Happy Wednesday! I hope you are enjoying these warmer temps! I know we are at school! It is fun to be at recess across the street again! The kids did a great job with the rosary and the mass this morning. We had Father Kirby from Winterset. We didn't get to do the Sanctuary song, but that is okay. The 5th graders will have one more mass on May 23 with the 4th graders. Not everyone will get a job.
Reading- Tomorrow is going to be our "Friday" in reading. They are going to be testing over the story and having a spelling test. We don't have school on Friday. This week they read a historical fiction story about a family who are pioneers going across America to get to Oregon. The girl in our story keeps a journal. One of her experiences is a buffalo stampede. I showed them a scene from Dances with Wolves where John Dunbar is awakened by the buffalo stampeding by his fort. I didn't show the "hunting" scene. I said they could watch the movie at home with you! They understood the power of the animals and the dust storm they can create!
In our grammar we are talking about comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs. For example: dirty, dirtier, dirtiest or fabulous, more fabulous, most fabulous. We added adverbs today. Adverbs describe verbs and adjectives and many times end in -ly. You need to just add the words more or most in front of the adverb.
Math-- The tests are coming to you today to get signed. They really did great. Many were close to 100% but because they didn't show their work or didn't write their fractions in original form they missed them. I was pretty adamant about that the entire chapter and even yesterday I repeated it a few times while they tested. We started in our chapter 6 today. They are back in their own math books. It is still chapter 6 but now we are adding and subtracting fractions. They will most likely be learning about mixed numbers and improper fractions too.
Religion- They took their test today. We will start a new chapter on Thursday. I think in May I will switch from religion to doing their Guidance book. We will most likely end our year with that.
Book Reports- These will are due next Friday, May 4. They need to come to school with their report that day and their costume. They will change into the costume when we begin to share these. Sorry, this is not something they do in front of you. You will get to come and see their play in May. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have them practice presenting their book report to you at home.
Due to the book reports next Friday, I plan on making our reading program 4 days again-- just like this week.
Lap-A-Thon-- Don't forget this is next Thursday, May 4. The 5th graders will be running/walking from 10-11am. Don't forget to have your kids do what they can to raise some money! I don't mind a pie in the face for them! It wouldn't hurt for them to have an extra pair of socks and shoes to wear after the run in case of mud or wet shoes.
Remember your kids don't have school on Friday. We have to go to Des Moines for some PD.
Have a great weekend! Looks like the weather will be beautiful.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Hello Parents, Well, I'd like to say Happy Spring, but I am not sure Mother Nature has seen our calendar. I know my siblings in Eastern and Northern Iowa are getting hit yet again! I'm glad that isn't us.
Reading- This week we are reading a story called Vaqueros. It is the history of cowboys and how they got started. It really goes back to the time of Columbus being in Spain. The barbed wire that ranchers and farmers use is kind of what stopped the need for them. Thanks to Fernando for helping pronounce the Spanish words so easily!!!
In grammar they are working on easily confused verbs. We went over words like lay and lie, can and may. We discussed that many people say they are going to "lay out" at the beach. When in fact that is the wrong usage. Really you are "lying out". I told them lay is like the word "set". You put stuff down on your desk, on a table, on your bed. You "lie" down to take a nap. You "lie out" in the sun.
Math-- This week we were comparing fractions by changing the denominator. Then they have to use the greater than and less than signs. On Wednesday, once they learned how to change them, they had to write them in greatest to least or least to greatest. We are getting close to the end of our chapter. They will test over it next week. The earliest will be Tuesday, but I need to see how Friday goes.
Religion- They are finishing up the chapter on Spiritual Works of Mercy. They will probably test over it next week. On Thursday I will hand out their Rosary or Mass parts. You are invited to join us for mass and the rosary before mass if you can make it.
In the News- I hope you were able to check out the link I posted to show the 5th graders on the KWWL news. I assume they saw my tweet! Pretty cool they included us in their story. The kids are really good about praying for Jake every morning.
Clean-Up Day- On Friday we are raking the school grounds. I am not sure how much the 5th graders will get to help because it is also our day to work at the Food Pantry. They can wear sweats that day or shorts (no charge). If they want to wear a hat --that will cost $1. If they want to donate another $1, that will go towards flowers and soil for this summer. All rakes should be labeled! They should also have a pair of gloves!
Just so you know...they all survived the Growth Talk!!!!! Woo hoo!
This Friday we have school, but the public school does not. You will need to drop off and pick up!
We don't have school on the 27th. The teachers have to go to Des Moines for professional development.
Have a great weekend. My plan is to head to Sioux Falls after work. My sister and I are going to Doon on Saturday to pick out a spot for the bench we had made for our parents. Hopefully their snow will be melted!!! A girl can dream!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Reading- This week we are reading a story called Vaqueros. It is the history of cowboys and how they got started. It really goes back to the time of Columbus being in Spain. The barbed wire that ranchers and farmers use is kind of what stopped the need for them. Thanks to Fernando for helping pronounce the Spanish words so easily!!!
In grammar they are working on easily confused verbs. We went over words like lay and lie, can and may. We discussed that many people say they are going to "lay out" at the beach. When in fact that is the wrong usage. Really you are "lying out". I told them lay is like the word "set". You put stuff down on your desk, on a table, on your bed. You "lie" down to take a nap. You "lie out" in the sun.
Math-- This week we were comparing fractions by changing the denominator. Then they have to use the greater than and less than signs. On Wednesday, once they learned how to change them, they had to write them in greatest to least or least to greatest. We are getting close to the end of our chapter. They will test over it next week. The earliest will be Tuesday, but I need to see how Friday goes.
Religion- They are finishing up the chapter on Spiritual Works of Mercy. They will probably test over it next week. On Thursday I will hand out their Rosary or Mass parts. You are invited to join us for mass and the rosary before mass if you can make it.
In the News- I hope you were able to check out the link I posted to show the 5th graders on the KWWL news. I assume they saw my tweet! Pretty cool they included us in their story. The kids are really good about praying for Jake every morning.
Clean-Up Day- On Friday we are raking the school grounds. I am not sure how much the 5th graders will get to help because it is also our day to work at the Food Pantry. They can wear sweats that day or shorts (no charge). If they want to wear a hat --that will cost $1. If they want to donate another $1, that will go towards flowers and soil for this summer. All rakes should be labeled! They should also have a pair of gloves!
Just so you know...they all survived the Growth Talk!!!!! Woo hoo!
This Friday we have school, but the public school does not. You will need to drop off and pick up!
We don't have school on the 27th. The teachers have to go to Des Moines for professional development.
Have a great weekend. My plan is to head to Sioux Falls after work. My sister and I are going to Doon on Saturday to pick out a spot for the bench we had made for our parents. Hopefully their snow will be melted!!! A girl can dream!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Hi Parents, As I am writing this blog the ground is shaking from the work outside. WOW! I am glad I don't live where there are earthquakes. I hope you are having a good week.
Testing- We should be done on Thursday. I will use Friday as a backup if we need to. I am pretty sure we will get scores back before the end of the year. The kids are doing well. They are taking their time and don't seem to be rushing.
Math- We are doing some review work with our fractions this week. I don't feel comfortable moving on. I think they need some more practice with simplifying fractions and finding the common denominator.
Religion- We are focusing on mercy, but our bigger focus will be the Spiritual Works of Mercy. On Wednesday they did their skits. Oh my goodness. They were funny. I was going to tape them, but we did them outside to get away from the construction sounds and it was so nice out! The problem there is it became harder to hear. They definitely showed forgiveness in all of them. The common theme was some kind of bullying, but they really were funny too. You have some great actors!
Earth Day- Our school will clean up the school grounds on April 20. There is a flyer going home with more information. We will be needing rakes that day.
There won't be any busses on April 20th. The public school has their professional development on that day. All of our STM kids will have to be dropped off and picked up by cars.
April 27- No School for STM. We have our professional development that day in Des Moines.
Mass- The 5th graders will be leading the rosary and doing mass on April 25. You are welcome to join us. I know the 6-8 graders are taking a field trip that day to the Conception Abbey. I believe Father Halbur is going with them. We will have a substitute priest that day. I don't know who that will be. We will start practicing that next week. I am confident they will do fine. All the kids will have a job either with the rosary or the mass.
Book Reports- I know many of them are working on their projects or have already finished them. They are due on May 4. They will need a costume that day as well.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. Next week will be back to normal with the classes. We have really enjoyed the construction. It hasn't been very loud and we love watching the progress each day! The back doors and my window are good lookouts!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Testing- We should be done on Thursday. I will use Friday as a backup if we need to. I am pretty sure we will get scores back before the end of the year. The kids are doing well. They are taking their time and don't seem to be rushing.
Math- We are doing some review work with our fractions this week. I don't feel comfortable moving on. I think they need some more practice with simplifying fractions and finding the common denominator.
Religion- We are focusing on mercy, but our bigger focus will be the Spiritual Works of Mercy. On Wednesday they did their skits. Oh my goodness. They were funny. I was going to tape them, but we did them outside to get away from the construction sounds and it was so nice out! The problem there is it became harder to hear. They definitely showed forgiveness in all of them. The common theme was some kind of bullying, but they really were funny too. You have some great actors!
Earth Day- Our school will clean up the school grounds on April 20. There is a flyer going home with more information. We will be needing rakes that day.
There won't be any busses on April 20th. The public school has their professional development on that day. All of our STM kids will have to be dropped off and picked up by cars.
April 27- No School for STM. We have our professional development that day in Des Moines.
Mass- The 5th graders will be leading the rosary and doing mass on April 25. You are welcome to join us. I know the 6-8 graders are taking a field trip that day to the Conception Abbey. I believe Father Halbur is going with them. We will have a substitute priest that day. I don't know who that will be. We will start practicing that next week. I am confident they will do fine. All the kids will have a job either with the rosary or the mass.
Book Reports- I know many of them are working on their projects or have already finished them. They are due on May 4. They will need a costume that day as well.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. Next week will be back to normal with the classes. We have really enjoyed the construction. It hasn't been very loud and we love watching the progress each day! The back doors and my window are good lookouts!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Hello Parents,
I hope everyone had a blessed Easter! I had a great time with my family in Waterloo!!!! I do wish we could have had it a little warmer! Spring temps can show up any time!
Reading- This week they are reading a story called The Birchbark House. It is about a Native American who is walking home and meets up with some bear cubs. She feeds them berries until their mom shows up! We talked about the theme of this story is learning to think before you act. Their grammar this week is present, past , and future perfect tense verbs. They are using the words has, had, have, and will in front of their verbs. Their verbs also need to be in the correct tense. They will take a test on Friday over this story as well as their spelling test.
Next week we won't be doing a story during Iowa Assessment week. We will go again with another story the week of April 16.
Math- This week we focused on simplest form of fractions and finding a common denominator. They continue to work on identifying equivalent fractions. They are catching on pretty quickly.
Religion- This week they continued to watch the movie The Ten Commandments. On Wednesday, I gave them the ACRE test. This is a standardized religion test given to 5th and 8th graders every year. It is to see what they are remembering from their religion classes.
Permission Form-- In your child's folder is a permission form from our school nurse. This is for our Growth Talk -- we discussed this at conferences. I have the date set for 2:00 on April 18. I will break the news to the kids before handing out the folders. :) Please fill out the form and return by April 16. Thanks!!!!
Iowa Assessment Week- We should be done testing by Thursday afternoon. As always it is helpful if your kids get a good night's sleep each night along with a good breakfast (if they are breakfast people). The PTO will supply a snack for them each day. We won't take any tests on Wednesday. We will only test in the morning unless your child is gone and needs to make them up. I always try to get them to relax and not stress. The point is to do your best. Try your hardest. They should always have a book to read when not taking the tests. I will remind them of this as well. If they are done with their book report book, they will need another one. They will still have their specials.
I hope everyone has a nice weekend. I would love to say, "Enjoy the temps!", but I have a feeling that isn't going to happen. I am supposed to be going back to Waterloo. My niece is going to her boyfriend's prom on Saturday. We will see if the weather allows me to do that!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
I hope everyone had a blessed Easter! I had a great time with my family in Waterloo!!!! I do wish we could have had it a little warmer! Spring temps can show up any time!
Reading- This week they are reading a story called The Birchbark House. It is about a Native American who is walking home and meets up with some bear cubs. She feeds them berries until their mom shows up! We talked about the theme of this story is learning to think before you act. Their grammar this week is present, past , and future perfect tense verbs. They are using the words has, had, have, and will in front of their verbs. Their verbs also need to be in the correct tense. They will take a test on Friday over this story as well as their spelling test.
Next week we won't be doing a story during Iowa Assessment week. We will go again with another story the week of April 16.
Math- This week we focused on simplest form of fractions and finding a common denominator. They continue to work on identifying equivalent fractions. They are catching on pretty quickly.
Religion- This week they continued to watch the movie The Ten Commandments. On Wednesday, I gave them the ACRE test. This is a standardized religion test given to 5th and 8th graders every year. It is to see what they are remembering from their religion classes.
Permission Form-- In your child's folder is a permission form from our school nurse. This is for our Growth Talk -- we discussed this at conferences. I have the date set for 2:00 on April 18. I will break the news to the kids before handing out the folders. :) Please fill out the form and return by April 16. Thanks!!!!
Iowa Assessment Week- We should be done testing by Thursday afternoon. As always it is helpful if your kids get a good night's sleep each night along with a good breakfast (if they are breakfast people). The PTO will supply a snack for them each day. We won't take any tests on Wednesday. We will only test in the morning unless your child is gone and needs to make them up. I always try to get them to relax and not stress. The point is to do your best. Try your hardest. They should always have a book to read when not taking the tests. I will remind them of this as well. If they are done with their book report book, they will need another one. They will still have their specials.
I hope everyone has a nice weekend. I would love to say, "Enjoy the temps!", but I have a feeling that isn't going to happen. I am supposed to be going back to Waterloo. My niece is going to her boyfriend's prom on Saturday. We will see if the weather allows me to do that!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
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