds. I know I have a handful of kids that I keep telling them they need to get new ones...with no luck. Please talk to your child and ask them if they have headphones or ear buds.  This is not something I will let them go to the hallway  to do so they don't disturb the others. They have to have them! Thank your for the help! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! I hope your week is going well! The weather is helping so much with good moods! The countdown in on for spring break! I can feel it. 

Math- This week we are working on our checkbooks, deposit slips, and keeping a bank register for our checking account. They have so many questions...which has been GREAT! Each day we fill out a deposit slip or two and sometimes they ask for cash back. Then they have to record it in their bank register. They are busy writing out checks for different things. On Tuesday, they bought a new shirt for a little over $14. They thought that was so expensive! 😂 They  deposited a paycheck for $8. 48--something like that. Again...WHAT??? What is our job??? They are learning words like-- debit and credit. Some of the tasks they do talk about using their debit card. I think they will enjoy our mock Biz Town day. We will get back into our math book and continue our work with decimals. Last week they had to estimate sums and differences using rounding and benchmark numbers. I think many of them liked the benchmark numbers better than rounding. This means they had to round to the nearest 0, 0.25. 0.50, 0.75, or 1.00. 

Religion- We are in our Lenten chapter. On Monday we read about Jesus in the Temple. The only time we really see Jesus get mad in the Bible. I explained that he thought those people were making money the most important thing in the Temple. It would be like us...setting up tables inside the chapel or the church and selling our goods. I showed them a video clip of that scene from a movie. They were shocked. I heard many of them say, "Whoa, he is MAD!" 😁

On Tuesday, they will go through reconciliation with Father. Those that aren't Catholic will receive a blessing from him. 

Food Shelf- We are sending home a flyer this week for our Lenten almsgiving. We are collecting food items for Mark O'Riley's Food Shelf. Please look it over and if you can help...send items with your kids! Thank you!!! 

ACRE Test- I told the 5th graders that on Friday afternoon they will take a religion test on their chrome. Mrs. Simmons will be coming to help me get them on it. This is a multiple choice test that is given to 5th and 8th graders...to see what they have learned about our Catholic religion. I gave them some example questions. It isn't really anything they can study for. 

Reading- This week we read a story called Darnell Rock Reporting. It is a story about a boy named Darnell who is trying to persuade his city council to take a deteriorating basketball court and turn it into a community garden for the homeless in his town. Another girl wants them to turn it into a parking lot for the teachers. She says it will help them with their job. I did tell the kids that where I park my car...doesn't really change how I teach! 😉 Darnell lost to the city council, but another member of the community came up to him afterwards and offered a different plot of land  that they could use for the garden. So...he did win in a way too. 

This week we are working on pronouns. We have focused on indefinite and possessive so far. 

The kids were so excited to NOT wear a coat to recess today. I am trying to get them to take home snow pants, but keeping the boots around. We just have so much mud. Hopefully these warmer temps will dry them up! 

Shorts are back! They can wear them, but they aren't allowed to wear sweats over them or a pair of pants . We aren't taking time to change clothes. Just remind them that they have PE in the morning and it will be outside . The warm temps aren't until they go home typically. I see the 40s in next week's forecast. 

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the spring temps! I have noticed our daylight is lasting longer! YAY! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma