Mr. Strauss

What characteristics define different waves? This was the question we answered on Friday while completing a science experiment. Students used various materials to create different waves and observe their patterns!

Congrats to the Seattle Seahawks! We celebrated Super Bowl Weekend with a Jean/Jersey Day on Friday!

Friday Free Write!

2026 Resolution: Do a better job sharing what’s happening in our classroom… On Friday, we continued our Science unit on Waves and Information by studying codes. These 4th Graders worked to crack messages written in Morse Code, Pig Pen, Polybius Square, and Circle Cypher.

We had a special guest visitor today: My 2 year old niece! She’s already saying she loved school!

Back for year #6, but this time in 4th grade! We had an awesome first day and are looking forward to a great year!

We had a great time today planting a new tree in front of @FcpaMsdpike ! The 3rd Graders loved having the chance to get outside, use the tools, move the dirt, and plant the tree! They chose to name it after my favorite singer…Billy Joel 😂 @PikeSchools

We finished our “Make a Difference” reading unit with a science lesson on renewable energy. We used @MysterySci to learn about 3 forms of renewable energy. Then we created Energy Plans in order to help a town that wants to use a less harmful energy source. @FcpaMsdpike

We wrapped up Engineeering Week with our yearly project: Ziplines! The 3rd Graders had to design and make a device that would carry a ping pong ball down a zipline in 4 seconds. @FcpaMsdpike

An annual favorite! We ended our animal unit with a science project making “Penguin Vocalization Devices!” @FcpaMsdpike (and I can’t forget to credit @DrPangansclass for the idea!)

Yesterday we tried out a new experiment for both the students and their teacher: dancing raisins! How will raisins react when dropped in soda and why do we think they react that way? We got to test it out in this quick and fun science experiment @FcpaMsdpike

Yesterday we tried something new that we heard about from @FcpaMsdpike 5th Grade Team: Math Around the Room. Students were shown a complex problem and had to work together in random groups to solve the problem. It was a great lesson on our math concepts but also teamwork!

Some pre-Thanksgiving Break events from last week: Learning area, practicing multiplication and division, visit our STEM buddies, and watching a live drama (our current reading unit) @FcpaMsdpike

Yesterday, we had a field trip to the Indiana State Fairgrounds to watch an @IUPUIJaguars game as part of the NCAA/Scholastic Readers are Leaders program! The 3rd Graders had a great time cheering on the Jaguars and celebrating reading!

Last week we got the chance to learn some Social Studies…to wrap up our unit on United States history, students got the chance to learn about the history of our 46 presidents!

And THEN followed up by @FcpaMsdpike first Dine to Donate event of the year! It was a blast making milkshakes, selling sweets, and seeing so many familiar places at @schakolad . I got to be taught how to make milkshakes by a former student too!

Followed by some science! We got to do a yearly favorite: “The Magic Orange” where we buoyancy and object features!

Last week, we got to practice some Social Studies by giving directions based on compasses

We ended today by continuing our read aloud of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” before turning to the 2005 movie for the first song in the book. These 3rd Graders already looked forward to continuing the book daily, but now they have even more to look forward to!