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

 Calendar Dates:

Oct. 27- Black and Red Day to support Panthers 

Oct. 30- Parent Teacher Conference Week

Oct. 31- Celebrating Halloween at school

Nov. 2 - No School/Conferences

Nov. 3- No School/ Comp Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God Bless,

Miss Surma

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

 Calendar Dates:

Oct. 13- No School/ PD Day for Teachers

Oct. 20- Spirit Day

Oct. 25- Book Reports Due

Oct. 30- Parent Teacher Conference Week

Oct. 31- Celebrating Halloween at school

Nov. 2 - No School/Conferences

Nov. 3- No School/ Comp Day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God Bless,

Miss Surma

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

Calendar Dates:

Oct. 13- No School/ PD Day for Teachers

Oct. 20- Spirit Day

Oct. 25- Book Reports Due

Oct. 30-Nov. 2- Parent Teacher Conferences

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

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

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

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

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

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

God Bless,

Miss Surma

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

Calendar Dates:

Oct. 6- Spirit Day

Oct. 13- No School/ PD Day for Teachers

Oct. 20- Spirit Day

Oct. 25- Book Reports Due

Oct. 30-Nov. 2- Parent Teacher Conferences

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a great week! 

Calendar Dates:

Oct. 1- Book It Starts

Oct. 4- No Mass/ Rosary led by the 5th grade

Oct. 6- Spirit Day

Oct. 13- No School/ PD Day for Teachers

Oct. 20- Spirit Day

Oct. 25- Book Reports Due

Oct. 30-Nov. 2- Parent Teacher Conferences

Book It- The 3-5th graders will be participating in the Book It program. I am sending home a calendar in their Take Home Folders for them to keep track of the minutes they read each month. They will need to return the calendar at the end of the month, signed by you! IF they read more than the goal- all the better! If they meet the goal they will get a certificate from Pizza Ranch and a treat from me! This program runs from October through March. I will give extra prizes in March for those who participate and meet the goals for all 6 months! The 5th graders' goals will increase every 2 months. They start out at 600 minutes a month, which is about 20 minutes per day. 

Religion- They will have their first test tomorrow. They have had the study guide for 2 days. We are also going to work on the Rosary the rest of the week for next week's mass time. Actually, in October we will step away from the book to focus on the Rosary and learning prayers. Most of that will be done in school.  

Math- our next chapter should be easier for them! We will be adding and subtracting decimals!! On Wednesday we talked about the commutative and associative properties to add and subtract. We also worked on solving mentally. I did tell them they always need to show their work unless they are doing something mentally. 

Reading- This week they are reading another story that is a fantasy. This one was LONG and lots of big words! I was surprised! This story is about a young boy who is reading a journal  about a man's journey in his hot air balloon and the creatures he saw flying through the sky. The creature was a mix of a panther and a bat, but they were white.  The young boy was trying to figure out whether he was imagining these or if they were real. They also have lots of skills to focus on. We worked on synonyms and the suffixes -y, -ly, and -ily. We will also be talking about identifying similes in sentences. They will take a test on Friday in spelling and another cold read. Scores were much better last week. I just wish these tests offered more questions to prove the students' knowledge. 

St. Jude- Last night I met my sister in Des Moines at St. Francis of Assisi Church. The forearm of St. Jude was on display yesterday for people to venerate or attend mass last night. St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes. He is known for miraculous cures of illnesses. I wanted to share some pictures with you. The arm is on tour throughout the US. It was really amazing to see. There were so many people there! 

Next week is October! Wow! Time is flying by quickly!! I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Dear Parents, It sounded like the kids had a great weekend with football, volleyball, camping, and Balloon Days!  I enjoyed listening to so many of them in the Children's Choir at mass on Sunday! 

Calendar Dates:

Sept. 21- PTO Meeting/ Social 6 pm

Sept. 22- Homecoming/3 hr Early Out

Oct. 4- No Mass/ Rosary led by the 5th grade

Oct. 13- No School/ PD Day for Teachers

Oct. 25- Book Reports Due

Math- We are finishing up our chapter this week! I am thinking they will have a test next week. I think it will most likely be on Monday or Tuesday. We will see how the practice test goes. 

Religion- This week they had to draw pictures to represent the Blessed Trinity. I will try to post a picture on Facebook to show you all of them! They are wrapping up this chapter as well. They will take a test next week. Just like in the past, they will have a study guide for the test.  Next week we will start practicing the Rosary. They will be leading it for the entire school on October 4 because Father Patrick is gone that day. There won't be a mass. You are welcome to join us for the Rosary! 

They did an outstanding job at mass on Wednesday!!! 

Homecoming Friday- It is a Spirit Day! They can wear their sweats and/or hats for $1. They can also wear any Panther gear  as well as their tattoos if they ordered them! 

Reading- This week they read a fantasy story about a man who was trying to build something to make him airborne, but not an airplane. We giggled over his attempts and the pictures they included.  In grammar they are working on writing compound sentences with conjunctions and commas as well as making sure their subjects and verbs work together! I am hoping that we will be back in time from the pep rally tomorrow to do the spelling test and cold read test. 

I'd like to say scores improved last week, but they really didn't. I told the kids they need to read and reread before answering questions. One of the questions was putting 4 events from the story in chronological order. That is tough to do, but you also need to be patient and reread to check. I think grammar took a hit because they got the kinds of sentences mixed up. They did improve on their short answers though! Some of them really wrote a lot more! I told them the more they write to explain the better chance they have at getting the full points.  I wish the tests had more questions to prove their knowledge. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am off to Waterloo and Dubuque. My niece is a senior at Loras College and is senior day at her soccer game!  Excited to hopefully get to see her play!

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I hope everyone had a great week! My tooth pulling went great! I had no pain by Saturday! I also enjoyed seeing family over the weekend! I can't believe my youngest niece is a senior! 

Calendar Dates:

Sept. 15-16 Balloon Days

Sept. 20- 5th grade mass

Sept. 21- PTO Meeting/ Social 6pm

Sept. 22- Homecoming/3 hr Early Out

Oct. 25- Book Reports Due

PTO Meeting/ Social- The first one of the year is next Wednesday. I did see that if you show up your child will get a FREE SWEATPANTS Pass!!! I know they are also working on trying to make it more of a social gathering time rather than meeting. Please check it out! The more hands we have, the lighter the work! 

Reading- We read two stories this week. One is about a boy named William who grew up in  an impoverished village in Africa. Due to the drought, his family was low on food and money so he had to stop going to school after 8th grade. He went to his library one day (which consisted of 3 shelves) and found a book on energy. He was able to find parts to build a windmill for his family's crop. He also figured out how to create electricity from that so they could have a light bulb in their house. He was only 15 at the time! We read another story about Marilyn Hamilton who loved to hang glide, but after an accident she was paralyzed. She was determined to live a full life and hated being in a wheelchair. She and some friends designed a new wheelchair that was lighter and easier to move so that she could play tennis! We read about how people also play rugby and basketball from their wheelchairs. It also talked about how the design of it was really important so that the athletes could move quickly and safely.   We worked on identifying parts of the Winds of Hope story using the cause and effect. They had to figure out what William did and what caused it. 

In grammar we are working on the 4 kinds of sentences: exclamatory, declarative, imperative, and interrogative. They have had this in past years,but always key to remind them that their sentences need capital letters and some kind of punctuation!

They will have a spelling test and weekly test on Friday. I am sending home last week's weekly test scores in their Take Home Folders. These were not that pretty.  I explained to the 5th graders these are different than last year's. This one only had 11 points total. The minute you start to miss some of the questions, the faster your score drops. It's also a little like going to college and taking that first exam from your professor. You never know how those tests will look, the kinds of questions they ask, etc.  Each week will be a "cold read". That means they read it alone with no discussion in class.  They need to really read and focus and possibly read again! It doesn't hurt to go back and look up possible answers.  Some of the  questions have context clues in them...they need to look for those little hints as well. Hopefully, each week is a little better! I know not every week is the same point total.  

Next week we will begin our Monday-Friday schedule. So there will be a spelling pretest on Monday and a post test on Friday. 

Mass- Our first mass is next week Wednesday. I will be handing out their parts on Friday to them. Not all will have a speaking part, but all will have a job! You are more than welcome to join us at mass. I know the kids love seeing you there to cheer them on!! 

Math- We are really working into decimals. They had to learn how to write them in written, expanded, and standard form. They also had to be able to compare decimals and figure out how to write them from greatest to least. Our next step was learning to round them to the nearest place value name-- whole number (ones), tenths, hundredths, and thousandths. We talked about rounding money to the nearest dollar when you're shopping so you know about how much you're spending and whether you have enough money to spend. 

Religion- We worked on the seven days of creation and then the Incarnation which is the Son of God becoming flesh in Jesus Christ. We also review the Blessed Trinity- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I'm betting our first test will be some time next week. 

Homecoming- Next Friday, the 22nd, is a 3 hour early out. There won't be lunch served that day.  Kids can wear their Panther gear if they have some! For the first time, we are going that morning to the high school to participate in their coronation activities. There is a permission form in your child's Take Home Folder. Please fill out and return as soon as possible. We will come back here after that fun for the remainder of our time before dismissal. 

Pictures and ID- In your child's folder are their school pictures. They also included an ID badge. I'm not sure how you can use that, but there you go!

I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!!! Enjoy these beautiful temps  and Balloon Days! I know the Children's Choir is singing at Sunday mass! I can't wait to listen! 

God Bless,

Miss Surma