I see the sun!!! 

Calendar Dates:

Sept. 24- Picture Day

Sept. 25- Spirit Day

Sept. 30- Rosary led by 5th Grade/ No Mass

Oct. 2- Noon Dismissal/ Homecoming/ Spirit Day

Oct. 5- No School/Professional Development

Reading- They took their Weekly Module test on Tuesday.  This is definitely a harder story, but some of the questions could definitely have been looked up and I don't think some of them bothered to look back. The same goes for the grammar. They had a cheat sheet on the 4 kinds of sentences, but I am not sure they looked back to remind themselves of what an imperative sentence is and how you punctuate it. Their score sheets will be in their take home folders today.

Our last story in this unit is called Captain Arsenio. This is more like a cartoon. We see his trials and triumphs as he tries to fly. This story just makes me giggle. 

I gave them their pretest in spelling on Tuesday. This list has long I and long O sounds in their words. 

Math- We worked on rounding decimals on Monday and Tuesday this week.  Today they are starting their chapter review/ dress rehearsal test. We do this in class. They can always use their book on it if they need to.  Once I check it and we go over it, it will be a great "study guide" for the test. That will happen sometime next week most likely. It just depends on how long it takes them to do the chapter review. 

Religion- They did a great job at mass on Wednesday! Next up is leading the Rosary. Most of them have a speaking part. Sorry- just not enough for everyone to do a job. They have been given their part. They should practice this at home with you! Some of the words are hard to pronounce. 

Spirit Day on Friday!!! Wear sweats and/or  a hat for $1!!! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I also hope we don't get the rain! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Rain rain, go away, come again another day! 

Calendar Dates:

Sept. 16- PTO Meeting 

Sept. 23- 5th Grade Mass

Sept. 24- Picture Day

Sept. 25- Spirit Day

Sept. 30- Rosary led by 5th Grade/ No Mass

Oct. 2- Noon Dismissal/ Homecoming

Oct. 5- No School/Professional Development

Picture Day on Thursday, September 24. Please return order forms.📸📸

Reading- We have been focusing on our story from last week. They will finish up with it by Friday. Next Monday will be the quiz over the story as well as their post test in spelling. On Tuesday, they will take their weekly test.  Grammar has been a little more challenging in keeping the 4 different kinds of sentences straight. They do have a little cheat sheet in their composition book that they can always refer to while doing homework or on the test. 

I am almost done with the FAST testing!!! 

Religion- We are wrapping up our chapter! We are going over the study guide on Thursday. The test will be Friday. Don't let them throw away the study guide. They can use that to help them correct their test if they have to. We will probably be out of the book for a bit now. We are going to practice mass parts next week as well as leading the Rosary for the 30th. October is usually spent focusing on the Rosary. 

Math- We worked on comparing decimals and then writing them from least to greatest or greatest to least. Some are struggling by looking at them. I did teach them to stack them and then look for the differences, but most didn't do it that way.   We also worked on writing decimals in word form, expanded form , and standard form. We are going to do some more work on that on Thursday. I didn't get a good feel after the lesson for understanding. I think part of the problem is that we don't quite know the order of the tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. 

Green Valley Day- Thank you to the volunteers that showed up! We had a great day! It was such beautiful weather for us! Hopefully, the K-4 group can find a day that works for them soon!! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I hope the balloons are able to go up! I hope everyone is able to enjoy all the festivities. I am heading to Waterloo on Friday after work. I am going to my brother's house . On Saturday we will head to Dubuque to watch his youngest daughter play soccer for Loras and then hopefully catch a little of the UNI v IOWA game. 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 

Hello Parents! Hopefully everyone enjoyed the long weekend!

Calendar Dates:

Sept. 10- Green Valley Day Grades 5-8 

Sept. 11- Spirit Day

Sept. 16- PTO Meeting 

Sept. 23- 5th Grade Mass

Sept. 24- Picture Day

Sept. 30- Rosary led by 5th Grade/ No Mass

Reading-  They took their Week 1 test on Tuesday. Some had to make corrections. I don't know if I will get them scored before tomorrow so the scores may not show up until next week in their folders. We also took their next pretest in Spelling. They have their new list of words.  This week's list is based on long e and long a sounds.  

The 2nd story in each module usually has two short stories. On Wednesday, we read about a boy in Africa that invented a windmill outside his house using spare parts he found around the village. This helped he create electricity in his house so they could have lights! He also used it to create an irrigation system for their crops so they wouldn't have to worry about nearly starving again. 

The next story will be about a woman who helps invent a better wheelchair to play sports in...especially basketball. She also helps create a way that people in wheelchairs can go hang gliding!

In grammar we will be focusing on the 4 different kinds of sentences. 

Math- We are now working on decimals and understanding their place value. They are also learning to write decimals and turn them into fractions. An example would be  twenty-five hundredths. That can be written 0.25 or 25/100.

Religion- Last week they had to draw and color  a story about Jesus that they knew well. On Tuesday, we learned about the first American martyr named Father Rother. He grew up in the US and became a priest. He then moved to Guatemala and served the people there.  They went through a civil war.  During that time, three men came into his home and killed him.  I think we will be nearing the end of our chapter soon. I will let you know when I have the test planned. 

Spirit Day on Friday! Wear sweats and/or a hat for $1 

I know it is the big IOWA/ISU game weekend too! If your child wants to wear their team gear tomorrow to show their team spirit- they should! It is not required. I will be wearing purple! Sorry- I am allergic to those other colors. 

Picture order forms are going home in folders this week! 

FAST Testing- I plan on starting that on Monday.  The 3rd and 4th will be gone that day to Green Valley so that will give me some time! The 5th graders have been doing some practicing with one minute reads. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I will be working at the book store again on Saturday! 

God Bless, 

Miss  Surma

 Hello Families! How are you enjoying 2nd summer??? The kids have such red faces coming in from recess! 

Calendar Dates:

Sept. 7- Labor Day/ No School

Sept. 10- Green Valley Day Grades 5-8 

Sept. 11- Spirit Day

Sept. 16- PTO Meeting 

Sept. 23- 5th Grade Mass

Field Trip- In your child's folder is the permission slip for our field trip to Green Valley Park.  Please fill it out and return as soon as possible. They will need a sack lunch and drink that day!  Please make sure you fill out both forms!  If you're wanting to join us, make sure you see Mrs. Levine in the office. There will be paperwork for you to fill out.  The kids should wear clothes and shoes they can get dirty! They also need to pay $5 to help pay for the bus. 

Reading- They will have their posttest over the spelling words on Friday. They are supposed to have  their list in their homework folder. 

Our story is called The Inventor's Secret. It is a narrative nonfiction story about Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. They both loved inventing things, but they also had many flops along the way. This was a story about Henry figuring out Thomas' secrets with his invention. His advice to Henry was simple..."keep at it".  We talked about the author's purpose in this story- some of it was meant to entertain while it also gave them information on their invention stories. 

In grammar we have been focusing on the parts of a sentence. This is really relearning...making sure they have a subject and a predicate in their sentences.

Math- Our first lessons covered writing problems using exponents and place value. They  are writing numbers in standard, written, and expanded form. Writing the number in words is trickier as the number gets bigger. The expanded form has two possibilities.   I am making them practice both. One of those ways is using exponents.  

We also started our time tests over multiplication and division on Wednesday. You will see their tests each week in their take home folders. 

Religion- We always start out the year being able to locate Bible passages and identifying the title of them. Our first chapter focuses on Creation.  One of the composition books they brought to school is for religion.  In the spring they will take the ACRE test. We have already been busy taking notes on things they need to know for the test. One of the questions focuses on the word dignity.  We worked on writing a definition down and then understanding that we need to treat everyone with respect.  We also made a note of who the four Evangelists are: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 

The 5th graders have been GREAT help with the kindergarten class at mass! 

Just a reminder: No school on Monday for Labor Day! Enjoy the long weekend! 

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! I will be working at the bookstore on Saturday! Stay cool! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma