Hello Families- Here is the last blog for the year! 

Calendar Dates:

May 26- No School / Memorial Day

May 28- 5th grade plays bells  at mass

May 30- Last Day of School/Early Out 

May 30th- 9:00- Field Day

10:30 Bathroom Break

10:45 Silly String (in courtyard)

11:00  PTO All School Grilled Burger Lunch (courtyard)

12:00- 8th Grade Clap Out! 

12:10- Dismissal

5th graders should wear tennis shoes for field day events...no sandals. 

Reading- In their take home folders are their scores from last week's module test. They did really well! I was very pleased. Even the lower scores were higher than they have been in the past!!! 

I did start a new story. I don't know that we will finish it all, but I wanted to continue some normalcy.  On Monday I read them and excerpt  from a biography on Rita Moreno. She is a singer, actress, and dancer. She had to deal with racist issues while trying to find her place in Hollywood. I showed them one of the songs she sings in the musical West Side Story.   I gave them a little background of what the movie is about and then showed them the same song in the newest movie version. I think they were more impressed to see the women dancing in heels and having to wear dresses. I had to remind them that that was the norm back then. 🤣 We are also going to read about Louis Armstrong. He is a famous jazz musician. I thought these would be great ways to end our year since they did their biography reports last week. 

Book Reports- I am slowly getting them graded. I try to do a handful a night among the other papers and tests I am checking. 

Math- I gave them math problems the other day with adding and subtracting fractions. Some of the problems had three fractions. For example : 

(1/5+ 2/5) - 1/10. That threw a few of them off. They had a hard time grasping that they were doing the same thing only with one more fraction. We also did some estimating with mixed numbers and then adding or subtracting. 

Religion- We are going to be finishing up this chapter before we leave for the summer. They will have a test on  Tuesday since we don't have school on Monday. 

5th graders will play bells at mass on Wednesday! 

Desks/ Lockers- I plan on having them clean out their desks and lockers on Thursday afternoon. They should have a big and empty book bag to put their stuff in! 

Did you see that PTO is providing us grilled hamburgers on the last day of school?? The kids will get to eat before leaving for the summer! 

This will be my final blog to you! I still can't believe we are near the end! This year seemed to go faster than others in the past! I have enjoyed your kids immensely! Thank you for allowing me to be with them this year. I know they are going to love middle school! While it may bring on more homework and projects- they will love the atmosphere and getting to share their specials with kids from 7th and 8th grade. They better remember to say hi to me in the hallways next year! This is a great group of kids! I will miss them!  I also know that for some of you this is the last child I will have of yours. 😞 I hope everyone has a great summer! I don't really have any set plans.  I think I will be here walking, reading books, and taking care of my flowers for the most part, but I will probably spend time with my sister Penny in Waverly.  We hope to have more answers for her in June. Whatever you do- have fun and  enjoy the summer temps!!! 

God Bless you and your families! Have a wonderful summer! 🌞🏖🔉

Miss Surma

Hello Parents! I hope all the moms were spoiled on Sunday!!! I had a nice trip back home! Next week will probably be my last blog for the year. Seriously, where did the time go?? 

Calendar Dates:

May 16- Spirit Day

May 19- All Library Books Due

May 21- Kindergarten mass/5th grade helpers/ Spring Concert 

May 26- No School / Memorial Day

May 28- 5th grade plays bells  at mass

May 30- Last Day of School/Early Out 

Permission Slip- Please sign the form for our practice at the high school next week for the concert. It is in your child's take home folder. The concert is at 6 pm at the Creston High School. 

Puberty Video- The girls will be watching the video next Wednesday after mass. While they are doing that, the boys will go to the kindergarten room and hang out with them and maybe even get a recess with them! We will do the switch the next day with the boys watching the video and the girls going to the kindergarten room. 

Reading- We are finishing up our last story in this module this week. They will take the weekly test on Friday. They will also have the spelling test on Friday.  Next Monday they will take their Module/Unit test. I will start a new unit on Tuesday. That story may take us to the end of the year. 

Book Reports are today! I am excited!!! It will take me a few days most likely to grade them! 

Math- They are now adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. The hardest part is remembering that some answers have to be simplified. I don't plan on giving them a chapter test on this one. I may just give them a worksheet and we will call that the test. I'd like to get into multiplying fractions before we end our year! 

Religion- This week we worked on the Corporal Works of Mercy. We created lists of different things they can do to live them out. They also had to draw and color a picture of themselves living out one of their ideas. This week they are going to learn about one of my favorite saints- Maria Goretti. She was killed as a young girl by a man who attacked her. She forgave him before she died.  She lived out one of the Spiritual Works of Mercy. 

Spirit Day on Friday! They can wear sweats and/or a hat for $1. I know the weather has been so warm this week that sweats are probably not something they want to wear. 

Congrats to Mary Keller for winning the front cover of this year's yearbook! Sawyer Clinton's picture will be on the back cover! 

Glow-A-Thon- Our class was surprised at mass today! 5th grade won the pizza party for the class with the most money raised! We also won the Dilly bars for the most laps run! I was shocked! We will probably do those next week! 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am heading to Waverly to see my sister Penny. I am going to do some odd jobs around the house for her and we plan on spending time checking papers! She is a 7-8 language arts teacher. She went back to work this week. We still don't have a definitive answer. She will go back to Mayo in June. 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

Hello Parents, What a gorgeous week!  I hope everyone is enjoying it. Thank you to the PTO and school board for all the fun gifts this week for teacher appreciation! 

Calendar Dates:

May 8- Glow-A-Thon/ Lap-A-Thon

May 11- Mother's Day

May 14- Book Reports Due

May 16- Spirit Day

May 19- All Library Books Due

May 21- Kindergarten mass/5th grade helpers/ Spring Concert 

May 26- No School / Memorial Day

May 28- 5th grade plays bells  at mass

May 30- Last Day of School/Early Out

Religion- We are focusing on the Corporal Works of Mercy in this chapter. These focus on things we can do to help others in a physical way. For example, you might donate clothes to the Rerun. That would fit under -- Clothe the Naked. We are coming up with ways to live each of them out in real life. I told them I heard on my podcast on Monday that in order to get closer to Jesus, we should be doing these in our daily lives. Many of them are so simple that there really isn't a good excuse not to do it.  We did talk about the one that says visit the imprisoned. I told them many priests, nuns, and laypeople do go to prisons to teach them about God. That is a little harder for them to do, but they can go visit the people that are home bound. I talked to them about how some people at church bring communion to those who can't get out of their house due to age or illness.  We are also praying for the cardinals in Rome as they meet in the conclave to choose our next pope. 

I found a live link of the Vatican today. We are watching for the smoke from the chimney! It was really cool because when we first found it, the Cardinals were inside the Sistine Chapel and then they ordered everyone else to leave. We were able to watch them  close the doors to the public. Those doors are heavy! 

Glow-A-Thon- This is happening on Thursday! The kids should wear some white or neon colors if they have them to glow in the dark as they run! 

Math- We are working on fractions! They learned to estimate fractions to the nearest benchmark number- 0, 1/2, or 1. Now we are working on renaming fractions so they have a common denominator. I told them to always choose the smallest number they have in common so it is simplified. I'm going to keep us moving quickly so we can get more done. 

Reading- We started our final story in this module. It is about the parrots in  Puerto Rico and how they nearly went extinct. They told us  what they did to increase the population as well. We watched a short video on them. We found out that in 2017 there was another hurricane that went through and killed all but one! So, now they are working again to increase the population. 

Grammar- we are working on using transition words as well as they right way to punctuate when we use them. 

Spelling- their list is similar to last week's. It has words ending in -ed and -ing. This time they have to look for the root word of them. Many of them forget that the root word might end in an -e! 

Mass on May 21- the kindergarten class will be in charge of mass, but some of the 5th graders will have jobs to help them out. I gave them their parts today. 

Mass on May 28- the 5th graders will be playing their bells during mass on the 28th. That will be our last mass of the year. You're welcome to  join us and listen to them!

I hope all the moms have a great Mother's Day!!! You deserve it. I am heading home this weekend to put flowers out in the cemetery for my parents and then hang out with my sister Mary in Sioux Falls.  

God Bless,

Miss Surma

 Hi Families, Thank you for the prayers for my sister. Right now we still don't know for sure what is going on. They are looking at ALS, but some of her symptoms don't align with that. They are also thinking it could be an autoimmune issue. We are praying for that one. 

Calendar Dates:

May 2- Spirit Day 

May 8- Glow-A-Thon/ Lap-A-Thon

May 11- Mother's Day

May 14- Book Reports Due

May 21- Kindergarten mass/5th grade helpers

May 26- No School / Memorial Day

May 28- 5th grade plays bells  at mass

May 30- Last Day of School/Early Out

Dance at the Creston Middle School- there is a dance tomorrow from 5:30-8:30 for grades 5-8. The cost is $5. I emailed you a link they want you to fill out before going to the dance. 

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

Glow- A-Thon- Please return your fundraiser forms for this event! It will happen next Thursday, May 8  during their PE class! 

Reading- They took their spelling test today and the selection quiz. Tomorrow they will take their weekly module test. I am doing this one on paper because it is a play. I figured they would rather read it aloud as a class before answering the questions! 

Book Reports Due on Wednesday, May 14. They will have to come to school that day with a costume to change into. I know many of them are done, but some still have quite a bit of work to do. 

Math- Everyone has finished  the test. I plan on checking them tonight. Sorry- I didn't get any papers checked yesterday in Minnesota! Our next chapter will be on fractions. That is my plan to keep working on those until the end of the year. 

Religion- We are working on our Easter chapter. We also took some time out to make cards for Sam. 

Dollars for Scholars Essays- Congrats to Brandy, Mary, and Norah! Their essays were chosen to move on to see who becomes the winner. The 5th graders had to choose a characteristic trait from a list and explain why that was important to their education. They chose words such as: caring, respect, responsibility. The winner receives $50 from the Dollars for Scholars Committee. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! We will continue to lift Sam and his family up in our prayers during this difficult time. 

Eternal rest grants unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Parents, I hope everyone had a great Easter. I enjoyed my time with my siblings. 

Calendar Dates:

Apr. 24- Field Trip to MO

Apr. 25- Clean Up Day

Apr. 28- I will start FAST Testing

May 2- Spirit Day 

May 8- Glow-A-Thon/ Lap-A-Thon

May 14- Book Reports Due

Clean Up Day- It is scheduled for Friday- depending on the weather. Kids who can bring a rake (with their name on it) please do so. If they have work or garden gloves that they can wear to pick up trash, leaves, and branches, please have them pack those in their bags as well. 

Friday's Lunch- It is a cook's choice. They are giving the kids an Uncrustable with some sides. If your child doesn't like peanut butter or PB&J's- I suggest they bring their own lunch.

Reading- We read a realistic fiction story on Wednesday! It is lesson to the main characters on how they can plant food and their crops in a better way to get more of them. This story does help us focus on what we can do to help our Earth,but also our gardens at home!  In grammar we are looking at working with commas and semi-colons. The commas are in items in a series, before a conjunction between 2 independent sentences, and in a sentence with a dependent and independent clause. 

Dollars for Scholars- They started writing their essays! They will continue to work on them on Friday. Three will be chosen to move on to pick a winner from each grade. 

Book Reports- They are working hard on their Google Slide presentations. I am excited to see them on May 14! 

Math- They will start their math test on Friday. I have a feeling that some won't have it finished by the end of the day so it may go into Monday as well. 

FAST Testing- I will start this next week. We test them in reading and in math. 

Glow-A-Thon- This is set for May 8. They will run during their PE time. Remember to wear white or neon colors so we can see you "GLOW" in the dark

Religion- We finally finished the movie. We will get back to work on the book on Friday. The Easter season last for awhile so we are going to work on a chapter focused on that next. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend! My oldest sister, Mary is coming down. We are working on invites for our niece's wedding shower in May! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Families! I hope your week is going well! This week always seems so busy! I am sending this out early because Thursday is a very busy day for me with the Seder Meal and Cross Walk. 

Calendar Dates:

Apr. 17- Seder Meal/Cross Walk

Apr. 18- Good Friday/Spirit Day

Apr. 20- Easter Sunday

Apr. 21- No School/ PD Day

Apr. 24- Field Trip to MO

Apr. 25- Clean Up Day

Field Trip-  Next week is our religion field trip. We are taking a charter bus. You are welcome to join us, but you will have to drive yourself there. The kids will need a sack lunch and drink that day. They CANNOT wear shorts. They should wear jeans and a nice shirt. No holes in the jeans. Cargo jeans are fine. If any of the girls want to wear a dress- it has to go to their knees. The sweatshirts will only be worn on the bus if they are chilly. We will not get back in time for the bus or trolley. You will have to come to school to pick your child up. We should be back by 4:15. Please email me with your child's pick up plans so I know who to look for after our return! Thanks! 

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

Reading- They will have their posttest in spelling on Friday.  We have been working with regular and irregular verbs this week. Knock/ knocked/ have knocked.  Bring/brought/have brought.  Swim/ swam/ have swum. The verbs have been a little tricky for some and then we have to work on spelling it correctly as well. 

Next week we will start a new story. They will also be working on their Dollars for Scholars essays. 

Clean Up Day- It is scheduled for April 25- depending on the weather. Kids who can bring a rake (with their name on it) please do so. If they have work or garden gloves that they can wear to pick up trash, leaves, and branches, please have them pack those in their bags as well. 

Religion- I show the old movie The Ten Commandments during Holy Week so they can see the correlation between the Seder Meal and the meal the Hebrews had before fleeing Egypt. 

I am also sharing with them the Hallow app. This week- Jeff Cavins and Jonathon Roumie (he plays Jesus on The Chosen) are on a pilgrimage through Jerusalem. They are showing us the places that Jesus walked or was held prisoner. They will show us were he was crucified as well. They are short little videos each day. I told them- this is our chance to see where Jesus was that last week of his life. Many of us probably won't be making a trip to Jerusalem. 

The 5th graders will  help me on Thursday set up the tables for the Seder Meal. It's a lot of work, but they are a great help! 

Math- They are doing their practice test this week.  They will have the test over this chapter on Tuesday. 

No School on Monday! Enjoy your 3 day weekend!!! 

I hope everyone has a great Easter! I plan on going to Waverly to my sister's house. I will see my brother and their families as well! 

God Bless, 

Miss Surma

 Hello Families, I hope everyone is having a great week! I cannot believe next week is Holy Week! The Lenten season has flown by. There is lots of information below. Please read ! 

Calendar Dates:

Apr. 7-11- ISASP Testing

Apr. 17- Seder Meal/Cross Walk

Apr. 18- Good Friday/Spirit Day

Apr. 20- Easter Sunday

Apr. 21- No School/ PD Day

Apr. 24- Field Trip to MO

Apr. 25- Clean Up Day

Seder Meal- Thursday will be our annual Seder Meal for Holy Thursday. The 5th graders get to help me set up the tables for that meal! They are usually a big help to me! This year and moving forward- each child will need to bring their own sack lunch for after the Seder Meal. Milk will be provided. The cooks will not provide a lunch. 

They will need to wear a white shirt that day! They will take the cross picture in the church after the Stations of the Cross are done. Make sure they wear tennis shoes for the walk. 

Book Report- The 5th graders chose their biographies on Monday! They were also given a packet with the details in it. I told them to keep the packet with the book. They are to answer the questions as they read. They will be creating a Google Slide presentation for their report. Most of that will be done at school, but they can always check on it and work on it at home. 

Good Friday- It is also a Spirit Day! The middle school students will be doing a Reader's Theater in the afternoon to commemorate the day. 

Field Trip- In your child's folder is a permission slip for our trip to Missouri with the 6-8th graders. This one is a religion trip. We are taking a charter bus. You are welcome to join us, but you will have to drive yourself there. The kids will need a sack lunch and drink that day. They CANNOT wear shorts. They should wear jeans and a nice shirt. No holes in the jeans. Cargo jeans are fine. If any of the girls want to wear a dress- it has to go to their knees. The sweatshirts will only be worn on the bus if they are chilly. We will not get back in time for the bus or trolley. You will have to come to school to pick your child up. We should be back by 4:15.

Math- On Monday we worked on more division, but this time some of their dividends had 4 digits. Adding one more number to divide into really threw some of them a curve. They thought they were done and then it didn't work when they checked by multiplying. I had to show quite a few kids that they forgot to drop the last number.  

Clean Up Day- It is scheduled for April 25- depending on the weather. Kids who can bring a rake (with their name on it) please do so. If they have work or garden gloves that they can wear to pick up trash, leaves, and branches would also be great! 

Next week will be a busy one with it being Holy Week. I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy the temps! I cleaned out my flowerbed last weekend. 

God Bless,

Miss Surma