Hello Parents, I hope you had a great weekend! It was nice to get home and spend time with my sister and her husband. 

Important Dates:

Apr. 1- Field Trip to DM

Apr. 4-8- Iowa Assessment Week 

Apr. 8- Spirit Day

Apr. 10- Palm Sunday

Apr 14-Seder Meal/Cross Walk

Apr. 15- School Closed/ Good Friday

Apr. 17- Easter

ISASP Testing- On Monday we will begin testing. The 5th graders have 4 tests total to take. They will do one a day. 5th and 8th are both tested in science whereas the other grades are not. I will try to test in the mornings when they are most awake! They will still get their specials. The tests are timed, but we are given suggestions on about how long they should take. The PTO will provide snacks for a test break. What can you do?? Make sure they get plenty of sleep the night before, eat a good breakfast each morning (if they are breakfast eaters), and let them know that they should do their best and not blow this test off. We do use this information to make other decisions. 

Due to the testing, their schedule/routine will be off next week.

Math- I have been using some of our normal math time to work on our practice tests this week so we aren't covering much for material. I will get back into it later this week and next week. 

Reading- This week is their unit 4 test. They won't have any spelling or vocabulary to do. At this time, I don't think I will be doing a story next week with the ISASP tests. That means no spelling test next week either! 

Field Trip- The kids will need to wear jeans and a nice shirt on Friday, no shorts.They should also wear comfortable walking shoes. Our morning will be outside when we get there. The kids will need a sack lunch with drink. Remember it is a Friday during Lent.  They also need to pack a mask for the Civic Center just in case it is needed. They may have electronics for the ride up and back. 

Please help donate to the Food Shelf. A flyer went home last week with items you can purchase to donate! Mrs Sickels and I help on Monday nights pack food bags for kids to get for their weekends. We usually pack over 150 bags. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I hope everyone had a great spring break! I headed to Waverly and visited my sister and brother! My sister and I also drove to Galena, Illinois for a couple of days! It was GREAT!  The weather was perfect until that snow!

Important Dates:

Mar. 24- PTO Meeting

Mar. 25- Spirit Day $1 for hats or sweats

Mar. 30- 5th grade mass

Apr. 1- Field Trip to DM

Apr. 4-8- Iowa Assessment Week 

Spirit Day- Friday, March 25- Due to temps they can wear sweats or a hat for $1

Religion- We are in our Lent chapter right now. Our first story was of Jesus being tempted in the desert by the devil. We talked about the correlation of the 40 days he spent there and the 40 days of Lent. We also talked about what we gave up for Lent being our "temptations" like he faced with the devil. On Wednesday, the 5th graders took the ACRE test. It is a standardized religion test given to 5th and 8th graders. I think the 8th graders already took it. Mrs. Simmons comes in to help us get it going because it is online!

Field Trip- There is a form in your child's folder on Thursday for our field trip next Friday to the Des Moines Civic Center. Please fill out and return as soon as possible. There is also a $5 fee for each child to help pay for the gas and buses. They will need a sack lunch and drink that day! 

Reading- This week they are reading the story The Black Stallion. It's not the entire story of course, just a portion. Alec is stranded on this island with Black. They have to create a friendship to help each other survive! Our grammar focuses on the rules of writing titles of books, newspapers, songs, TV shows, articles, etc. I gave them a cheat sheet again that I will let them use on the test. The spelling list was fun! Words from other languages threw them off! Ask them what dungarees are or what is a siesta??🤣🤣

Mass- We have mass next week! I will give them their parts on Friday!

Friday- This Friday is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord for the church. Father Adam said that you can eat meat on Friday and have whatever is you gave up! So... that means they can eat ice cream, play that video game, drink a juice box, but just for Friday!! 😊😊

ISASP Testing is the week of April 4. These are the Iowa Assessments. They will take some practice tests next week. In 5th grade they are tested in reading, language/writing, math and science. 

April 1st Fish Fry- Knights are looking for people to donate cookies! 

Thank you again for the birthday gifts! That means a lot! I think they liked their "treats" from me! I hope you have a great weekend! I am heading to Sioux Falls to see my sister. We are going to visit our mom's best friend on Saturday. She is like our 2nd mom and has been dealing with cancer. 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Dear Parents, I am so happy the temps this week are getting us closer to spring, but I did tell your kids they need to watch... temps can change quickly! They might not want to wear shorts in the 40s! 

 Important Dates:

Mar. 4- Spirit Day

Mar. 5- Auction and Dinner

Mar. 8- Honor Choir in Underwood

Mar. 10- Conferences/ No School

Mar. 11-18 Spring Break

Mar. 21- Classes Resume

Reading- This week we are doing our story in 4 days due to our short week last week. They will have a post test on Friday in spelling. This week our story is Darrell Rock Reporting. It is about a young boy who writes an article for the local newspaper to persuade the town to take an empty lot and create a town garden that will help the homeless people there. He has to take his argument to the town council to get voted on. Another student wants to turn it into a parking lot for the teachers. Who wins???? In grammar we are working on different kinds of pronouns. 

Math- I was hoping we'd be done with this chapter before break, but I am not quite sure that is going to happen. The four day week has messed with my plans a bit! 

Religion- They have been learning about the sacraments of healing- penance and reconciliation and anointing of the sick. The plan is to test over this before we leave for spring break. When we get back from break, we will focus on Lent. 

Spirit Day on Friday!

Shorts- I told the kids that I know they can now wear shorts again, but I also stressed to use good judgment.  As of right now, next Monday is back in the 30s. That could be a very cold recess and we won't keep them inside because they wore shorts. 

Honor Choir is next Tuesday! I am going to put another copy of the letter Mrs. Stoner sent you with all the details just as a reminder in your child's take home folder this week. I will be going with them that day since all of them are participating! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma