Dear Parents, 
I probably don't have much to say this week. It has been a very difficult week for all of us. I think your children are doing quite well considering, but we can surely tell something is missing in our room each day. I love that they share their  "TJ" stories with me each day. I am probably over-hugging them, but handshakes this week just aren't cutting it. :)

We are working on a story this week in language arts, but I am just kind of playing it day by day. We most likely won't test on Friday. I told them if we do, I will treat it more like a worksheet. We are working, but I know that the focus just isn't on the work yet. We will do a spelling test on Friday. 

Math- We did do some more work with volume. We are going to begin working on division. Again, just playing things by ear from day to day. 

Thanks so much for  the money brought in on Wednesday. I know Mrs. Sickels and I were overwhelmed with the generosity.  Of course, I am feeling that way with everything I am seeing from the community and surrounding towns. I told your children on Monday that for the 7 or 8 hours they are here each day, they are my children. I love them all and right now our family is broken. It is going to take some time to get used to the loss and there will be days we are sad and other days we are happy. I will say that your kids are certainly helping me get through the week. 

I will be at the visitation with Mrs. Sickels. We plan on being there the entire time. We told the kids they could find us if they needed us or wanted anything. 

Christmas Program is still on for Sunday at the YMCA. I will see your kids in the back hallway. They can have their DS games and iPods there. 

Noisy Change Collection- There will be a collection next Wednesday during mass. This money will go towards the Adopted Family for Christmas. 

St. Nick Project - Thank you for your donations this week!


Thank you so much for entrusting me with your children each day. They mean the world to me. Hug them for me. God Bless, Miss Surma

Funeral Arrangements: I have received information that Ben and Nicole Adamson are going to collect monetary donations from the 4th grade and 5th grade families. They are going to use the money to purchase flowers, a statue, or a stone (depending on donations) for each of the boys from our separate grades. So, if you would like to donate money, please have your child bring it to school tomorrow (Wednesday). That will give them time to order it before the visitation and funeral.  I appreciate anything you can do to help. Thank you. Miss Surma

This morning some of the 5th graders enjoyed their pancake breakfast in honor of TJ! They showed me their "sticky fingers" in the picture. As they greeted me at the door, they made sure to shake my hand with their very sticky fingers, just as TJ would do!


Just a reminder that the funeral information is on Powers Funeral Home website. I was told this morning that the 4th and 5th graders will be named honorary pallbearers at the funeral. They won't have to do anything. If they attend the funeral, they won't have to sit somewhere special. The family just wanted to include them. God Bless the Freys, and your children during this difficult time. TJ and Nate will be greatly missed. I doubt they knew how many lives they have touched and have changed forever. We love you TJ and Nate!

Parents, 
Just a quick reminder, tomorrow we are having a noisy change collection for the Philippines during mass. On Monday, December 2, we will start our campaign for the St. Nick Project through Catholic Charities. A flyer went home last week in the folders. We are asking for donations. We tried to break the list up for grade bands, but do what you can. The last day to donate will be Dec.6. Thanks again for your help!!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! -Miss Surma

Miss Surma's Molasses Sugar Cookies

3/4 cup butter ( I use the cheap margarine sticks)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger

I melt the butter first in the microwave until very soft and then let it cool in the fridge. Then I mix the rest of the ingredients together. The butter I add last when I know it has cooled down.  Form into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Do NOT flatten. Bake at 350 degrees. I bake until slightly brown on the bottom and edges. I let them finish "baking" outside when they are cooling down. They end up being soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside.
 Good luck! 

Hello Parents, I hope you are having a good week! It's almost Friday!

Math- Last week I said we'd be doing area and perimeter after our math test. I was wrong. I meant volume! We may do some area and perimeter too. After I am done with that area we will go into division. This first chapter is usually a review of dividing using a single digit divisor. The next one will be with a double digit divisor. That one can be a little more tricky. For you as parents, division has not changed. We still have the same steps we grew up with. I tell them there is an order to it: divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, and repeat steps if needed.  How I ask them may be different from you, but if they should say, "That's not how Miss Surma does it." It most likely is the same, I just might use different words.

Language Arts- This week we continue our journey with the Revolutionary War. We read a nonfiction piece on King George. The author made him kind of sound humorous. He didn't really think it was a war until the English soldiers surrendered at Saratoga. This week they worked in groups to identify facts and opinions found on a couple of pages in our story. They had to share their findings with the class. We did have to discuss whether some were really facts or opinions. They are also working on figurative language. We are discussing similes, metaphors, and idioms. We are also working on the tenses of verbs: present, past, and future. One piece was reading sentences to see if all the verbs in that sentence were the same tense. That was a little tricky. They have to slow down.

Religion- We are still working on the Glorious Mysteries at this point. They are more difficult than the Sorrowful. I have a feeling that they aren't studying as much. I am reminding them to take their books home at night and work on them.

Molasses Cookies- This week I  baked them some molasses cookies. They learned about molasses during Iowa History. Mrs. Sickels told them I baked some great molasses cookies, so I did do that! I think they all liked them! If you need a recipe, let me know!:)

St. Nicholas Project- Please look in your child's folder. We as a school will be participating in this for only a week after Thanksgiving. Please do what you can if possible.

I most likely won't be doing a BLOG next week. Remember that next Wednesday is only a 1 hour early dismissal. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you are traveling, have a safe trip.

Have a  good weekend! God Bless, Miss Surma

Hello Parents, I hope you are having a good week! Are you enjoying the temperature change?? I am not!

Language Arts- This week is a combo week. This is a test week with our series, but I looked ahead at the calendar and the week of Thanksgiving is only 3 days. I didn't want to get behind in our series, so they are taking 1 test a day. They read a story and answer questions. The questions are checking for comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and decoding. They are focusing on all the things we've worked on in this unit. They are also reading the next story. I have lined up those lessons a little differently. I don't want to drain them. They will test over this story and spelling words on Friday. Their book reports are due on Friday. I think I will collect them all and then have a few share each day. That might be easier on the schedule.

Math- They are finishing up their chapter this week. We will do a review and they will most likely test on Monday. We went into the beginning of understanding algebra. On Tuesday they had to solve an equation such as : 3+b= 15  b=12.  It is a difficult task to wrap your head around that you are solving for a letter and then hearing words like variable and algebraic expression. I think before we move into division we are going to work with area and perimeter since we are doing multiplication now. I don't plan on doing an entire chapter, but give them some idea on both.

Funds for the Philippines- The Civics Club is organizing a fundraiser for the people in the Philippines after they typhoon last week. They are creating a flyer. You should look for it in your child's folder today or they will have it with them on Friday. The kids are going to be able to do a variety of things and pay money for each thing, for example, wear sweats to school. There will also be a Noisy Change Collection on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, November 27.

Trimester- The first trimester ends on Friday. That mean on Monday, November 18 they will have a clean slate with late slips!!! :)  The progress reports will be online and they will be done by December 2.

I hope you have a great weekend! God Bless, Miss Surma