Hi Parents!

Today we wrapped up the 2nd trimester! This means we are not only starting fresh and new for our last trimester on Monday, but that we are one day closer to Spring....and Summer.... and warmer weather! I'm very much looking forward to it! The students were genuinely surprised when I told them to get their coats for outdoor recess yesterday because we've been so used to staying inside!

I was so excited to tell the class we were officially ready to be done with our green/blue subject folders that housed the many photocopied pages before we got our workbooks! We spent some time shuffling some things around - to the school folder, to the take home folder, and to the recycle box!

Several Volcano projects came to school this week! We have time set aside on Monday to share our reports and how they went!

As we are coming into the final trimester of 5th grade, I'm asking the students to assume more responsibility in terms of completing some work and taking notes - particularly in Science and SS. When I handed out the Science packets, I had several ambitious students complete it for HW (it was not assigned) and return it the next day for me to check over so they could begin to study for the test. As always, these study packets are due the day of the test.

Another part of increasing their level of responsibility is that now that it is March, students are to be updating their assignment books on their own in regarding to dating the pages and filling in due dates they are aware of (Ex. Book Reports, CEs, Prayer Tests, events on school calendar that affect us like Grandparent's Day, etc.) All year until now, we have done this together, now students should do this at home. Preparing ahead of time will prevent missing these important upcoming due dates and days.

Next Week:

Monday: Book It Book Report & Rdg Log Due
Tuesday: Math Multiplying Decimals Test
                 Religion Ch 14 Test
Wednesday: Science Ch 7 Test
Thursday:
Friday: Spelling Less 19 Test

Have a great weekend!

God Bless,

Mrs. Maurer

This morning we preformed our Reader's Theatre for this theme: "How the Prairie Became an Ocean." The students had fun acting out the parts and reading the story together!

This afternoon we had fun at Ms. Pam's Winter Carnival! Big thanks to all the volunteers that worked to put this event on for the school!

Hi Parents!

Another week hindered by snow! I'm ready for Spring.

Well, better late than never... We've been working on a President's Day project. The class was very enthusiastic to pick a president to create a collage of information for. This is primarily an in-school project, but students have been asking if they could take it home to work on it. Several opted to take it home over the weekend. We've had 3 days of class time to work on it and will have one more on Monday. Anything else not completed will be sent home and due on Wednesday.

The class was excited to see the eagles this week and we even got a peek at the first egg! Now we'll wait and see if another one appears over the weekend...

We had one other activity that was postponed due to snow and that is a journal activity: Date Night. This date night is a Book It Program activity where the parent and child have this "date" aka conversation asking questions of each other. I gave the students a list of questions and they were able to pick the ones they'd like to discuss and ask to you about. I hope you enjoy these belated Valentine's Day dates!

Next Week:

Monday:
Tuesday:  RDG - WLT: A Drop of Water
Wednesday: SS: CE Due
                        President's Day Poster Due
Thursday: Rel - Prayer to the HS Test
Friday: Spelling Lesson 18
            Eng Unit 5 Capitalization & Punctuation Test

Friday 2/26 is the last day of the 2nd Trimester.

Have a great weekend!

God Bless,

Mrs. Maurer

Hi Parents!

The snow just won't leave us alone! An early dismissal and delay put a crimp in our plans. I'm just thankful we didn't get any more snow days to make up!

We had a nice Ash Wednesday prayer service with Deacon Tom as our presider. We had a Lenten lesson and discussed 3 important practices: increased prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We put our Lenten sacrifices on flower petals (Spring anyone?) and also included acts of kindness we are offering up. We also had Valentine's day fun writing LOVE letters - you should have heard the moans and groans when I told the class that! Please ask your child for details. The class then enjoyed sharing their own valentines and munching on treats during a Charlie Brown Valentine's Day. Students also received information about their February book report and a special [optional] science assignment.  

Fr. Ryan surprised us with a visit this morning. He was peeking at our January shoe box book reports in the hallway and said how "cool" he thought they were. He said they were his favorite type of projects when he was in school. He came in the classroom when we were writing our "love letters" and enjoyed listening to a few. Father then spoke to the class about Lenten sacrifices and how they can bring us closer in our relationship to God.

Because we are in between Ancient Civilizations in SS, we'll be spending a few days working on an in-school President's Day project. Since we are in school on the holiday this year, we'll learn about them too! (And since we've been keeping up with the Presidential hopefuls too.)

Also, the grade portal is updated as of 2/8. Only 2 weeks left in the trimester.

Next Week:

Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday: Rel Ch 13 Test
Thursday: Sci Ch 7 Less 1 Quiz
Friday: Spelling Lesson 17 Test
            Math Mult. Dec. Quiz

Have a great weekend! Try to stay warm!

God Bless,

Hi Parents!

A whirlwind Catholic Schools Week has come to a close! We had lots of fun with so many planned activities, plus a few classroom surprises! Be sure to ask your child what their favorite parts of the week were, but I know the parent lunch, the gym games, and the skating party were at the top of the list. We enjoyed a great open house today along with a WONDERFUL 5th Grade Spelling Bee! So many students worked hard and spelled so well that it took a bit longer than I expected! Big huge congrats to our "Final 4" that lasted quite a while - Makayla, Liam, Aden, and Gracie. I'm really proud of all their hard work and determination.

Our minion door was so much fun. We added our donations this afternoon and 5th grade collected $69.44! The Elementary School collected over $350! Even though we were not 1st, I have a small treat for the class next week for our efforts!

At mass, I was in and out for various reasons and despite our limited practice time, everything ran very smoothly! We even all worked together to set up for the mass and take down and put sacramentals away. (Ms. Keffer usually does this for us herself, but she is out on medical leave.) Finally, the students had fun this afternoon with our "Minion Movie Theatre" complete with popcorn! What a great week!

If you took a family photo yesterday at the parent lunch, your child is coming home with that today.

Next week, we'll be resuming our normal studies, but also infused with Chinese New Year and President's Day lessons as well as some Valentine's Day fun. If your child would like to make valentines for the class, please have one for each student and send them in on Friday, we have 17 classmates.

Next week:

Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday: CE Due
Thursday: Eng Unit 5 Less 1-4 Quiz
Friday: Spelling Lesson 16
             Reading WLT: Stormalong
             SS Ch 8 Test

Have a wonderful weekend!

God Bless,

Mrs. Maurer

Monday: School Spirit Day - Dress in green & white
Tuesday: Student Day - Students can dress as a Minion!!
              Today is also the 100th day of school, Groundhog Day, and we found IOWA caucus
              results! (We'll be following the competition for the presidency through the end of the
              school year.)
Wednesday: Teacher Day! (WOO HOO!!) Students can have crazy purple hair!
                  Gym: "Games Minions Play" with Mrs. Bortner
Thursday: Parent/Student lunch at Middle School
Friday: Open House from 9:00-10:00
          Closing Liturgy 10:30 (5th grade plans)
          Minion Movie Theater in the afternoon