Hello Parents, I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break. I know I did. I was able to get some stuff done at home that I had been procrastinating on forever! I also got some school work done!
Book Report #3- I gave them a pink packet on this report on Monday. It has their 3 options for the reports in it. The due date is May 13. I haven't let them choose their book yet because I want them to look at the books in the library on Wednesday. As I told them, they should keep that pink packet with the book so that they can take notes as they read. The internet is the backup source AFTER they have finished reading the book. Sometimes dates aren't in the books. If your child picks the poster as their project, I am talking about those big ones they use for the science fair.They have the sides that fold in. You can find them in Wal-Mart or something really big. My 12x18 paper won't be big enough to show everything. They can use any stencils or scrapbook accessories to add to it to make it colorful.
Reading- This week they are reading a story called Tucket's Travels. This young boy Francis was kidnapped on the Oregon Trail by the Pawnee. He escapes and ends up helping two other children who lost their dad due to cholera. They are traveling thru a desert like area and trying to keep away from the Comancheros. They find a group of trees to hide in and a thunderstorm hits. They are pelted with rain and hail the size of his fist. The good thing is they have water to drink and their tracks have been washed away. Their grammar this week is verb usage in a sentence...using the forms of be and have.
Math- They are testing this week. We will start on Thursday and Friday with dividing decimals. They do some hands on activities first before we really get back into the pencil and paper. It is a fun way to ease into the topic.
Religion- We started a chapter on Lent this week. On Tuesday I broke them into pairs, groups, or working alone to create a poster that describes and shows an important day during the Lent season. They will be posted outside our room if you are in school and want to check them out.
Next week Wednesday, April 3, the 5th graders will be in charge of leading the rosary before mass. It will start at 8:50. I will give them their part on Friday. We will practice in the classroom then and next week. Not everyone will have a part. You will have to ask your child if they are helping with it. It is NOT our mass day. We are only leading the rosary. You are more than welcome to join us!!
Spirit Day is this Friday! $1 for sweats or a hat or BOTH and I hear rain is in the forecast, so that's a perfect day for cozy sweatpants! :) The money from Friday is going towards the Nigerian Seminary.
Fish Fry- I know an email went out looking for volunteers to help with the Fish Fry. Please sign up if you are able! It is a yummy meal!
Have a great weekend! I am heading to Waterloo for my niece Emily's confirmation on Saturday.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Dear Parents,
Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a good week! We are actually putting in a full week it seems! I really hope I didn't just jinx that! 😉
Math- This week they are working on multiplying decimals with whole numbers. It is nice to be reminding them of their multiplication facts! They are doing great, but they just need to remember where to put the decimal. On Wednesday, they did some story problems with finding totals or missing amounts by drawing diagrams.
Reading - This week we are reading a piece from The Black Stallion. A boy Alec and a wild stallion are stranded on an island together, but don't really have a relationship. They are working on creating that trust with each other. In grammar they are learning about how the mechanics of writing titles: books, magazines, movies, TV shows, songs, plays, poems,etc. When we write we underline the title, but if they are using a computer they can use italics. We also use quotation marks around things like TV shows or newspaper articles. They have a cheat sheet to use as a guide to remember all the rules.
This week the spelling clue was-- Words from other countries! I wish you could have seen their faces and heard them. They were really worried and then I read the first word-- salsa. OH!!!!! They felt much better after that! ha ha ha
Unit Test- Next week they will be testing over Unit 4. I will go over scores during Spring Break. There will not be a spelling test next week.
3rd Book Report- I also told them that we will go over their final book report of the year next week. This one is an autobiography or biography. The library has quite a few. I do too ,but if they can't find one here, they will have to look elsewhere. I don't care if it is something they have to download, but just make sure I can check it out first to make sure.
Religi0n- This chapter is covering the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. This is good because they will be receiving this sacrament before Easter with Father Halbur. We always have a good discussion on the different sins: mortal and venial. By the way, I told them that slamming a door isn't really a sin, but it can be considered rude. There was some debate on that one.
Lenten Angels- This will start next week Wednesday.
Spirit Day on Friday, March 8!!!
Book Fair- The book fair will be here during conferences. They are going to help the first graders next week make their wish lists.
Conferences are next week! You have all signed up! I will see you either Tuesday or Thursday!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a good week! We are actually putting in a full week it seems! I really hope I didn't just jinx that! 😉
Math- This week they are working on multiplying decimals with whole numbers. It is nice to be reminding them of their multiplication facts! They are doing great, but they just need to remember where to put the decimal. On Wednesday, they did some story problems with finding totals or missing amounts by drawing diagrams.
Reading - This week we are reading a piece from The Black Stallion. A boy Alec and a wild stallion are stranded on an island together, but don't really have a relationship. They are working on creating that trust with each other. In grammar they are learning about how the mechanics of writing titles: books, magazines, movies, TV shows, songs, plays, poems,etc. When we write we underline the title, but if they are using a computer they can use italics. We also use quotation marks around things like TV shows or newspaper articles. They have a cheat sheet to use as a guide to remember all the rules.
This week the spelling clue was-- Words from other countries! I wish you could have seen their faces and heard them. They were really worried and then I read the first word-- salsa. OH!!!!! They felt much better after that! ha ha ha
Unit Test- Next week they will be testing over Unit 4. I will go over scores during Spring Break. There will not be a spelling test next week.
3rd Book Report- I also told them that we will go over their final book report of the year next week. This one is an autobiography or biography. The library has quite a few. I do too ,but if they can't find one here, they will have to look elsewhere. I don't care if it is something they have to download, but just make sure I can check it out first to make sure.
Religi0n- This chapter is covering the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. This is good because they will be receiving this sacrament before Easter with Father Halbur. We always have a good discussion on the different sins: mortal and venial. By the way, I told them that slamming a door isn't really a sin, but it can be considered rude. There was some debate on that one.
Lenten Angels- This will start next week Wednesday.
Spirit Day on Friday, March 8!!!
Book Fair- The book fair will be here during conferences. They are going to help the first graders next week make their wish lists.
Conferences are next week! You have all signed up! I will see you either Tuesday or Thursday!
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Dear Parents,
Well, I hope everyone is having a good week! It was our most normal week with this weather!
Biz Town was a success! The kids all said they had a great time! They were so good. They worked so hard. I think they got a little taste of real life. Thank you to all my volunteers! I hope you had a great time too! Make sure to check out my Facebook page to see all the pictures!
Reading- This week we are reading a story called Darnell Rock Reporting. Darnell wrote an article for the newspaper about the deteriorating basketball court and trying to turn it into a community garden for the homeless. There was another student who opposed it, and wanted to turn it into a parking lot for the teachers of their school. Both of them had to share their views at the city council meeting. Darnell lost the vote, but someone in the community wanted to donate other land for his idea. We had a good discussion on the pros and cons of this issue. They will test over this story and their spelling words on Friday.
Math- Now that BizTown is done, we will get back into our math books on Thursday. Our new chapter is about multiplying decimals. They will first learn to multiply decimals and whole numbers, but they will also learn how to multiply decimals X decimals.
Religion- They have a religion test on Thursday!
Ash Wednesday is on March 6. We will be distributing ashes at mass on Wednesday. I will also be talking to all my religion classes about what they want to do this during Lent this year. They need to be thinking. We will also have a noisy change collection for the Nigerian Seminary on Ash Wednesday. You are welcome to join us for mass. This is not a holy day of obligation, but I know we will have many extra people attending mass that day.
FYI- Influenza is in the room. I had Adolfo clean and disinfect my room and Mrs. Sickels' while we were gone to Biz Town. I will be stressing to the kids to wash their hands regularly. It is actually showing up later than usual. Catholic Schools Week is when it typically hits it seems.
If you don't have plans for Saturday night, please think about going to the St. Malachy Foundation Auction and Dinner. Tickets are being sold in the office. It is a great time! The 3-5 Car Care basket is GREAT! I have seen the 5th grade silent auction item as well. It is super cute! If the weather is good, I won't be there this year. I am bummed, but I have a baby shower to go to in Waverly for my niece. I guess if Mother Nature decides we need more of the same, I will be at the auction!
Have a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Well, I hope everyone is having a good week! It was our most normal week with this weather!
Biz Town was a success! The kids all said they had a great time! They were so good. They worked so hard. I think they got a little taste of real life. Thank you to all my volunteers! I hope you had a great time too! Make sure to check out my Facebook page to see all the pictures!
Reading- This week we are reading a story called Darnell Rock Reporting. Darnell wrote an article for the newspaper about the deteriorating basketball court and trying to turn it into a community garden for the homeless. There was another student who opposed it, and wanted to turn it into a parking lot for the teachers of their school. Both of them had to share their views at the city council meeting. Darnell lost the vote, but someone in the community wanted to donate other land for his idea. We had a good discussion on the pros and cons of this issue. They will test over this story and their spelling words on Friday.
Math- Now that BizTown is done, we will get back into our math books on Thursday. Our new chapter is about multiplying decimals. They will first learn to multiply decimals and whole numbers, but they will also learn how to multiply decimals X decimals.
Religion- They have a religion test on Thursday!
Ash Wednesday is on March 6. We will be distributing ashes at mass on Wednesday. I will also be talking to all my religion classes about what they want to do this during Lent this year. They need to be thinking. We will also have a noisy change collection for the Nigerian Seminary on Ash Wednesday. You are welcome to join us for mass. This is not a holy day of obligation, but I know we will have many extra people attending mass that day.
FYI- Influenza is in the room. I had Adolfo clean and disinfect my room and Mrs. Sickels' while we were gone to Biz Town. I will be stressing to the kids to wash their hands regularly. It is actually showing up later than usual. Catholic Schools Week is when it typically hits it seems.
If you don't have plans for Saturday night, please think about going to the St. Malachy Foundation Auction and Dinner. Tickets are being sold in the office. It is a great time! The 3-5 Car Care basket is GREAT! I have seen the 5th grade silent auction item as well. It is super cute! If the weather is good, I won't be there this year. I am bummed, but I have a baby shower to go to in Waverly for my niece. I guess if Mother Nature decides we need more of the same, I will be at the auction!
Have a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Hello Parents, Okay, I really hoped for a normal week. That just isn't in the cards this winter.
Folder- Inside your child's folder is a permission slip for them to go by bus on our field trip next week. Please fill it out. Return by next Tuesday.
We are leaving early--- 7:45 am. They need to be here before the normal bus. Don't forget they will need a sack lunch that day and a drink. Those with parents or grandparents attending Biz Town may take them home, but you need to let me know first. Thanks so much. Hopefully the weather will cooperate! They need to dress up as though they were going to mass. They are going to work. They need to look professional.
Biz Town- Today they are filling out their job applications. Mrs. Sickels and I are going to go over those and pick jobs tonight. We normally have them do through an interview process, but we had to make cuts to get it all in before the trip. They will know their job tomorrow (Friday). Then they will work with the other kids in their business, getting their stuff done before we go.
Reading- This week they read an autobiography by the author Peg Kehret. She wrote about her first writing experience which was a newspaper. She wrote about her dog BJ. BJ was a puppy that her uncle brought back from Germany during WWII. She wrote about the success and failure of her paper. I told the kids she writes great mysteries. This week is also a Week 3 in our unit. That means they will have a cold read to do during their test on Friday.
They have been working on prepositions in grammar. They made a notebook page full of prepositions. They will be able to use it on the test.
Religion- Today they had a chapter review. This chapter is on the Sacraments of Christian Initiation with the focus on baptism and confirmation. They will test over this chapter next week. We didn't get to do our mass due to snow. I believe they have 1 more this spring.
Tomorrow, February 22- Spirit Day! We were supposed to go to the Food Pantry, but Mark moved it to Thursday. We can't leave to go help because we have too much work to do, especially with Biz Town, plus they have band today.
Auction- Tickets are for sale for the dinner and auction on March 2. It is such a fun night! See Mrs. Lane or a Foundation member if you want to buy your tickets! Thanks for your help with our basket and silent auction item.
Did you hear??? The 3-5 graders did 213 acts of kindness last week for ISSB. That mean $2130 for the Food Pantry! !!! WOO HOO!!!
Have a good weekend. Please be safe. The weather is NOT sounding good...again.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Folder- Inside your child's folder is a permission slip for them to go by bus on our field trip next week. Please fill it out. Return by next Tuesday.
We are leaving early--- 7:45 am. They need to be here before the normal bus. Don't forget they will need a sack lunch that day and a drink. Those with parents or grandparents attending Biz Town may take them home, but you need to let me know first. Thanks so much. Hopefully the weather will cooperate! They need to dress up as though they were going to mass. They are going to work. They need to look professional.
Biz Town- Today they are filling out their job applications. Mrs. Sickels and I are going to go over those and pick jobs tonight. We normally have them do through an interview process, but we had to make cuts to get it all in before the trip. They will know their job tomorrow (Friday). Then they will work with the other kids in their business, getting their stuff done before we go.
Reading- This week they read an autobiography by the author Peg Kehret. She wrote about her first writing experience which was a newspaper. She wrote about her dog BJ. BJ was a puppy that her uncle brought back from Germany during WWII. She wrote about the success and failure of her paper. I told the kids she writes great mysteries. This week is also a Week 3 in our unit. That means they will have a cold read to do during their test on Friday.
They have been working on prepositions in grammar. They made a notebook page full of prepositions. They will be able to use it on the test.
Religion- Today they had a chapter review. This chapter is on the Sacraments of Christian Initiation with the focus on baptism and confirmation. They will test over this chapter next week. We didn't get to do our mass due to snow. I believe they have 1 more this spring.
Tomorrow, February 22- Spirit Day! We were supposed to go to the Food Pantry, but Mark moved it to Thursday. We can't leave to go help because we have too much work to do, especially with Biz Town, plus they have band today.
Auction- Tickets are for sale for the dinner and auction on March 2. It is such a fun night! See Mrs. Lane or a Foundation member if you want to buy your tickets! Thanks for your help with our basket and silent auction item.
Did you hear??? The 3-5 graders did 213 acts of kindness last week for ISSB. That mean $2130 for the Food Pantry! !!! WOO HOO!!!
Have a good weekend. Please be safe. The weather is NOT sounding good...again.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Hi Parents,
Hello! I'd love to say we have had a normal week, but once again, we haven't. So, things are just getting pushed around. I'm afraid we haven't been able to even listen to one book report yet. UGH!
Reading- This week we are reading a science fiction story called LAFFF. I love this story. It is about a boy who creates a time machine but it can only go forward in time and only for a short time. He shows it to his neighbor girl and together they come up with a way that she can use it. She wants to win the school essay contest because then her name will be written in the school magazine and the story is in print for all to read. She goes forward in time to sneak a peek at the winning story. She can only be gone for 7 minutes so she doesn't get it read entirely and has to create her own ending. Then the guilt hits because she possibly copied someone else's story. In the end, she wins and realizes she was copying her own story. The fun part is that in the end she reads her story to her friend and her first line is the very first line of our story! (Mind blown emoji goes here ) The kids always love that part!
We are also working on adverbs this week. This is tough because they have to find the verb first and they struggle with identifying those.
They will still test over the story and the spelling words on Friday.
Math- This week they are still working on writing checks and filling out deposit slips. We also talked about what bouncing a check means. They will also be filling out their voter registration slips as well. They usually do some kind of voting on the day of Biz Town.
Monday, February 18-- Sack lunch day! This is our make up day from CSW. They will eat with their angels that day. That was our blue and gold day. If they want to dress up in blue and gold they can, but I am not going to push that one. Let's just leave it to blue and yellow shirts, sweatshirts,and sweaters. Let's not do sweats.
Food Pantry- We are working at the food pantry on the 22nd. That is also a Spirit Day! Sweats for $1.
ISSB is having them record any acts of kindness this week. They can be done at home or school. They can do them themselves or witness them being done. Each kind act is $10 for the food pantry! I think about 9 or 10 of them said they did things at home yesterday during the snow day. The recorded that on their slips. That is $90-$100!!!
Valentine's Party is tomorrow around 2:35-- it won't be a long party.
Thank you to Cali Purdum for coming in and taking pictures of the kids on Wednesday for our silent auction item!
Thanks for the donations I have been getting to help her out with that!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay safe since they are saying more snow is on the way.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Hello! I'd love to say we have had a normal week, but once again, we haven't. So, things are just getting pushed around. I'm afraid we haven't been able to even listen to one book report yet. UGH!
Reading- This week we are reading a science fiction story called LAFFF. I love this story. It is about a boy who creates a time machine but it can only go forward in time and only for a short time. He shows it to his neighbor girl and together they come up with a way that she can use it. She wants to win the school essay contest because then her name will be written in the school magazine and the story is in print for all to read. She goes forward in time to sneak a peek at the winning story. She can only be gone for 7 minutes so she doesn't get it read entirely and has to create her own ending. Then the guilt hits because she possibly copied someone else's story. In the end, she wins and realizes she was copying her own story. The fun part is that in the end she reads her story to her friend and her first line is the very first line of our story! (Mind blown emoji goes here ) The kids always love that part!
We are also working on adverbs this week. This is tough because they have to find the verb first and they struggle with identifying those.
They will still test over the story and the spelling words on Friday.
Math- This week they are still working on writing checks and filling out deposit slips. We also talked about what bouncing a check means. They will also be filling out their voter registration slips as well. They usually do some kind of voting on the day of Biz Town.
Monday, February 18-- Sack lunch day! This is our make up day from CSW. They will eat with their angels that day. That was our blue and gold day. If they want to dress up in blue and gold they can, but I am not going to push that one. Let's just leave it to blue and yellow shirts, sweatshirts,and sweaters. Let's not do sweats.
Food Pantry- We are working at the food pantry on the 22nd. That is also a Spirit Day! Sweats for $1.
ISSB is having them record any acts of kindness this week. They can be done at home or school. They can do them themselves or witness them being done. Each kind act is $10 for the food pantry! I think about 9 or 10 of them said they did things at home yesterday during the snow day. The recorded that on their slips. That is $90-$100!!!
Valentine's Party is tomorrow around 2:35-- it won't be a long party.
Thank you to Cali Purdum for coming in and taking pictures of the kids on Wednesday for our silent auction item!
Thanks for the donations I have been getting to help her out with that!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay safe since they are saying more snow is on the way.
God Bless,
Miss Surma
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Hello Parents,
I hope this week is going well. I am glad we are back to having a normal week. I think the kids are too. I didn't hear one complaint on Monday about having a spelling test!
Field Trip- We are still planning on Biz Town on Wednesday, February 27. We are in need of volunteers or the day won't happen. I have had five parent/grandparents come forward to help. I think 4th grade has two so far. Remember you will drive up separately and have to be there 30 minutes before we arrive to get more information on your job. You will be working that day. You will get a lunch break like the kids, but you will have to provide that yourself. Please look at your schedule to see if you can join us. You will have a great time! It is such a great experience.
Auction- We are still needing donations for the auction. Our wing is doing a Care Care Basket. I put the letter with ideas in your child's folder. All donations are due by February 15. Please do what you can to help us out.
Math- I am using our math time to work on Biz Town. This week we began with learning about checking and savings accounts, debit and credit cards, safe deposit boxes, etc. We talked about the importance of their social security numbers and how they shouldn't give those out to anyone, but especially over the phone. There were times and places to share that info. On Tuesday, I gave them a little quiz to identify what kinds of situations would require you to use your checking account or an ATM card. They also filled out their paycheck and they had to endorse them. On Wednesday, we filled out a deposit slip that we would use at the bank.
Reading- We are back at it! This week they read the story Lunch Money about a boy who creates his own comic book series that he is selling at school. We get his step by step process in making them. He does everything by himself! Plus they are no bigger than your credit card! He calls them Chunky Comics because they can stand up on their own! We had a moment of remembering the chunky milk commercial during the Super Bowl at that point! GROSS! We are also working on finding adjectives in sentences. They have to be able to answer - does the adjective answer How Many? What Kind? Origins? Which Ones?
Their spelling list this week deals with the endings -ed and -ing . They will have a test on Friday in spelling and over the story.
I have put unit test scores in your child's folder. They weren't great. I know taking those over 10 days did not help at all. I did go over the questions with them last week. We also looked back in the stories to see where they could have found the answer. I know some were so easy to answer-- if they had just looked back. I don't know how to convince them to do this. I struggle with this part.
Fluency Scores- They are also in your child's folder! They were great!
Substitute- I am gone on Friday for my Tier 2 class for reading. It was supposed to be last Wednesday, but was canceled due to the cold. We are now having it in Osceola. Mrs. Taylor will be here with the 5th graders.
Donuts with Dad- If you haven't returned your RSVP, please do so or call Sarah in the office to let her know!
Valentine's Day- We will do something small in my room on Feb. 14 near the end of the day. The kids will trade their Valentines. They will get to eat some, but will take most of it home to you! :)
Teacher Appreciation Day- We missed out on this day due to snow. We are rescheduling it for Monday, Feb. 18. Your child will need a sack lunch that day. Milk will be provided by the school.
Mass- The 5th graders will be doing mass on Feb. 20 if you would like to join us!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay warm. I hope the weather will cooperate for everyone !
God Bless,
Miss Surma
I hope this week is going well. I am glad we are back to having a normal week. I think the kids are too. I didn't hear one complaint on Monday about having a spelling test!
Field Trip- We are still planning on Biz Town on Wednesday, February 27. We are in need of volunteers or the day won't happen. I have had five parent/grandparents come forward to help. I think 4th grade has two so far. Remember you will drive up separately and have to be there 30 minutes before we arrive to get more information on your job. You will be working that day. You will get a lunch break like the kids, but you will have to provide that yourself. Please look at your schedule to see if you can join us. You will have a great time! It is such a great experience.
Auction- We are still needing donations for the auction. Our wing is doing a Care Care Basket. I put the letter with ideas in your child's folder. All donations are due by February 15. Please do what you can to help us out.
Math- I am using our math time to work on Biz Town. This week we began with learning about checking and savings accounts, debit and credit cards, safe deposit boxes, etc. We talked about the importance of their social security numbers and how they shouldn't give those out to anyone, but especially over the phone. There were times and places to share that info. On Tuesday, I gave them a little quiz to identify what kinds of situations would require you to use your checking account or an ATM card. They also filled out their paycheck and they had to endorse them. On Wednesday, we filled out a deposit slip that we would use at the bank.
Reading- We are back at it! This week they read the story Lunch Money about a boy who creates his own comic book series that he is selling at school. We get his step by step process in making them. He does everything by himself! Plus they are no bigger than your credit card! He calls them Chunky Comics because they can stand up on their own! We had a moment of remembering the chunky milk commercial during the Super Bowl at that point! GROSS! We are also working on finding adjectives in sentences. They have to be able to answer - does the adjective answer How Many? What Kind? Origins? Which Ones?
Their spelling list this week deals with the endings -ed and -ing . They will have a test on Friday in spelling and over the story.
I have put unit test scores in your child's folder. They weren't great. I know taking those over 10 days did not help at all. I did go over the questions with them last week. We also looked back in the stories to see where they could have found the answer. I know some were so easy to answer-- if they had just looked back. I don't know how to convince them to do this. I struggle with this part.
Fluency Scores- They are also in your child's folder! They were great!
Substitute- I am gone on Friday for my Tier 2 class for reading. It was supposed to be last Wednesday, but was canceled due to the cold. We are now having it in Osceola. Mrs. Taylor will be here with the 5th graders.
Donuts with Dad- If you haven't returned your RSVP, please do so or call Sarah in the office to let her know!
Valentine's Day- We will do something small in my room on Feb. 14 near the end of the day. The kids will trade their Valentines. They will get to eat some, but will take most of it home to you! :)
Teacher Appreciation Day- We missed out on this day due to snow. We are rescheduling it for Monday, Feb. 18. Your child will need a sack lunch that day. Milk will be provided by the school.
Mass- The 5th graders will be doing mass on Feb. 20 if you would like to join us!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Stay warm. I hope the weather will cooperate for everyone !
God Bless,
Miss Surma
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