What a FUN week!

 Hi, parents!  It has been another FUN week in 4^th grade!  We have been very busy and working hard!  

 
 NEWS:
*Homework Folders will come home this afternoon filled with graded work.  Please empty these and return the folder on Monday.   Anything with a letter grade lower than a B can be “redone” for half a credit per answer, and turned back in when they return to school the next week.  (Except tests, please.)

 *4th graders will be taking our MAP Growth Assessments next week. Please remind them to get a good night's sleep and to have a healthy, filling breakfast.  Thank you!

 *The first PTL (Parent Teacher League) Meeting is next Tuesday, September 9^th, at 6 PM, here at school.  PTL provides a great opportunity to support Timothy through fellowship and fundraising. We would love to have you join us!  

*OASIS Family Night: Families, life is crazy busy and we all long for some time to be restored, to reconnect, and to refresh! Join Timothy Lutheran Ministries again this year for Oasis!  Our first one is Wednesday, September 10th from 6-7:30 pm. Come share a free meal, fellowship, and spend some time in God’s Word. It’s a little Oasis in the midst of the busy. Please scan the QR code to RSVP.

*PICTURE DAY is Monday, September 18th!  Ordering information will come home soon.  

*PLEASE CONSIDER donating some time to work in our TIMMY BURGER BOOTH at the Fall Fun Fest over the weekend of September 18-21!  It is a lot of fun,  a perfect time to witness, and of course, a Timmy Burger will be in your future!  ;)  Families can sign-up together to work too.  You can find the link at the bottom of this page:

https://timothylutheran.com/timothylutheransteakburgers/

 *Timothy Lutheran will be walking in the Blue Springs Fall Fun Fest PARADE on Saturday, September 20th!  We don’t have all of the details yet, but we’d like for you to mark your calendars!  This is such a fun event!  In the past, the parade begins about 10am, and we wear our Rams t-shirts, uniforms, or Timothy colors (red, blue, white).  It normally begins near the Blue Springs Freshman Campus on Vesper Road, and always ends at St. John LaLande on R.D. Mize Road.  We ask that parents walk (or ride) with your kiddos, please.  Please plan to be there about 9:30 am.  What a way to show and share the love of Jesus with all of Blue Springs!  Come and show our Rams’ pride!

 *Timothy Lutheran School’s 9th annual WALK-A-THON is Friday, September 26th from 1:30-2:30.  We are hosting this fun fundraiser to raise funds for our school—to purchase the much-needed new lunch tables for our cafe-gym-a-torium!  ;) All students will be participating and can get pledges for completing their laps around the school’s parking lots.  If a student chooses not to get pledges, it is okay!   We need parent volunteers if you are available.   We will need people to send in snacks, to keep track of laps, and to stand as route guards and cheerleaders!  Forms came home Wednesday.

-Pledges can be made online!   Please click here: https://www.timothylutheranschool.com/walkathon/

 

-Please use this link to volunteer: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4DADAB2DA7F58-timothy

 

-Please use this link to send in snacks: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4DADAB2DA7F58-walkathon

Thank you so much for supporting our school!  Let's make that JOYful noise as we walk, walk, walk!  

Here is what we have been up to this week:

RELIGION-This week, we learned about the lives of Jacob and Joseph, and talked about how God has an amazing way of turning our lies and our sin into truth and love. We discussed God’s Laws and His expectations of us, as well as the Good News of the Gospel—that we cannot by ourselves follow God’s Law perfectly, but JESUS did it for us!  Because if this, we get to live with him forever!  We have such an amazing God!  We also began creating “A Book of Blessings.”  We discussed how God created this beautiful world and all that is in it for US!  We thanked God for each letter of the alphabet, and the blessings that go along with it! 

LANGUAGE ARTS- This week, we read another portion of pour novel, Because of Winn Dixie!  We met Otis, the owner of the pet store, and Miss Gloria Dump, a neighbor lady, who just needed a friend.  We had wonderful discussions about being a good friend, and how to not “judge a book by its cover.”  These chapters actually led us into a great discussion about how we should be kind to others, and how to show empathy.  

We also discussed cause and effect, and found examples of this in our story.  We reviewed how to write complete sentences, making sure it had a noun, verb, and was a complete thought. We have been working on DOL (Daily Oral Language) where we use editing marks to correct sentences that are just a mess!  ;)  We have done one together and one on our own.  You will see these come home this week.  Each child graded his or her own as we corrected them as a class.  Please continue to urge your child to read those book report books!  Thanks!

SPELLING WORDS for the Week of September 12th:

Story: Because of Winn Dixie (Chapters 16-26)

skill, crime, grind, tonight, brick, flight, live, chill, delight, build, ditch, decide, witness, wind, district, inch, sigh, fright, remind, split

Challenge Word:  melancholy

MATH- This week, we all worked with the vocabulary words digit, period, and place value.  We worked with putting numbers in standard, word, and expanded forms.  We also read numbers up through the millions, worked with ordering numbers, and using place value to round.   We compared numbers, using greater than, lesser than, and equal to.  We put numbers in order from greatest to least, and least to greatest, and we learned how to round numbers to the nearest 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000.  Please also keep working on rote multiplication at home!  Flash cards are always helpful, and here are some great websites:  www.multiplication.com and www.timestables.com/games

SCIENCE- We made connections this week!  We demonstrated how organisms, population, community, and ecosystem are connected and how living things interact with other living and non-living things in a pond ecosystem. 

SPECIAL CLASSES

ART- We learned what a horizon line was and studied some Expressionistic artists.  We then drew landscape drawings with a horizon line.  We will study primary, secondary, and tertiary colors next week and create color wheels with tempera paint.  Then, we will begin painting in our horizon pictures with that Expressionistic style! 

MUSIC- Students have been learning how to read music, and how to use different instruments to make "rain and Thunder."  

COMPUTER LAB-We finished up our friendly letters and then learned how to log into our accounts at typing.com.  The students will learn the “home keys” in keyboarding and will learn how to memorize where the keys are to become more proficient at keyboarding.  I hope to have them work in this at least once a week.  Each child has his or her own sign-in and password.  They are free to practice at home.  Please just let me know if you need this information to do so!

P.E.- We worked on simple volleyball skills this week—passing with a partner and passing to a target.  

SPANISH- Students have been learning new Spanish games and simple vocabulary.  

WRITING-We finished up our Summer Vacation Stories and shared them during Readers' Theatre.  

Have a VERY blessed weekend!

Kim

We have had a WONDERFULLY AWESOME second week of school!

 Hi, 4th Grade Parents!  We have had a WONDERFULLY AWESOME second week of school! Parents, I am enjoying this class so very much.  We laugh all the time, they are all so creative and hard-working, and they seem to love to learn, love Jesus, and love school.  It is heart-warming for me every day.  Thank you for sharing them with me!  :)

 NEWS: 

*Homework Folders will come home this afternoon filled with graded work.  Please empty these and return the folder on Tuesday (usually Mondays!).  Anything with a letter grade lower than a B can be “redone” for half a credit per answer and turned back in when they return to school the next week.  (Except tests, please.) So far, everybody is doing very well and working very hard!

 *If you have not done so already, please send back in your child’s Faith Alive Bible.  We use these almost daily during Religion class.  Thank you!

*Graded work is recorded on Sycamore.  Please take time to see how your child is doing.   You will also be able to see their missing assignments and remind them to get their work in!  This week has been very transitional, as I have been learning how each child learns and works.  The students are learning what lessons and work time looks like in 4th grade.  Thank you for your patience and help with this. 

*4th graders will be taking our MAP Growth Assessments during the week of 9/8. 

 What is a MAP Growth Assessment?

It is a measure of what your student knows and how they are growing academically.  Timothy Lutheran School will be assessing students three times each school year for academic growth; early September, early January, and late April/early May.  

*Get ready to rock your spirit gear for the 2025–26 school year! Our merchandise store is open now but will close on Thursday, September 4, 2025, at 11:59 PM CDT — so be sure to place your orders before then! 

Discover all your favorite items here:

https://rods-rams2025.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Whether you’re stocking up for yourself or grabbing family gear, don’t miss out—once the store closes, no late orders can be accepted! 

Need assistance or have questions?
• Email: Clancyh@timothylutheran.com 

*PLEASE CONSIDER donating some time to work in our TIMMY BURGER BOOTH at the Fall Fun Fest over the weekend of September 18-21!  It is a lot of fun,  a perfect time to witness, and of course, a Timmy Burger will be in your future!  ;)  Families can sign-up together to work too.  You can find the link at the bottom of this page:

https://timothylutheran.com/timothylutheransteakburgers/

Here is what we have been up to this week:

 RELIGION-We’ve been talking about Abram and Sarai, and God’s many promises to Abraham, and to us.  We had the mature discussion about Abraham choosing not to wait on God’s timing on his birth of a son, but to take matters into his own hands.  Our God forgave Abraham, and while there were consequences, He was able to turn those choices into blessings!  We related this to our lives today.  We discussed Jacob and Esau, and Jacob’s family,  and how we need to be careful in our relationships with our families and friends.  We need to love, serve, and honor one another.  We have been following our classroom Bible timeline and discussing how each of these families leads to Jesus, our Savior.  Next week, we will focus on the family of Joseph and on God’s many blessings in our lives. 

 At the beginning of the week, the kids write a prayer on a piece of paper…something that is on their heart or mind.  They can alter or change this prayer during the week, as they need.  At the closing of each day, we pray these prayers!  At the end of the week, I pass out these prayers to the students.  They don’t receive their own, so they can pray for someone else all weekend…So, if you see these little slips of paper coming home, that is what they are!  How blessed we are that we have the privilege to take our needs to God in prayer! 

 MEMORY for Next Week:

9/2-

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 & 2 Samuel

1 & 2 Kings

1 & 2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

9/5-

Job

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Obadiah

LANGUAGE ARTS- We read the first six chapters of the novel, Because of Winn Dixie.  We LOVE this story, and have had some great discussions about character-building, and some fun stories of antics of our pets!  We analyzed the characters, wrote summaries of the chapters, and studied the new vocabulary words.  We took our first reading and spelling tests today and the students did very well!  The students also received information about their first book reports.  They have each picked out a Newbery Award winning book to read and understand their projects.  This information should be in their homework folders. We also worked on using editing symbols this week, as we corrected sentences with grammatical and spelling errors, in something called a DOL (Daily Oral Language).  Busy, busy!

SPELLING WORDS for the Week of September 5th:

Story: Because of Winn Dixie (Chapters 7-15)

admire, magnet, contest, method, custom, rally, soccer, engine, sudden, finger, accident, mitten, intend, fabric, flatten, rascal, gutter, mammal, happen, cannon

Challenge Word:  concoction

MATH- This week, we finished up our chapter about what “Math Is…"  This was a short introduction to our math books and reviewed some things we will be learning this year.  Next week, we will begin reviewing place value and the vocabulary words digit and period.  We will also work with putting numbers in standard, word, and expanded forms.  We will read numbers up through the millions, and work with ordering numbers, and using place value to round.  We have also been working hard on memorizing our multiplication facts in class.  We are up to our 2’s!  They are really starting to realize the importance of learning these!  By the end of the year, it is my hope and prayer that each student will have their multiplication tables memorized.  (0-12)  

SCIENCE-We worked in our new Science books this week!  We discussed how God created our world and how His design plays a part in the structures and functions of living things.  We observed plants and their structures and learned what the words worldview and botanist mean.  We have been discussing ecosystems, communities, organisms, and populations within our habitats here in Missouri.  We discussed what plants need in order to live and emphasized the space needed for both animals and plants to survive.  We had a short object lesson concerning space, and how it would be hard to thrive without enough.  Students wrote short stories called “A Day in the Life of a Crowded Plant.”  We shared these in class.  

SPECIAL CLASSES

ART- We reviewed our cursive letters, wrote our names in cursive, did a mirror image of them, and made them into Cursive Creatures!  Please come check them out int he hallway outside of our classrooms.  :)

MUSIC-We had our first classes with Mrs. Beckie Hatcher!  We have music class with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, and when I went to pick them up this week, they sounded SO beautiful! 

SPANISH-We had our first Spanish classes with Mr. Simon Murray, and boy are we having fun!  The kiddos come back to class speaking Spanish and on "fire" for learning more!  This is EXCITING!  

WRITERS' WORKSHOP- We read the story "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" and discussed sequencing and chronological order.  We then talked about our own summer vacations and began writing down important events and are going to shape these into our own written work. 

COMPUTER LAB-We learned how to log into the school laptops, and how to create a document on Google Docs.  Each student wrote a friendly letter to me, (with all 5 parts), and I am in the process of wring all of them back!  Only our class shares a Google Docs account under my name.  Your child is welcome to use this at home.  Please just send me a private email, and I will send you the information to log in at home.  We have promised one another that we will be gracious and respectful of each other’s private folders within this account, as we publish and work on our written work here in our classroom this year.  We also began Typing.com this week, where kiddos are learning to use the home keys on the keyboard, and the beginnings of memorizing where the keys are.  

P.E.-We have P.E. with the 3rd graders!  This week we learned the correct way to stretch, run our laps, and we reviewed body skills like skipping, galloping, hopping, jumping, crab walk, grapevine, and bear walk.  We had some fun in relay races!

This was such a FUN week!  As always, thank you for your prayers and guidance as we travel through this school year together.  Have a wonderful and safe, LONG Labor Day weekend!

God’s Blessings!

Kim

We have had a FABULOUS first week of FOURTH GRADE!

 

Hello, 4th grade parents!  We have had a FABULOUS first week of fourth grade!  

The kiddos have learned many new routines and have played some fun games to get to know one another.  We have eased into the transition of all the core classes, with the exception of Reading and Spelling.  We will begin that on Monday!  I have had so much fun getting to know your child.  This group is so very sweet!  We have had loads of fun this week, and had lots of laughter together too!  They love to learn, they love to laugh, and they love each other!  We are becoming a little classroom family.  :)   It is such a beautiful thing to witness.  Besides all of the fun we have had, I have highlighted just a few things below that we have learned this week:

RELIGION- This week, we began studying and learning from our Religion books!  We discussed the Creation Story, the Fall into Sin, and the Tower of Babel.  We learned how the days of Creation are connected, and how God’s intricate plan is awesome!  We discussed the vocabulary words about God:  He is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent!  We discussed our blessings, and read Bible verses sharing the power of God.  We are using our Faith Alive Bibles daily.  Please send these back to school because we will use these every day in Religion class.  By the end of this school year, your kiddo will be a pro at looking at and finding Bible verses, with their favorites highlighted or underlined. 

Our first verse is our theme for the school year:  “Let’s Make a Joyful Noise!” 

Next week’s MEMORY:

8/26-Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;  break forth into joyous song and sing praises!  ~Psalm 98:4

8/29- The Old Testament

Genesis 

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

LANGUAGE ARTS- We used our reading and writing skills when we created our time capsules, which we will put away and get back out in May to see our many changes.  We traced our hands and feet.  We also filled in sheets about our Favorite Things, wrote a letter to our future selves, took a mad minute, and created selfies.  We practiced a lot of cursive this week, and reviewed the letters l, h, k, i, e, u, j, and p.  The students were introduced to Judy Blume, the Author of the Month, this week, and they love her!  We read Freckle Juice and began Tales if a Fourth Grade Nothing. We also began writing about our summer vacations today!

Next week, we will have our first Literature unit (Because of Winn Dixie), and we will have our first spelling test next Friday.  Spelling words, and our challenge word will come home on Monday in the assignment books.  They will always be in this weekly note, and they are online for you to access on our blog.  I ask that your child take their reading book home at least once a week to review the story at home.  We will read it here several times, as well.  We will have a comprehension test over the selections on Fridays as well.  Next week, we will also begin English, where we will identify complete and incomplete sentences.    Monday, the students will also receive information about book reports, when they are due, and what is expected.  They are reading Newbery Award winning books.  

SPELLING WORDS for the Week of August 29th:

Story: Because of Winn Dixie (Chapters 1-7)

blade, gray, past, afraid, magic, delay, amaze, drain, maybe, break,

sale, hang, stain, glass, raft, jail, crayon, fact, stale, steak, fraction, trait

Challenge Word: peculiar

MATH- We took our first mad minutes and I assessed where each child was in this process.  Many of them already know their multiplication facts, and that is wonderful!  We completed some Problem Solvers, which takes real world math problems, and breaks them down, so that they can solve and experience them.  This is such good practice! We also finished our first two lessons in our new math books.  We talked about how we are math “superheroes” and what our math talents are.  We also reviewed simple fractions and how they are a big part of our world.  Next week, we will finish up the chapter called “Math in My World” and begin the chapter about “Place Value.”

SCIENCE-Today we began reading about how our world is connected in our science books from the Missouri Department of Conservation.  We learned the difference between living and non-living things, and organisms and populations.  We went on a field investigation and looked within our schoolyard watershed to find all evidence of living and non-things outside.  We recorded these in our field journals.  We saw some killdeer, some monarchs, moth, bumblebees, dragonflies, some spotted Swamp Milkweed, and a lot of different trees and weeds!  (Be sure to look at our pictures on the blog!) 

ART-We made self-portraits with a “Who Am I?” riddle!  Check these out in the hallway!  

WRITERS' WORKSHOP-We began writing personal narratives about out summer vacations.  

COMPUTER LAB-4th graders learned how to make document on Google Docs this week.  They began friendly letters to me!  This year, my goal is that students will become proficient with Google docs and their keyboarding skills.  We will begin publishing our own works!  

Next week, we will begin Spanish, P.E., and Music. 

As a reminder, HOMEWORK FOLDERS will come home this afternoon filled with graded work.  There was not much this week, but I wanted the kiddos to get into the habit of placing work there. If a paper just has a star on it, please know that it was looked at or discussed, but it was not for a letter grade in the grade book.  All papers with percentages on them are put in the gradebook.  Please empty these and return the folder on Monday.  Although we did not have very many assignments this week, anything with a letter grade B or below can be “redone” for half credit per answer, and turned back in on Mondays.  So far, everybody is doing very well and working very hard!

OTHER NEWS:  Get ready to rock your spirit gear for the 2025–26 school year! Our merchandise store is open now but will close on Thursday, September 4, 2025, at 11:59 PM CDT — so be sure to place your orders before then! 

Discover all your favorite items here:

https://rods-rams2025.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Whether you’re stocking up for yourself or grabbing family gear, don’t miss out—once the store closes, no late orders can be accepted! 

Need assistance or have questions?
• Email: Clancyh@timothylutheran.com 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

August

23-5/6 volleyball-Hope Pre-Season tournament

September

1-Labor Day--No classes/no daycare

4-Sports pictures after school

5-VB games at Timothy, beginning at 5:00

6-Soccer game at Calvary at 11:30

9-Soccer game at 4:30 at Maranatha

11-7/8 VB game at St. Paul's, Concordia-6:30

12-VB games at Calvary Lutheran beginning at 6:30

13-Soccer game at Calvary at 9 am

18-School Pictures; Soccer game at Calvary at 5:30 pm

19-Mid-Terms; 12:30 dismissal

20-Fall Fun Fest Parade-more details coming!

26-Walk-A-Thon; VB games at MLA, beginning at 6:30

27-VB games at Timothy, beginning at 9 am; Soccer game at Calvary at 9 am

30-Newbery Book Reports are due

Have a blessed weekend!

Kim