Important Events This Week!

Winter Break is not far away but it is important we take care of a few important details first. This week the photo album book report is due and we are taking our Midwest states test. Both of these events are on Thursday.

Other items of business this week:

• Spelling- List 16
• Reading- The Bridge Dancers
• L. Arts- Favorite Part of Winter writing
• Math- Topic 19- transformations
• Weekly Review 17 Due Friday
• Social Studies- Continue with Kansas research
• Midwest states test Thursday
• Book Report Due Thursday

I have told the students that I am just as excited for the upcoming break as they are, but we all have to do our best this week. If they can stay focused and give me 5 good days of work this week next Monday we will relax and enjoy fun activities to celebrate the semester.

Thanks for all you do!

Mr. Strathman

3 Good Weeks

Hopefully everyone had a chance to take a break from their hectic schedules and relax during Thanksgiving Break. I know that I enjoyed every second with my family. The following picture is Brodie's Thanksgiving Day outfit.

The three weeks between Thanksgiving and Winter break can be difficult for students, but it is important that we take full advantage of the learning opportunity. Here is what we have planned for this week:

• Reading- Introduction to a new unit, Mystery to Medicine; this week's story is Medicine Past & Present
• L. Arts- Continue on with nouns
• Science- Finish up chapter on sound
• Social Studies- Move forward with our in-depth look at the Midwest
• Kansas & Nebraska books will be due this week
• Math- 17.3 through 17.7   Graphs, Mean, Median, Mode & More
• Spelling- List #14

As always feel free to contact me at anytime!

Mr. Strathman

Progress Reports This Friday 11/18

Before we get to relax for our Thanksgiving Break, here is what we need to accomplish:

Math- Topic 9 Test, Weekly Review #14
Reading- Salt test
L. Arts- Continue with noun work
Science- explore Sound chapter
Social Studies- moving to the Midwest region. State books are back!
Spelling- List 13 test

**Book Report is due on Dec. 15**

I hope everyone is still working on math facts nightly! Have a great rest of the week.

Mr. Strathman

NonFiction Book Report Due Dec. 15

First off I apologize for not updating my blog weekly, my goal is to become better at that. It was good to see everyone at Parent-Teacher conferences. It is important for the students to know that we communicate with each other and both have high expectations.

This week in 4th Grade:

Reading- Starting a Business
L. Arts- Working with nouns
Spelling- Review List #12
Math- Topic 9  (Angles, Measuring Angles, Shapes, Polygons)
S.S.- Continue on with Chapter 4 (A closer look at the East's sub regions)
Science- Move into a new chapter, Sound

I sent home a pink paper explaining the next book report. I will supply the materials for the students to make their photo album. If you have questions feel free to email/call me.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Mr. Strathman

5 Full Days of School?!?

It seems like it has been awhile since we have actually had 5 instructional days of school. We are going to take full advantage of it in the 4th grade this week. Our agenda is the following:

Math- Chapter 7 Multiplication and our Slam Packet (process of long division)
Reading- Wells & Fargo story
L. Arts- Finish up our Alliteration project and then continue writing our Personal Narrative
Social Studies- Continue our in depth look of the East region
Science- Nutrition Unit
Spelling- List 9 Test
**EAST STATES & CAPITALS TEST IS THIS FRIDAY!**

Also grade cards will go home this Friday.

I will leave you with a picture of my little guy, Brodie. He is the reason there is always a smile on my face and my eyes are droopy and red!

STATES TEST ON THURSDAY 10/13

As many of you know I missed most of last week because we recently had our first child, Brodie Adrian Strathman. Lauren and I have been enjoying every second with him and are thrilled to be parents! Everyone told us how much we would love our child, but it didn't truly set in until I held him for the first time.

Anways, back to our week's agenda. The big item I really want to stress for this week is the East states test on Thursday. The students must know where each state is located on a map and be able to correctly spell the state name. I have expressed many times to the class how the East is a tricky region because many states are very tiny.

Other items of interest:

• Spelling- List 8 Test on Thursday
• Reading- Started a new unit on Dollars & Sense; Starting a Business is the story for the week
• Math- Topic 6; Variables, Input/Output tables
• Language Arts- Continue on Personal Narrative
• Science- Continue with Nutrition
• Social Studies- Chapter 3- The East

Finally I want to remind you that the students will not have school this Friday, October 14th. Thanks for keeping up with my class.

Mr. Strathman

Chiefs Tailgate Week!

Our Chiefs tailgate party is this Friday, Sept. 30, from 11:30-12:30. Right now the Chiefs need any help they can get and maybe our party will guide them towards a victory this Sunday. I know the class is excited for the event and I hope to see you all there!

Events in class this week:

Math- Topic 5
Reading- Two Tickets To Freedom story
L. Arts- Finish Chapter 1 from the book, possibly start our narratives
Spelling- Review test over 50 words on Friday
Science- Start Ariana Bones nutritional unit
S.S.- Wrap up Chapter 2, prepare for next week's test over Chapter 1 & 2

Remember that next Monday the students will not have school. As always if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Mr. Strathman

September 12-16

Short and sweet this week, here is what to expect.

• Spelling- List 4
• Math- Topic 2 test and then begin Topic 3
• Reading- Escape (an anthology from Charlotte's Web)
• Social Studies- Introduce Chiefs Watch and continue on Chapter 1
• New York book due Thursday
• Science- Move away from investigations and into the book
• L. Arts- Continue with grammar and sentence work from Chapter 1

Progress reports will be coming home on Friday. Please take a look and let me know if you have any questions.

Mr. Strathman

Week Of 9/6-9/9

The weather is perfect, we had a 3 day weekend, and now a shortened week....Life Is Great! Things to expect this week in 4th grade:

• Spelling- Test over list 3 on Friday. Spelling words 2 times each in cursive Wednesday night
• Reading- Sarah, Plain and Tall
• Math- Topic 2 (addition, problem solving, fact families)
• Science- Investigate variables in our Life Boat experiment
• Social Studies- Continue with Chapter 1 Geography
• New Hampshire- Due Thursday
• New Jersey- Due next Monday
• L. Arts- Types of sentences- Declarative, Interrogative, Exclamatory, Imperative
• Weekly Review #4 Due Friday Morning

I hope that everyone continues to sign their student's planner nightly. This is a great way for us to communicate and also to let the student know we understand what they are responsible for.

Finally, car riders for my class will be out with at 3:10 p.m. this week, not 3:05 p.m.

Thanks!

Mr. Strathman

Third Week of 4th Grade

We have now began every subject and started to get in the everyday flow of 4th grade. There are a few things that I want to clear up, and I will address them in detail at Back to School Night.

1. Pride Folders- These go home every Friday with graded papers for the week. I would like you to go over both the good and bad papers and discuss them. After you have seen all the work then you need to sign the at the appropriate week.
2. Spelling- In 4th grade I do not have an assigned class time for Spelling. I believe the student needs to take the responsibilty of memorizing the list for Friday's test. We will write the words in cursive once a week to work on handwriting.

This week in my class;

• Math- We will take the Topic 2 Test
• Reading- Toto, a realistic fiction
• Language Arts- start Chapter 1- Types of Sentences
• Science- Life Boat Investigation
• Social Studies- Explore Geography

Lastly I want to encourage you to please show up for our Back to School Night, Thursday, Sept. 1st. There are two sessions, 6:00-6:45 and 7:15-8:00. I will be going over classroom procedures, expectations, and events. Hope to see you there!

Week of Aug. 22-26

Let the learning begin! Starting this week we will begin our Open Court reading, talk about social studies, continue our Swingers investigation, and start our spelling tests. I know Back to School Night is still coming up, but after that this will all make more sense to you. I do encourage you to please attend Thursday, September 1st so I can explain my classroom routines and expectations for 4th grade.


I hope everyone had a great weekend, I definitely used it to rest up and get ready for another productive week.


Mr. Strathman

A Little About Me

As summer comes to a close I hope everyone can look back at great memories. My wife, Lauren, and I had a summer that consisted of moving, surprise, and uncomfort. In June we moved just south of Shawnee Mission NW Highschool into our first house. It was a move that we both deemed necessary because we will be expanding our family to 3 in October. Our first child, a boy, is anticipated to arrive October 11th. In the midst of all this excitement I have thrown a wrench into our plans. On July 3rd in my hometown, Bern, Ks, I tore my Achilles tendon celebrating the win of a sporting event. My cousin and I won a 42 team tournament and as we jumped to high 5, my tendon ruptured. A late lesson learned is to be humble and modest even in the best of times. I am slowly recovering and should be walking just fine in another month.

I am very excited to start another school year at Rising Star. This will be my 4th year teaching, 3 of them being in the 4th grade. You will find that I am a teacher that believes in bringing  high energy to the classroom. The more I can create strong personal relationships with each student, the better experience every student will have. As we begin this year's journey I want you to feel comfortable contacting me for any needs. It is my goal to update this blog once a week to help keep everyone informed on important dates and information. With the combined work of parents, students, and the classroom teacher I believe this will be a successful year and one to remember!

Mr. Strathman

Math State Assessments Moved to 4-20/4-22

We have decided to push the Math Assessments back a few weeks to give the students more time to learn key concepts. With missing 6 days of school due to weather, we felt this would be the best move for everyone.

Also this Friday there will be no school for students due to conferences.

South States Test Wednesday!!

One State Assessment down and one reason to celebrate. The class did an amazing job of coming to school energized and focused for the Reading Assessment. On Thursday afternoon we finished the day with an extra recess to celebrate this hard work. Now it is time to focus in on the Math State Assessment, which will be in April. I want every student to work extremely hard on mastering their multiplication and division facts. On this test a multiplication chart may not be used, so it is imperative that everyone knows their basic facts. Enough test talk for now though, on to this week.

The students will only have school Monday-Thursday this week as Spring Break begins Friday. Class routines will be normal for these 4 days. The students will have the South Region states test on Wednesday and remember spelling does count.

Spelling- No Pretest, only Final
Reading- New Unit (Survival)
Math- Continue with Topic 12 (Fractions as Decimals)
Language Arts- Spring Break Poem
Social Studies- South and SOUTH STATES TEST WEDNESDAY
Science- Begin New Chapter

Behind The Game....

I apologize for the lack of communication through this blog the last couple weeks. The world of 4th Grade seems to be going 100 miles per minute right now. Anyways, we are working as hard as ever in class as we prepare for the upcoming State Assessments.

Next week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the 4th Grade will be taking the Reading Assessment. I encourage you to ask your children what strategies they are going to use while taking this test. I also encourage that each child receives a proper night's sleep and a good breakfast during this time. Everyone has worked so hard this year and I am excited for us to prove it!

On a side note, the Sandwich Book Reports are due next week. I will take them as soon as they are finished.

If you have any other questions covering any topic, don't hesitate to contact me.

Mr. Strathman

Kansas Day and More...

It looks like we will finally have a full 5 day week of school again! This week is going to be very exciting as we prepare for the Kansas Day celebration on Friday. We will continue to work on our square dance routine, research, and PowerPoints. I know that a lot of people have questions about the PowerPoint. What our plan is going to be is just finish the Powerpoints with the information we have. With snow days, school improvement days, and assemblies it has been very tough to get through these. The main grade for this unit will come from the Kansas test at the end.

On another note, unfortunately this is the time of the year that stress levels rise for students and teachers. With State Assessments in the near future it is very important that everyone is getting plenty of rest and coming to school focused. We have a lot to learn and it is imperative that we use the most of our time. I am confident this class will do fine, but every little bit of time helps!

If ever you have any questions, concerns, or comments don't be afraid to ask!

Mr. Strathman

First Week of 2011

I hope that everyone had plenty of quality family time over break. My wife, Lauren, and I had fun spending time in Manhattan & Bern, KS. However as my lovely, beeping alarm clock went off this morning, I realized it was time to start the learning process again. In 4th Grade we are preparing to take the Reading, Math, and Science State Assessments. We will still be studying many concepts, but I will also have lessons on proper test taking strategies. I am excited for these tests for one reason, to show all of my students how much they have learned.

As for this week here are some key points:

1. We will have a class Spelling Bee to determine our representative in the school wide contest.
2. There will be no pretest in spelling this week, everyone will take the same exam on Friday
3. We will continue to work hard on Kansas research, preparing for our program at the end of the month
4. I also want to encourage the students to read independently for Scholastic Reading Counts points. The goal is 15 points per semester and only 6 students met it last month. If they read 15-20 minutes a night this goal should be no problem!

Finally I want to thank everyone for the lovely holiday gifts. You were all more than generous. It just reassures me of what I already knew, I am truly blessed to be here at Rising Star!

Have A Great Week!

Mr. S