I hope everyone is having a great week! I am enjoying these fall temps. Mrs. Sickels keeps telling me about how cold our winter is supposed to be. Shush! I am not ready for that kind of talk yet! 

Calendar Dates: 

Oct. 17- Spirit Day

Oct. 20- Flu Shots at school 

Oct. 27-30 Parent Teacher Conferences

Oct. 29- Halloween Parade at 2:15 pm 

Oct. 31- No School 

Nov. 1- Holy Day of Obligation/ All Saints' Day

Math- We are starting our multiplication chapter.  With the first lesson I let them use a calculator to solve the problems. They were working on noticing the patterns when we multiply by 10s 100s and 1000s. We brought back exponents too!  Our next lesson was on estimating factors to find their product using mental math. 20 x 200=?   It is a good chance to review rounding.  The next lesson should be review because they will be multiplying by a single digit. I know they did that in 4th grade.  Our real focus of this chapter will be multiplying by double digits. 48 x 87 and bigger like 312 x 98. We will also work on multiplying with 0's.  Now, I do tell them if they don't know their facts they can use their multiplication table in their composition books.  I don't want them sitting there using their fingers to find 8 x 9 while trying to get their assignment done. Feel free to do flashcards at home or in the car! 

Reading- They have taken their first Module test ( unit test). I have a few to check tonight, but overall I was pleased with the scores. They were better than I thought they would be! I will show you their actual test at conferences.  Today I gave them a spelling pretest for our new story.  Our next story is another fantasy story. This one has a bit of a mystery to solve. It is also one of the longer stories- I think it is 18-19 pages.  In grammar we will be focusing on what a common noun is and what a proper noun is. I think street names and acronyms and some groups and official titles get confusing. 

Religion- We are working on our booklets for the mysteries. We are reading short verses from the Bible and then summarizing them . I plan on showing you those at conferences as well. 

Halloween Parade will be on October 29 at 2:15 in the gym. Students should come to school with their costume in their bag. You are welcome to attend!  If you plan on taking your child home afterwards, make sure to stop in the room and check out with me so that I know they are gone!  No weapons or anything close to a weapon for the costume are allowed. It is also a mass day, but they DON'T have to wear mass clothes that day.  It isn't a spirit day so they cannot wear sweatpants, but jeans or shorts (depending on temps) are okay. 

Conferences- Have you gone into JMC and  picked your day and time?? Please do so ASAP.

Spirit Day on Friday! Sweats and/or hat for $1!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Big plans? Whatever you're doing- have fun! Be safe! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, Happy Wednesday! My niece's wedding was beautiful last weekend!  We (my siblings) had a great time together . We were able to go to my niece Olivia's soccer game on Saturday! They won 5-0. Olivia played for the last 8 minutes of the game! That was fun! 

Calendar Dates: 

Oct. 15- Mass/ Noisy Change Collection

Oct. 17- Spirit Day

Oct. 20- Flu Shots at school 

Oct. 27-30 Parent Teacher Conferences

Oct. 29- Halloween Parade at 2:15 pm 

Reading- We are finishing up our story this week. We will take the Module 1 (unit ) Test next week Monday. I was planning on doing it Friday, but I had to rearrange some things. They took their post test in spelling today. 

I also finally score their last test after they corrected it. Now, we did those corrections together. Next time, I will have them correct on their own. I wanted them to see that some of those answers are right in the story- they have to go back and look things up. I think that is a bigger problem because they don't want to take the time to find the answer.  Making corrections definitely helped their scores. 

Spelling Pretest- Some of the kids received notes on the last pretest that I would be adding bonus/ challenge words to their next pretest. I base that on who does well on pretests because that means they know how to spell the word already without any studying or prep work. Who knows- I may add some more to that list later. 

Math- They are adding and subtracting decimals. We won't be testing over this chapter. The only tricky thing is remembering that they may need to do some borrowing . For example: 0-9=9 is not correct. 8-9= 1 is not right either... they forget they have to borrow from the number next to it.  They also need to remember to line up the decimals when they are adding or subtracting in the problem. Place value numbers need to line up. I can't take away my ones from my tens. 

Religion- Last Friday they were assigned one of the mysteries of the Rosary. They are drawing posters to represent them. They will share those on Thursday and we will hang them up in the hallway. When you are here- you can check them out! They are also filling out little books about each one. You can see those at conferences.  I only have a few people that need to pass their last prayer! That will happen tomorrow. 

Noisy Change Collection on Wednesday, October 15 at mass! 

Rosary- On Friday afternoon, we will be going outside to draw and color their prayer petition with chalk on the sidewalk. The MS students will be drawing a rosary around the flag pole as well as doing their own petitions.  5th graders are going to start their pictures by Father's old house down the sidewalk. 3rd and 4th will be drawing theirs as well. Hopefully the rain stays away for a little while so we can enjoy them. I told the 5th graders they need to think about who or what they want to pray for on their sidewalk square. 

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! I am heading to Altoona on Saturday morning for the ALS Walk. Looks to be nice weather! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hi Families! It says October on the calendar, but it sure doesn't feel like it. 

Calendar Dates: 

Oct. 1- 5th Grade Leads Rosary /No mass

Oct. 2- Starting to test prayers in religion

Oct. 3- Spirit Day/ Miss Surma gone

Oct. 6- No School/ PD Day

Substitute- I am going to be gone on Friday. I am heading to Dubuque. My niece Gracelyn is getting married Friday afternoon.  I am also responsible for getting my sister Penny to the wedding so I am leaving Thursday after school. Her sister Olivia has a soccer game at Loras on Saturday. It will be a busy weekend. Mary Brown will be in the room with them.  If there are any changes to your child's end of the day plans, please contact Mrs. Levine in the office because I won't be checking emails. 

Book Report- I assigned the first book report on Monday. They have a purple packet in their folders with ideas for what the different projects look like.  They have to choose a chapter book and show it to me before they start reading it. Some more found their book at the library today.  The project will be due on Wednesday, November 12. It gives them 6 weeks to read the book and complete the project.  A lot of the project work can be done at school in their free time. 

Reading- Last week they took their weekly test on paper instead of computer. I am sorry I am so slow in getting their scores back to you, but I decided since scores weren't the greatest this gave us an opportunity to correct them. When they do them on their computers, there isn't the opportunity to correct them because it shows them the right answer. I will get the scores back to you, but I can't say for sure when that will be.  

We are reading our new story which is a fantasy. Captain Arsenio leaves a diary of his inventions for trying to build something that can fly! Ask your kids the three different attempts we read about! This story is kind of funny and a great break from the nonfiction they have been doing.  In grammar we are focusing more on sentence structure. 

Rosary- The 5th graders did a terrific job with the Rosary today! So proud of them. The 6-8 even gave them a small cheer in the hallway on the way back from the library! 

Book It Calendars- It starts today!!! The goal for October is 600 minutes. That is about 20 minutes a day.  You will sign the calendar at the end of the month and they will turn it in to me. I am giving them the Dilly Bar coupons from last year. Pizza Ranch no longer participates. 

Math- we are working on adding and subtracting decimals in this chapter. We don't do every lesson in this one. I want them to get the main parts down, but then we will move on. I don't know that they will test over this chapter either.  We are working on rounding some more. That was hit hard on their little pretest at the beginning of the chapter. 

Spirit Day on Friday! I know the weather isn't really sweatpants weather. 

Monday, October 6 is a PD Day for us! No School for the kiddos! Enjoy your 3 day weekend! 

Lots of things in their Take Home Folders tomorrow- make sure to check them out. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents- Wow! This week the key word is "flexible". We have been switching things up daily due to other things popping up!  FAST testing is done!  The band did great at the pep rally! I hope you got to hear some of it on my Facebook page!  

Calendar Dates: 

Sept. 26- Homecoming/ Early Out at 12:10

Oct. 1- 5th Grade Leads Rosary /No mass

Oct. 3- Spirit Day

Oct. 6- No School/ PD Day

Math- They will have a math test on Thursday.  They did a practice test on Tuesday. We went over it on Wednesday. They corrected them with me on Wednesday. They can use this as a study guide. Many of them didn't read the entire problem so they missed out on points. 

Religion- We are going to start focusing on the Rosary. I gave them prayers to memorize. They will have to recite them to me. They have a copy to take home and practice with you. They have to to do both prayers, but I don't care which one they do first. Once we are done with the prayers, we will be focusing on the Mysteries of the Rosary.  I will let the kids know when I will start listening to their prayers- most likely later next week. I will keep listening to them until they pass. 

5th graders did a GREAT job at mass today!!! I gave the others their parts for the Rosary next week! 

Reading- They will take their module test on Thursday. This week I am giving everyone a paper copy instead of doing it on the chrome. I just want to see if that helps some. I told them last week they can't just read it one time and expect to remember everything and know the answer. They need to reread or look back to find the answer. The stories we read in our book are read 3 times before they take the quiz. 

I also am getting tougher on my grading on papers where they have to fill in the blank with a word from the worksheet. I am seeing so so many misspelled words or words that are so misspelled I can't even guess what it says. This tells me they are rushing and not caring about their work. They have been warned that they may have to redo the worksheet if I see so many errors that don't have to be there

Homework Folders- Parents, Please don't go through their folders. Let me do it. I know it's an accident, but you're throwing away homework and they are getting late slips.  The Take Home Folder that comes home on Thursdays is yours!!! You can do whatever you want with those homework pieces! 

Friday is an early out for the homecoming parade. We will be feeding the kids before they leave. It will be a sack lunch from the kitchen.  The sack lunch will be an Uncrustable, cheese stick, apple slices and a cookie.  If they want their own sack lunch from home that is fine. I told them to wear their red and black or Panther gear on Friday! Please let Mrs. Levine and myself know before Friday if you are changing their pick up plan. 

"That's what she said." is being said by a number of 5th graders. I have been really blunt with those I have heard saying it. When I have asked, they don't know what it is referring to. I told them it comes from a TV show called The Office. On that show some of the characters say it as some sort of sexual reference. I told the kids they cannot use that phrase at school.  I don't know that these kids are watching that show , just  seeing the memes of it, or just hearing others use it, but I am trying to get it to stop. It seems to be a 5th grade thing. This isn't the first year I have had to talk about it. It's a good lesson for them to realize that not every meme or line from a show is appropriate to be repeated. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I am not going to see the parade. I hope everyone has a great time!!!! I am heading to Waverly right after school. We are moving my sister Penny into an assisted living facility in Cedar Falls this weekend.  I am sad to see her have to sell her house, but I know this will be safer for her. Her care is definitely requiring more.  Go Panthers! Happy Homecoming! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents! I hope you're having a great week! We had our first indoor recess today with the rain! 

Calendar Dates: 

Sept. 9-26- FAST Testing

Sept. 19- Spirit Day $1 

Sept. 24- 5th Grade Mass 

Sept. 26- Homecoming/ Early Out at 12:10

Oct. 1- 5th Grade Leads Rosary /No mass

Reading- This week we have done a lot of FAST testing in reading. I have gotten most of them done.  I should have all the reading done this week. Our story this week is about a woman who invented a wheelchair for sports activities. She created it to be easier to use and one that wouldn't fall over so easily.  In grammar they are working on the 4 different kinds of sentences. They did the declarative and interrogative sentences so far. Their spelling words are words that have a long -a or a long -e sound in them. They will most likely have their spelling test next over these. 

Religion- They are taking their first religion test tomorrow (Thursday). They all have a study guide to look over. I will hand out mass parts on Thursday. If your child doesn't have a job in the mass - no worries! They will have a job in leading the Rosary next week.  I won't give them their parts until next week. All are welcome to come!  If your child has a speaking part for either one please practice at home. We will also practice at school. 

Math- We have been so busy with decimals! They are writing them in expanded, standard, and word form. Next they had to write the decimal as a fraction or the fraction as a decimal. Then they had to compare decimals. Identify which is greater, less or equal to?  Today they were rounding decimals to the nearest whole number (ones), tenths, or hundredths! We are nearing the end of the chapter and will probably test next week. We will see because we also have FAST math testing to do. 

Spirit Day is on Friday! Hats and/ or sweats for $1. I think it's supposed to be in the 70s! That sounds like perfect sweatpants  weather to me! 

PTO Meeting tonight at The Latest Edition book store at 6 pm.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Hopefully we will see the balloons go up! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Families! I hope you are having a great week! I miss the cool weather from last week! We sure had a great time at Green Valley on Monday! I hope you saw the pictures if you're on my Facebook page. 

Calendar Dates: 

Sept. 9-26- FAST Testing

Sept. 17- One hour early out/ PTO Meeting 6 pm

Sept. 19- Spirit Day $1 

Sept. 24- 5th Grade Mass 

Sept. 26- Homecoming/ Early Out at 12:10

Oct. 1- 5th Grade Leads Rosary /No mass

Reading- They took their post test in spelling on Wednesday.  They also took their weekly assessment after our story. We will be working on FAST tests the rest of the week, but I may also get a spelling pretest in. We will have to see how things go. 

Math- We have worked on place value into the millions. This week we are working on place value with decimals to the thousandths. This is a difficult concept. I try to stick with money as much as I can so it is something they recognize. That doesn't work with the thousandths.  They did work on writing decimals as a standard number, but also a fraction. 0.25 is the same thing as 25/100.  They will also be writing the decimals in standard, written, and expanded form. 

Religion- We are just about done with our chapter so a study guide and test will be happening soon!  On Tuesday we read about Saint Damian. He was a priest who asked to work with the lepers who were sent to Molokai. He built a church and school for them. He also started a choir. He did end up contracting the disease. The 5th graders will watch a short video on his life in class on Thursday. We talked about what it takes to become a missionary like him. 

On September 24- the 5th graders will be in charge of mass. The following week Father is gone so we will be praying the Rosary as a school instead of mass. 5th graders will be in charge of that one as well. I have divided the class up on those 2 days so everyone will get a job in either the mass or the Rosary.  I will send home any reading parts next week so they can practice with you at home. 

Next week the entire kindergarten class will sit with us at mass! Mrs. Chesling has only been sending half the class the last two weeks. The 5th graders have been doing a great job of helping them learn what to do at mass. 

I am probably going to be putting out my blog on Wednesdays. It is just easier for me. I don't know why! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am going with some of my co-workers to the Bishop's Dinner on Saturday night in Des Moines. I am excited that we will be having mass at St. Ambrose...it is such a beautiful church. 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

Hello Parents! Well, the newness is wearing off. LOL  They are still doing well, but there are times where we have a few not paying attention, visiting with friends or messing around that is slowing things down in class. Our afternoons seem to be the hardest. I am hoping that once we get our routine established and they know my expectations...things will run smoother. I did warn them that if I don't see them paying attention in class, I will call on them when I am going over things . They need to get ready for middle school. I feel like I need to start this right away with them. But overall, I think they are doing really well! 

Calendar Dates: 

Sept. 5- Spirit Day

Sept. 8- Green Valley Day

Sept. 10- One hour early out

Sept. 11- Picture Day 

Sept. 9-26- FAST Testing

PE Shoes- Some of the 5th graders are coming to school on PE days with shoes that are NOT made for PE. I talked to them today about it. Crocs, Uggs, Hey Dudes, slip on shoes are NOT going to work. They have to wear tennis shoes. They will start getting late slips for not  having the correct footwear. They can have a pair of tennis shoes in the closet to change into for PE if they want. I have had kids do that over the years. The other ones are just not safe for playing and running in. 

Reading- We are still in our story about Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. This week they reread the story aloud and then worked in small groups to answer some comprehension questions. In grammar we are working on what makes a complete sentence. We need a subject and predicate. We also have some who write sentence fragments, run on sentences, or comma splice sentences.  They will have a test over spelling words and this story next week some time. I don't have it mapped out yet in my plans. I will email you to let you all know. 

Math-we are working on place value and exponents. We did some more review of exponents today based on things I was seeing in homework and in class. When I ask what is 10 x 10 x 10? I still get some saying 30. They are quick to add and not multiply. We did time tests this week. You will see their papers in their take home folders We will do that once a week. 

Math interventions- some kids qualify for this service. Their papers are in their Take Home Folders.  For those who received one- please sign and return ASAP. Thanks. 

FAST Testing- We will start our Fast Testing next week. I will do the reading first and then the math. I don't plan on getting a sub to the do the testing. The kids will have to be quiet while I am working with someone. The goal this fall is to get 132 words correct in one minute.  We do use these scores in reading and math to see who needs intervention work. 

Green Valley-  Don't forget the kids need a sack lunch and drink on Monday.

I told them they have to wear tennis shoes! No sandals, Crocs, or slip on shoes.  They will get dirty! 

Religion- We worked on locating verses in the Bible. Now we are in our chapter on creation. We talked today about how we are created in His image.  We also discussed how we should treat others with dignity  and respect. When we hurt someone's feelings we are also hurting him. That seemed to register a little bit with them. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  I plan on being here. 

God Bless,

Miss Surma