Weekly Update-1.3.16-1.9.16

Welcome back everyone!  I hope you had a refreshing break and took time to be with your family.  We are looking forward to a fresh start to 2016.  As you think about this semester, I know you will continue to push your thinking and that of our students.  I am so very excited to kick off the second 1/2 of our school year!

Learning Labs on Thursday:
Please bring your pretest results to our meeting along with a charged laptop.  We would like to ask that anyone who has written an SLO to please join us during plan time.  Can't wait to see you!



How do we truly assess our readers?  This is a great article from Scholastic on some of the formal and informal ways we can use assessment to guide our instruction in reading.
Assessment in My Reading Workshop

Comment below on one way you plan holding students accountable for their reading this week.  You might even want to share one of the tips from the book study shared from Igniting A Passion for Reading.   Happy Reading!



Marco and I would like to share a special thanks for the very sweet gift from all of you.  It was truly a wonderful holiday season.






Families-We have free tickets to the St. Louis Billikens on January 16, 2016 as they take on Dayton for their 2nd annual Pink Out game.  If you would like complimentary tickets, please email tmusante@lindberghschools with your child's name, teacher, and the number of tickets of you are requesting.


Tues. 1.5.16 PTG board meeting
Thurs. 1.7.15 Learning Lab
Fri. 1.8.16 PEGS Preview, Cafeteria Workers Day
Wed. 1.13.16 Early Release
Fri. 1.15.16 7:45 2nd and 4th grade-Muffins with Mom

Angie Out: 
Week of January 4-8th
Wed. 1.13.16 9:00 a.m. Admin Leadership Team

Genius Hour in 5th Grade

Today I was able to visit Ms. Heilich's class and see the results of their hard work and dedication. Students worked over the past several weeks on projects they felt passionate about. They researched, investigated, and created various projects about many different topics. I was so impressed with all of the variety-from homemade recipes, to animation, to building a catapult, each student really invested in this experience. Glad to see our students exploring their passions and interests!

Literacy Centers

In Ms. Godfrey's class when the students go to Work on Writing during Literacy Centers, students have a list of choices of what they could write about. This list is also a great accountability piece during centers. 

A HUGE Thank You!

Just wanted to give a special shout out to these awesome ladies.  They spent their Saturday morning helping to disperse the many boxes and items for our Helping Hands campaign.  Thank you again for your time and efforts!

Weekly Update 12.13.15-12.19.15

Holiday Party Fun!
Assembly Start Time: 1:30
Party Day Schedule

Friday Hours:
Hours can be flexible on Friday but you should be in the building at least 6 hours.  Earliest start time is 7:00 a.m., earliest leave time is 1:00 p.m.

A Few PD Items for Thought:
A Video on Inquiry-Based Learning:  Developing Student-Driven Questions

• Through inquiry, this model school works to ignite passion, inspire relevance, and develop ownership in their students. Using student inquiries and questions as guidance, teachers develop lessons that engage and excite, teaching their students to be active thinkers rather than passive learners.

Winter Worthy Reads for Teachers

• Are you looking for some new books to read?  Check out this list.  There is an education-related choice, an encouragement-related choice, a reflection choice, and so on (so not all teacher books)

Book Fair:

A HUGE thanks to Michelle Parikh for her efforts and all of the volunteers that helped to make this such a huge success.

Helping Hands Campaign

WOW!  I am absolutely amazed at the generosity of our Concord Families.  Our Helping Hands campaign has come to an end.  Over the last month, students have collected food, cleaning items, and giving tree items.  We have 21 families who will benefit from this amazing endeavor.  

In addition, the following school wide events raised funds for gift cards for AmerenUE and grocery gift cards for our 21 families.  

Jingles for Jammies: $1,200.00

Wacky Hair Day:  $448.00  

Winter Festival Teacher Raffle: $409.00

Proceeds from Winter Festival: $1,700.00

A huge thank you to Jennifer Abercrombie, Erica Hoffman, and Carissa Krupski and their team for all of the organization, time, and effort that was put into this event.

Gentle Reminder:

If you use a Concord classroom after school for girl scouts or boy scouts, please be sure you put things back how they were.  Please do not use the classroom supplies.  Additionally, if any snacks are served, be aware that children with allergies use this space too so you should wipe tables down afterwards.  Thank you for helping us to keep our learning spaces clean.

Concord’s Maker Fair

We will be having a Maker Fair (Previously PRISM night) on February 18th from 3:30-6.  If anyone is interested in doing a PRISM project at home and getting started over the holiday break, here is the link with the information.


12.14.15 Monday: DOC meeting, 7:00 p.m.
12.16.15 Wednesday: 5th Grade Caroling
12.17.15 Thursday: Assembly @ , Holiday Parties 1:00-2:00 p.m. 
12.18.15 Friday: Record Day, NO SCHOOL

Using Learning Progressions in Reading

I was in Amy Tilley's room today and was able to see her PGP in action.  She was working with indicator 7.2 Using Assessment Data to Improve Learning.

The students had done a retelling of a story.  They used this reading learning progression below to determine what they were doing well.  Each student looked at their retelling and then used the progression (rubric) to determine their level.

Amy went through each level and had them put a check mark on each level if they had included this part in the retelling  This was then the data they used to set goals for personal learning.  With this goal, they then had a very clear target for what was to happen next in their learning. 

Go Noodle

Teachers need brain breaks too.

Weekly Update 12.6.15-12.12.15

I noticed this week that the counseling room is focusing on having fun and making happiness.  Let's make it a point this week to smile just a little more and have some fun.  While it can be a stressful time of year, remember to take time for yourself and enjoy all of the little things around you.

Hour of Code This Week:

In celebration of Computer Science Education Week, Hour of Code begins tomorrow!  This is a great opportunity for students to strengthen their problem-solving skills using an engaging platform.  

Hour of Code Tutorials

Early Dismissal and Staff Meeting:
During this busy time of year, we wanted to give  you a little gift of time so we will be combining our staff meeting and early dismissal.  Here is the link to the agenda for our Early Dismissal.   Please bring a charged laptop and any items you will need to work on your SLOs.  In particular, we will be working with pre, post, and formative assessments.

While the weekend was certainly filled with a lot of Concord love, there is so much to be thankful for and celebrate.

Holiday Party: Thanks to Marco and Erin for hosting a wonderful party!

Winter Wonderland: What a wonderful event!  It was so much fun to see all of our flyers enjoying the many activities offered by the PTG.  Clearly, my children need to learn the concept of gift giving as they unwrapped the presents they bought at Santa's Corner as soon as they left the gym (as witnessed by Lisa Carson and Peggy Cooksey).  A special thanks to Teri Keutzer for all of her efforts with the teacher raffle and to ALL of the many volunteers who gave of their Saturday.

Music Performances: Thank you to all of the Kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th grade teachers, students, and families who attended our performances today.  A special thanks to Valerie for all of her efforts with these programs.  The hours of practicing were certainly worth it when watching the final performances!



12.9.15 Wednesday: Early Dismissal, Angie out in a.m.
12.10.15 Thursday: Limo Ride-schedule will be shared early this week
12.11.15 Friday: Helping Hands Pack Up Day
12.14.15 Monday: DOC meeting, 7:00 p.m.
12.16.15 Wednesday: 5th Grade Caroling
12.17.15 Thursday: Holiday Parties
12.18.15 Friday: Record Day, NO SCHOOL

3rd Graders Writing a Thesis and Focusing on Theme

Readers in Action

Check out these kindergarten friends in action!