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