September Scoop 2011

September 2011 SPARTAN SCOOP

A Note from the Principal... by Lisa Miller Welcome to a great new school year, 2011-2012! A big thank you goes out to our custodial staff, who worked hard all summer. Our building is looking great! We are happy to welcome 337 students in K-5 this year. That is an increase for us – always good news in these times of declining enrollment! We welcome a few new staff members. Mrs. Meghan Norman is teaching kindergarten, replacing Mrs. Kathy Ross. Mrs. Jaimi VanderBerg is a paraeducator working with our fourth and fifth graders. Mrs. Stoner (from the high school), is now working in our building with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students provided resource room assistance. Ms. Blaire Baldwin, former POLAR scholar, has joined our staff as a middle school PE teacher and part-time PE at the elementary. And Mr. Rob Gingery is our new TAG teacher and Tech Support for K-12. We are so happy to welcome these new members to our elementary staff! You may have noticed that we are continuing our theme from last year of “BUCKET FILLING”. Bucket-filling is a concept that has taken flight across the country, sparked by a children’s book titled Have You Filled a Bucket Today? The concept is simple: when you say and do kind things for others, you fill their bucket. When you are unkind, you are “dipping” into their bucket. And when you fill others’ buckets, it fills your own, too! We will continue to emphasize this important message about respect and kindness. We are proud of our elementary students and their behavior, and we reinforce those positive behaviors regularly. Please feel free to use this same language at home, so that students hear a consistent message about kindness. Note that the School Handbook is available online at our school website: http://www.spartanpride.net. Look under the Parents tab, then Handbook. Please feel free to call or stop in if you have questions or concerns. The elementary school number is 825-5461. We are excited to have the chance to work together with you, for your child. Here we go...........2011-2012! DATES TO REMEMBER…… September 1 School Pictures 6:30 p.m. – 5th Grade Band Rental Open House September 2 2:00 p.m. – Early Dismissal September 5 NO SCHOOL – Labor Day September 13 School Board Elections Fundraiser Orders due 5:00-7:00 p.m. – K-5 Open House: Wild About School 7:00 p.m. – Title 1 Reading Information meeting (IMC) September 19 2 Hour Late Start September 30 4th Grade to Black Hawk Children’s Theatre Grundy Center Homecoming

GRUNDY CENTER ELEMENTARY

903 9th Street Grundy Center, IA 50638

319-825-5461

LISA MILLER,

PRINCIPAL [email protected]

MARY HINDERHOFER, COUNSELOR

[email protected]

TIM BURBRIDGE, AT-RISK COORDINATOR [email protected]

DORINDA NEDERHOFF, ADMINISTRATIVE

ASSISTANT [email protected]

FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT’S DESK……. August is always a busy month around the school. It was nice to see all of the families at Open House before school began. It’s even more fun to watch the students in school on a daily basis! Many of them have completed their Fall MAP tests and are already in a learning routine. As we get into September, there is a very important event that will happen on Tuesday the 13th. It’s an election! School board elections are only held every other year now, and the time is here. There are two candidates running for two seats. The ballot is also seeking renewal approval for our Revenue Purpose Statement and the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy. These have both been in place in Grundy Center for a few decades and have permitted the district to make much-needed repairs and upgrades to our buildings, vehicles, and technology equipment. Please show your support on each of these ballot items by voting YES! Monday, October 3rd will be the “Official Count Date” for all schools in the State of Iowa. As of the end of August, Grundy Center School District has an additional 33 students in our buildings. When taking the formula into account, it appears our “Certified Enrollment” will be up 23 students. That is great news since the trend across the state is declining enrollment. This should help us hold our finances steady next year after receiving 0% Allowable Growth this year and only 2% approved for next year. All schools are struggling to maintain strong educational programs, but in true Spartan tradition we will persevere and win the battle! Education in Iowa has been in the media spotlight the last few months—mostly for positive reasons! The big event was the Governor’s Educational Summit held at the end of July. I was fortunate enough to attend and look forward to the unveiling of the new Director of Education’s plan at the end of September as a result of this summit. I anticipate some 21st Century ideas and expect Grundy Center to be in a great position to help lead some of these newer initiatives. It is a wonderful time to be in education, and our children deserve the best from all of us! With Spartan Pride~ Cass Murra

SPARTAN SCOOP PAGE 2


Reading and Writing in Kindergarten The start of the kindergarten year is full of anticipation and excitement. Many new faces, new friends, and new teachers! We are looking forward to a great year together. To start off the year, the kindergartners participated in many “Getting to Know You” activities discussing names, families, and birthdays. There were also many school routines and expectations to learn. You may hear your child talking about the Daily Five. The Daily Five is a way of organizing our reading block so that each child is working independently and engaged in meaningful literacy tasks. Students will receive whole group instruction, then are given time to practice independently on reading and writing. This allows the teacher to provide focused instruction to small groups of students. The Daily Five is comprised of Read to Self, Work on Writing, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, and Word Work. We will spend the first weeks working on building our reading and writing stamina, learning the behaviors of the Daily Five and fostering our classroom community. We anticipate the motivation and enjoyment of reading will soar through this format. As you can see, we are very excited about giving the kindergartners the opportunity to be involved in a structure that will have a positive effect on their education.

Safety in First Grade > The first grade is off to a great start in social studies with our safety unit. Students learned about importance of pedestrian, bike, bus and stranger danger. The children not only had to learn safety rules, but they also had the opportunity to role play and do a simulation. We learned that riding a bike is a big responsibility. We learned that bikes on the sidewalk have to obey the same rules as cars on the road. The children did several activities to help them remember street signs and what they mean in order to stay safe bike riders. Bus safety was discussed with the help of Mark Possehl, who brought the bus so the children could practice bus evacuation. The children had the chance to experience front and rear bus evacuation. The children were informed what to do if an emergency arose while they were on the bus.

Title 1 Reading Information Meeting Parents of students receiving additional reading instruction with Mrs. Graham are encouraged to attend a short informational meeting after the Elementary Open House. Title 1 parents and students, please plan to meet in the Elementary I.M.C. at 7:00 p.m. on September 13th. Information about the Title 1 reading program will be presented, along with information on choosing appropriate literature, and an opportunity to learn how your children can read books at home on computers. While the adults visit, the students will be engaged in reading activities. Hope to see you there!


Good-Fit Books By Second Grade Undoubtedly throughout the building this year, you will be seeing and hearing the words “Daily 5” and “CAFÉ,” as we move to establish a common literacy language throughout the elementary. Expert teachers Gail Boushey and Joan Moser have used research-based practices and findings to create this framework for instruction and literacy center management. Students will be spending much of their literacy block working on five center activities to help improve their reading and writing – these are the “Daily 5,” which include read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, work on writing, and word work. Meanwhile, teachers will be conducting “CAFÉ” mini-lessons, focusing on reading strategies in the following categories: Comprehension (C), Accuracy (A), Fluency (F), and Expand Vocabulary (E). One of the first fluency strategies taught to students of all ages is “Choosing Good-Fit Books.” In order to get better at reading, students need to know how to choose books that are a good fit for them. What “fits” one student may not fit another. Using the acronym I PICK, students can select books that will help them become better readers. I choose a book P urpose – Why do I want to read it? I nterest – Does it interest me? C omprehend – Do I understand what I am reading? K now – I know most of the words. Of course there is a time and a place for ANY book that motivates a child to read. When students are reading for the purpose of building fluency (reading smoothly with expression and few errors, while understanding the text) and developing their reading skills, we can’t stress enough the importance of choosing books that fit the I PICK criteria. Students should be excited about the content of their books, able to read most of the words with relative ease, and understand what is happening. When they can do this, students have successfully found a “Good-Fit Book” and are on their way to becoming even better readers! Boushey, Gail & Joan Moser. The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 2006. 29-33. Print.


“The Daily Five” By Third Grade It won’t be long until you hear your child talking about “The Daily Five.” The purpose of this letter is to fill you in on what The Daily Five is all about, so you don’t have to nod your head while wondering what in the world your child is referring to. The Daily Five is a way of structuring the reading block so every student is independently engaged in meaningful literacy tasks. These research based tasks are ones that will have the biggest impact on student reading and writing achievement, as well as foster children who love to read and write. Students receive explicit whole group instruction and then are given independent practice time to read and write independently while the teacher provides focused, intense instruction to individuals or small groups of students.

When it is up and running smoothly, students will be engaged in the Daily Five, which is comprised of:

· Read to Self · Work on Writing · Working on Words · Read to Someone · Listen to Reading

There are very specific behavior expectations that go with each of The Daily Five component. We will spend the first weeks working intensely on building our reading and writing stamina, learning the behaviors of The Daily Five, and fostering our classroom community.

One thing you will notice that may be a change for you is a decrease in the number of worksheets your child brings home. While worksheets keep students busy, they don’t really result in the high level of learning we want for your child. Instead your child will be taught to select “Good Fit Books” or books they can read, understand, and are interested in. They will be spending most of their time actually reading, which research supports as the number one way of improving reading. We anticipate the motivation and enjoyment of reading will skyrocket when this gift of choosing their own books is accompanied by extended practice and specific reading instruction for each individual child.

As you can see, we are excited about giving your child the opportunity to be involved in a structure that will have a positive effect on their education.

4th Graders Taking A Closer Look In science, the 4th graders have been investigating different ways to see things. They have used the rubbing technique to better see the texture and pattern of objects. Students started by using a pencil, colored pencil, or crayon to rub coins. Next, students experimented with a bag of several objects like screen, foil, a washer, paper clip, etc. Students were excited to see the different textures and patterns emerge through rubbing. As we continue with this unit 4th graders will take a closer look at leaf venation and fingerprints.


Fifth Grade Changes!

The fifth graders have taken M.A.P. testing several times in their school career, but this year they were surprised with two changes that were adapted to help the testing better suit their needs. Read the opinions of a few of the students to find out how they felt and what they thought about the addition of laptops and stability balls to their testing experience.

It’s a good thing to use the laptops for M.A.P. testing because then other classes can M.A.P. test in the lab. If you are in the room, you can use the stability balls to help you think. It’s fun to use the stability balls for testing. Using the stability balls got me higher scores on M.A.P. testing. And the balls do say, “Minds in Motion.” By Jake Ascher

I like to use laptops for M.A.P. testing because the laptop cart is right there for us. We can just get our laptop and go to our desk. We can use the stability balls too. I like to sit at my desk.

I like to use stability balls because you have a little bit of motion. It also helps with your posture. You can pick the right size too. By Brianna Brown

I like the laptops better because they are portable. You can stay in the room when you use the laptops. If a pencil breaks, you can pull out another one from you desk. I like that you get to sit on the stability balls. I think the lemon drops are good for learning. It’s cool that we get to read A.R. when we are done. By Derek Ciddio

Laptops for M.A.P.? This year the fifth graders used laptops for M.A.P. testing instead of using the computer room.

To find out how they felt about this, I talked with Trevor Winger. “It is more comfortable to concentrate in the room,” he said. Jake Ascher said, “Using the stability balls gave me a better score at the end of the test!” In total, kids loved using laptops for M.A.P. testing! Laptops are educational and fun! By Abby LaVelle

Now that I am in 5th grade, there are some new things that we have in the classroom. One of the big changes is having the laptop computer on the mobile cart. I use the laptops to get information about all kinds of things. My favorites are mealworms, fish, frogs, toads, and bugs. I’ve also used it to find stuff about people and places. I also use the laptops to play IXL, spelling games and READ Naturally. By Lukas Novey

The laptops are more fun than going to the computer lab, because they are portable. If you want to sit somewhere else, you can bring the laptop with you. When you’re done, they are easy to put away. When you’re done, you don’t have a computer sitting in front of you to play with. When you are done, you get to read A. R. to get more points for the year. We have stability balls to sit on while we test. We have lemon drops to stay focused. We can’t have water bottles on our desks while taking a test because if you spill the water on the computer, the computer will break. By Ben Saak

I like to use the laptops for M.A.P. testing because they save us the time of going to the lab. I also like using the laptops because the lab is cold. When we are using the laptops, we are in the room where the stability balls are. The stability balls help me concentrate.

One thing I don’t like about using the laptops is some people play with stuff in their desk, and it makes noise. Another reason I don’t like using the laptops is when we get them from the cart. It gets so crowded and hard to get the laptops because there are so many people in our class. Otherwise, I LOVE THE LAPTOPS!!!

I like using the stability balls because they help me concentrate, and they are fun to bounce on. I also like that there are three different sizes. Mr. Williams’ class has them too, so when we go the Mr. Wills’ class, we get to have them too. I like having different sizes of stability balls because if you need a different size, you can get another one. The big ones are black, the blue ones are medium, and the silver ones are the smallest. One thing I don’t like about them is if you’re bouncing too high or moving a lot, you can fall off. Otherwise, I LOVE THEM!!! By Hailey Wallis


NEWS FROM THE ART ROOM By Mrs. Leverton

The school year is off to a great start in the art room. Students have just finished making their art

folders for the year. These art folders will store all of their art projects throughout the year and will be sent home on the final day of art at the end of the year. 5th graders will be learning about the artist Wayne Thiebaud. Students will be doing an oil pastel drawing similar to the style and subject matter of this artist. 4th graders will be starting a lesson that deals with the artist Vincent Van Gogh. Students will be doing a scratch art piece that focus on the concepts of lines and movement. 3rd graders are going to be focusing on the ideas of lines, patterns, and contour drawings. Students will be creating a contour drawing of their hands and incorporate a variety of lines and patterns within and around their hand drawings. 2nd graders will start to learn about the famous artist Matisse. Students will be creating an abstract collage similar to the style of this artist. 1st graders will revisit the artist Kandinsky. Students will review what they remember learning about this abstract artist in Kindergarten. 1st graders will be creating an abstract painting. Kindergarten will be learning about the color wheel, specifically the primary and secondary colors. To introduce these colors to students, Kindergarten will listen to the story “Mouse Paint.” Students will then have the chance to create their own color wheel by coloring a variety of fruit pictures, cutting out the images, and arranging them in a color wheel.

PE Changes By Rick Schupbach The new school year brings quite a change for PE at the elementary. Gone after seven years is the Polar Scholar program which brought to our district, free of charge, two first year PE teachers to work with our students and provide extra services to our school and community. I am quite grateful for the personal and professional experiences as well as the challenges this program afforded me the past seven years. However, I am extremely excited to have a chance to “refocus” my time and energy on what I am truly passionate about, teaching PE, as this change allows me to be back in front of kids all day. Another change due to time restraints in the school day will be K-1 students will receive PE every other day instead of every day. Though this is not ideal, this model will still afford more instruction time to be spent in PE for these students than what is received in most schools in Iowa. Our 2-5 population will not be affected by this change and will still have PE every day. I will be teaching all elementary sections with the exception of two classes, Mrs. Schupbach’s and Mr. Krusey’s second graders. We are fortunate to have Ms. Baldwin, a UNI graduate, who was a scholar last year teaching those sections while also serving as a secondary PE and Health teacher. We are both excited about working together and providing the most positive experience as possible to help “Energize and Educate students for Healthy, Active Lifestyle.”

Music Room News 2011 By Mrs. Bev Dirks The school year is off and running once again. It is always so exciting to see the Kindergarteners’ eager faces and welcome old and new students to the building! Another exciting adventure awaits the fifth graders each school year when many join the beginning band! Fifth graders have been trying out the flute, clarinet, alto sax, trumpet and trombone during music classes these first few days. Needless to say, we’ve made some unusual sounds on our quest to find out which instrument is easiest for each individual to create a sound on! Band rental night with West Music is on Thursday, September 1, in the Elementary Multi-Purpose Room. The event is an open house beginning at 6:30 PM, and books, reeds and valve oils are also available for purchase. If you have a used instrument you would like to sell or donate to the school Band Bank, please contact me via email at: [email protected], or leave a voicemail at 825-5461 ext. 375. In other music room news, our elementary concerts will be presented a little differently this year. The following are the grades and dates of each elementary concert: Monday, November 7 – First and Fourth grades Thursday, December 15 – Second and Fifth grades Tuesday, March 6 – Kindergarten and Third grades There will be a 1:30 PM matinee and 7:00 PM evening performance on all of these dates and we hope this will accommodate more comfortable seating in the auditorium. Most of the beginning band concerts will be held in the Elementary Multi-Purpose Room and dates for those are yet to be determined.


NEW FACES AT GRUNDY CENTER ELEMENTARY…… My name is Meghan Norman. I am excited to be joining the Grundy Center Elementary staff this year as the new kindergarten teacher. This will be my fourth year of teaching. For the last three years I taught kindergarten at Southdale Elementary in Cedar Falls.

I graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 2008 with a degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood. I also received a minor in Literacy Education and have an endorsement in Special Education. I have found teaching kindergarten to be one of the most rewarding jobs. The kids come to school each day truly excited and eager to learn.

My husband, Jed, and I both graduated from BCLUW. I grew up on a farm between Conrad and Grundy Center and have always loved the small town atmosphere. Jed and I moved back to Grundy Center two years ago to be closer to family, as well as his job. We love being part of the community and are excited we can now officially call ourselves Spartans. In our free time we enjoy being outdoors, attending sporting events, and spending time with our family and friends.

I am looking forward to a great school and can’t wait to meet all of the students, families, and staff.


SPARTAN SCOOP Page 2 of 2 My name is Ellen Stoner and I am the new 3-5 Resource Teacher. I graduated from Upper Iowa University with a degree in Elementary Education and endorsements in Reading and Special Education. This will be my 6th year teaching in the Grundy Center district with the previous 5 years at the high school. I have lived most of my life here in Grundy Center. My spare time is filled with my four children’s activities. I am excited to be in the Elementary this year! Rob Gingery is our new Technology Integration Specialist and Talented and Gifted Coordinator. This is his 15th year of teaching and has taught all areas of science and technology. He graduated from UNI in 1998 and recently completed his Master's in Educational Technology in 2008. He wife teaches Language Arts for Dike-New Hartford, where Rob formally taught junior high science and technology. Rob and his wife Renee, have three children, Peyton (4th grader), Madelyn (1st graders), and Liam who is 2, and live just west of Holland. Rob enjoys the outdoors and spends much of his summer time kayaking and fishing. Rob is excited to bring his experience using technology to the Grundy Center School District. Hello! My name is Jaimi Vander Berg, and I am very excited to be joining the Grundy Center Elementary staff this year as a para-educator. I graduated from Northwestern College (Orange City, IA) in 2007 with a BA in Education, then I completed my first year of teaching 7th and 8th grade Language Arts in Hinton, IA. After relocating to Holland, MI so my husband could attend seminary, I spent the 2008-2009 school year substitute teaching and volunteering with a local crisis pregnancy center. In January 2010, I officially joined the staff of the Lakeshore Pregnancy Center as Lead Abstinence Educator. Our team worked with 7th and 8th grade students in 10 schools between two counties, equipping young people to think critically in the face of challenging life choices. As my husband is now beginning his ministry career as Pastor of First Reformed Church in Aplington, I am thankful to be continuing my own journey in the education field as a Spartan!

Grundy Center Elementary

Notes From the Nurse I am excited to be back as the school nurse and I would like to remind you of my role and functions. I am at Grundy Center on Tuesday and Friday and at BCLUW on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I cover all grade levels at both districts. School Nursing is a specialized practice of nursing and I follow the Iowa Code Practice of Nursing, the Standards of Professional School Nursing Practice, and the School Nursing Code of Ethics. The purpose of a school nurse is to promote the academic success of students by managing the health needs of students so that they are in the classroom and able to learn. Here is a list of some of the main functions I do: • Assess the health needs of students. • Consult with parents and make home visits as needed. • Develop, implement, and evaluate Individual Health Plans (IHP) for students with special health needs. • Instruct, train, and supervise the staff with a “need to know” of the health plans and emergency plans of individual students • Train, certify, and supervise medication aides. • Do annual health screenings • Provide health care to students and staff in the health office. • Make referrals to appropriate services and provide assistance to access financial aid, HAWK-I, or T19. • Instruct and supervise the school staff that provide health care and first aid in the nurse’s absence. • Implement measures to prevent the occurrence or spread of communicable disease. • Provide health education to students and staff. • Act as a resource person for students and staff regarding health issues. • Document services and collect data as required. Please contact me if you have any health needs or concerns about your child.

903 9th St. Grundy Center, IA 50638 Phone: 319-825-5461 Fax: 319-825-6817

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September Scoop 2011