Hello Parents! Well, I would say the auction was a success last Saturday! The 5th grade basket was bought 9 times making a total of $4900! It was simply amazing to watch it get bought and sold so many times. I was in complete awe!! I think Mrs. Sickels was too! We both shed some tears that night. It was an emotional, but giving night! Thank you to everyone!

Language Arts- This week we read a story called Vaqueros: America's First Cowboys. It showed us the history of the cowboy. It all stems back to Christopher Columbus! We had to work on pronouncing some Spanish words. Thank goodness for pronunciation keys! We even learned where the term "buckaroo" came from--do you know??? When Americans tried to say "Vaqueros", it came out "bukera". Later it became buckaroo. I didn't know that! In grammar we are working on using commonly confused words such as: can/may, effect/affect, their, there,they're, lie/lay and more! They have been really trying to say, "May I go to the bathroom?" instead of  "Can I go to the bathroom?"  We also worked on proverbs and adages again. I am afraid this might be a dying concept. Some had never heard the saying: People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. 
 I do plan on covering another story next week even though we have only 4 days. That means there will be a spelling test and a test over the story on Thursday before break. I am hoping it will turn out better than our Christmas tests, but I want to keep them focused as much as I can before break.

Mass-- We have our mass next week Wednesday! You are more than welcome to join us!

Math- This week they are working on dividing larger numbers as well as having zeroes in their quotient. Today we are working on dividing decimals. This will add an interesting twist I am sure. The hardest part for them this week seems to be remembering there could be another number they have to bring down before they can call it finished! They also need to pay attention to the number they get after they do their subtraction. Some of the remainders are too big!

Religion- They are testing today over Chapter 6. This chapter focused on the Sacraments of Christian Initiation and their symbols. We will be looking at Lent next!

Make sure you check out your conference schedule so you remember what day and what time you will be visiting with me! There will be a book fair during conferences as well. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead! Have a good weekend!
God Bless, Miss Surma