Hello Parents, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I had a very nice time with my brother and his family in Waterloo. It was great to see the nieces again!  I hope your kids filled you in on their day at BizTown! I hope you got to see the pictures we posted on Facebook. It was such a great day! The ladies there told me that this was the biggest group of kids and were worried about how it would go. It went so well! I was so proud of them! It was fun at lunch to hear our kids and others say, " I need to eat fast because I have to get back to work!"

 Calendar Dates:

Dec. 1- Spirit Day / Read-A-Thon Due

Dec. 6- Christmas Program 6 pm

Dec. 8- Mass/ Holy Day of Obligation/Noisy Change Collection

Dec. 11-15- Coin Wars 

Dec. 14- Sing for CDA at Holy Spirit

Reading- On Monday we had our LETRs class with Emily Lampe from the AEA. We spent a great deal of time working through our new reading series and discussing how we could/should plan our days. The biggest A-HA for me was that some of my stories and the work that goes with it can't all be done in 5 days. We were so used to doing that with our old series. So I told the 5th graders, that for our story this week we are definitely slowing down! It is about hurricanes and reads much like a science textbook. The story is also 14 pages long. They will NOT have a spelling posttest this Friday! It will be sometime next week. I told them I will let them know when, so they aren't surprised, but they should keep practicing their words at home. 

The spelling list for this story focuses on the VCCV pattern. On Tuesday the kids had to write and divide their spelling words up between the consonants. For example they had to write the word bargain like bar*gain and jour*ney. 

Math- We are working on multiplication. We are multiplying triple digits times double digits today. That was confusing for some so we will practice again tomorrow in class. I am not sure what is throwing some of them off yet. 

Helpful 5th graders! Your kids helped me out today! We have our new song books for the coming church year. A group of girls helped me cut the Eucharistic Prayer card out today of the books from the closet. The other kids were counting out books and delivering to each classroom! They will be ready for Advent next week! Many hands make light work! 

Religion- We are still working on the Beatitudes! We will probably be testing next week sometime.  There will not be mass next Wednesday (Dec.6) . We are moving it to Friday because it's a holy day- The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. They won't need to dress up on Wednesday, but they will on Friday! 

Advent Angel activities will also start next Friday. 

Christmas Program- In your child's folder is a permission slip for the kids to go to the high school next week to practice for the Christmas program. The program is that night at 6 pm in the auditorium. Please return the form ASAP. Thanks! I have heard some of their songs. They sound great! 

Spirit Day on Friday! They can wear sweats for $1.

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! Sounds like it will be a great weekend to walk around Creston on Saturday with the Merry Market Place! I know some kids will be singing! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! I hope you are having a great week! Colds and illnesses have started to enter our classroom. Me included! I am going to be pushing using hand sanitizer! If you are at the store, the classroom could also use more wipes! I bought a 3 pack on Tuesday. 

 Calendar Dates:

Nov. 17- End of 1st Trimester

Nov. 21 - BizTown Field Trip

Nov. 22-27- No School/Thanksgiving Break

Nov. 28- School Resumes

Nov. 29- 5th grade mass

Reading- This week we are reading a story about the tsunamis that hit Indonesia in 2004! Remember seeing that on the news?? I showed them a little of a video that was taken that day, but it was mostly the aftermath. These stories are definitely harder to read due to the content and vocabulary. It is interesting to see how they predict those earthquakes under the sea. Did you know they measure coral?? They also knew that the island was slowly sinking so the scientists predicted something was going to happen! I had no idea. That is a lot different from predicting tornadoes! Their spelling list this week is compound words! Did you notice that some have spaces in between while others have hyphens? That is always  a fun pretest to give! In grammar they are working on conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions. We also are talking about dependent and independent clauses. 

Math- We started chapter 3 this week with multiplication. They had to multiply one and two digit numbers by 10, 100, 1000. They also had to estimate their factors and then mentally multiply to find the product. On Tuesday, they worked on multiplying numbers by a single digit. On Thursday we will begin multiplying  double digits . This should be a review, but I always go slower because I know it takes a minute to remember how to do it. We will use the standard algorithm which means the way you learned to multiply! So, you can always help them at home too. 

Biz Town- The 4th and 5th got together to finish up their work in their businesses on Tuesday. Today, I sat with each business and we filled out their checkbooks and deposit tickets. They also had to enter some information into their bank register so they will be ready to go! We will leave that morning at 8:00 am! Please make sure your child is here by that time! They need to wear mass day attire. They need to have a sack lunch and drink that day. No sodas. We told them not to pack a full course meal because they probably won't have much time to really eat that day.  It is also a "working lunch"! 😉 I will tell the kids that morning what cars they are riding in. They are sooooo excited! They have a countdown going on! 

Religion- We started our new chapter on the Beatitudes. They don't have to memorize them! We spend a lot of time talking about each one and how to live it! Our next mass is on the 29th, the Wednesday we get back from Thanksgiving. I don't know that I will have everything ready for them next week...so they might not get their reading parts until the 28th, but I am going to try!    I told the kids today that Father was back, but wouldn't be at mass because he was sleeping! Guess who surprised us??? It was so good to see his smiling face again! 

Our kickoff to the Read-A-Thon started today with our Advent Angels! It was a lot of fun! Ask your kids!  They can add that 30 minutes of reading to their papers! 

I won't be writing a blog next week! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you are traveling to see family, I will say some prayers for smooth roads and no deer! I plan on heading back to Waterloo to spend it with my brother and his family. 🦃🍽

God Bless, 

Miss Surma 

 Hello Parents! I hope you enjoyed the extra days with your kids after conference week! I know I enjoyed the longer weekend. I was able to clean my house. Resetting my clock didn't seem to go well for me on Monday morning! I messed up my AM and PM! Amazingly, I still made it by 7:45! I now have 2 alarms set! 😀

 Calendar Dates:

Nov. 10- Veteran's Day and Pep Rally/Spirit Day

Nov. 15- Read-A-Thon kickoff/ PTO Meeting

Nov. 17- End of 1st Trimester

Nov. 21 - BizTown Field Trip

Nov. 22-27- No School/Thanksgiving Break

Nov. 28- School Resumes

Nov. 29- 5th grade mass

Reading- This week we read a story called Eruption! It is about a volcano eruption that happened in June 1991 of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines.  This is definitely a nonfiction story filled with harder vocabulary words that are definitely for this topic area! I showed them a quick video about this volcano too so they could really see some of the devastation afterwards. Our grammar this week is focusing on direct and indirect objects.  They will have a spelling test and weekly test on Friday morning. 

Math- Mrs. Sickels and I got our kids together and told them their jobs for BizTown Day! I think they are pretty excited. Then our CEOs and CFOs had to do some math to figure out how much they were asking for in their loans from the bank. The other kids were busy writing ads for the newspaper, radio, magazine, and video.  I am going to get them back in our math books on Thursday! We are working on multiplication. 

Religion- They did a chapter review on Tuesday and will be working on a study guide. They won't test until next week. This chapter gives a brief overview of all 7 sacraments. Our next chapter is covering the Beatitudes. 

Friday- The afternoon will be crazy, but packed with fun! First, it is a Spirit Day. They can wear sweats. We'd like to see them in some black and red as well to support the football team! If they would rather wear red, white, and blue for Veterans Day- that is okay too! 

Our Veterans Day program is shorter this year. It will be from 1-1:40 pm.We will be leaving right after for the high school to attend the Pep Rally.  We will be back for the bus, but don't be surprised if we are a little late due to the rally. Please be patient in the bus and car line. 

Just a reminder- your kids will need a sack lunch and drink on the field trip November 21. We are asking that they don't bring any pop/sodas for their drink that day. Water bottles, Gatorade, juice boxes are fine. They really won't have a lot of time with their lunch and drinks. They will not be carrying their water bottles with them to their jobs like they do in school. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Will I see you at the dome??? I am planning on watching the 10 am game with Van Meter that morning to watch my godson play. My brother Joe also films the games for the Panther Network. He will most likely be above one of the end zones. You might catch me hanging out with him! Safe travels for all those going to the game! Go PANTHERS! 🏈🏈🏈

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! I just want to know where October went? Actually, where did our first trimester go?? I feel like it is flying by us so quickly! 

 Calendar Dates:

Oct. 27- Black and Red Day to support Panthers 

Oct. 30- Parent Teacher Conference Week

Oct. 31- Celebrating Halloween at school

Nov. 2 - No School/Conferences

Nov. 3- No School/ Comp Day

Reading- this week they have been busy typing their final drafts of their Halloween stories!! Most of them are done all ready!  I hope to start sharing them tomorrow or Friday. They will be posted in the hallway. You will be able to check them out during conferences! 

We also took our first module test (unit test). I am still grading those. I plan on showing you  those during our conference time. I had them take this one on paper so that you can see them. The next one might be on their Chromes. 

Book Reports- they all were able to share them on Wednesday. I haven't had the time to grade them yet. I am hoping I can get some done yet this week, but I will for sure get them done over the weekend! They did a great job!

Math- We are working through their BizTown workbooks. We talked this week about making deposits and withdrawals. We worked on writing checks, filling out deposit slips, and debit card receipts. We also focused on getting part of that paycheck in cash and depositing the rest.   We also talked about bouncing checks and what happens if you do that. I have talked to them a little about online banking and credit cards as well. They are loving it! 

I have talked to them about the fact that not a lot of people write checks anymore... many use their debit cards. Some track their money using their banking apps. We are going old school you could say with BizTown. They are writing checks and keeping track of their account with their transaction book. 

There is a letter and permission slip going home in folders on Thursday. Please return the permission slip as soon as possible. The field trip isn't until November 21, but better to get ahead of it all. 

Religion- We are back in the book. Our next chapter deals with the seven sacraments. They will only touch on them a little bit. We have chapters coming up that delve deeper into them. I did talk to them about the ACRE test they will take in the spring. It is a standardized religion test that is given to 5th and 8th graders each year.  It shows us what they have learned in their religion classes and at mass. 

Black and Red Day on Friday to support the Panther football team! Wear your black and red! This is NOT a Spirit Day. No sweats. ❤🏈

Conference Week is next week! Thank you all for picking a time! Monday is pretty packed so don't be surprised when I set an alarm. I don't want to throw all of you off by getting behind. 

Halloween- We will celebrate on Halloween! The kids should pack their costume that day! The 6-8 grades are planning on some fun activities before the Halloween Parade. I think they will have a busy afternoon! You are welcome to join us for the parade in the gym! It's usually a packed house! If you are taking your child home after the parade, make sure you let the office know beforehand. 👻👻👻

November 1- All Saints Day is a holy day of obligation. We will celebrate it at school on Wednesday at mass. 

October Book It Calendars are due on November 1!!! Make sure you have signed them! I will give them their November calendar that same day. The goal will be the same- 600 minutes. 

I hope everyone has a good weekend! I pray that "s" word I heard the meteorologists use doesn't occur! I am not ready to see that stuff! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

Happy Wednesday Parents! This week seems to be flying by so quickly! I had a great weekend in Sioux Falls with my sisters. Mary is doing so well after her surgery, but we just sat around and visited all day! My brother-in-law grilled dinner for us that night! 

 Calendar Dates:

Oct. 13- No School/ PD Day for Teachers

Oct. 20- Spirit Day

Oct. 25- Book Reports Due

Oct. 30- Parent Teacher Conference Week

Oct. 31- Celebrating Halloween at school

Nov. 2 - No School/Conferences

Nov. 3- No School/ Comp Day

Spirit Day this Friday! $1 for hats and/or sweats! 

Book Report Projects due on Wednesday, Oct. 25! We will start sharing that day!

Religion- This week they are finishing up their posters of the Mysteries of the Rosary.  On Fridays, I take them to the chapel so we can pray the Rosary. Last week we took time to dedicate each decade to someone or some group of people- they came up with the people. It was so sweet. We will be starting back in the book with our next chapter tomorrow. In the next chapter we learn a little bit about all 7 sacraments. 

Father Patrick left today for his trip home to see his mom and family. We pray for safe travels and a wonderful visit! I cannot imagine not seeing my family for 4 years.

Math- they finished the chapter and you have seen the test scores. Instead of moving on we are starting to work on our trip to BIzTown in November! This is a field trip for 4-5th graders. We are working on information for you so that will be coming home soon. BizTown is put on by Junior Achievement. The kids will be working in this "town" with jobs and they will have to write checks and balance their checkbooks. There is more to it, but that gives you an idea! It is a GREAT learning experience and the kids have so much fun. So, in math class I am teaching them  about opening bank accounts and writing checks, etc. They have a workbook that we will be going through in preparation for that day! 

They are still taking their timed tests each week. We are making progress there too! 

Reading- This week we read a poem called "The Poem that Would Not End". It is about a boy who spends his entire day writing poems. He writes on the walls, napkins, paper, a soccer ball,  a skateboard, in the dirt, and other places. The poem contains about 19 different poem styles! Haiku, Cinquains, Free Verse, and Concrete are just a few. This is new teaching for me as well! So, we are taking this slow, but I decided the Friday test will be something we do together rather than alone because this is all new. In grammar they are working on action, helping, and linking verbs. They WILL have a spelling test on Friday as usual.  Next week is our unit test. We are going to try those and see how it goes! 

Halloween- We will celebrate Halloween at school on the 31st. Your child should pack their costume that day for our parade at the end of the day. The parade is usually around 2:30 in the gym.  You are welcome to come and watch. I am sure more information will be coming soon. I just wanted to give you a heads up! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am so excited because I am NOT going anywhere! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

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

Calendar Dates:

Oct. 13- No School/ PD Day for Teachers

Oct. 20- Spirit Day

Oct. 25- Book Reports Due

Oct. 30-Nov. 2- Parent Teacher Conferences

Reading- This week we took a break since we only have 4 days. Last week we read a little bit of The Secret Garden. On Monday and Tuesday, we watched the movie. We watched the one from 1993. I rented it on Amazon Prime for really cheap! Some of them said they want to watch it again at home. I also read to them some of my favorite Halloween short stories that my 5th grade teacher used to read to me and my class. On Wednesday they started writing their Halloween story rough draft. They will get time on Thursday to continue writing it, but it will be due on Monday. Next week they will have a spelling test! Next week's story is poetry. This will be new for me and them! 

Math- They have a math test on Thursday over adding and subtracting decimals. 

Religion- Many have passed both prayers! I am testing those who still need to pass one or both tomorrow. We will do it again on Monday! They are also drawing and coloring pictures to represent the mysteries of the Rosary. Father Patrick leaves for Ghana next week to see his family. We wish him safe travels. 

Conferences- The office sent out the parent teacher conference link! Please make sure to check your calendar and pick a day and time! 

Book Reports- Projects will be due on October 25! That's two weeks from now! 

This week is a short letter! I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am heading to Sioux Falls, SD for a sisters weekend with two of mine. My sister Mary recently had back surgery so we are going to pamper her a little bit! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Happy Wednesday! I just wanted to let you know that I am soooooo enjoying working with your kids this year! They keep me on my toes and make me laugh almost daily! ❤❤❤

Calendar Dates:

Oct. 6- Spirit Day

Oct. 13- No School/ PD Day for Teachers

Oct. 20- Spirit Day

Oct. 25- Book Reports Due

Oct. 30-Nov. 2- Parent Teacher Conferences

Thank you! I got some wipes for the classroom! Will definitely take more if you are at the store! 

Religion- The 5th graders did a wonderful job leading the Rosary today!  I am so proud of them!  We are going to be stepping away from the book for  bit. We are going to focus on the Rosary. They will have two prayers to memorize. They are getting copies to take home on Thursday! Feel free to practice that with them at home. I told them they will keep saying it to me until they pass so this isn't a one shot deal. We are also going to focus on the different Mysteries of the Rosary and what part of Jesus and Mary's lives are being depicted. 

Math- This second chapter is short! They are nearing the end! I think they could be testing again next week, but that isn't a guarantee yet with the schedule. 

Spirit Day- This Friday is a Spirit Day! They might actually want to wear sweatpants with the predicted temperatures! $1 for sweats and/or a hat. 

Reading- This week they are reading two stories. One is realistic fiction. It is just a segment from The Secret Garden. I told the 5th graders this book is considered a classic! I wish they had given us more than 5 pages to read from the book. The other story is a play. So this week we are learning about the story elements - character, setting, plot, resolution. We are also talking about the literary elements of a play and what dialogue means.  We worked more on Figurative Language as well. I created a little cheat sheet to remind them of the different kinds- personification, idioms, similies, hyperboles, and metaphors. They glued this in the interactive notebook so that they can go and refer to it when we are working in class or on a test. On Tuesday, we really focused on personification. On Thursday, we are talking more about idioms which are my favorite!  They will have their spelling test on Friday. They will also take their Friday cold read test. These are slowly getting better each time. I think they are getting a better handle on what is expected in the short answer questions, but some are still writing one sentence and that just doesn't cover it. 

This new series covers so much in a week's time that I feel bad so that is why you might see a lot of extra worksheets in their folders with a D.T. (Did Together) on them. We do them together because I just don't like overwhelming them with all the work to do alone. Some of it they do with a partner or small group. In grammar this week they are working on making nouns plural. I told them in this case spelling will matter! 

FAST Scores- in your child's folder you will find their Fall Reading and Math scores. If your child is needing interventions we have already sent that paper home to you. I started this week working with some kids in both areas. 

Book Reports are due on October 25. I have a few who have already done some of their project work here at school! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am driving to Waterloo again. I am participating in a Breast Cancer Walk for my sister-in-law's sister. We were all roommates in college at UNI! Tracy was diagnosed this past summer and is receiving treatment currently. 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma