Hello Families! I hope you're having a good week! I sure enjoyed the 50s while we had them! 

Calendar Dates:

Feb. 12- Ben Tracy 6pm Southern Prairie Arts Center

Feb. 14- Spirit Day and Valentine's Day

Feb. 17- No School/PD Day

Feb.19- Kindergarten Mass with help from 5th grade

Feb. 19- Field Trip to Carlos Acutis Veneration

Feb. 21- End of Trimester 2

Feb. 28- Book Reports Due

Mar. 1- STM Gala/ Auction

Reading- They took their module test on Monday. These stories weren't the easiest. I am pleasantly surprised to say that scores were better than I expected based on the difficulty of the stories! Go 5th graders!!! This doesn't mean to say that we don't have room for improvement. 

They also took their weekly test last Friday. Those scores will be in their Take Home Folders.   

Our next unit is based on history and the expansion of the United States and the railroad. I really like this unit. I learned a lot last year! I hope the kids like it too!  They took a spelling pretest on Tuesday! I had 6 perfect scores! That was a first for me! They won't have to take the posttest when we get to that.  Grammar will be focusing on quotation marks and interjections. We spent some time on Wednesday going over homographs- words that are spelled the same, but have different meanings (may also be pronounced differently)-like wound and wound.  We also talked about homophones- words that sound the same, but spelled differently- like my favorites- their, they're, and there. Your kids created quite a list! 

Book Reports are due at the end of the month. I am reminding them daily they need to keep reading their books in any free time. The 28th will be here before we know it. 

Book It- I told the kids this month is shorter and I increased their minutes on the calendar. This means they need to read near 30 minutes a day to make the 800 minutes. I also had to explain to them that Pizza Ranch is no longer doing the certificates. They will honor the ones I have given so far, but next month I won't be handing any more out. I am out of them. So I will reward them with a Ring Pop sucker. Mrs. Stoner got me boxes of them while shopping at Costco!  I did see that Pizza Ranch still offers a free meal for your child , but only on Tuesday nights and I believe an adult has to pay for a meal as well.  I know as time moves on things change, but I still want to promote reading! 

Permission Slip- In your child's folder is the permission slip to go to St. Pius on the 19th. Please sign and return as soon as possible.  I have 3 drivers so far for that day. I could use 1-2 more depending on car size. They will need to pack a sack lunch that day. 

Math- This week we are working on the practice test. I was hoping to give the real test on Friday, but our early out on Wednesday messed up those plans. So I am hoping that they can take the test on Monday. 

Religion- We finished up our chapter . It focused on the Baptism of Jesus as well what that sacrament does for us. We also talked about how the people are the Body of Christ here on earth. Our job is to do the work that he started here. They had to come up with things they could do to help out at home, at school, and at church. 

Mass- The 5th graders will be helping the kindergartners at their mass on February 19. You're welcome to join us! Not all the 5th graders have a job. 

Auction- Thank you for donating to the school's auction basket! I am ready to go shopping! 

Melodie Winkler is helping me with our silent auction item this year. The kids will be helping her create a tie blanket. There is more to it than that, but once we get it going- I will post pictures on my Facebook page. 

Valentines- We will celebrate on the 14th! The kids may bring in Valentines for the class,but it isn't required. ❤🍬🧸

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay safe if we get the weather I am hearing predicted for our area. 

God Bless,

Miss Surma