Bring on December! 12/3 to 12/ 7

Here is to another great week! Remember that book reports are due December 14th but I will take them as soon as they are finished.

Here is our schedule:

Reading: 

• Food From the Hood Test Monday
• Start new story Tuesday

Spelling- Week 14 Test Friday

• Spelling Cursive due Wednesday

Math-

• Finish Up Topic 17
• Test on Thursday or Friday

Social Studies

• Start Kansas Unit
• Students will be researching Kansas in class and creating a PowerPoint

Science

• Continue on with states of Matter

Homework:

• Ohio Book Due Tuesday
• Kansas due Thursday
• Weekly Review due Friday
• Continue with division slam packet

Week of 11/26-11/30

I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy Thanksgiving break. Lauren, Brodie, and I traveled to Bern and Manhattan to spend time with family. Brodie had the opportunity to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving spread this year, even though most of it ended up in his hair and on the floor!

As the second quarter winds down I want to remind everyone to please check their child's planner every night. I will not be holding them in at recess for late work, but I am still holding them accountable to complete all work. With everyone working together each and every child will continue to grow socially and academically. Thanks for your help in the process!

On to the week:

• Spelling: List 13 Test Friday
• Spelling Cursive 2x each assigned Tuesday night
• Reading:  Food From the Hood- Expository Text
• Test Friday
• Math: Topic 17 Graphs
• 17.2, 17.3, 17.4, 17.5, Coordinate Grids
• Slam Packet- Pages will be assigned every night
• L. Arts- Check planner for assignment
• Social Studies- Finish Chapter 4 East
• Topic 4 Test next week
• Look for State Books for the Midwest to start soon
• Science- Starting Matter chapter
• Weekly Review 14 Due Friday

**Please remember to have your student working on the non-fiction book report!**


Looking forward to a great week ahead,

Mr. Strathman

Halloween Week! 10/29-11/2

I want to thank everyone for meeting with me at conferences. I truly enjoy getting to know the family of my students and communicating what is happening in the 4th grade. As we continue on this year I encourage everyone to stay in touch with questions, concerns, or friendly conversation.

The Halloween parade is scheduled for Wednesday morning with the class party directly following. Please take a moment and review the costume guidelines on the school website. Kids always love showing off their creative costumes with peers!

As for this week:

*States AND Capitals Test is Tuesday!!

Math-

• Continue with Topic 7 (7.6 & 7.7)
• Topic 7 Review Wednesday
• Topic 7 Test Thursday
• Division Slam packet throughout week
• Weekly Review 11 Due Friday

Spelling-

• Cursive due on Wednesday
• List 10 test Friday

Reading-

• Starting a Business- Expository Text
• Test over story Tuesday
• Begin new story Wednesday
• Time for Kids worksheet Friday

L. Arts-

• Check with teacher

Social Studies-

• States & Capitals Test Tuesday- spelling not counted off for capitals if it is somewhat close
• Start in depth look at East Region

Science-

• Create Magic Book review tool Monday
• Combination Food worksheet Wednesday

Hope everyone has a great week!

Mr. Strathman

A Full Week of School 10/15-10/19

I want to remind everyone that next week are Parent-Teacher conferences. I will have a reminder of your time on the student grade cards. I also will be sending home a reminder slip. I encourage you to bring your student to conferences, but understand if it isn't possible. I want the students to know I will tell you the exact same thing I tell them. It is important for them to understand that everyone is aware of what is taking place in the 4th Grade.

Our East states test is on Wednesday. The students will be required to correctly place each state and spell them correctly. They are not required to know the capitals of the states for this test. The capitals test will be later on. Please make sure your student is studying for this test, the East region is difficult!

On to the week:

• Spelling
• Cursive due Wednesday; List #9 Test Friday

• Reading
• Daedalus & Icarus Test Tuesday
• Start new Unit Wednesday

• Math
• Basic Skills test Wednesday
• Start Chapter 7
• Continue with division slam packet

• Social Studies
• Climate Book- due Tuesday
• States Test Wednesday

• Science
• Continue with Nutrition Unit

As always feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Mr. Strathman

Week of 10/8-10/11

I want to start by thanking everyone involved in making our field trip to Ernie Miller a success. We avoided a few early problems (my email blunder) and enjoyed fantastic weather all day! Ernie Miller always does a fantastic job and the kids are still talking about their favorite parts.

Another quick reminder that the students do not have school this Friday. It is the end of the 1st Quarter and a teacher workday.

Here is this week at a glance:

• Math- Finish Topic 4, move to Topic  6 (no test over Topic 4); Continue with Division Slam packet
• Reading- Share Character Tie reports and start last story of the first unit
• Language Arts- Check with appropriate teacher
• Spelling- Cursive due Wednesday; Test Thursday
• Science- Continue with Arianna Bones nutrition unit
• Social Studies- Finish chapter 2
• East states test is October 17. The students will be given a blank map that is numbered and must correctly spell and label the states location. 
• State books are finished until the next region

As always email me with any thoughts, concerns, comments. I'll leave you with a picture from Brodie's 1st birthday party from last weekend.

Mr. Strathman

Wildwood Week

I will be absent from the classroom this week as I travel with the 6th grade to Wildwood. My sub coming in is Mrs. Ramel and she is fantastic. She used to teach 4th grade at Rising Star just a few years ago. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to write a note in your child's planner. I have no doubt this week will still be very productive.

Here is what you can expect this week:

• Math- Start Topic 5 (worksheet daily)
• Monday- 5.1
• Tuesday- 5.3
• Wednesday 5.7
• Thursday- 5.8A
• Friday- Weekly Review #6 due and 5.8 assigned

• Spelling- List 6 Review Week (Multiple choice test over 50 words)
• Wednesday- Write words in cursive one time

• Language Arts- Check with appropriate teacher
• Reading- Finish Mae Jemison
• Test- Tuesday
• Wednesday- Vocab notebook as homework

• Science- Start Nutrition Unit
• Arianna Bones worksheet Monday, Wednesday, Friday

• Social Studies- Start Chapter 2
• Tuesday lesson 2.1
• Thursday- Water Cycle project
• New York state book due Tuesday
• Pennsylvania due Thursday

Please help check to make sure your child finishes their homework on time. I will be checking my email periodically throughout the week.

Mr. Strathman

Week of 9/17-9/21..Pictures, Tests, and More!

I apologize for the last couple weeks and my blog. I have had an awful time getting the site to work for me. Hopefully everything is fixed now!

Here is a quick update on this week in 4^th Grade

Reading- Escape Test on Tuesday; Start new story Wednesday

Spelling- List #5

Language- Students have started going to different classroom teachers; they are working on skills worksheets right now

Social Studies- Finish up Chapter 1-  Test is coming-Thursday

• ·         New Hampshire book due Tuesday

• ·         New Jersey due Thursday

Math- Topic 3, Multiplication

·         3.4 W.S- Monday

·         3.5 W.S.-Tuesday

·         3.6- Wednesday

·         3.7- Thursday

·         Test Review Friday  (Test next Monday)

Other Events:

·         Continue to work on the Character Ties book report

·         I need field trip forms and money returned as soon as possible

·         Picture Day is on Wednesday

On to September!! Week of 9/4-9/7

I hope everyone had a relaxing Labor Day weekend and got a chance to enjoy the company of loved ones. I spent the long weekend taking my son, Brodie, to his first ever K-State football game. He did surprisingly well, but has not mastered the appropriate time to use his touchdown signal yet!

Overview of this week:

• Spelling- No Pretest due to short week; Spelling Cursive 2x each Wednesday night (List #3)
• Math- Continue with Topic 2; Working on adding and subtracting with a focus on regrouping
• Science- Investigation #2- Lifeboats
• S.S.- Continue in Chapter 1
• Reading- Toto Test; Start new story Wednesday
•  Language- Finish publishing Many Colored Days

I am very pleased with the start of the school year and know this will be a year to remember! As always feel free to contact me anytime.

Mr. Strathman

Welcome to 4th Grade!

As Monday quickly approaches I remember why I love this time of year. The excitement of meeting a classroom full of new students is awesome and I can't wait to meet each and everyone of you! This year will be filled with energy, learning, challenges, and laughter.

This blog will be used throughout the year to help communicate with parents, post assignments, and relate upcoming events. I also plan to link math websites to help work on computation, or interesting videos relative to our current subject matter. Get ready for an awesome year and see you soon!

Mr. Strathman

Week of 3/26-3/30

Straight to the point this week:

Wednesday- South States & Capitals Test

Thursday- Weekly Review 29 Due, Spelling Test

Friday- No School- Parent-Teacher Conferences


As we get ready to move to the West region we are trying to finish up South state books first. Students should be working on these at home and finished with them all by April 4.

I am ready for a great 4th quarter and a strong finish to the year!

Mr. Strathman

Preparation, Good Night's Rest, Healthy Breakfast = Successful Testing Week

A very important week in the 4th Grade, state reading assessments. The students have been working hard all year to show off on these tests so just a couple reminders of how you can help out. I will be very light on homework this week to ensure that all students get a good night's rest. I also encourage everyone to make sure their child eats a good breakfast in the morning. These two things will help keep everyone energized and ready to concentrate on the tests.

I am going to review one last time today the best test taking strategies for these exams;

• read the questions first
• read the passage 2-3 times
• go back into the text and highlight the answer
• don't rush

I am confident the students will do their best and produce amazing results!  I am proud to be the teacher of this classroom.

Other items sneaking up for next week:

*March 5th- Book Report Due
*March 7th- South States Test (14 states and spelling counts)

As always if you have any questions please ask.

Mr. Strathman

Goodbye January......Hello February 1/30-2/3

Once again I wanted to say thank you for all the help in making our Kansas Day a success! The meal was amazing and the students enjoyed showing off their square dancing skills. Days like that remind me of why I enjoy teaching here at Rising Star so much!

There are a few items I want to discuss for this week. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have a morning field trip to Shawnee Mission Northwest. This is a quick trip where the students will learn many scientific concepts to help prepare them for the state assessment. The field trip will be ran by high school students and has been a fantastic experience in the past. We are leaving at 9:00 a.m. and will return by 11:45 a.m. so the students will not need a sack lunch. It should be a great time.

Another item to discuss is this Thursday. The class earned another party for safe, responsible, and respectful behaviors in my classroom. They voted on having an electronics party and we will have it from 2:30-3:00 on Thursday afternoon. You will see a reminder come home tonight.

In the classroom:

Math- Topic 10 Test this Wednesday; I encourage students to do practice problems at home
Reading- Shadow of a Bull test today; start Survival Unit; State Assessment practice
L. Arts- Rough Draft, Revise & Edit our Word Choice stories
Science- continue with Electricity & Magnetism chapter
S.S.- KANSAS TEST on Thursday! Students have a tan study guide to help prepare them
Spelling- List 20

If you have any questions, comments or concerns let me know.

Mr. Strathman

Let the Square Dancing Begin! 1/23-1/27

It is an exciting week to be a 4th Grade student at Rising Star! This Friday at 2 p.m. will be our Kansas Day program. I encourage everyone to come and watch as our 4th graders show off their dancing skills. You also should have seen a yellow reminder last Friday about what you have signed up to bring in this Friday for our Kansas meal. I appreciate everyone's generosity in helping put the meal together.

Onto the classroom this week:

• Math- Continue working with fractions in topic 10 (This is a very difficult chapter and might require some extra practice)
• Weekly Review 21Due Friday
• Reading- Susan La Flesche Picotte test Monday and start our next story on Tuesday
• L. Arts- Begin our writing project for adjectives, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
• Science- Continue with Electricity/Magnetism
• Social Studies- Finish Kansas PowerPoint
• Michigan book due Wednesday
• Spelling- List 19

If you have any questions let me know!

Mr. Strathman

Week of January 9-13

This week is short and to the point:

• Math- Topic 19 Test on Tuesday & then begin Topic 10 Fractions
• Spelling- No Pretest; List 17 Test on Friday
• Reading- Emily's Hands-On Science Experiment Test today; begin next story tomorrow
• Science- Continue on with Electricity & Magnetism
• L. Arts- Adjective Work; a worksheet will be assigned each day but class time will be provided
• Social Studies- Continue doing Kansas Research and creating PowerPoint
• Minnesota book due Tuesday
• North Dakota book due Thursday

Also a reminder that there will be no school next Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

As always if you have any questions, comments, or concerns feel free to contact me.

Thanks for your continued support,

Mr. Strathman

Here We Go Again!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a chance to enjoy time with family. It is nice to take a step away from school and rest up for a spectacular second semester. We will continue to work hard every day and take full advantage of the time spent here at Rising Star.

Today you will see a note coming home regarding our Kansas Day Celebration.  We conclude our Kansas unit by enjoying a full day celebration, which will be Friday, January 27th. Part of this celebration is a feast put together by the parents. The form coming home will have foods that parents have volunteered to bring in past years. I kindly ask you to sign up for an item you can bring in on that Friday. With everyone's help it will be a fantastic event for the 4th graders to enjoy.

On to this short week of school:

• Spelling- the list will be over the spelling of the 12 Midwest states
• Reading- start Emily's Hands-On Science Experiment
• L. Arts- start Adjectives
• Science- start Electricity & Magnet chapter
• S.S.- Continue Kansas PowerPoint work      
• Missouri book due Friday
• Math- continue with Topic 19 (congruent, symmetry, rotational symmetry)  
• Weekly Review 18 due Friday

Like always if you have any questions please let me know. Thanks for all the hard work that you do!

Mr. Strathman