Dear Parents, I hope this finds everyone doing well! I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!!! First, congratulations to Heidi and Matt Rohrig on the birth of their daughter! We are all excited for you and your family!!! 👶
Reading- This week we started Unit 3. This unit is all about the Revolutionary War. The story they read is about John Adams and his son sailing to England to have some "talks" before the war starts. It is historical fiction. This unit is great for history, but probably not that exciting all the time. I know they will be ready for social studies after this unit!!! In grammar we are discussing subject and object pronouns.
This Friday we are testing differently! They will be taking the same test, but doing it online! They will be using their Chromebooks for this test. Once they are done, they check the test right away! I will also be able to get more data on what is being covered by the questions. I will still send home that scoresheet, but you will also be able to see their scores online.
Math- We worked on estimating quotients by finding compatible numbers. That doesn't mean rounding. They only round the divisor to the nearest ten. Once they do that, they are to figure out what compatible number on their multiplication table would be a reasonable choice. For example: 832➗ 24=? They would change it to 800 ➗20=40 0r 1000➗20=50.
2x5=10 and 2x4=8 are all compatible numbers and there would be no remainder.
They are now learning to divide with a two digit number. There are some that are getting a little lost, but overall they are all doing really well!
Religion- This week we started going over each of the 8 Beatitudes. They will also be doing a class activity on this to show ways to LIVE those Beatitudes.
Advent Angels- This started on Wednesday. Most of the 5th graders said they had a good time, but their angel is really quiet. I am betting for some that will change!
Advent Season- One of the things we are doing for this Advent Season is purchasing items to donate to our local Food Pantry (where 3-5 donate their time). The 5th graders are being asked to donate shampoo and conditioner. They would like to get all donations collected by December 16. Please do what you can to help out.
Christmas Concert- This is set for next Wednesday, December 7 at 6:30 at the Creston High School. The kids should find their teachers no sooner than 6:15. The 5th graders will be sitting on chairs on the stage during the concert-- much like they did last spring.
Art- On Wednesday, I showed the kids what I wanted to do for our door for December! They made it! They created a tree made from paper chains! There are presents below it! That just wasn't enough! They went to town and decorated any available space in our room. It looks very festive! They had such fun!!! They did a great job of working together as well! Super proud of them!!!
Have a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
I will send the first place posters on to Jewell for voting. If they win there, the students will be notified by mail.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Happy Thursday Everyone! I hope you are having a great week! It seems to be flying by! I can't believe next week is Thanksgiving already...didn't we just have Halloween?
Reading- This week they are taking their unit 2 test. I will be able to send scores home next week. They are also doing their first book reports on Thursday. We will finish them up on Friday if we need to do so. Next week with only 2 days-- we won't do another story. I will have other things planned for that time.
Math- This week they used Base 10 blocks to solve division problems with 2 digit divisors. They worked in groups to solve them. It was a fun couple of days. On Wednesday, I started teaching them the strategy of Partial Quotients. We did take the long route, but on Thursday we will learn to shorten that up. I like this strategy. I learned it about 5 years ago in a math class I was taking. I know this isn't something you will know how to do and I did tell your children that. :) Having said that, this is a great 2nd option for the kids to use if the original strategy is too difficult. With partial quotients I can easily multiply by 10s, 20s, 100s and do it all mentally. It also allows me to take out more of the dividend at one time. They will learn the strategy you and I were both raised with, but this will give them two options to solve a division problem. They will be able to choose what works for them and that is what is key here. It needs to work for them, not me or you, I'm afraid. Most of them will most likely choose the strategy we know, but if they really like partial quotients, I won't stop them from using it. Division is division and as long as they are comfortable with it and can do it--go for it!
Religion- They have all finished the quizzes over the mysteries! We will be heading back into the book now!
Geography Bee- We will hold the first round on Monday! We will let you know when the 2nd round will be held. You will be invited to that round!
Advent - This will begin right after Thanksgiving. The kids will do activities with an Advent Angel again this year! They are already asking me about it! I think they are excited!
Mass- They did a GREAT job with mass today. I had two adults guests come up and tell me they did a wonderful job! They were really impressed. I shared that with the kids. It's always good to hear! I thought they did an amazing job too, but I might be a little biased!
Food Pantry- I just wanted to say that the kids did a GREAT job last week helping out at the Food Pantry. They unloaded the truck and then unpacked all the groceries. Another set of kids were separating frozen food items and breads into smaller bags. There was a moment that I got to just stand back and watch and I was near tears. It was just such a sweet moment watching your kids do their jobs with such kindness and excitement. Moments like those are extra perks for my job! They make my heart melt. Love love love your kids!
Have a great weekend! Don't forget the Vendor Fair at STM on Saturday!!! Get some of your Christmas shopping done and support the STM PTO!
Let me also add-- I won't do a blog next week, so please let me wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. I know I am adding your kids to my list of things I am thankful for this year!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Reading- This week they are taking their unit 2 test. I will be able to send scores home next week. They are also doing their first book reports on Thursday. We will finish them up on Friday if we need to do so. Next week with only 2 days-- we won't do another story. I will have other things planned for that time.
Math- This week they used Base 10 blocks to solve division problems with 2 digit divisors. They worked in groups to solve them. It was a fun couple of days. On Wednesday, I started teaching them the strategy of Partial Quotients. We did take the long route, but on Thursday we will learn to shorten that up. I like this strategy. I learned it about 5 years ago in a math class I was taking. I know this isn't something you will know how to do and I did tell your children that. :) Having said that, this is a great 2nd option for the kids to use if the original strategy is too difficult. With partial quotients I can easily multiply by 10s, 20s, 100s and do it all mentally. It also allows me to take out more of the dividend at one time. They will learn the strategy you and I were both raised with, but this will give them two options to solve a division problem. They will be able to choose what works for them and that is what is key here. It needs to work for them, not me or you, I'm afraid. Most of them will most likely choose the strategy we know, but if they really like partial quotients, I won't stop them from using it. Division is division and as long as they are comfortable with it and can do it--go for it!
Religion- They have all finished the quizzes over the mysteries! We will be heading back into the book now!
Geography Bee- We will hold the first round on Monday! We will let you know when the 2nd round will be held. You will be invited to that round!
Advent - This will begin right after Thanksgiving. The kids will do activities with an Advent Angel again this year! They are already asking me about it! I think they are excited!
Mass- They did a GREAT job with mass today. I had two adults guests come up and tell me they did a wonderful job! They were really impressed. I shared that with the kids. It's always good to hear! I thought they did an amazing job too, but I might be a little biased!
Food Pantry- I just wanted to say that the kids did a GREAT job last week helping out at the Food Pantry. They unloaded the truck and then unpacked all the groceries. Another set of kids were separating frozen food items and breads into smaller bags. There was a moment that I got to just stand back and watch and I was near tears. It was just such a sweet moment watching your kids do their jobs with such kindness and excitement. Moments like those are extra perks for my job! They make my heart melt. Love love love your kids!
Have a great weekend! Don't forget the Vendor Fair at STM on Saturday!!! Get some of your Christmas shopping done and support the STM PTO!
Let me also add-- I won't do a blog next week, so please let me wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. I know I am adding your kids to my list of things I am thankful for this year!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Dear Parents, Happy Thursday! I hope this week has been going well for you! We have two full weeks of school! I'm not sure we know how to act! :)
Book Reports- Just a reminder that the first book report is due on Thursday, November 17. I think there are about 5-6 kids are still reading their books. They need to get going on that. If they lost the packet I gave them with the report ideas, just have them ask me for another one. That isn't a problem.
Reading- This week we read an informative piece called Cougars. This is a nonfiction piece, but I think it keeps the kids pretty interested in the different facts about cougars. On Tuesday they worked in pairs or small groups and were assigned a topic from the story. They had to jot down the important details on a piece of paper. They then had to report back to the class what they felt were things they should all know. I have turned their notes into packets for them. They can always use this to review the story before the test on Friday.
On Wednesday, we tried something different. We reread the story together (in unison). I talked about fast readers will need to slow down to stay at the pace, slower readers will have to work to keep up. This is supposed to help build their comprehension of the story while it keeps all of them involved. They are forced to follow along. Plus it doesn't give any one student added pressure of having to read aloud or to keep track because they should be! We stopped at certain points to go over facts as well. We had a good discussion on our senses. The cougars strongest ones were hearing and seeing. I asked them if they had to live without one---which one would it be? Many said touch because then pain would no longer be a factor even if they grabbed onto something HOT! We didn't quite finish it, but we will on Thursday. Our grammar this week is putting in quotation marks around things people say, to cite a quote from a book, or when we use interjections. There wasn't much of a clue for spelling. This week is the final schwa sound +r. We did figure out that the final letter in every word is an R and the letter before it is a vowel!
Next week they will be taking Unit 2 test. There will not be any spelling. They will also share their book reports.
Religion- They have taken quizzes over the Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries. On Thursday, they will take the quiz on Joyful Mysteries. They are also working on cards. I wanted the kids to do something for the police departments in Des Moines and Urbandale just to let them know we are thinking of them. The kids have been praying for the two officers and their families since the shootings last week. The kids in 3-5 are making cards and I will send them to each police department this weekend. It is a small gesture, but as Catholics we are called to Bury the Dead in the Corporal Works of Mercy. This is our step towards that. Plus, a past student, Luke Eblen, works for the Des Moines Police Department and worked with Sgt. Tony Bemino. I thought it might do him some good as well to see his hometown is thinking of him and his work family.
Math- We are working on that division! This week they learned how to check their division by multiplying! I told them that this will eliminate the question, "Miss Surma, did I do this right?" Now they can check their work!!! This should also help eliminate corrections because they will know if they have it right or not! Next up? Double digit divisors!
Food Pantry- This Friday will be our first time walking down and helping the Food Pantry unload their items! You signed a permission slip quite a while ago! We will go down around 1:15 to help out! I told them to wear tennis shoes for the walk that day.
STEM Night- Don't forget tonight is STEM Night! It is a come and go! You don't have to be there at 5:30! Come any time and leave when you are ready! Enjoy the fun night that some of the staff and Mrs. Simmons have planned!
Muffins with Mom is on Tuesday, November 15!!! Can't wait to see you then!
Have a great weekend!
God Bless, Miss Surma
Book Reports- Just a reminder that the first book report is due on Thursday, November 17. I think there are about 5-6 kids are still reading their books. They need to get going on that. If they lost the packet I gave them with the report ideas, just have them ask me for another one. That isn't a problem.
Reading- This week we read an informative piece called Cougars. This is a nonfiction piece, but I think it keeps the kids pretty interested in the different facts about cougars. On Tuesday they worked in pairs or small groups and were assigned a topic from the story. They had to jot down the important details on a piece of paper. They then had to report back to the class what they felt were things they should all know. I have turned their notes into packets for them. They can always use this to review the story before the test on Friday.
On Wednesday, we tried something different. We reread the story together (in unison). I talked about fast readers will need to slow down to stay at the pace, slower readers will have to work to keep up. This is supposed to help build their comprehension of the story while it keeps all of them involved. They are forced to follow along. Plus it doesn't give any one student added pressure of having to read aloud or to keep track because they should be! We stopped at certain points to go over facts as well. We had a good discussion on our senses. The cougars strongest ones were hearing and seeing. I asked them if they had to live without one---which one would it be? Many said touch because then pain would no longer be a factor even if they grabbed onto something HOT! We didn't quite finish it, but we will on Thursday. Our grammar this week is putting in quotation marks around things people say, to cite a quote from a book, or when we use interjections. There wasn't much of a clue for spelling. This week is the final schwa sound +r. We did figure out that the final letter in every word is an R and the letter before it is a vowel!
Next week they will be taking Unit 2 test. There will not be any spelling. They will also share their book reports.
Religion- They have taken quizzes over the Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries. On Thursday, they will take the quiz on Joyful Mysteries. They are also working on cards. I wanted the kids to do something for the police departments in Des Moines and Urbandale just to let them know we are thinking of them. The kids have been praying for the two officers and their families since the shootings last week. The kids in 3-5 are making cards and I will send them to each police department this weekend. It is a small gesture, but as Catholics we are called to Bury the Dead in the Corporal Works of Mercy. This is our step towards that. Plus, a past student, Luke Eblen, works for the Des Moines Police Department and worked with Sgt. Tony Bemino. I thought it might do him some good as well to see his hometown is thinking of him and his work family.
Math- We are working on that division! This week they learned how to check their division by multiplying! I told them that this will eliminate the question, "Miss Surma, did I do this right?" Now they can check their work!!! This should also help eliminate corrections because they will know if they have it right or not! Next up? Double digit divisors!
Food Pantry- This Friday will be our first time walking down and helping the Food Pantry unload their items! You signed a permission slip quite a while ago! We will go down around 1:15 to help out! I told them to wear tennis shoes for the walk that day.
STEM Night- Don't forget tonight is STEM Night! It is a come and go! You don't have to be there at 5:30! Come any time and leave when you are ready! Enjoy the fun night that some of the staff and Mrs. Simmons have planned!
Muffins with Mom is on Tuesday, November 15!!! Can't wait to see you then!
Have a great weekend!
God Bless, Miss Surma
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Hi Parents- A couple things I forgot to mention:
Mass will be on Tuesday, November 1 for the holy day of obligation- All Saints Day. You are more than welcome to attend.
Next Wednesday will be the Iowa History Fair! Look in your child's folder for a flyer with the details. The kids can invite their grandparents as well!
Mass will be on Tuesday, November 1 for the holy day of obligation- All Saints Day. You are more than welcome to attend.
Next Wednesday will be the Iowa History Fair! Look in your child's folder for a flyer with the details. The kids can invite their grandparents as well!
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a good week. We have a busy week next week...so please check out the calendar.
Monday/Halloween- We will celebrate Halloween on Monday afternoon. The Civics Club will provide activities and treats for the K-5 in the afternoon. The 5th graders should bring their costume to school on Monday. They will change into them after the activities. The parade will take place in the gym around 2:30. You are invited to attend the parade! If you want to take your child home afterwards, please just let me know before you leave. I am not going to ask for any treats or drinks because I know they will receive that from the activities. I am sure that will be enough.
Reading- This week we are reading a nonfiction piece on the Everglades. It is story about a 5th grade class that goes there for a field trip. They are also learning about what is happening to the Everglades and the work that is in place to restore the water system. On Tuesday we had a lesson on figuring out the purpose of the story. I broke the class up into 3 groups and assigned each a page to reread. They had to pick a reason as to why it was important to save the Everglades. They then shared their example with the entire class. We are going to discuss that on Thursday. I also showed them a short 7 minute video clip of the Everglades so they could get a better idea of what that park is like.
Grammar this week is covering the conjunctions (and, but, or or). We worked on writing complex sentences on Wednesday using subordinating conjunctions. This means one sentence or clause is dependent on the other. We use words such as: when, because, although, and since. For example: Because I didn't study for my test, I didn't do very well. Although it rained last night, we can still have recess outside.
Spelling this week is covering homophones: steal, steel, ring, wring, lesson, lessen. I did tell them that on Friday I would mix them up for the posttest. They will have to know the meaning of the word so they know which one to write down.
Math- We have spent much of the week correcting math tests. This takes time for me because I really want to work them individually to see what they understood of the problem and what was confusing them. We will start our new chapter today. Chapter 2 is division. It will kick off with long division right away with single digit divisors. Some of them are already doing that on our ST Math. I think many of them will move quickly. It may change though when we hit the double digit divisors, but let's not jump to that yet!
Religion- They have passed their prayers! Now we are going to begin learning every decade of the rosary. They won't learn them all in one shot. I have them focus on one mystery at a time.
Halloween Stories- During the conferences you can take time to read some of their stories. They are outside my room. They did a great job!
Friday- Free Spirit Day! Wear your black and red to support the Panther football team. The students may wear their sweats if they want to--for FREE!
Have a great weekend! I am heading to Doon to do some yardwork at Mom's house...getting it ready for winter.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a good week. We have a busy week next week...so please check out the calendar.
Monday/Halloween- We will celebrate Halloween on Monday afternoon. The Civics Club will provide activities and treats for the K-5 in the afternoon. The 5th graders should bring their costume to school on Monday. They will change into them after the activities. The parade will take place in the gym around 2:30. You are invited to attend the parade! If you want to take your child home afterwards, please just let me know before you leave. I am not going to ask for any treats or drinks because I know they will receive that from the activities. I am sure that will be enough.
Reading- This week we are reading a nonfiction piece on the Everglades. It is story about a 5th grade class that goes there for a field trip. They are also learning about what is happening to the Everglades and the work that is in place to restore the water system. On Tuesday we had a lesson on figuring out the purpose of the story. I broke the class up into 3 groups and assigned each a page to reread. They had to pick a reason as to why it was important to save the Everglades. They then shared their example with the entire class. We are going to discuss that on Thursday. I also showed them a short 7 minute video clip of the Everglades so they could get a better idea of what that park is like.
Grammar this week is covering the conjunctions (and, but, or or). We worked on writing complex sentences on Wednesday using subordinating conjunctions. This means one sentence or clause is dependent on the other. We use words such as: when, because, although, and since. For example: Because I didn't study for my test, I didn't do very well. Although it rained last night, we can still have recess outside.
Spelling this week is covering homophones: steal, steel, ring, wring, lesson, lessen. I did tell them that on Friday I would mix them up for the posttest. They will have to know the meaning of the word so they know which one to write down.
Math- We have spent much of the week correcting math tests. This takes time for me because I really want to work them individually to see what they understood of the problem and what was confusing them. We will start our new chapter today. Chapter 2 is division. It will kick off with long division right away with single digit divisors. Some of them are already doing that on our ST Math. I think many of them will move quickly. It may change though when we hit the double digit divisors, but let's not jump to that yet!
Religion- They have passed their prayers! Now we are going to begin learning every decade of the rosary. They won't learn them all in one shot. I have them focus on one mystery at a time.
Halloween Stories- During the conferences you can take time to read some of their stories. They are outside my room. They did a great job!
Friday- Free Spirit Day! Wear your black and red to support the Panther football team. The students may wear their sweats if they want to--for FREE!
Have a great weekend! I am heading to Doon to do some yardwork at Mom's house...getting it ready for winter.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Dear Parents,
The weather is changing off and on. Some of the kids are wearing only a sweatshirt to school, which is fine, but that isn't a coat/jacket. Many of them choose to wear that all day in the classroom, which is fine as well. A coat is needed these days. A coat/jacket is something they will take off and hang in their locker. They may need it in the morning, but by after school time they won't. I am having that discussion with them today because many didn't dress appropriately for the cold temperatures. We don't go out if it is below freezing or raining.
Thanks,
Miss Surma
The weather is changing off and on. Some of the kids are wearing only a sweatshirt to school, which is fine, but that isn't a coat/jacket. Many of them choose to wear that all day in the classroom, which is fine as well. A coat is needed these days. A coat/jacket is something they will take off and hang in their locker. They may need it in the morning, but by after school time they won't. I am having that discussion with them today because many didn't dress appropriately for the cold temperatures. We don't go out if it is below freezing or raining.
Thanks,
Miss Surma
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)