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