Hello Parents, Can you believe we will actually get a full week of school this week? I am not sure how to act! I am loving the melting snow and birds chirping!! 

Calendar Dates:

Feb. 7- Lenten Activity Night 6-7pm @STM/ Noisy Change Collection at Mass

Feb.9- Celebrating Valentine's Day/ Spirit Day

Feb. 14- Ash Wednesday- 5th grade mass

Feb. 23- End of 2nd Trimester/ Spirit Day/ Fish Fry

Mar. 2- STM Foundation/ Gala

Reading- This week we are finishing our story about living on the prairie. We have been talking about how they had to figure out the weather based on how the sky looked and how animals and insects acted. They will have their spelling posttest on Friday. They will also do their weekly test on Friday too. 

Next week they will have their Module Test (unit test) on Monday. After that we will start our next module. 

They did a great job on their book reports! It is always fun for me to hear that they loved the book because in the beginning so many of them don't think they will like them because it is out of their normal book choice. I get it. The great thing about reading is that you can take all kinds of adventures and don't have to stick to one genre! 

Math- This week we are really diving into multiplying decimals times decimals! They seem to have caught on quickly about where to put that decimal! Always good! 

Religion- This week they read about two saints. One is my personal favorite because he was so courageous. They read about Saint Maximilian Kolbe.  He was a priest from Poland during WWII. He ended up in Auschwitz. When a prisoner tried to escape the commandant of the camp sent 10 prisoners to a room with the goal of starving them to death as a punishment. One of the ten begged to not go because he was married and worried about his wife and kids. Maximilian offered himself up in his place. He is a martyr in our church. I shared with them a little about my dad growing up in Poland and escaping during WWII as well as a young boy. I told them some of things he experienced while on the run. He came to the USA at the end of the war through the Catholic Relief Services.  They will be finishing up this chapter and testing next week! 

Lenten Activity Night- Next Wednesday, we are hosting a night with some Lenten activities at our school. It will be from 6-7 pm. There will be some activities in the hallway, the gym, and then in the classrooms of the 3-5 wing. I hope to see you there! Everyone is welcome! 

Mass on Friday is at 1:30 pm.  Your child's guest needs to pick them up from school at 1:00. 

Valentine's Day- We are celebrating on Friday, Feb. 9 since Ash Wednesday falls on the 14th. The kids can bring in their Valentines that day. We will have a little party in the afternoon before they go home. 

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! I am going to Adoration on Saturday and then the book store here in town! There is an author visiting that day! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! I hope everyone is doing well. These snow days are getting old! I sure hope next week is just off because of Catholic Schools Week and not snow days!! 

Calendar Dates:

Jan. 29- Book Reports Due

Jan. 28-Feb. 2- Catholic Schools Week

Feb. 7- Lenten Activity Night 6-7pm @STM

Feb.9- Celebrating Valentine's Day

Feb. 14- Ash Wednesday- 5th grade mass

Reading- We started a new story on Monday. This one is historical fiction. It is about a family living on the prairie. It's main character, Willy, is one of the kids in the family who has to help harvest the wheat crop. We learn some new vocabulary on the tools they used in farming back in 1840. I am showing them pictures so they have an idea of what we are talking about. They are reading about how the weather played a huge role in their lives. They are also learning some ways they used to tell how the weather was going to be each day. They didn't have the meteorologists to tell them about a storm arriving! In grammar we are going to be working on the past, present, and future tense of verbs. In spelling we have VV combination. I told them during their pretest that some words have 2 vowels next to each other and each vowel has their own sound so that helps us figure out how to spell them. Some words have 2 vowels next to each other, but they work together and make one sound so that makes it more difficult to figure out. Some times we can separate them between the vowels and their syllables. 

Book Reports - I moved the due date to Monday! We will see how many we can get done. I know it is Catholic Schools Week, so that may be another challenge! 

Math- We are still working on multiplying decimals and whole numbers, but I am hoping this week we can get to multiplying decimals times decimals. That makes it a little more challenging to figure out where to put that decimal. 

Social Studies- They will have a test tomorrow (Friday). They are going over their study guide today. 

Mass- Make sure to return the form that went home last week that lets us know who is picking them up on Friday for the Grandparent/Special Guest mass. I have gotten a few, but not all. 

Catholic Schools Week begins on Sunday! If your child is signed up for mass on Sunday, look for their paper/assignment in their Take Home Folder.  If they have a part in Friday's mass, that will also be in their folder! Please make sure you read Mrs. Simmons' outline on the activities each day. They will need a sack lunch on Monday. Milk is provided. They can wear their STM gear or blue and gold on Monday! 

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! Hope to see you at mass on Sunday! If your child has a part, be there at 8:30 so we can practice! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! I hope everyone did okay during our snowy weekend! I am ready to put my shovel away, but sadly it is only January! We still have a lot of winter to go! 

Calendar Dates:

Jan.19- Spirit Day

Jan. 26- Book Reports Due

Jan. 28-Feb. 2- Catholic Schools Week

Feb. 7- Lenten Activity Night 6-7pm @STM

Feb.9- Celebrating Valentine's Day

Feb. 14- Ash Wednesday- 5th grade mass

Reading- We  will finished up our current story tomorrow with the weekly test. It helps if you assign the right test! We discovered that one today! UGH!  I will also be using some of my reading time for FAST testing. On Friday, I have 3 kids who will be sharing their book reports because they are gone next week. We will most likely start work on the next story- maybe take a spelling pretest! The FAST testing will continue into next week. 

Book Reports are due next Friday! I see some kids who are still reading their book! They are going to have to do some at night at home so they aren't rushing to get the project done. 

Math- we are working more on estimating decimals and then multiplying them. By Friday I will having them actually multiply a whole number times a decimal. They have been using calculators. Those will go bye-bye! I didn't do any Timed Tests this week. We need to get some work done!! We also have some math FAST tests to do. 

Religion- We are getting back to that on Thursday! On Wednesday, the 5th graders helped the kindergartners with their mass! They did great! So cute to watch them help them! I just want to hug them all! 

On Friday at 2:20 pm we will be saying a Rosary for Perry as a school. We will be in the gym. Some of the 5th graders will be leading this service. You are welcome to come and join us if you are free. 

Spirit Day on Friday!! $1 for sweats! 

Due to the snow days, we will most likely send home parts for the Sunday mass for CSW next week. Sorry, that isn't a lot of notice. We are still getting volunteer sheets turned in! 

Have a GREAT weekend! I will be here and going to the local bookstore because she has an author coming in to sign books! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! I am writing from my comfy chair at home! I sure hope we are at school tomorrow! We will be. I just know it! I hope your kids are enjoying their really long weekend! LOL I see more snow is in the forecast! I am praying it is just a little bit of snow! 

Calendar Dates:

Jan. 15- FAST testing begins

Jan. 17- Kindergarten/5th grade mass

Jan. 17- PTO Meeting 6pm

Jan.19- Spirit Day

Jan. 28-Feb. 2- Catholic Schools Week

Reading- Well things are pushed back with the snow days. We will finish up our story either on Friday or Monday. I will see how things go when we get back. Their story is called Celestial Railroad. It is about how many Chinese men came to America in the 1800s to help create the Transcontinental Railroad. It discusses the hardships of that job for all the men, but it does show how the Chinese workers complained less, did their job, but were still treated poorly. They started with 50 Chinese workers helping out, but with their work ethic being so strong thousands were there by the end! It was really interesting. In grammar they are working with subject and object pronouns- singular and possessive.  The spelling test was supposed to happen today, but that will be pushed back! 

Book Reports are due on January 26. I know some are struggling with making time to read their books. I told them they can't just read it at school. They need to take them home. They have a packet with the information needed on the project they chose.  If they need drawing paper or poster paper they can ask me! 

Math- We are in our chapter. Not very far yet! They worked with multiplying decimals by 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000. I let them use calculators. Some of them figured out that the decimals moves to the right by the number of zeroes they multiply by. 10=1. 100=2. 

Religion- We are starting a new chapter when they return. This one I believe is on the sacraments. 

I gave most of them jobs to help with kindergarten class with at their mass next week. Some of them have reading parts to practice. 

Rosary- We are planning to hold a rosary for Perry. The plan was for Friday afternoon. I don't know if that is still the plan or not due to our snow days! I have some of the 5th graders leading it. If we have school on Thursday (which I think we will) I will let you know for sure! 

Lunch calendar- due to snow days our lunch calendar has had some changes! Tomorrow's lunch will be Sloppy Joes, green beans, chips and two fruits. I will keep the kids posted daily on the changes so they can plan accordingly. 

Recess- Make sure they have their boots, snow pants, mittens/gloves, and hats for recess! I am NOT excited about the cold temps coming our way! 

If you're at the store- could you get some wipes for our classroom?? Thank you!!! 

I hope everyone has a good end to their week and a great weekend! Stay warm. Drive safely!

God Bless, 

Miss Surma