Hello Parents! Happy Wednesday!I hope you're having a good week! 

PTO- Thank you for the gifts this week! They have been fun little surprises each day! Thank you to all of you for your support this year! I am so happy we were in person! Your patience and support has helped so much as we learned to teach in a Pandemic! 

Lap-A-Thon- The kids are going to run on Thursday, May 6. They should bring their envelopes back to school that day with their donations. Even if they didn't raise any money, return the envelope if you still have it. That makes it easier for the PTO to count and know they don't have to wait on returning envelopes. If they like to listen to music while they run, they certainly can bring their devices for that time. I told them they need to make sure they have tennis shoes for that day... shoes with good support. That grassy area can be a pain to run on. 

Substitute- I am gone on Friday. I am heading to Waterloo so that I can watch my niece Olivia play soccer for her high school team. I never can make it to her games and her team is doing really well! 

Reading- They are reading their final story in this unit. It is called Lewis and Clark.  It is about their expedition to the west looking for a waterway that would connect them directly to the Pacific Ocean. Sadly, they didn't find one. We did a little geography test on where the Missouri River was located and the Mississippi! The spelling list is a bit tricky this week. They have the base word elect and then the suffix-ion is added to create election. Contribute- contribution.  The grammar this week is not too hard-- contractions! The trick there is the spelling and getting that part correct. 

Next week will be a unit test week. On that Friday, we will start sharing the book reports! I can't wait to see them in their costumes! 

Math- we are done with chapter 4! They did pretty great on their tests! Now we move on to dividing decimals. This week they are going to do some of that hands-on with Base 10 blocks so it won't be about showing the work on paper. It is a fun activity! I don't know if we will make it through the end of the chapter by the end of the year, but I will work towards that! 

Mass- Today was their last time doing mass for the year. The next time they are in charge of mass...they will be 6th graders! 

Religion- We have moved on to our guidance books. On Monday I took them outside and they had to create a skit to show a certain word: respect, loyalty, communication, companionship,  and responsibility. We hadn't done skits this year, but going outside helped for space with a big group. They had fun and want to do it again! 

PE- Next week their PE times will move to the afternoon. They are going to be instructed in archery by Levi Evans. They will be with the 4th graders for this. I will make sure to get some pictures posted to Facebook! 

Have a great weekend! 3 more weeks...the countdown is on. 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, Hopefully everyone is having a good week this week! 

Book Report- Just a reminder their slides are due two weeks... Friday, May 14. Many have already turned them into me. They will need to bring their costume of their person on May 14. The costume will most likely just stay at school (unless they need it at home) . I know they all won't be able to share on the 14th so I plan on just spreading them out the next week. 

Lap-A-Thon- The forms and envelopes went home last week in Take Home Folders. The PTO says to bring them back on May 6, the day of the lap-a-thon. There are some fun incentives for raising money this year! 

Math- We are wrapping up our chapter this week in math. On Tuesday, I showed them a quicker way of multiplying decimals that have zeros in the problem. I wished I had taught me that method when I was a kid. I showed them that they didn't need to multiply and show all the 0's. We could a  couple if we needed to for our decimal point.  They will take the test on Monday. Our next chapter will be on dividing decimals. 

Reading- This week we read a story called Rachel's Journal. This is a young pioneer girl that is on the Oregon Trail with her family in the 1850s. They had to cross the flooded Platte River in the story. The story also talked briefly about the Donner Party...so I shared a little background on who they were and what happened to them. Rachel also talks about the song Turkey in the Straw. I shared a video of that song as well. It's one of those that you don't want stuck in your head. In grammar they are working on comparative and superlative adjectives-- big, bigger, biggest, etc. On Wednesday, we covered good, better, best and bad, worse, worst. I tried to emphasize that funner , bestest, worser are not words.  Some adjectives need the words more or most in front of them-- more beautiful, most beautiful.

Religion- They shared their posters this week of the Easter traditions in other countries. We are finishing our our chapter and then moving on to the Guidance book. 

By the way--- they all survived the Growth Talk video and did really well! 

I did send you all an email for any student interested in trying out for Color Guard or Winter Guard next year. Their dates are coming up in May! It would be great to see some STM kids out there! 

Middle School- In the past we have gone out to the middle school wing to spend some time with the students to see what it is like. Due to Covid restrictions...we aren't doing that this year. Miss Steinkamp and an 8th grader will be coming to talk to the 5th graders on Friday to give them some ideas about middle school next year. Seriously??? I can't believe we are already having these end of the year conversations! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy the warm temps! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hi Parents, I hope you are having a good week besides these crazy temperatures! It was so great to see some of my siblings again last weekend and spend time with them. 

Reading- This week they are reading a story called Vaqueros. It is a story about the history of the cowboys. It talks about the history of them arriving in the US, the clothing they wore, the conditions they had to deal with, and the changes it has seen over the years. Our grammar this week is commonly confused verbs such as: lay and lie, rise and raise, can and may. I gave them a "cheat sheet" to use on the test on Friday so that they can remember when you use each word. 

Math- We started some story problems on Friday and it lead into Monday and Tuesday. Some caught on really quickly, others...not so much. They have to read the problems and pick up on the clues, but some aren't doing that. They have to do a couple of steps in order to get to the final answer. 

Religion- This week they are working in pairs to do some research on how Easter is celebrated in other countries. They are finding some really interesting things! For example, in Russia they dye eggs as well, but they use red onion skin to do it.  In Mexico they burn "fake Judases". In Australia, they don't have Easter bunnies, they have an Easter Bilby! 

Clean- Up Day- On Friday we will be cleaning the school grounds as long as the weather cooperates. As many kids that can bring a rake and work gloves ....please do. They usually ending up picking up some garbage, the dead leaves,and sticks while they are raking! Make sure you have your name on the rake. They will be by the office. 

Spirit Day on Friday- sweats or a hat for $1! The temps are only supposed to be in the 50s so that is good weather for sweats! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Sounds like our warmer temps will be back. I have Confirmation on Saturday. I am a sponsor for Keely Coen. On Sunday, I get to watch my nieces play soccer for Loras at Simpson. This will be Grace's final soccer game! She has been at it since she was 4 years old! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

Hello Parents! I hope you  are doing well ! Testing week has been going pretty good. The 5th graders are taking their time which is a good thing. I do like that they aren't timed anymore. That was always my biggest hurdle. Thank you to the PTO for providing snacks! Those were a big hit! I just realized this week that we have only 6 weeks of school left! 6!!! Wow, this pandemic school year is flying by! 

Reading- We will get back into a story next week! They will have a spelling pretest on Monday!  Many are working on their book report slides. I have told them that they will have to turn in their notes as well. 

Math- We have started our new chapter on multiplying decimals. On Monday and Tuesday, I had them use a calculator for our problems. I want them to just see how the decimal moves to the right or to the left, depending on what they are multiplying by- they were using 10, 100, and 1000 as well as 0.1, 0.01, and 0.001. We also had to do a bit of refresh on exponents. I am taking out some extra lessons and getting to the route of strategies with the hope that we can get further along. 

Religion- we finished our movie on Monday of the Ten Commandments. They had great questions throughout. We are going to cover a chapter on Easter in our book before moving on to something else. 

Clean Up Day- April 23-- We will be raking school grounds that afternoon. The kids should bring a rake and work gloves if they have them! Make sure your family name is on the rake. Typically we do the fence line in the alley and behind the building up to Father's yard. It is a good day's work! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  I am heading to Waterloo and Waverly. On Saturday we are helping my sister Penny move into her new house. I get to see my sister Eva from PA as well! I haven't seen her in over a year! On Sunday, Eva is hosting a wedding shower for her son Vinny and fiancee Katerina. They both live in Waterloo. 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! Hopefully everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend! I was able to clean out my flowerbed, so that was good for me! 

ISASP- Testing begins on Monday. They will do 1-2 tests a day. The 5th graders will have an extra one to do for science. The 3rd and 4th graders don't have to take that one. We are moving our schedules around to fit the tests. All tests will be taken in the morning. I don't plan on doing a story in reading next week due to these tests. So that will mean no spelling tests next week. They will get plenty of others to do instead. They will need to have a book or magazine to read in between tests. You might want to talk to your kids about it being important that they take these seriously. The thing I have noticed with this class is that when we do tests... they tend to just do random blurting or talking about whatever during the tests. I have constantly reminded them that they are testing and to be quiet. They need to for themselves and others.  

Math- This week we are wrapping up our chapter with the test. We will be working on multiplying decimals next! I am not sure if I will start that this week or not. There are practice tests the kids have to do before the ISASP tests next week. I may use some math time this week for that. 

Reading- This week they are reading a historical fiction story called The Birchbark House. It is about a Native American girl who is walking through the woods on her way home and comes upon a couple of bear cubs. She wants to befriend them so she can take them home and impress her older sister, Angeline. The mother bear comes out first and stops her! We talked about how she acted foolishly and acted on her emotions instead of doing what she knows is right, and leave the cubs alone. 

Religion- we have our mass on Wednesday. In class we are watching The Ten Commandments. They are enjoying it! We will most likely cover an Easter chapter after this movie. 

Spirit Day- This Friday is a Spirit Day! They can wear sweats and/or hat for $1!!! 

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the temps! I am attending a virtual wedding shower for my nephew's fiancee! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I hope you are having a great week! The sun is such a huge help! 

Cross Walk- Just a reminder that I need your child's permission form returned before they can go on the walk. They need to wear a white shirt or polo that day for our group picture. I am recommending they at least have a sweatshirt or hoodie for the walk looking at the temps for Thursday.  They will also need a sack lunch and drink that day. 

Friday- No school for the kids. We will have PD that day. Happy Good Friday! 

Math- This week we finished up the chapter with word problems. There were many steps for them on some of the problems. They had to add and subtract. They even had to work with sales tax a little bit! We will be doing our dress rehearsal for the math test this week. It looks like they will take the test on Monday or Tuesday. 

Reading- This week they are reading a historical fiction story called Tuck's Travels. This story takes place roughly in the 1800s. Tuck is 15 and on his own trying to survive when he comes across two other kids whose parents died due to cholera. The three of them are now on the run from the Comancheros. If caught, there is a chance they will be sold into slavery. 

In grammar this week they are focusing on the verb forms of BE and HAVE as well as verb phrases.  They will test over this story on Thursday since we don't have school on Friday. That also means their spelling test will be on Thursday. 

Book Reports- They are busy working on these! Many have finished reading their book and taking notes. They are busy working on their Google Slides. 

Religion- They are testing over this chapter on Thursday. They have been learning about the Sacraments of Healing-- Penance and Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick. 

My plan next week is to show them the old movie The Ten Commandments. I usually show it during Holy Week, but with our chapter ending, I didn't want the interruption. 

Mass- They 5th graders will be doing mass on April 7. The kids who had parts in the 4th grade mass, will not have a part this time. I have given the parts out so they should be practicing at home with you. 

Growth Talk Video- Just to let you know I did watch the video over spring break. It isn't the same one the kids have seen in the past. This one is not separated into two videos. I am just letting you know now...when I do show it...the girls will be hearing about boys and the boys will be hearing about girls. I will still separate them into two rooms so they don't have to watch together. I will also do this at the end of the day whenever I choose to show it. It just makes it a lot more comfortable for all the kids. 😌 They go home shortly after that. 

ISASP Testing- Just a reminder this is coming up in a couple of weeks. 

Have a terrific weekend and a blessed Easter! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break! I ended up going to Waterloo and seeing my siblings for a couple of days. It was so good to see family in person again! 

Reading- They are taking their unit test this week. On Friday, I am going to start our next story since next week is a 4 day week. That way I won't have to cram stuff into 4 days.  So they will have a spelling pretest on Friday. I haven't told them that yet.  I showed them the Google slides I made on my dad as an example for their future book report. We are going to go over specifics on Thursday. On Friday, we will pick out books. If they can't find one at school, they will need to look elsewhere. 

Math- We started our week with subtracting decimals. We then moved into figuring out which number comes next in a series of numbers. They had to figure out the rule of add or subtract and by how much. That was a little tricky for some of them. We have a couple of lessons left in this chapter and then we will be testing. I don't think the actual test will happen next week, I haven't mapped that out yet. 

Religion- We are working on our chapter of the Sacraments of Healing. Those would be Penance and Reconciliation as well as Anointing of the Sick. Both of these sacraments can be received more than once. They will test over this chapter next week. 

April 12- On the original school calendar we didn't have school on that day. That is now changed. Due to our snow days, we ARE going to be in school that day! Our last day of school is now May 28. 

Donations- We are still taking donations for the Food Shelf if you'd like to help out. We will deliver them next week on our Cross Walk. 

Paper Towels- I hate to ask for this, but I am out of these in the classroom. I don't want everyone to donate! I don't have the room for them, but I could use maybe 5 rolls. If you can help out, that would be so great! I am doing just great on the wipes! 

Cross Walk- Look in your child's Take Home Folder for information on the Cross Walk! 

No School on April 2, Good Friday. There is PD for teachers that day! 

The ISASP testing week is coming up the week of April 12. These are the new Iowa Assessments. These are different. They will not fill in bubble sheets. These tests are online. I am going to talk to the 5th graders about taking these seriously. We did the ACRE religion test before break, and I am not sure they understood that it was a test...even though Mrs. Simmons talked to them beforehand. I had quite a few kids just blurting out during the test and disrupting others. Their focus seemed to be on how many questions and NOT the actual questions. I don't want to see or hear that during the ISASP. They will need a book to read in-between tests. They all have to have head phones or ear buds. I know I have a handful of kids that I keep telling them they need to get new ones...with no luck. Please talk to your child and ask them if they have headphones or ear buds.  This is not something I will let them go to the hallway  to do so they don't disturb the others. They have to have them! Thank your for the help! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma