Hello Parents,

Next week is Catholic Schools Week! There are a lot of activities and dress up days planned! Please make sure you check them out on Mrs. Simmons' blog/email. 

Calendar Dates: 

Jan. 16-27 FAST Testing

Jan. 29-Feb. 3 Catholic Schools Week

Jan. 30- Sack Lunch Day

Sunday is our kickoff to Catholic Schools Week! We are having mass at Holy Spirit. I have some kids doing most of the jobs at mass. There is also a breakfast after mass in the basement provided by the Knights of Columbus. Later that afternoon we have an Open House at school for prospective families! If you know of anyone interested in sending their children, let them know! They can find out information and checkout the school! Check out the times in Mrs. Simmons' information! 

Monday- Blue and Gold Day or STM Gear Day! The kids will need a sack lunch that day! Milk will be provided. 

Tuesday- Dress up as your favorite Bible figure or Saint Day!!! I can't wait to see what everyone wears! Remember you can dress up as something your saint is a patron of. For example: Sebastian is a patron saint of athletes. Come dressed in your basketball or volleyball uniform. (Remember recess- plan to have your snow pants that day!) There is also supposed to be snowman building that afternoon-depending on temps and snow! Kids should have all the right gear for that activity! 

Wednesday- Pajama Day! Wear your jammies, robes, slippers! That is also the Talent Show Day! That is scheduled from 8:45-11 am.

Thursday- Nation Appreciation Day- Dress up as your hero or patriotic day! Red White and Blue

Friday- Dress up Day! Grandparents/Special Guest Mass. They pick up their student(s) at 1 pm. Mass will begin at 1:30. Parts are being sent home in folders today if your child has a job.

Reading- This week they have been taking their Unit test as well as finishing up our FAST tests. I am also assigning their next book report. This one they will be choosing a Newbery winner or honor book. I will go over possible choices for them. They should be able to find something from my shelf or the library.  Many times these are books they wouldn't normally choose on their own! 

Math- This week we are working on reviewing our chapter. They will test on Friday that is the goal anyway! 

Next week's schedule is going to be a little off and I don't have it mapped out just yet. 

Next week looks like it is going to be COLD!!! Make sure your kids pack their snow pants and boots for recess with our dress up days. Of course, there is a good chance it will be too cold to go out, but you never know! 

The coffee cart was a HUGE treat that we all enjoyed!!! Thank you STM Social Club! 

Have a great weekend! Hope to see you at mass on Sunday!

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, Okay, your kids are rock stars!! ❤ They did an awesome job today with mass and the kindergarten class, plus we had some last minute changes with kids being gone! I was so so proud of them! They did say, "Miss Surma, watching those kids is hard work!"  YES, it is!!! 

Calendar Dates: 

Jan. 16-27 FAST Testing

Jan. 20- Spirit Day

Jan. 25- Coffee/ Tea Drink Day! 

Jan. 29-Feb. 3 Catholic Schools Week

Math- We are finishing up our chapter on multiplying decimals! They will test next week. I'm writing this on Wednesday afternoon and we had our early out. I will have to see what tomorrow brings as to scheduling things the rest of the week! On Tuesday, we did work on multiplication,but we also added solving for area. We talked about the proper equation we use to solve for it. I gave them the example of carpeting our classroom would be solving for  area. 

Religion- This week we are talking about confirmation and joining the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. Part of the confirmation process in our church is choosing a saint's name. That saint becomes your patron saint, someone you can pray to for help or guidance. The 5th graders are using their religion time to research saints. They are finding out some basic information about their saint. They will share their reports when we are done. I told them this could be the saint the dress up as, if they want, for our Catholic Schools Week dress up day.

Reading- We are in our last story of this unit. In this story they are reading about two teenagers that played a role in the Revolutionary War. One was a young boy named Joseph that actually signed up for 6 months of service and fought in the war. The other was about a girl name Sybil. She didn't fight in the war. Her job was to ride on horseback and travel at night to gather more militiamen to go to another battle. Her ride was similar to Paul Revere's. 

Next week will be a unit test week. There won't be any spelling tests. 

FAST Testing- We have done some this week. I will continue to the more the rest of this week and then finish up next week. 

Spirit Day on Friday! Sweats for $1!!!

☕☕🧃🧃Our coffee/smoothie drink day was postponed until next week due to the weather. The kids were just happy that it was still happening! 

If you can help out the Monday of Catholic Schools Week while the teachers go to lunch here is the sign up! 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090d48adab29a5f49-parent?fbclid=IwAR1-_6_9jWxjdyGxH4q4funo4Nm9mRE53oW9laYJflKQ6xwdOmH97EBfRdY#/

Make sure to keep a lookout for the Catholic Schools Week information that Mrs. Simmons puts out! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents!!! How is everyone doing??? I hope well! It is so good to be back! I know I keep saying that but it really is the truth! I really missed being here and your kids! We are definitely working at getting back into the groove of school and the expectations Miss Surma has for them. They are really having a difficult time listening to directions and there has been a need for repeating them multiple times. I told them on Tuesday, that the repeating will soon come to an end. They are closer to being in middle school now so they need to step up their game. So, I feel like we are back at square one a little bit and needing to relearn how things are done. 

Calendar Dates: 

Jan. 16-27 FAST Testing

Jan. 18- Mass

Jan. 20- Spirit Day

Jan. 29-Feb. 3 Catholic Schools Week

Math- We are still working on our multiplication of decimals. We had quite a few papers that needed correcting when I got back, but this week we are back in the book. They are working on multiplying decimals times decimals now. The trick is knowing where to put that decimal. It no longer works to drop it straight down! 

Religion- They will have a test on Thursday over chapter 5. Last week we did take some time to watch the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI. We didn't watch the entire funeral, but the kids were able to see the big crowd and the number of priests, bishops, and cardinals there. 

Reading- They read the story called James Forten today.  He was a freed slave that joined the military during the Revolutionary War. His job was to carry gunpowder to the top deck of the boat for the canons to use. We talked a lot about the fear for the free slaves was that they could get taken and sold back into slavery. His ship had to surrender to the British so he was very fearful that that would happen to him. It didn't. After the war he worked with abolitionists and getting women the right to vote. He also had a very successful business.  In grammar they are working on commas in a series as well as using semicolons in a series when commas are already in place. They will test over spelling words on Friday as well as our story. 

Mass- The 5th graders will be helping the kindergarten class with their mass next week on January 18. Some of the 5th graders will be holding the mic for them, while others will have a short speaking part. I will be giving them their reading parts to practice. The kindergarten kids have most of the work! The 5th graders are excited to help out! 

Catholic Schools Week- In your child's folder is a sign up for our kick off mass at Holy Spirit on January 29. If you child wants to participate, fill it out and return it to me. Please look at your weekend schedule before saying yes, but I really hope to see some 5th graders there! There will be a Grandparent/Special Guest mass on Friday, February 3 at church as well. If your child gets a part in either mass, we will be sending home information on that. 

FAST Testing will begin next week in reading and math. Scores will be sent home when everything is compiled! This week I have them doing a cold read to time them. The winter goal is 149 words in 1 minute. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I went to the new Tom Hanks movie last weekend with Mrs. Levine. I highly recommend! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma