Hi Parents,
Math- we have moved on to equivalent fractions. Most of them look to be doing okay on this. Next week we will move on to finding the Greatest Common Factor of a set a of numbers. This will lead us into simplifying fractions.
They need to remember to get on Dreambox and do their 7 lessons as well. I see that some haven't gotten on at all this week.
Reading- I am continuing to work on reading comprehension skills by focusing on making inferences. This week I added finding the main idea. The biggest problem I see is having them write in complete sentences, remembering to punctuate and capitalize. The other thing both of these require is showing me proof from the story as to why it is true or false or why they think that way. They can't just say....it said so in the story.
They should also be working on their book report book and notes. The notes will be due on May 4 to me. I want to go through them a little bit to make sure I don't have any questions before they create their project. I think we will use the Google Slides for this. They are getting some good practice in right now with religion.
Religion- They should be creating their 8 slides for the Spiritual Works of Mercy . Those will be due to me on May 1. I posted a video on their Google Classroom to make sure they know how to insert pictures.
Thanks again for being patient as we all learn this new of teaching and using online services!
Give your kids a hug from me! I miss them. Let me know if they need my help!
It was great to see so many at the parade on Monday! Loved seeing all of your faces again! 😃
Have a great weekend! Enjoy this beautiful weather! Is Father Adam blessing your house? He is blessing mine on Saturday.
Stay healthy ❤ Stay home.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Hello Parents! Well, I hope you are all doing well. Isn't this just a crazy life we are living these days???
Thank you for being patient, especially this week! I know that Moby Max on Wednesday was a pain for some of your kids! I am still trying to figure out what happened.
I think we are figuring out KAMI between reading, math, and science. They just need to remember that most times they need to use the TEXT box, not the drawing.
In math-- we are working on fractions. I am just trying to see where they are with it. Some of them have done this with Dreambox so they are a step ahead. That's okay! If I see a lot of errors, I am sending it back to them to correct. I will re score it. Just like doing corrections at schools.
In reading they are working on making inferences. That is what they were supposed to do on Moby Max. I did see that some of the kids were missing questions but only spent 45 seconds on it...so I am not sure they are really reading the story or the question. They will do more of that on Thursday, but this time they need to write out their answers.
Religion- We are just starting to work on the Spiritual Works of Mercy. We will do more with that in our Google Hangout on Monday morning at 9 am.
The one thing I am noticing is that they aren't reading the instructions we post with the assignment. So they either don't do it all or do it incorrectly.
They also need to pay attention to the SCROLL on their Google Classroom pages. Many ask questions that have been answered and then someone repeats the same question. Hey wait...that is kind of like in the classroom too! LOL
Thank you for the quick response to the T-shirt order. I have them all and turned it in to Mrs. Stoner.
Again, thank you! For your support and patience! I hope this hasn't created too many headaches at home, but I understand. I feel like I am at my computer all day and into the evening. We will get through this, but I am praying for May 1!!!
Drive-by Parade is set for Thursday, April 16 from 3-4. Come down Clark Street from Elm St. Now, I see the weather forecast...so I guess don't be surprised if we postpone it.
Please give your kids a hug from me! Tell them I miss them! I will see them Monday morning at 9 am.
Stay safe. Stay home. Stay well!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Thank you for being patient, especially this week! I know that Moby Max on Wednesday was a pain for some of your kids! I am still trying to figure out what happened.
I think we are figuring out KAMI between reading, math, and science. They just need to remember that most times they need to use the TEXT box, not the drawing.
In math-- we are working on fractions. I am just trying to see where they are with it. Some of them have done this with Dreambox so they are a step ahead. That's okay! If I see a lot of errors, I am sending it back to them to correct. I will re score it. Just like doing corrections at schools.
In reading they are working on making inferences. That is what they were supposed to do on Moby Max. I did see that some of the kids were missing questions but only spent 45 seconds on it...so I am not sure they are really reading the story or the question. They will do more of that on Thursday, but this time they need to write out their answers.
Religion- We are just starting to work on the Spiritual Works of Mercy. We will do more with that in our Google Hangout on Monday morning at 9 am.
The one thing I am noticing is that they aren't reading the instructions we post with the assignment. So they either don't do it all or do it incorrectly.
They also need to pay attention to the SCROLL on their Google Classroom pages. Many ask questions that have been answered and then someone repeats the same question. Hey wait...that is kind of like in the classroom too! LOL
Thank you for the quick response to the T-shirt order. I have them all and turned it in to Mrs. Stoner.
Again, thank you! For your support and patience! I hope this hasn't created too many headaches at home, but I understand. I feel like I am at my computer all day and into the evening. We will get through this, but I am praying for May 1!!!
Drive-by Parade is set for Thursday, April 16 from 3-4. Come down Clark Street from Elm St. Now, I see the weather forecast...so I guess don't be surprised if we postpone it.
Please give your kids a hug from me! Tell them I miss them! I will see them Monday morning at 9 am.
Stay safe. Stay home. Stay well!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Dear Parents, WOW! I am loving this weather! It was great to see so many of you at the auction on Saturday. I hope everyone had a great time.
Spirit Day- We are moving this to Thursday since we are going to the Civic Center on Friday. They can wear sweats on Thursday for $1. K-2 will have their Spirit Day on Friday.
Field Trip- I told them to wear jeans on Friday. No shorts. They will also need a sack lunch and drink for the trip. I don't care if they have their devices for the bus ride. We do not allow anything that can use data to access the internet. All devices will stay on the bus while we are in the Civics Center. We will return by bus time.
Shorts- I told them that we are now in March and while the dress code says we can wear shorts, it doesn't mean we should. I reminded them that high of the day doesn't really occur until they are going home. Their recesses could still be cold or chilly.
Math- This week they worked mostly on dividing decimals by decimals, but we also added zeros into our dividend. We will be finishing up our lessons in the chapter this week. That means they will take a test before spring break. When we return from break we will begin with fractions.
Reading- This week they read a story about a boy who was trying to get his community to change an old basketball court by his school into a community garden with focusing on helping the homeless. He had to attend the city council meeting to plead his case. He didn't win there. They voted on turning it into a parking lot for the teachers. In the end , someone else from the town decided there was another location that would work for the garden...so he did win in a way. Plus, he gets to write another article for the town's newspaper. In grammar we are focusing on indefinite and possessive pronouns. They will test over this tomorrow (Thursday) since we are gone on Friday. Next week will most likely be the same since we only have 4 days.
Last week they learned to write haikus and cinquains. This week they picked one and typed it for me. They will be posted in the hallway during conferences so you can check them out!
Book Fair will be next week during conferences!
Tomorrow the 5th graders will be taking the ACRE test. It is a standardized religion test. The 5th graders and 8th graders take it. This year we are trying it online! This is a test to see what they have learned over their time here about our Catholic faith. It is multiple choice.
March 30-Apr. 3 will be Iowa Assessments
I will see you next week for conferences! Have a good weekend! Enjoy the nice temps again! Don't forget to spring forward on your clock!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Spirit Day- We are moving this to Thursday since we are going to the Civic Center on Friday. They can wear sweats on Thursday for $1. K-2 will have their Spirit Day on Friday.
Field Trip- I told them to wear jeans on Friday. No shorts. They will also need a sack lunch and drink for the trip. I don't care if they have their devices for the bus ride. We do not allow anything that can use data to access the internet. All devices will stay on the bus while we are in the Civics Center. We will return by bus time.
8:11 AM (7 hours ago)
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Shorts- I told them that we are now in March and while the dress code says we can wear shorts, it doesn't mean we should. I reminded them that high of the day doesn't really occur until they are going home. Their recesses could still be cold or chilly.
Math- This week they worked mostly on dividing decimals by decimals, but we also added zeros into our dividend. We will be finishing up our lessons in the chapter this week. That means they will take a test before spring break. When we return from break we will begin with fractions.
Reading- This week they read a story about a boy who was trying to get his community to change an old basketball court by his school into a community garden with focusing on helping the homeless. He had to attend the city council meeting to plead his case. He didn't win there. They voted on turning it into a parking lot for the teachers. In the end , someone else from the town decided there was another location that would work for the garden...so he did win in a way. Plus, he gets to write another article for the town's newspaper. In grammar we are focusing on indefinite and possessive pronouns. They will test over this tomorrow (Thursday) since we are gone on Friday. Next week will most likely be the same since we only have 4 days.
Last week they learned to write haikus and cinquains. This week they picked one and typed it for me. They will be posted in the hallway during conferences so you can check them out!
Book Fair will be next week during conferences!
Tomorrow the 5th graders will be taking the ACRE test. It is a standardized religion test. The 5th graders and 8th graders take it. This year we are trying it online! This is a test to see what they have learned over their time here about our Catholic faith. It is multiple choice.
March 30-Apr. 3 will be Iowa Assessments
I will see you next week for conferences! Have a good weekend! Enjoy the nice temps again! Don't forget to spring forward on your clock!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Dear Parents, Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a good week.
Religion- They made their Lenten promises this week. You probably need to ask them so you know at home what they are doing or giving up. We celebrated Fat Tuesday with donuts made by the 4th graders. A fun tradition! We are also starting a Lenten chapter in class. They will begin Lenten angels next week.
Math- We are working on dividing decimals by whole numbers. It was funny to hear them say, "Well, this is easy." I reminded them that they already know how to divide! The trick is now remembering where to put the decimal. They may change their minds a little bit when we start to divide decimals by decimals! I don't think that will change their opinion too much though.
Conferences- If you haven't signed up for a time, please do!
Reading-This week they read a nonfiction story by Peg Kehret. I have some of her books on my shelf. She writes a great mystery! This one was about her start as a writer and she had her own dog newspaper. It didn't last long. She couldn't seem to keep the audience interested with stories about her dog or the neighborhood dogs. The 5th graders agreed...there wouldn't be much to tell. They are also working with prepositions in grammar. They are finding the prepositional phrases and combining sentences using a prepositional phrase. They are also working on finding a fact or an opinion in our story.
Field Trip to Des Moines- We leave next Friday for our visit to the Civic Center. The students will need a sack lunch and drink that day. We will be back by 2:30 so they will make the bus home. I have a couple of students who still need to pay their $5.
Auction- I hope to see some of you at the auction/dinner on Saturday.
This seems like a short letter. I really can't think of anything else, but I am probably forgetting something!
Have a great weekend! Sounds like our temps will be nice again!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Religion- They made their Lenten promises this week. You probably need to ask them so you know at home what they are doing or giving up. We celebrated Fat Tuesday with donuts made by the 4th graders. A fun tradition! We are also starting a Lenten chapter in class. They will begin Lenten angels next week.
Math- We are working on dividing decimals by whole numbers. It was funny to hear them say, "Well, this is easy." I reminded them that they already know how to divide! The trick is now remembering where to put the decimal. They may change their minds a little bit when we start to divide decimals by decimals! I don't think that will change their opinion too much though.
Conferences- If you haven't signed up for a time, please do!
Reading-This week they read a nonfiction story by Peg Kehret. I have some of her books on my shelf. She writes a great mystery! This one was about her start as a writer and she had her own dog newspaper. It didn't last long. She couldn't seem to keep the audience interested with stories about her dog or the neighborhood dogs. The 5th graders agreed...there wouldn't be much to tell. They are also working with prepositions in grammar. They are finding the prepositional phrases and combining sentences using a prepositional phrase. They are also working on finding a fact or an opinion in our story.
Field Trip to Des Moines- We leave next Friday for our visit to the Civic Center. The students will need a sack lunch and drink that day. We will be back by 2:30 so they will make the bus home. I have a couple of students who still need to pay their $5.
Auction- I hope to see some of you at the auction/dinner on Saturday.
This seems like a short letter. I really can't think of anything else, but I am probably forgetting something!
Have a great weekend! Sounds like our temps will be nice again!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Hello Parents! I hope you are having a great week! It feels weird not having school on a Wednesday. Our PD day started at the high school with an excellent speaker! He is a superintendent in Wisconsin. He was highly motivating and great at making us all feel good for our career choice! He also just kept telling us to promote what we do at our schools. I think we do a pretty good job of that!
Reading- This week we are reading a science fiction story called LAFFF. It is about a girl who travels forward in time using her neighbor's time machine. The story has a great twist! I love reading it aloud the first time because their faces at the end are always classic! Lots of disbelief! This week in grammar we are working on adverbs. These are a little harder than adjectives because now they have to find the verb to figure out what is being described. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all of them. They will test over this story and the spelling words on Friday
Math- This week they began dividing decimals by whole numbers and decimals using a calculator. On Tuesday and Thursday, they worked in small groups to divide decimals by whole numbers. They weren't doing the process on paper. They had to use Base 10 blocks. The beginning is always a trial and error, but once they get it into their heads that they can trade ones for tenths or tenths for hundredths...the process becomes easier and more fun. Plus, who doesn't like playing with blocks??? They will learn the same process on paper...back to divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, but this time they will have to have a decimal in their answer.
Religion- This week Friday they will be testing over our current chapter. The focus has been baptism and confirmation. Next week we will be preparing for our mass. They will get their parts on Friday so they can practice. This is a bigger mass because it is Ash Wednesday mass. There will be two readings from the students. They will also be receiving their ashes. Next week they will also be making their Lenten promises. If it is something big they want to give up, I usually make sure they get the okay from you. I remind them that if they are giving up something...it shouldn't bother their family or friends. By that I mean, they shouldn't make others miserable because they gave up a favorite TV show or snack or drink,etc.
Spirit Day this Friday! They can wear sweats for $1!!!
Auction/ Dinner-- This is just around the corner! February 29th! You can get your dinner tickets in the office! They are also doing online bidding on select items this year...if you cannot be there in person!
http://events.handbid.com/auctions/st-malachy-school-aucton
Dustin Baird took the picture of the 5th graders for us! Sarah Lane and I got the picture ordered. Thank you, Merry Driskell for helping us out while you were in the office! :) Thank you for making sure your child had on blue!!!
New trimester begins on Monday!!!! That means the late slip record is clean!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Reading- This week we are reading a science fiction story called LAFFF. It is about a girl who travels forward in time using her neighbor's time machine. The story has a great twist! I love reading it aloud the first time because their faces at the end are always classic! Lots of disbelief! This week in grammar we are working on adverbs. These are a little harder than adjectives because now they have to find the verb to figure out what is being described. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all of them. They will test over this story and the spelling words on Friday
Math- This week they began dividing decimals by whole numbers and decimals using a calculator. On Tuesday and Thursday, they worked in small groups to divide decimals by whole numbers. They weren't doing the process on paper. They had to use Base 10 blocks. The beginning is always a trial and error, but once they get it into their heads that they can trade ones for tenths or tenths for hundredths...the process becomes easier and more fun. Plus, who doesn't like playing with blocks??? They will learn the same process on paper...back to divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, but this time they will have to have a decimal in their answer.
Religion- This week Friday they will be testing over our current chapter. The focus has been baptism and confirmation. Next week we will be preparing for our mass. They will get their parts on Friday so they can practice. This is a bigger mass because it is Ash Wednesday mass. There will be two readings from the students. They will also be receiving their ashes. Next week they will also be making their Lenten promises. If it is something big they want to give up, I usually make sure they get the okay from you. I remind them that if they are giving up something...it shouldn't bother their family or friends. By that I mean, they shouldn't make others miserable because they gave up a favorite TV show or snack or drink,etc.
Spirit Day this Friday! They can wear sweats for $1!!!
Auction/ Dinner-- This is just around the corner! February 29th! You can get your dinner tickets in the office! They are also doing online bidding on select items this year...if you cannot be there in person!
http://events.handbid.com/auctions/st-malachy-school-aucton
Dustin Baird took the picture of the 5th graders for us! Sarah Lane and I got the picture ordered. Thank you, Merry Driskell for helping us out while you were in the office! :) Thank you for making sure your child had on blue!!!
New trimester begins on Monday!!!! That means the late slip record is clean!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Dear Parents, I hope you're having a good week!
Auction Donations are due on Friday! Please do what you can to help. I have received a few more! Thanks so much!
Math- On Tuesday, the 5th graders worked on their "dress rehearsal" of the math test for chapter 4. Most of the errors were because they put their decimals in the wrong place. The real test is tomorrow (Thursday). I did have one student not miss any on the dress rehearsal...so I told them it is like a pretest in spelling. If you ace it, you don't retake it! Their next chapter will be on dividing decimals... I can almost hear the groan now.
Reading- This week we read an excerpt from the book Lunch Money. It is about a kid named Greg who creates his own comic books and they are about the size of a credit card. He is trying to sell them at his school for $0.25. He even goes over his 10 step process. In grammar we are learning about adjectives that answer how many? what kind? which one? and origin? We also worked on linking verbs that connect the adjective to the noun. On Thursday we will focus on the articles: a, an, and the.
They will test over the story on Friday.
Religion- We are nearing the end of our chapter. They will be testing soon!
The 5th graders will be working at the Food Pantry on Friday. It is NOT a Spirit Day.
Valentine's Day- We will celebrate Valentine's Day whenever we get back from the Food Pantry on Friday. If they are bringing in Valentines, they should bring them that morning.
Silent Auction- Sarah Lane and I are working on getting a picture taken of the kids early next week. We haven't fully decided on the details, but we may be asking your child to wear a blue shirt of any shade.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! It looks like if we can make it through Wednesday and Thursday temps...we will be good!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Auction Donations are due on Friday! Please do what you can to help. I have received a few more! Thanks so much!
Math- On Tuesday, the 5th graders worked on their "dress rehearsal" of the math test for chapter 4. Most of the errors were because they put their decimals in the wrong place. The real test is tomorrow (Thursday). I did have one student not miss any on the dress rehearsal...so I told them it is like a pretest in spelling. If you ace it, you don't retake it! Their next chapter will be on dividing decimals... I can almost hear the groan now.
Reading- This week we read an excerpt from the book Lunch Money. It is about a kid named Greg who creates his own comic books and they are about the size of a credit card. He is trying to sell them at his school for $0.25. He even goes over his 10 step process. In grammar we are learning about adjectives that answer how many? what kind? which one? and origin? We also worked on linking verbs that connect the adjective to the noun. On Thursday we will focus on the articles: a, an, and the.
They will test over the story on Friday.
Religion- We are nearing the end of our chapter. They will be testing soon!
The 5th graders will be working at the Food Pantry on Friday. It is NOT a Spirit Day.
Valentine's Day- We will celebrate Valentine's Day whenever we get back from the Food Pantry on Friday. If they are bringing in Valentines, they should bring them that morning.
Silent Auction- Sarah Lane and I are working on getting a picture taken of the kids early next week. We haven't fully decided on the details, but we may be asking your child to wear a blue shirt of any shade.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! It looks like if we can make it through Wednesday and Thursday temps...we will be good!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Dear Parents, While I love CSW, it is really nice to be back in a routine! I think they had a great week last week. Everyone seemed to enjoy the activities and dress up days!
Auction- I sent home a paper last week in the folders. I am doing it again this week. Our 4th and 5th grade basket needs donations to be successful at the auction. Please do what you can. I know Mrs. Sickels has received a few things from her 4th graders, but I have only gotten one. Donations are due by next Friday, February 14. You can donate money or an item. Please do what you can to help out!
Math- We are now multiplying decimals times decimals! This chapter is pretty short. We should be looking at a test next week sometime. Our next one will be dividing decimals! I am not sure they will be excited about doing that one though!
Reading- This week they took their Unit 3 test. Next week we will begin a new story with spelling words. I will send their scores from this week's test home next week in their folders. Their essays on their Revolutionary War people are finished! They will share them with the class on Friday. I hope to hang them outside in our hallway so that others can read them!
Religion- Our chapter is on the Sacraments of Initiation with the focus being more on confirmation. The way the chapter talks about it ...is for when kids or adults are getting confirmed during the Easter Vigil mass. One thing we do talk about is picking your saint's name. The Catholic kids won't do that really until they are sophomores in high school. I did have them pick a saint to research. They are finding facts about them, but they also have to come up with ways they want to resemble that saint in their daily life. They have chosen some saints that I have not heard of so I am excited to learn about them.
Spirit Day is this Friday, February 7! $1 for sweats!
Valentine's Day- We will celebrate at the end of the day on the 14th. We work at the Food Pantry that afternoon. I don't need any treats brought in. I take care of that... part of my treat to them. If your child is going to pass out treats, just make sure they do all the kids in the classroom. We will decorate bags next week in art class. We won't pass them out until that day, so they don't need to bring them in any earlier than Friday of next week.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I guess we probably won't get the nice temps like last weekend.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Auction- I sent home a paper last week in the folders. I am doing it again this week. Our 4th and 5th grade basket needs donations to be successful at the auction. Please do what you can. I know Mrs. Sickels has received a few things from her 4th graders, but I have only gotten one. Donations are due by next Friday, February 14. You can donate money or an item. Please do what you can to help out!
Math- We are now multiplying decimals times decimals! This chapter is pretty short. We should be looking at a test next week sometime. Our next one will be dividing decimals! I am not sure they will be excited about doing that one though!
Reading- This week they took their Unit 3 test. Next week we will begin a new story with spelling words. I will send their scores from this week's test home next week in their folders. Their essays on their Revolutionary War people are finished! They will share them with the class on Friday. I hope to hang them outside in our hallway so that others can read them!
Religion- Our chapter is on the Sacraments of Initiation with the focus being more on confirmation. The way the chapter talks about it ...is for when kids or adults are getting confirmed during the Easter Vigil mass. One thing we do talk about is picking your saint's name. The Catholic kids won't do that really until they are sophomores in high school. I did have them pick a saint to research. They are finding facts about them, but they also have to come up with ways they want to resemble that saint in their daily life. They have chosen some saints that I have not heard of so I am excited to learn about them.
Spirit Day is this Friday, February 7! $1 for sweats!
Valentine's Day- We will celebrate at the end of the day on the 14th. We work at the Food Pantry that afternoon. I don't need any treats brought in. I take care of that... part of my treat to them. If your child is going to pass out treats, just make sure they do all the kids in the classroom. We will decorate bags next week in art class. We won't pass them out until that day, so they don't need to bring them in any earlier than Friday of next week.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I guess we probably won't get the nice temps like last weekend.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
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