Hello Parents, 

Thank you so much for the emails, cards, texts, and gifts. They mean a lot! It sounded like the 5th graders had a good week while I was gone. I am happy to hear that! It is good to get back to something a little normal.  Mrs. Warner sent me a video of them singing a song that I absolutely love! It brought me to tears! 

Calendar Dates:

Jan. 19- No School/PD Day 

Jan. 23- Spirit Day

Jan. 25-30 Catholic Schools Week

Book Reports- I assigned the next report on Monday. They each chose a Newbery Winner or Newbery Honor book. The project is due Friday, February 20. They have a yellow packet with the information. I told them they can't choose the same project from the last time. So if they tell you they don't have homework...they do have a book to read! 

Reading- I gave them a spelling pretest on Tuesday, so they do have a new list! This list covers compound words. Some have a space and some have a hyphen!The pretest was not pretty simply because of the different ways you can write a compound word.  Our story this week is about tsunamis. This will be another nonfiction story. These are harder for them to test over as you can see from the test they took last week. I will try to stress to them that they read the story more than once before answering questions, but also to think about the questions being asked of them and if they can find those answers within the story.  In grammar we started going over using the conjunctions and , but, and or. 

Math- We started our chapter on division. I worked with them on estimating decimals. I explained they have to find compatible numbers ( numbers that go together easily and wouldn't have a remainder). This takes some practice to fully grasp. Today we started dividing. I am showing the partial quotients method first. I did tell them this is NOT a way to divide at home with Mom and Dad. I told them you will have no clue on what we are doing. So...no worries. I will let you know when they learn the standard algorithm.  I also told them that this is a chapter with lots of frustration. It tends to bring kids to tears. I told them I don't want to hear things like..."This is so easy, why don't you get it?" We all learn differently. They will have to be patient. 

Religion- they started a new chapter this week. They have been working in groups to create a "club". They have to pick a name for their club, a saint to represent it, and then activities for their club to do. I told them they could have 3  fun activities and then they had to have 2 activities that were acts of service. They will share the posters with the entire class tomorrow. It's been fun listening to their discussions and seeing their creativity. 

Wipes~ Thank you so much for the Clorox wipes! I think it is perfect timing with kids being sick with the flu right now! 

Catholic Schools Week- There are forms going home in their folders tomorrow about Catholic Schools Week at the end of the month. Please make sure to look them over and return if needed. One is for the Sunday mass on the 25th. That is the day I am in charge of helping with. 

Enrollment for 2026-2027 school year opens the week of Catholic Schools Week. Please make sure to enroll your child so they have their spot in the 6th grade! 

The past three days have been really good with the kids. It is good to be back with them. I am slowly getting my papers checked. Your child's folder may seem a little full! Sorry about that! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Remember there is no school on Monday! Enjoy the 3 day weekend!

God Bless,

Miss Surma