Penguins & Polar Bears/Family Campouts

I hope this note finds you all well after a week of celebrating!  I know it's been a relaxing, refreshing, yet busy week for me!  I am oh so excited to get back to school on Thursday and catch up with your great kiddos.  

We're going to kick off 2014 with a study of penguins and polar bears.  This is one of my FAVORITE research projects as the students are always so interested in the discoveries they make about the individual creatures.  At the end of the unit, we'll celebrate our new learning by holding some sort of presentation day.  I'll send home more information about this as the time draws near.  

I have so much to share with the students about what I've learned over our holiday break about these marvelous animals!  Carson and I were able to spend the night at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.  We slept in the shark tunnel, participated in a number of other activities, had private zoo access, met with keepers, and got a behind the scenes tour of their state-of-the-art aquarium.   In case you're interested, there is a link below that will provide you information about the family campouts at the zoo.  Carson and I will be participating the PENGUIN themed campout at the end of February.  We'd love it if some of our Iowa friends could join us!  If you'd like more information about this AMAZING experience, let me know!  

Family Campouts at the Omaha Zoo

Spelling

We will NOT be taking a spelling post-test when we return from the holiday break.  We will move into week 15 when we return.  Long vowels will continue to be emphasized in word work and writing activities.  I apologize for not updating the Spelling City website the last couple of weeks!  I have opened it for week 15 in case your first grader is interested in getting a head start.  

*Please remember, spelling is NOT "graded" in first grade.  We include it in our routine to build study habits and help students transition from invented spellings to correct spellings.  

Spelling City

OUT with the OLD and IN with the NEW!

I braved the icy roads this morning to come and organize our brand NEW literacy materials.  The Benton Community School District recently purchased Benchmark Literacy for kindergarten through sixth grades.  We are so, so excited to unpack these new materials and be trained in using them with our students.  This purchase was the largest curriculum purchase in the history of the BCSD.  Thank you to our administrative team who made this series a reality financially and to our literacy team for choosing such a high quality curriculum!

Students will be allowed to take the old materials home to keep.  If you would NOT like your student to take these, please email me. I will start sending the books home with students who'd like them the week after we return from the holiday break.  

This is just a portion of what is included in the Benchmark Literacy curriculum!  

Farewell Mrs. DeVries

As many of you know, our VHE secretary, Darlene DeVries is retiring and won't be joining us in 2014.  As you can tell from the pictures below, she was be missed dearly.  We wish her the best as she sets off to spend more time with grandbabies in the year to come. 

Happy Holidays from 1U

Thanks for all you do to support our first grade family.  

We wish you the very best this holiday season.  

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 

from my family to yours!

Polar Express

Tomorrow we will be having a building-wide PBIS celebration!  The celebration will include the students watching The Polar Express and cookie decorating.  Students WILL be allowed to bring pillows since we'll be watching the movie on the gym floor.  Please keep in mind, your child will be bringing home a lot of extras with it being the last day of school before the holiday break.  Students may also wear their pajamas.  Please be sure that they are pajamas that can be worn to recess.  Let me know if you have any questions.  

Holiday Homework

Because there is a possibility of inclement weather tomorrow, I’m sending this home a day early… 

I am not sending any “special homework” for your child to work on over the holiday break.  In your students’ book bag, there are a few extra books that could be part of what they read over break. PLEASE encourage your child to read as much as possible.  My writing goal for each student is three quality (five or more sentences) journal entries. 

Most importantly, I hope you and your families get some quality family time, rest and relaxation in over this holiday break. 

Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your child’s life.  I look forward to each day I get to spend with them.  Blessed is how I feel with each smile and hug.  I hope you and your families have a very Merry Christmas. 

-Ms. Upah

Menu Change

Due to the fact that we may have inclement weather, Jane has decided to switch menu days.  Tomorrow will be chili day and Thursday will be pork patty.  

Soup for Scholars

Book Exchange Reminder

REMINDER!

Please send a gender-neutral book (valued between $0-5) to school with your child.  It needs to be wrapped with your child’s name on it so we know who to thank. Let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you!

Idea Paint

Over Thanksgiving break, we were fortunate enough to receive some of the Idea Paint in our classroom.  The students LOVE writing ON this table!  It is a great way for me to see their thinking as well.  If you're interested in painting any of your surfaces at home, see the link below for info.  Thank you to Mr. Junge for painting!  

Idea Paint

Macy's Believe Campaign

I was able to drop off our letters to Santa in the Macy's Mailbox.  1U contributed 20 letters to the Make-A-Wish program through Macy's Believe Campaign.   For more info, see previous posts.  The students were excited to see them being dropped off!  :) 

Reason for the Season

I saw this today and was inspired.  I am excited to share it with students tomorrow!  

PTO Christmas Store

Reminder!

If you would like your child to purchase gifts for others from the PTO Christmas Store, money and a list of people with ages needs to be brought to school no later than FRIDAY MORNING.  Each item at the Christmas Store is $2.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Macy's Believe Campaign

As one of our “Work on Writing” activities this week, first grade students wrote letters to Santa.  I thought it would be nice to introduce Macy’s Believe Campaign to the students, and boy, were they excited!   

Below, you’ll find information from Macy’s about their Believe Campaign.  Macy’s has agreed to donate $1 for every stamped letter to Santa (up to $1,000,000) to the Make a Wish Foundation.  You are welcome to send any letters to Santa your child writes to and I’ll take care of it.  Letters can be addressed to Santa Claus at the North Pole.  I will drop off any letters to

Santa I receive by Thursday, December 12^th, in a “R.H. Macy’s Santa Mail Box.”  Feel free to log onto www.macys.com/believe for more information, resources and activities for your child about this campaign. 

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions about this project.  It’s so exciting to see how enthused the students are about helping other children Make a Wish! 

Warmest wishes to you and yours this magical season!

Information provided by Macy’s:

Magic is in the air and we’re filled with joy as we continue one of our very favorite traditions. We need your leadership to help spread the magic of the season by inspiring everyone you can to show they Believe by writing a letter to Santa Claus. In fact, we’re looking for another million reasons to believe!

What is the Believe campaign? Beginning on November 2nd, children across the country are invited to drop off their letters — stamped and addressed to Santa at the North Pole — in the Santa Mail letterbox at any Macy’s store. For each letter received, Macy’s will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish®, up to 1 million dollars, to help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

What is Make-A-Wish? Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.  Be part of something magical. Each year, the Believe campaign grows as it touches the lives of so many. We’ve received countless inspiring stories and touching letters from people of all ages since we began in 2008 and we cannot wait to see what 2012 will bring. I hope you are equally rewarded with the same wonderful experiences in helping to spread the word this year.

PBIS in the Hallway at VHE

Today we discussed the Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) hallway expectations.  Above, you'll find a video made by the VHE PBIS team and students demonstrating incorrect and correct behaviors.  

Bobcat Pride Pledge:
I pledge to show Bobcat character.
I will be worthy of trust.  
I will be a RESPONSIBLE person, doing what I must.
I will show RESPECT.  
I will show that I CARE.
I will be a SAFE student and do my share.  
Bobcat Pride!

Benton Community School District is Applying for the TLC Grant

This summary of what the district is working on was authored by Dr. Prusha. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Benton Community School District is applying for the Teacher Leadership and Compensation Grant from the State of Iowa.

For the past few months a group of parents, teachers and administrators have been working diligently to develop the Benton Community Teacher Leadership and Compensation Grant Application.  

The goal is to be receive the grant for the 2014-15 school year.  Our TLC vision is to:   create a teacher leadership system designed to improve the quality of teaching and learning resulting in a world-class education for a lifetime of learning.  The Benton Community teacher leadership system will utilize servant leadership principles by supporting capacity building opportunities for teachers to foster and promote best practices in the classroom while increasing student achievement.

On December 11, 2013 we will have a joint meeting with our TLC planning committee and the Benton Communications Team to help build understanding and gain input from other stakeholders on the district application.  Please contact one of the members of the committee if you would like more information:  Gary Zittergruen, Anna Upah, Andrea Townsley, Linda Brecht, Mark Kenny, Mary Masten, Beth Hlas, Jeremy Kulbartz, Doug Embray, Alex Olson, T.J. Murphy, Jo Prusha, Daralee Schnor, Jason West, Jan Andreesen or Trish Little.

Below is more information taken from the Iowa Department of Education Webpage describing the TLC process in the state (https://www.educateiowa.gov/teacher-leadership-and-compensation-system)

The Teacher Leadership and Compensation System rewards effective teachers with leadership opportunities and higher pay, attracts promising new teachers with competitive starting salaries and more support, and fosters greater collaboration for all teachers to learn from each other.

The overriding philosophy of the system is multi-pronged, but boils down to this: Improving student learning requires improving the instruction they receive each day.  There is no better way to do this than to empower our best teachers to lead the effort.

Through the system, teacher leaders take on extra responsibilities, including helping colleagues analyze data and fine tune instructional strategies as well as coaching and co-teaching.

Bipartisan legislation created a four-year process to fully develop the statewide Teacher Leadership and Compensation System, with the goal of all school districts voluntarily participating by the 2016-17 school year.

The goals of the Teacher Leadership and Compensation System are:

• Attract able and promising new teachers by offering competitive starting salaries and offering short-term and long-term professional development and leadership opportunities.
• Retain effective teachers by providing enhanced career opportunities.
• Promote collaboration by developing and supporting opportunities for teachers in schools and school districts statewide to learn from each other.
• Reward professional growth and effective teaching by providing pathways for career opportunities that come with increased leadership responsibilities and involve increased compensation.
• Improve student achievement by strengthening instruction.

All 346 Iowa school districts have applied for planning grants to support the local development of Teacher Leadership and Compensation Systems. The deadline to submit a plan to enter the system in the 2014-15 school year is January 31, and those selected to participate in the first year of the system will be notified by early March.

The Legislature approved $50 million for the first year of implementation during the 2014-15 school year. In each subsequent year through 2016-17, another $50 million will be added to the program, enabling all districts to eventually participate in the program if they choose.

PTO Christmas Store

The annual Keystone/VH PTO Christmas Store will be coming to VHE soon!  The Christmas Store will be Friday, December 13th.  Your student will be getting more info about this opportunity soon!  

PTO - KEYSTONE TONIGHT

Tonight's PTO meeting is at Keystone Elementary in Mrs. Townsley's classroom.  I think I marked this wrong in the news note that went home at the end of November.  I hope to see you there!  

Alvin the Elf on the Shelf

Alvin, the elf in 1U, arrived while we were out on Thanksgiving break.  Below is a picture of how we found him this morning.  Everyone was really excited to learn why this little friend showed up in our classroom.  We read a book about Alvin, let him know some of our classroom rules, and wrote him a welcome letter.  This elf flies to the North Pole every night and reports to Santa on student behaviors.  We can talk to Alvin, but he can't talk to us.  We've talked a lot about random acts of kindness today.  In the season of giving, such conversations are welcome reminders.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Be sure to ask your student where they found Alvin each night!  

Thank You

Thank you for taking the time to attend our Thanksgiving Performance.  I know it isn't always easy to get out of other commitments during the day, but having a special person attend school with your first grader is definitely a highlight for them!   I look to have the video for that performance posted by the end of the week.  Based on students' comments today, I trust you all had a safe, happy holiday.  I am thankful to be surrounded by such great families every day.  Thank you for sharing your fabulous children with me and allowing me to be a part of their lives.  I am one blessed teacher.