Happy Thursday!!!! I hope everyone is having a good week! I guess winter is still here. :( I think we all had a great time at the basketball game at Wells Fargo!
Reading- This week they read a story called Darnell Rock Reporting. It was about a boy who wrote an article for the newspaper about the need to turn a basketball court into a garden for the homeless people in his town. He then had to go to the city council meeting and make a presentation on the topic. He had to go up against a girl who wanted the court turned into a parking lot for the teachers. One of the things we discussed that while he lost at the meeting, some good things came out of it. A man donated some land for the gardens, plus the newspaper asked him to write another article. We talked about how the author's purpose was to show that one voice could do a lot, and that you might not get everything you want, but good things can happen anyway. Their grammar this week has been on different kinds of pronouns: indefinite, possessive, and interrogative. These would be words like: someone, anything, anyone or hers, theirs, mine, and who, what, and which.
Next week will be the last story in this unit. That means they will take a unit test the week of Feb.22. There won't be any spelling words that week. Their book report is due Friday, Feb.26.
Math- We finished our last lesson on Monday. On Wednesday, they were assigned the chapter review. We will go over that on Thursday, but I am pushing the test to Monday. On Friday, we need to do some math for our BizTown field trip. I will remind them on Friday to take home that extra practice worksheet in their math books. That can be used like a study guide for the test.
Religion- We are just starting our new chapter. This one is on the sacraments of healing, which would be penance and reconciliation and anointing of the sick. They also filled out their Lenten promises for this Lenten season. They will start activities with their Lenten Angels next week, I believe. If you notice on the school calendar, we are still having the Seder Meal, but it will be the Wednesday before spring break starts.
Living Rosary- The 5th graders did a GREAT job last week with the living rosary! I received many compliments from other teachers on how well they did!!! Go 5th GRADE!
Auction- Thank you to those who have sent in a donation towards our basket and silent auction items. For those of you that haven't yet, please do what you can! We will need those in by the end of the month for sure, if not sooner. Please just do what you can to help out.
Valentine's Party is on Friday. I have my volunteer for drinks and snacks! Keely Coen received money from one of the STM alumni postcards. They requested that money be used in the classroom somehow...so that is how it is being spent! Thank you, STM Alumni!!! I did make a bag for our teacher's aide, Miss Thomas, so if your child wants to give her a Valentine, that would be great!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am planning on going home to pick up Mom if the weather cooperates. She seems to be getting more snow than we are here! She will be with me until Spring Break!!!
God Bless, Miss Surma
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Note from the office:
Iowa Energy Game
Iowa Energy Game
Tuesday, February 9th
Buses leave at 8:30 am
Buses will back by 2:45 pm
*Wear St. Malachy Gear
*All students will ride on the bus to the event.
*Students may leave with their parents. Students MUST check in with their teacher prior to leaving.
*School lunch is provided
*We will not be purchasing from the concession stands.
*Students should never be without an adult for any reason.
*If you child is not riding the bus home please contact the office by Monday at 3pm to let the school know their travel arrangements.
Hello Parents,
I hope your week has been going well. We have really been enjoying Catholic Schools Week, even the snow day!
Due to it being CSW and our snow day...the scheduling of things has kind of been off all week.
Reading- This week they read an autobiography called The Dog Newspaper by Peg Kehret. This is the story to show how she got into writing. She started her own newspaper, but it didn't last long. All of her stories were about her dog BJ or the dogs in the neighborhood. She discovered that writing about dogs didn't lead to very exciting stories. I believe the 5th graders did some research on Peg in their library classes last fall. I have also talked to them about some of the books I have read by her. She writes great little mysteries for their age level. This week we also worked on the skill of identifying facts and opinions in the story. Their grammar this week has focused on prepositions and prepositional phrases. They can give you details, or answer questions like: how, when, or where? We did do some more work on adverbs as well. They will test over this story on Friday.
Book Reports-- These are due at the end of the month. I think many of them have already finished their books and have started the work on their project!
Math- They are working on multiplying decimals by decimals this week. I talked to them briefly about this is how we figure out the sales tax we pay on items in the store. The trick is remembering where to put the decimal and that it is different than when they multiplied decimals by whole numbers. On Wednesday they were making up problems for everyone to solve. They soon discovered some of their suggestions led to a lot of multiplying. :) We should be finishing this chapter next week some time.
Religion- They did great on their test over the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. Next week Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. We will be working on making our promises for what we plan to give up for Lent this year. It is also important to note that you don't have to give up something...you can make a promise to do more of something... setting time aside to pray each day, write a letter each week, donate time or money to a cause or an organization, read more. I remind them that whatever they do or give up...shouldn't bother the people in their life. They shouldn't be making your life difficult because they give up something. :)
Energy Game-- Please make sure you've turned in your permission slip for the game on Tuesday. We will be wearing our STM colors or gear!!! The school will be providing the kids with their lunches. If you are going to go to the game and plan on taking your kids home with you afterwards, please just let me know! Thanks!!!
Valentine's Day Party- The 5th graders will celebrate on Friday, February 12 in the afternoon. They will trade their Valentines then. Would anyone be able to help donate a snack or a drink to our party? If so, please email me or write it in your child's assignment book. It doesn't have to be big-- a Little Debbie treat or juice boxes??
Auction- Please do what you can to help our class with their auction basket and silent auction item. I will collect any donations and give them to Katie. Thank you!!!
Mass on Friday is at 1:30. If you are taking your child home afterwards, please let me know!
Have a great weekend!!! God Bless,
Miss Surma
I hope your week has been going well. We have really been enjoying Catholic Schools Week, even the snow day!
Due to it being CSW and our snow day...the scheduling of things has kind of been off all week.
Reading- This week they read an autobiography called The Dog Newspaper by Peg Kehret. This is the story to show how she got into writing. She started her own newspaper, but it didn't last long. All of her stories were about her dog BJ or the dogs in the neighborhood. She discovered that writing about dogs didn't lead to very exciting stories. I believe the 5th graders did some research on Peg in their library classes last fall. I have also talked to them about some of the books I have read by her. She writes great little mysteries for their age level. This week we also worked on the skill of identifying facts and opinions in the story. Their grammar this week has focused on prepositions and prepositional phrases. They can give you details, or answer questions like: how, when, or where? We did do some more work on adverbs as well. They will test over this story on Friday.
Book Reports-- These are due at the end of the month. I think many of them have already finished their books and have started the work on their project!
Math- They are working on multiplying decimals by decimals this week. I talked to them briefly about this is how we figure out the sales tax we pay on items in the store. The trick is remembering where to put the decimal and that it is different than when they multiplied decimals by whole numbers. On Wednesday they were making up problems for everyone to solve. They soon discovered some of their suggestions led to a lot of multiplying. :) We should be finishing this chapter next week some time.
Religion- They did great on their test over the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. Next week Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. We will be working on making our promises for what we plan to give up for Lent this year. It is also important to note that you don't have to give up something...you can make a promise to do more of something... setting time aside to pray each day, write a letter each week, donate time or money to a cause or an organization, read more. I remind them that whatever they do or give up...shouldn't bother the people in their life. They shouldn't be making your life difficult because they give up something. :)
Energy Game-- Please make sure you've turned in your permission slip for the game on Tuesday. We will be wearing our STM colors or gear!!! The school will be providing the kids with their lunches. If you are going to go to the game and plan on taking your kids home with you afterwards, please just let me know! Thanks!!!
Valentine's Day Party- The 5th graders will celebrate on Friday, February 12 in the afternoon. They will trade their Valentines then. Would anyone be able to help donate a snack or a drink to our party? If so, please email me or write it in your child's assignment book. It doesn't have to be big-- a Little Debbie treat or juice boxes??
Auction- Please do what you can to help our class with their auction basket and silent auction item. I will collect any donations and give them to Katie. Thank you!!!
Mass on Friday is at 1:30. If you are taking your child home afterwards, please let me know!
Have a great weekend!!! God Bless,
Miss Surma
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Hello Parents! I hope your week is going well! I see some warmer temps coming our way! Woo hoo!!! So proud of the 5th graders for winning the Pizza Party for our Coin Wars! They raised just over $200!!!! The school raised around $1000! Go St. Malachy!
Okay this next week is one of my favorites-- Catholic Schools Week!!! Hold on! I know it will be crazy!
Sunday, Jan. 31- We kick it off with mass at Holy Spirit. If your child signed up for a part-- look for a blue sheet in their folder on Thursday. The PTO also has a great breakfast in the basement after mass!
Monday, Feb. 1- Wear your blue and gold day!!! The kids will eat their sack lunch with the Advent Angel in the gym. After that they will go to a classroom to watch a movie.
Tuesday, Feb. 2- Come As You Are Day-- Pajamas Day-- I told them they can wear slippers, a robe, have their favorite stuffed animal that day. If they wear shorts to bed-- they HAVE to have their snow pants for recess. They can wear sweats if they aren't comfortable wearing their pjs. We will also be doing a Living Rosary in the gym at 8:30. The 5th graders are in charge of that! We did a practice on Tuesday! I think it will be very cool. You are welcome to join us!
Wednesday, Feb. 3- Chamber Breakfast Day. Students will be doing activities in the afternoon with their Advent Angel. It is also Class Color Day-- 5th graders voted for Blue and Pink. They can wear one of those or BOTH! They can wear sweats if they have them in that color, no shorts.
Thursday, Feb. 4- 1:30-3 will be students vs teachers in some activities in the gym. It is also Sports Day--wear your favorite team colors or dress as an athlete in a certain sport. I am hoping this will be our Pizza Party Day if we can get it coordinated!
Friday- Dress Up Day. We will have our Grandparents/Special Guest mass at Holy Spirit at 1:30. Let me know if your child does not have someone coming to mass. I know sometimes the special guest or grandparent takes them home-- which is fine, just have them let me know. We usually have the bus there for kids who still need it. There is the cookie and punch reception after mass.
If you have questions, please email me! Thanks!!!
Math- This week they have started working on multiplying whole numbers and decimals. They are doing just fine, but they need to remember where to place that decimal. Some are needing to remember their multiplication facts again. This is good practice for our BizTown field trip in April.
Reading- This week's story was LAFFF. This is a science fiction story that deals with a time machine. Angela wants to use it to win a writing contest her school has every year. I enjoy the story because there is a slight twist at the end !! The grammar this week is adverbs. This is more challenging I think than the adjectives because they describe the verbs. Adverbs don't always come before or follow the verb. You have to do a little digging. They answer questions like: how? when? where? and how often? Many of the "how" adverbs end in -ly so it is kind of a clue.
Religion- They have finished the chapter on our works of mercy. They will be testing most likely on Monday. We are also using some of our religion time to practice the living rosary.
Next week will be chaotic in our schedules so they may have homework, but some days they won't be going to every class just because of our extra activities.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I hope to see you at the kick off mass on Sunday!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Okay this next week is one of my favorites-- Catholic Schools Week!!! Hold on! I know it will be crazy!
Sunday, Jan. 31- We kick it off with mass at Holy Spirit. If your child signed up for a part-- look for a blue sheet in their folder on Thursday. The PTO also has a great breakfast in the basement after mass!
Monday, Feb. 1- Wear your blue and gold day!!! The kids will eat their sack lunch with the Advent Angel in the gym. After that they will go to a classroom to watch a movie.
Tuesday, Feb. 2- Come As You Are Day-- Pajamas Day-- I told them they can wear slippers, a robe, have their favorite stuffed animal that day. If they wear shorts to bed-- they HAVE to have their snow pants for recess. They can wear sweats if they aren't comfortable wearing their pjs. We will also be doing a Living Rosary in the gym at 8:30. The 5th graders are in charge of that! We did a practice on Tuesday! I think it will be very cool. You are welcome to join us!
Wednesday, Feb. 3- Chamber Breakfast Day. Students will be doing activities in the afternoon with their Advent Angel. It is also Class Color Day-- 5th graders voted for Blue and Pink. They can wear one of those or BOTH! They can wear sweats if they have them in that color, no shorts.
Thursday, Feb. 4- 1:30-3 will be students vs teachers in some activities in the gym. It is also Sports Day--wear your favorite team colors or dress as an athlete in a certain sport. I am hoping this will be our Pizza Party Day if we can get it coordinated!
Friday- Dress Up Day. We will have our Grandparents/Special Guest mass at Holy Spirit at 1:30. Let me know if your child does not have someone coming to mass. I know sometimes the special guest or grandparent takes them home-- which is fine, just have them let me know. We usually have the bus there for kids who still need it. There is the cookie and punch reception after mass.
If you have questions, please email me! Thanks!!!
Math- This week they have started working on multiplying whole numbers and decimals. They are doing just fine, but they need to remember where to place that decimal. Some are needing to remember their multiplication facts again. This is good practice for our BizTown field trip in April.
Reading- This week's story was LAFFF. This is a science fiction story that deals with a time machine. Angela wants to use it to win a writing contest her school has every year. I enjoy the story because there is a slight twist at the end !! The grammar this week is adverbs. This is more challenging I think than the adjectives because they describe the verbs. Adverbs don't always come before or follow the verb. You have to do a little digging. They answer questions like: how? when? where? and how often? Many of the "how" adverbs end in -ly so it is kind of a clue.
Religion- They have finished the chapter on our works of mercy. They will be testing most likely on Monday. We are also using some of our religion time to practice the living rosary.
Next week will be chaotic in our schedules so they may have homework, but some days they won't be going to every class just because of our extra activities.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I hope to see you at the kick off mass on Sunday!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Hello Parents, Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a good week! I hope you are staying warm these days!
Reading- I have their scores from last week's unit test in their folders. This was a benchmark test which means more stories to read. They can also be more challenging. The scores weren't as good as I had hoped. I told them after I checked them that there is a huge advantage with these tests...you can go back and find your answers in the story, unless you are having to make an inference from what you learned in the story. I don't think many of them took the time to look back. There were other questions that were missed, but if they had really paid attention to the context clues within the sentence, they should have figured it out. I am not sure how to make sure they look back. The 2nd and 3rd tests of that week--the scores were much better! They really just need to look back on the comprehension questions.
This week we are reading a part of the story Lunch Money by Andrew Clements. This is about a boy that creates, draws, writes, and makes his own comic strips and then he sells them. I did notice that one of the kids has picked up the actual book and is now reading it! YAY! In grammar we are working on picking out adjectives. They are having to remember that adjectives answer the questions: how many, what kind, or origin. I tell them first to see if they can find the nouns or pronouns and then is there a word that describes that noun??
They have turned in their Harris Burdick stories and I am editing them. I am really pleased with what I have read so far. Some great imaginations! I am hoping to take them to the computer lab on Friday so they can begin typing them here.
Math- I thought they did great on their tests!!! We have started multiplication of decimals now. On Monday we worked on the patterns...showing how the decimals moves to the right when we multiply by the powers of 10. The decimal moves to the left when we multiply by tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. On Tuesday, they were given some graph paper and we colored in our multiplication problem. For example : 0.5 x 2. They had to color in 2 groups of 50 squares to find their totals. They did do some actual multiplication, but they could also have just added to find that total. They were picking up on it quickly!
Religion- This week we are discussing the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. This is great since this is the Year of Mercy declared by the Church. We are able to talk about things we do during Advent and Lent or throughout the year.
They did a GREAT job at mass !!! I was very proud of them!! They also enjoyed the donuts and juice reception afterwards. Thank you to all those who were able to join us!
Book Orders- I sent the forms home last week. If you are interested, please return them by Friday !
Auction-- Thank you to my volunteers! Katie Turner is taking care of the live auction basket. She will be sending home a flyer to give you some information. AnnMarie Kinsella and Kim Coen will be in charge of the silent auction item.
Just reminder that Catholic Schools Week kicks off with mass on January 31 at Holy Spirit. If your child is helping out with the mass, we will send home their job next week! Thanks again!
Have a great weekend!!!
God Bless, Miss Surma
Reading- I have their scores from last week's unit test in their folders. This was a benchmark test which means more stories to read. They can also be more challenging. The scores weren't as good as I had hoped. I told them after I checked them that there is a huge advantage with these tests...you can go back and find your answers in the story, unless you are having to make an inference from what you learned in the story. I don't think many of them took the time to look back. There were other questions that were missed, but if they had really paid attention to the context clues within the sentence, they should have figured it out. I am not sure how to make sure they look back. The 2nd and 3rd tests of that week--the scores were much better! They really just need to look back on the comprehension questions.
This week we are reading a part of the story Lunch Money by Andrew Clements. This is about a boy that creates, draws, writes, and makes his own comic strips and then he sells them. I did notice that one of the kids has picked up the actual book and is now reading it! YAY! In grammar we are working on picking out adjectives. They are having to remember that adjectives answer the questions: how many, what kind, or origin. I tell them first to see if they can find the nouns or pronouns and then is there a word that describes that noun??
They have turned in their Harris Burdick stories and I am editing them. I am really pleased with what I have read so far. Some great imaginations! I am hoping to take them to the computer lab on Friday so they can begin typing them here.
Math- I thought they did great on their tests!!! We have started multiplication of decimals now. On Monday we worked on the patterns...showing how the decimals moves to the right when we multiply by the powers of 10. The decimal moves to the left when we multiply by tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. On Tuesday, they were given some graph paper and we colored in our multiplication problem. For example : 0.5 x 2. They had to color in 2 groups of 50 squares to find their totals. They did do some actual multiplication, but they could also have just added to find that total. They were picking up on it quickly!
Religion- This week we are discussing the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. This is great since this is the Year of Mercy declared by the Church. We are able to talk about things we do during Advent and Lent or throughout the year.
They did a GREAT job at mass !!! I was very proud of them!! They also enjoyed the donuts and juice reception afterwards. Thank you to all those who were able to join us!
Book Orders- I sent the forms home last week. If you are interested, please return them by Friday !
Auction-- Thank you to my volunteers! Katie Turner is taking care of the live auction basket. She will be sending home a flyer to give you some information. AnnMarie Kinsella and Kim Coen will be in charge of the silent auction item.
Just reminder that Catholic Schools Week kicks off with mass on January 31 at Holy Spirit. If your child is helping out with the mass, we will send home their job next week! Thanks again!
Have a great weekend!!!
God Bless, Miss Surma
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
If you are interested in the PTO's Trivia Night-- here is the link to get your spot!
Here is the link: http://www.signupgenius.com/
Happy Thursday Parents! I hope you are having a great week! The weather has shown us that it is definitely WINTER! Sounds like we get another round of cold this weekend. I miss June weather!
Reading- This week they are taking their unit test. I will send home score sheets next week. They will finish this up on Friday. They are also doing another creative writing story. Their rough draft is due on Friday. I think most are already done. I read them the book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg. Inside were 14 pictures. Each picture had a title with a caption. They chose one. They wrote a story based on that title, and they had to include that caption somewhere in the story. Once I am done editing them, we will go to the computer lab here at school. They will type their story there. This will take a bit because we won't go to the lab every day.
Book Reports- They were assigned their next book report. They were to choose a Newbery winner or Newbery Honor book. I went over a list of them. This award has been around for a very long time. They get the award based on the writing. Most of them found books from my bookshelf, others had one already at home, or they checked one out of the library. They have until Monday to decide if they need to change their book. They will be due at the end of February. They were also given the list of book report ideas again. They cannot do the same project they did the first time. On Tuesday night I even found one on my bookshelf at home--so now I am reading a Newbery winner as well. So far mine is pretty funny! I told them a little about it on Wednesday!
Math- They are testing today (Thursday) over this chapter. I am not sure of what our next chapter will be because I need to look at the material I need to teach for their field trip in April. They have done a great job with their assignments for this chapter. I feel good about what they can do for the test.
Religion- They did great on their test. We started our next chapter discussing a story about a Pharisee and a tax collector. The point of the story was Jesus telling us to be humble and not exalt. We are also discussing what it means to show mercy towards others, to be able to forgive others who have hurt us.
Their mass is next week! Just a reminder that there will be a reception for you after mass! Join the 5th graders for juice, coffee, and donuts.
Auction- I am still looking for volunteers to help me out with the live auction basket and/ or the silent auction item. Please let me know ASAP if you are able to help out! Thanks!!!
Spirit Day on Friday!!!! $1 for sweats!! ;)
I am heading to Doon this weekend. It is my mom's 81st birthday- so my sister and I plan to take her out for dinner! Have a great weekend! Stay warm!!!!
God Bless, Miss Surma
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Here is the link: http://www.signupgenius.com/
This is the link for the Trivia Game Night! Go here to sign up if you are planning to attend and play!
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