Dear Parents,  WOW! I am loving this weather! It was great to see so many of you at the auction on Saturday. I hope everyone had a great time.


Spirit Day- We are moving this to Thursday since we are going to the Civic Center on Friday. They can wear sweats on Thursday for $1. K-2 will have their Spirit Day on Friday.



Field Trip- I told them to wear jeans on Friday. No shorts. They will also need a sack lunch and drink for the trip. I don't care if they have their devices for the bus ride. We do not allow anything that can use data to access the internet. All devices will stay on the bus while we are in the Civics Center. We will return by bus time. 

8:11 AM (7 hours ago)

Shorts- I told them that we are now in March and while the dress code says we can wear shorts, it doesn't mean we should. I reminded them that high of the day doesn't really occur until they are going home. Their recesses could still be cold or chilly. 

Math- This week they worked mostly on dividing decimals by decimals, but we also added zeros into our dividend.  We will be finishing up our lessons in the chapter this week. That means they will take a test before spring break. When we return from break we will begin with fractions.

Reading- This week they read a story about a boy who was trying to get his community to change an old basketball court  by his school into a community garden with focusing on helping the homeless. He had to attend the city council meeting to plead his case. He didn't win there. They voted on turning it into a parking lot for the teachers.  In the end , someone else from the town decided there was another location that would work for the garden...so he did win in a way. Plus, he gets to write another article for the town's newspaper. In grammar we are focusing on  indefinite and possessive pronouns. They will test over this tomorrow (Thursday) since we are gone on Friday.  Next week will most likely be the same since we only have 4 days.

Last week they learned to write haikus and cinquains. This week they picked one and typed it for me. They will be posted in the hallway during conferences so you can check them out!

Book Fair will be next week during conferences! 

Tomorrow the 5th graders will be taking the ACRE test. It is a standardized religion test. The 5th graders and 8th graders take it. This year we are trying it online! This is a test to see what they have learned over their time here about our Catholic faith. It is multiple choice.

March 30-Apr. 3 will be Iowa Assessments

I will see you next week for conferences! Have a good weekend! Enjoy the nice temps again! Don't forget to spring forward on your clock! 

God Bless, 
Miss Surma

Dear Parents, Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a good week.

Religion- They made their Lenten promises this week. You probably need to ask them so you know at home what they are doing or giving up. We celebrated Fat Tuesday with donuts made by the 4th graders. A fun tradition! We are also  starting a Lenten chapter in class. They will begin Lenten angels next week.

Math- We are working on dividing decimals by whole numbers. It was funny to hear them say, "Well, this is easy." I reminded them that they already know how to divide! The trick is now remembering where to put the decimal. They may change their minds a little bit when we start to divide decimals by decimals! I don't think that will change their opinion too much though.

Conferences- If you haven't signed up for a time, please do! 

Reading-This week they read a nonfiction story by Peg Kehret. I have some of her books on my shelf. She writes a great mystery! This one was about her start as a writer and she had her own dog newspaper. It didn't last long. She couldn't seem to keep the audience interested with stories about her dog or the neighborhood dogs. The 5th graders agreed...there wouldn't be much to tell. They are also working with prepositions in grammar. They are finding the prepositional phrases and combining sentences using a prepositional phrase. They are also working on finding a fact or an opinion in our story.

Field Trip to Des Moines- We leave next Friday for our visit to the Civic Center. The students will need a sack lunch and drink that day. We will be back by 2:30 so they will make the bus home. I have a couple of students who still need to pay their $5.

Auction- I hope to see some of you at the auction/dinner on Saturday. 

This seems like a short letter. I really can't think of anything else, but I am probably forgetting something!

Have a great weekend! Sounds like our temps will be nice again!
God Bless,
Miss Surma

Hello Parents! I hope you are having a great week! It feels weird not having school on a Wednesday. Our PD day started at the high school with an excellent speaker! He is a superintendent in Wisconsin. He was highly motivating and great at making us all feel good for our career choice! He also just kept telling us to promote what we do at our schools. I think we do a pretty good job of that!


Reading- This week we are reading a science fiction story called LAFFF. It is about a girl who travels forward in time using her neighbor's time machine. The story has a great twist! I love reading it aloud the first time because their faces at the end are always classic! Lots of disbelief! This week in grammar we are working on adverbs. These are a little harder than adjectives because now they have to find the verb to figure out what is being described. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all of them. They will test over this story and the spelling words on Friday

Math- This week they began dividing decimals by whole numbers and decimals using a calculator. On Tuesday and Thursday, they worked in small groups to divide decimals by whole numbers. They weren't doing the process on paper. They had to use Base 10 blocks. The beginning is always a trial and error, but once they get it into their heads that they can trade ones for tenths or tenths for hundredths...the process becomes easier and more fun.  Plus, who doesn't like playing with blocks??? They will learn the same process on paper...back to divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, but this time they will have to have a decimal in their answer.

Religion- This week Friday they will be testing over our current chapter. The focus has been baptism and confirmation.  Next week we will be preparing for our mass. They will get their parts on Friday so they can practice. This is a bigger mass because it is Ash Wednesday mass. There will be two readings from the students. They will also be receiving their ashes. Next week they will also be making their Lenten promises. If it is something big they want to give up, I usually make sure they get the okay from you. I remind them that if they are giving up something...it shouldn't bother their family or friends. By that I mean, they shouldn't make others miserable because they gave up a favorite TV show or snack or drink,etc.

Spirit Day this Friday! They can wear sweats for $1!!! 

Auction/ Dinner-- This is just around the corner! February 29th! You can get your dinner tickets in the office! They are also doing online bidding on select items this year...if you cannot be there in  person!
http://events.handbid.com/auctions/st-malachy-school-aucton

Dustin Baird took the picture of the 5th graders for us! Sarah Lane and I got the picture ordered. Thank you, Merry Driskell for helping us out while you were in the office! :) Thank you for making sure your child had on blue!!!


New trimester begins on Monday!!!! That means the late slip record is clean! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma

Dear Parents, I hope you're having a good week!

Auction Donations are due on Friday! Please do what you can to help. I have received a few more! Thanks so much! 

Math- On Tuesday, the 5th graders worked on their "dress rehearsal" of the math test for chapter 4. Most of the errors were because they put their decimals in the wrong place. The real test is tomorrow (Thursday). I did have one student not miss any on the dress rehearsal...so I told them it is like a pretest in spelling. If you ace it, you don't retake it! Their next chapter will be on dividing decimals... I can almost hear the groan now.

Reading- This week we read an excerpt from the book Lunch Money. It is about a kid named Greg who creates his own comic books and they are about the size of a credit card. He is trying to sell them  at his school for $0.25. He even goes over his 10 step process. In grammar we are learning about adjectives that answer how many? what kind? which one? and origin? We also worked on linking verbs that connect the adjective to the noun. On Thursday we will focus on the articles: a, an, and the.
They will test over the story on Friday.

Religion- We are nearing the end of our chapter. They will be testing soon!

The 5th graders will be working at the Food Pantry on Friday. It is NOT a Spirit Day. 

Valentine's Day- We will celebrate Valentine's Day whenever we get back from the Food Pantry on Friday. If they are bringing in Valentines, they should bring them that morning. 


Silent Auction- Sarah Lane and I are working on getting a picture taken of the kids early next week. We haven't fully decided on the details, but we may be asking your child to wear a blue shirt of any shade. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! It looks like if we can make it through Wednesday and Thursday temps...we will be good!

God Bless,
Miss Surma

Dear Parents, While I love CSW, it is really nice to be back in a routine! I think they had a great week last week. Everyone seemed to enjoy the activities and dress up days!

Auction- I sent home a paper last week in the folders. I am doing it again this week. Our 4th and 5th grade basket needs donations to be successful at the auction. Please do what you can. I know Mrs. Sickels has received a few things from her 4th graders, but I have only gotten one. Donations are due by next Friday, February 14. You can donate money or an item. Please do what you can  to help out! 

Math- We are now multiplying decimals times decimals! This chapter is pretty short. We should be looking at a test next week sometime. Our next one will be dividing decimals! I am not sure they will be excited about doing that one though!

Reading- This week they took their Unit 3 test. Next week we will begin a new story with spelling words. I will send their scores from this week's test home next week in their folders. Their essays on their Revolutionary War people are finished! They will share them with the class on Friday. I hope to hang them outside in our hallway so that others can read them!

Religion- Our chapter is on the Sacraments of Initiation with the focus being more on confirmation. The way the chapter talks about it ...is  for when kids or adults are getting confirmed during the Easter Vigil mass. One thing we do talk about is picking your saint's name. The Catholic kids won't do that  really until they are sophomores in high school. I did have them pick a saint to research. They are finding facts about them, but they also have to come up with ways they want to resemble that saint in their daily life. They have chosen some saints that I have not heard of so I am excited to learn about them.

Spirit Day is this Friday, February 7! $1 for sweats!

Valentine's Day- We will celebrate at the end of the day on the 14th. We work at the Food Pantry that afternoon. I don't need any treats brought in. I take care of that... part of my treat to them. If your child is going to pass out treats, just make sure they do all the kids in the classroom. We will decorate bags next week in art class. We won't pass them out until that day, so they don't need to bring them in any earlier than Friday of next week. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I guess we probably won't get the nice temps like last weekend. 
God Bless, 
Miss Surma

Dear Parents, WOWZA! This is such a crazy week, but so much fun!

Thursday is our day at the YMCA so they will need to be wearing sweats or shorts and have their tennis shoes. They will also need to pack their swimming suit and towel. They need a sack lunch with a drink that day! 

Friday is our Grandparents/ Special Guest Mass at church. Mass will begin at 1:30. I would suggest the guests be at church around 1:00. The kids will arrive shortly after by bus. They will have their coats and bags with them. There is a coffee/punch and cookies reception afterwards in the basement. If your guest is taking your child home, just make sure they find me before leaving! They should dress up like they always do for mass day. 

Reading- This week we are finishing up our last story in our unit. This was about two people. Joseph Plumb Martin and Sybil Ludington. They were both teenagers during the Revolutionary War. Joseph joined the militia, but wasn't too excited to do so. He only signed up for 6 months. He did receive a silver dollar for signing up. Sybil road by horseback to neighboring farms to gather men at her dad's farm. They would go onto battle from there. What we learned about her ride is that it was actually longer than Paul Revere's famous ride. I think the 5th graders enjoyed this unit and getting to know the different people.

They are finishing up their essays as well on their people from the Revolutionary War. Some of them learned the fine art of copy and pasting when working from the rough draft to the final draft. When all are done, they will share them with the class. I will also hang them outside our room so that if you are in the school sometime and want to read them!

They will test on Friday over the spelling and the story. I know that could be a little scary with the way our week is going. It will be okay.

Math- We haven't done a lot of math this week due to our schedule with Catholic Schools Week, but they are working on problem solving with multiplication of decimals and whole numbers. They are working a lot with money too. Next week they will learn to multiply decimals times decimals. That is always the trick...remembering where to put that decimal.

Religion- We are just trying to wrap up this chapter this week. They test on Wednesday. I probably won't send them home this week with our schedule. I will put their scores on Power school for you to check out there.

Auction Basket- This year the 4th and 5th are creating a basket for the LIVE auction. Kathy Ralston is taking care of it. Look in your child's folder for a handout with details on what you can do to help. Heidi Rohrig is taking care of our silent auction item. I will give you details on that when I know more.  The auction has moved this year. It is the last Saturday in February, which is right around the corner.

January Book -It Calendars Due on Monday! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma

Dear Parents, I hope you enjoyed your 4 day weekend! Next week will be a little crazy with it being Catholic Schools Week. I hope you checked out Mrs. Simmons' calendar of events she sent out last week.

Snow Clothes- We have a number of 3-5th graders that aren't coming prepared for the snow during recess. Most of mine have boots and snow pants, but we have quite a few kids in our wing that need hats and gloves/mittens. On Wednesday a lot of them went to the office to search through Lost and Found. They really need to have this stuff. The Lost and Found isn't supposed to be there back-up spot. 


Reading- They took their Friday test on Tuesday! The grammar section took a hard hit. It was on punctuation of commas and semicolons...those can be hard. I don't think the 4 day break in-between helped much. They had to look very closely because they were throwing in extra commas that weren't needed and some of the kids were choosing those as correct. On Wednesday, they started on their papers they are writing on their Revolutionary War people. They are creating a rough draft now on their Chromes. They will share it with me on Friday so that I can edit them over the weekend. Since next week's schedule is not really consistent...we will be starting a new story on Thursday or Friday of this week. There are a couple of days for sure next week that we won't have reading due to other events.

Math- They finally got to take the test on today (Wednesday) over our chapter.  I am hoping that we will see improvements from their "dress rehearsal"test.  Our next chapter will be multiplying decimals. They will multiply a whole number and a decimal as well as decimals times decimals.

Religion- We will be finishing up the chapter this week. They will test next week over it. I can't say which day yet...I need to look at our schedule better.

Sack Lunches- They will need a sack lunch on Monday. No drink. Milk is provided. They will be eating with their Advent Angel. On Thursday, they will need another sack lunch for our day at the YMCA. They will need a drink that day. If they are drinking a soda, they need one with a screw top lid--no cans! That way if they don't finish it, they can take it home. 


Catholic SchoolsWeek- 
Sunday- Mass at Holy Spirit with breakfast in the basement to follow
Monday- Spirit Day- your STM gear, need sack lunch and no drink
Tuesday- PJ Day- Schedule of Talent Show Events will be coming
Wednesday- Era- Dress up in the 50s, 60, 70s, etc.
Thursday- Workout Day- Need their swimming suit/towel, sack lunch with drink
Friday- Dress Up Day- Mass at Holy Spirit 1:30

If your child has a part in Sunday's mass at church or Friday's grandparent/special guest mass it is in their Take Home Folder on orange paper. Please check it out!

Does your child have a special guest or grandparent or parent coming to mass on Friday? If not, please let me know. If your guest is taking them home after mass...make sure they see me before leaving so that I know. Thanks! Bus and Trolley kids are still being picked up at the church if they need that ride.

Don't forget to pay your $2 for our trip to the YMCA, if you haven't already! 

Next week will be crazy busy! Hopefully the weather will be better than last year!
Have a great weekend!
God Bless,
Miss Surma