Hello Families! I hope you're having a  great week! Temperatures are changing. Please make sure your child comes to school with at least a sweatshirt to wear at recess! 

Calendar Dates: 

Nov. 18- Field Trip to Biz Town

Nov. 20- Advent Activity Night

Nov. 21- PTO Meeting 

Nov. 22- Spirit Day

Nov. 27-Dec. 1 - Thanksgiving break

Dec. 4- Christmas Concert

Monday- The 5th graders will need a sack lunch with a drink on Monday. No POP.  They also need to dress in mass day attire. They can bring things to do on the car ride.  We are leaving at 7:30 AM! They will not get breakfast at school that day.  Parents- please remember your own lunch with a drink! Please be here before 7:30 on Monday. Thank you!!! This is such a fun day! The kids will be tired after their day at work! 

Religion- They finished up their chapter on the 7 sacraments. We also took some time to learn a little bit about Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini before Wednesday's mass which was her memorial.  Our next chapter will be learning about the Beatitudes. 

Math- We spent a couple of days working on Biz Town- remembering how to fill out our checkbooks and trackers. We have also moved on to multiplying three digits by two digits. 

Reading- We are continuing to work on our story which is actually a poem. This week the kids had to go through and find rhyming words. They had to find a poem that depicts imagery. They had to find a repeated verse as well as identify a stanza.  in grammar they are working on action, helping, and linking verbs. They have got a list of examples in their composition book that they can refer to! They will most likely test over this next week sometime. This is also the last story in our module. They will be  taking module test as well. 

Read-A-Thon- in your child's folder is the information on one of the PTO's fundraiser. They can use the minutes  they do for this on their Book-IT Calendar as well. I know one of the days is Double the Minutes!  There is also a pajama day on the 26th! 

Advent Activity Night- On November 20th, if it fits your schedule, come to St. Malachy for a fun night along with families from the RE Program. STM teachers will be there providing games and activities! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I will probably be cleaning! I am trying to get rid of a mouse in my house! UGH! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I hope everyone enjoyed the 4 day weekend. I know I did. I did some cleaning,but also made a trip to Winterset and was able to do some Christmas shopping!  I went to the craft show in Corning with Mrs. Levine and Mrs. Simmons and her daughter. Mrs. Levine and I bought some new towels. I was able to read my book and start a new one! I enjoyed my time. 

Calendar Dates: 

Nov. 8- Spirit Day

Nov. 13- All School Mass

Nov. 18- Field Trip to Biz Town

Nov. 22- Spirit Day

Nov. 27-Dec. 1 - Thanksgiving break

Dec. 4- Christmas Concert

All School Mass- Next Wednesday is our first all school mass. A few kids from 5th grade have a part. I gave it to them on Tuesday. If they have a reading part, they should be practicing at home. This is good practice for our Catholic Schools Week mass in January! 

Religion- We are in a new chapter about the seven sacraments. The other day we read about how Jesus started his ministry at the age of 30 by reading from Isaiah in the temple. He basically told them that he was the Messiah at this point. Many of the listeners weren't happy hearing this. I did show them this particular scene from The Chosen. They were a little worried for Jesus in the scene. I had to remind them that they already know the ending of his story so they didn't have to worry. We did talk about how this was the beginning of his 3 years of public ministry. 

Reading- They took their module test and I am grading those. The scores will probably not go home until next week. We did read it out loud two times before going over the questions. On Wednesday, we started our last story in this module, which is probably our longest. It is actually a collection of different poem styles.  They had their spelling pretest as well. This list is r-controlled vowels. We did have to pause during the test because a few of the words are homophones, so I told them to listen to how the word is being used in the sentence. 

Book Reports are due on Friday. My plan is for them to share that day. I think we will get all of them done, unless something else comes up! 

Math- We are working on multiplying two digits times two digits.  For the most part, they are doing fine. I have a few who are forgetting to carry over the number and then adding it on. We will be focusing on Biz Town the rest of the week. 

Field Trip- In your child's Take Home Folder is a permission slip you need to fill out. I need those back before the 18th. They will also have to pay $10.50. A few have already paid that.  If you send a check, make it out to St. Malachy School. They will need a sack lunch and drink that day. Nothing carbonated. If you said yes to driving or helping us out that day, there is a letter in there for you as well. It is just some basic info for you. WE are leaving at 7:30 that morning so kids will not be getting breakfast at school. They will need to eat at home. We will be back in time for the bus! 

Spirit Day on Friday- the temps look perfect for wearing some sweatpants and/or a hat! 

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! I don't really have any plans yet, but we shall see what happens! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Families! I hope you're having a good week! 

Calendar Dates: 

Oct. 28-31 Parent Teacher Conferences

Oct. 30- Halloween Parade @ 2:30

Oct. 31- No School/PTC

Nov. 1- No School / Holy Day of Obligation

Book Report Project Due on Friday, November 8! Some of the kids have been doing their project work here at school, but not everyone. 

Ala Carte at Lunch- We made a decision with our grade band of 3-5 when it comes to buying ala carte. We decided that they can buy for themselves, they can buy for one friend, or their entire class. They can no longer bring in money and buy for a larger random group of kids. We know they are being generous and sharing, but kids get left out that way. Kids start to feel bad because they aren't getting chosen. This goes into effect immediately.  

Reading- We started a new story this week. The second week always has two stories. The first story is just an excerpt from The Secret Garden. I wish we could read more of it!  The second story is actually a play. We are going to be talking about personification in this story because there are animals and plants that can talk like humans. It is a cute little play with lots of characters. It will be fun to read with the 5th graders. It's called The Miracle of Spring.  The grammar this week will be working on writing nouns in the plural form. I tell them that spelling will count on this because sometimes we have to change the spelling of a word to make it plural. 

I will not be sending home the latest reading test scores because I see you next week at conferences. I will show you then. 

Math- Multiplication begins! On Tuesday we worked on estimating the two factors and then finding the product. I heard lots of "Oh this is easy! I like this!" I hope they feel that way when we start to actually multiply three digits times two digits! I know they learned the partial product method with Mrs. Sickels last year. I stick with the standard algorithm so this is stuff you know how to do! 

Religion- We finished with the Mysteries of the Rosary. Check out their posters next week during conferences.  We are in a new chapter that covers all 7 sacraments. They are back in their religion books. 

Social Studies- Mrs. Sickels told me their Iowa History is wrapping up this week. They will be back in their regular textbooks on Friday. This will mean they will now have homework once in a while and chapter tests. 

Halloween Parade is next Wednesday at 2:30! You are welcome to come and take your child home afterwards. They should pack their costumes that day! They still have to dress up for mass. Bishop Joensen will be here for our mass. He is also doing the Catholic Radio Show here afterwards. I believe some of the 5th graders will be on it!

November 1- there is no school , but I wanted to remind you that it is a Holy Day of Obligation because it is All Saints Day. We typically have mass at school that day. Check the church's calendar to find the time to attend mass. 

Biz Town- Please check your child's folder for information on our field trip in November. We are looking for parents to go and drive! This will be first come, first serve. We need a lot of parents this year because our kids will be running a majority of the businesses.  It is such a great experience! A permission form will be coming home later. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am going to lay low at home since next week is so busy with conferences. I see some book reading in my future! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Happy Thursday Everyone! I hope you are having a good week! I am enjoying the cool temps! 

Calendar Dates: 

Oct. 18- Spirit Day

Oct. 28-31 Parent Teacher Conferences

Oct. 30- Halloween Parade @ 2:30

Oct. 31- No School/PTC

Nov. 1- No School

Conferences- Make sure you sign up for a time for conferences on JMC. They start on October 28 and go through the 31st. I can't believe we are already doing this! Where has the time gone?  I sent out an email earlier this week to the people I am missing. 

October 30- The Halloween Parade will be at 2:30. Kids should pack their Halloween costumes in their bags that day. You are welcome to come! Kids can go home with their parents after the parade. 

November 1- Dress Code change- no more shorts until March. 

Reading- This week we are continuing to work on our story Airborn.  The spelling posttest was today! Sorry, I forgot to send out an email yesterday to let you know so they could practice with you!  They will probably be testing over the story next week. After that I'd like to start working on Halloween stories. 

Math- We are finishing up our adding and subtracting of decimals and moving into multiplication. That will actually start on Friday! There may be times I allow them to use a calculator or do the multiplication mentally, but most times they will show their work. I will also be giving them a multiplication table to use when they are working their problems out. I still want them to learn their facts, but when we are working the problems- they need to work at solving it. I don't want them wasting their time trying to figure it out. The faster they get at knowing them automatically, the easier it will be in the future for them. 

Religion- They are working on their posters for the Mysteries of the Rosary. They will be hung in the halls for you to see during conferences!

Class Meeting- Today we had an impromptu class meeting. The end of recess was busy for Mrs. Sickels with the 5th graders. I won't go into those details, but we had a conversation about our class rules and expectations. Mainly we treat each other with kindness and respect. We include others. We don't judge others because they aren't like us. We accept each other for who we are.  It's typical at this time of year that we start to get bossy or a little short with our classmates because we've been with each other now for a while. We also tend to forget that not everyone likes the same things or has the same abilities or talents. That's okay! We are all different, but made in God's image. We need to remember that.  It's easy to judge others , but wouldn't it be nicer if we could just accept everyone for who they are and not for what they wear, how they look, or things they say? I told them that they are my kids during the day at school. Mine! I want them to be able to come into my room and know that they are loved and accepted by me and their classmates. They can be free to be who they are in my room! I won't put up with the other stuff. I LOVE your kids! This is a TERRIFIC bunch! I love that they can make me laugh or smile at any moment! I love how they will try anything new! They will do their best even if it means they don't always like it! They make coming to work each day a joy and not really "work" at all. So hopefully tomorrow at recess when I am on duty- I won't see the issues they had today! Please know it didn't involve everyone, but I just thought it was time to have a Come to Jesus meeting. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am going to Indianola on Saturday. My niece's soccer team is playing against Simpson. I know Olivia probably won't see any playing time, but I just want to see her face! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! I hope you had a great weekend and were able to enjoy the parade last Friday. I had a great time in Waterloo. I loved watching the soccer game at Loras even though my niece never saw any play time. We had fun celebrating her birthday! 

Calendar Dates: 

Oct. 14- No School/ PD Day

Oct. 16- Noisy Change Collection at Mass

Oct. 18- Spirit Day

Oct. 28-31 Parent Teacher Conferences

Oct. 31- No School/PTC

Nov. 1- No School

Noisy Change Collection- The 3rd graders are having a Noisy change collection at their mass on the 16th. They are donating their money to two organizations. There is a flyer in your child's take home folder explaining all the details. 

Math- We completed the first test. Our next chapter is on adding and subtracting decimals. I am not going to do every lesson in the chapter. We will hit on doing those two things as well as estimating decimals because that is just a harder concept for some kids to do. 

They are working on their X-tra math too! You will see certificates in their folders as they pass each one. 

Reading- This unit is about different genres in reading. Our first story is called Airborn. It is a longer story than we have had in the past. I have learned we cannot read it all in one day.  This story is fantasy. It is about a boy reading the journal of someone who took a ride in a hot air balloon and discovered a new animal. The animal flies in the air like a bird, but it looks like a bat and a panther mixed together! 

Grammar- We are working on identifying common and proper nouns. This is harder than you think. Sometimes proper nouns can really be used as an adjective. In the sentence- The American soldier returned home. American is an adjective describing the soldier.  Even some common nouns are so simple that we overthink it and miss it. For example: boys, girls, triangles steps. 

Spelling- The list this week has words sounding like oo or yoo. 

Book Reports- A number of them are finishing their books and working on their reports! Some of the projects can be done here at school. Some of the kids are using their free time to work on them. 

Religion- Most of the kids have passed their prayer tests. I have a few that only have one more to pass. I keep telling them they need to practice at home too, not just wait until religion class. On Friday, I will take them to the chapel and we will say a rosary there. 

Current Events- your kids have really been paying attention to the news and Hurricane Milton! Lots of prayers are being said each day for the people in Florida and surrounding areas.  Keep it up! 

They started working on their fire posters for the contest again. This is something they will work on at school. Lots of great ideas are happening! I am excited to see the posters! 

No school on Monday! PD day for the teachers! Enjoy your long weekend! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am heading to Sioux Falls to have a sisters weekend. My oldest sister had back surgery in August. My sister Penny and I are going to see her and hang out! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents. 

 I hope you're having a great week! Lots of information in my blog today! 

Calendar Dates: 

Oct. 4- Homecoming/3 hour early out/Spirit Day

Oct. 14- No School/ PD Day

Oct. 18- Spirit Day

Oct. 28-31 Parent Teacher Conferences

Reading- They are taking their spelling posttest on Thursday. They will also take their weekly computer test then too. On Friday, they will take their first Module test. It's like a  unit test. I do let them use any notes they've taken through this unit . They have them in their composition notebook. Scores on weekly tests haven't been great, but I want to see how they do with the fiction stories in the next module. I still think some of them aren't going back to the story to look up the possible answers. Next week we will start our next unit. It has some fiction stories, which can be easier to read. 

Book Reports-Some have already finished their book report books and are starting to work on their projects. Some of those can be done at school. I have a few that I'm not sure they are really reading much of their book yet. They tell me their page numbers. They should be further along by now. They have had their books for a couple of weeks now. 

Book It- They have their Book It calendar for October. The goal is 600 minutes. That comes to about 20 minutes a day. I told them that if they read in their free time at school, they can keep track of those minutes and count them. 

Math- We are at the end of our chapter. They will most likely have a math test on Tuesday of next week. The next chapter is on adding and subtracting decimals. I think they will like this one a lot better. I don't know that I will test them in that chapter. I want to give them the practice of doing those things,  but we also need to be moving into multiplication and division. 

X-tra Math- This week we also started working on X-tra math to work on our basic facts. The time tests are good, but I think they need more daily practice with these skills.  Many of them did this in 3rd grade and at their old schools so it really isn't anything new. 

On Wednesday, we had extra time due to the rosary. I had them work in groups to play Kaboom. It is working on their multiplication facts. Ask them about the game! I think they had some fun! 

Religion- We are going to step away from the book for a bit. A couple of the standards they have to know in 5th grade deal with the Rosary. The first part will be memorizing two prayers we say in it. They have a purple sheet with those on it. Starting on Thursday they will work with a partner to practice memorizing it. They choose one prayer to focus on at a time. They have to say it to me in order to pass. They should also be taking that prayer home at night and practicing with you. The first chance to pass a prayer will be on Monday! They keep practicing and testing with me until they have it passed! 

The second thing they will be working on are the Mysteries of the Rosary. They don't memorize those, but there will be some posters being created on them. We also talk about what was happening at the time of each mystery with Jesus and Mary.

They did a FABULOUS job with the Rosary today!!! 

Spirit Day on Friday- wear your red and black to support the Panthers!  It is also a 3 hour early out! No lunch that day. 

The Parent Teacher Conference Sign-up will be happening soon. Don't forget to pick your day and time .

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy the parade if you're going. I am heading to Waterloo and Dubuque. My niece Olivia has a birthday on Friday and a soccer game at Loras on Saturday. I want to see her play. Most likely she won't see any playing time- she is a freshman, but I will get to see her with her team! Plus, I love the Loras campus. 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, 

I hope everyone is having a great week! I am loving these fall temps! Did you enjoy Balloon Days? I am glad the rain held off for a little while! 

Calendar Dates: 

Oct. 2- Rosary led by 5th grade

Oct. 4- Homecoming/3 hour early out/Spirit Day

Oct. 14- No School/ PD Day]

Oct. 18- Spirit Day

Mass- 5th graders did a GREAT job at mass today! I was so proud. Next week they will be doing the Rosary. You're welcome to join us then too. We will be working on the rosary during  class in religion too. 

Rosary parts were handed out on Thursday! They should be practicing at home with you!!!! Not everyone has a part. 

Math- We have been working on rounding decimals this week. They are also problem solving with decimals. We are at the end of our chapter. They will most likely be taking a test  over this chapter sometime next week. 

We do time tests on Wednesdays- I am starting to see some scores going home each week, but I think some of them need to work on them at home too. If you have flashcards or just want to ask them facts for multiplication or division up to 10...that would be good too. Math is a lot easier for them when they know their facts quickly. 

Reading -This week we read a fantasy story called Captain Arsenio. He had many jobs, but wasn't able to really do any of them well. He decided he was going  to create a way to fly. We read three of his attempts. He tried really hard, but none of them worked. It was kind of funny to read and then look at the pictures of his journeys into the sky. I told the kids that reading a fantasy is different than reading a nonfiction story like the past two were. We are going to talk about the problems he faced each time and how he attempted to solve them with the next try. 

Grammar- This week is about finding the complete subject and the complete predicate in a sentence. 

Spelling- the list has words with a long I or a long O sound. They do have lists so you quiz them at home if you'd like. 

October 1 - Pep Rally in the gym for homecoming! Kids can wear their Black and Red or Panther gear that day if they want to. 

October 4 is a 3 hour early out for the Homecoming parade. No lunch that day at school. Kids can dress up in their Panther gear or their black and red to support the Panthers! It is also a Spirit Day! They can wear sweats and/or hats for $1. 

Have a great weekend! I am going to the Christ Your Life Convention at Wells Fargo on Sunday. 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma