Weekly Update 5.1.16 - 5.7.16

During this time of year, many of us are counting down the days to summer.   We have worked hard all year so be sure to enjoy this special time with your students.  Most importantly, stay focused on every learning opportunity you have be it outdoors in the garden, in the lobby reading with students, or as you encourage a love of reading for your students.   

Wednesday is National School Nurse Day-Be sure to show Nurse Paula some love!

Grant’s View Library Summer Fun:

In thinking about the summer slide, I would like to pilot a summer reading program for our students.   Feel free to sign up for a time slot over the summer as the Concord Celebrity reader.  I will explain more about this at our staff meeting but basically we have reserved Grant’s View Library for an hour each week to promote summer reading.  All you need to do is read aloud a favorite book and sign autographs.  :)  

MAP Updates:

MAP Lunch schedule will remain in effect until Monday May 3rd.

Block Schedule will remain in effect until Tuesday, May 4th:

Week 3	5/2/2016 (Mon)		5/3/2016 (Tues)
8:55-9:45	3rd		3rd
9:45-10:35	5th		1st
11:00-11:30	K		K
11:30-12:20	4th		4th
12:50-1:40	2nd		2nd
1:40-2:30	1st		5th
2:30-3:00	K		K

JA in a Day:

Junior Achievement will be coming next week.  Here is the schedule.  Grades K, 1, and 2 will have their sessions in their room on Tuesday, May 3rd.  Note: For 1st grade, block teachers will need to report to the rooms of their scheduled classes at the adjusted block time of 9:45-10:35.

Grades 3, 4, 5, and PEGS will have their sessions in their room on Wednesday, May 4th. Note: For Grades 3, 4, and 5, block teachers will need to report to the rooms of their scheduled classes.   We will have an arrival station in the front lobby and student ambassadors will be bringing the volunteers to your class.

MAP celebration on Thursday, May 5:

9-10 a.m. Grades K, 1, and 2

2-3 p.m.  Grades 3, 4, and 5

Teachers will get to celebrate with their students at this time as well.  I would ask that teachers spread themselves out around the playground.  Paula will be in the library and the door to go in and out of the library through the garden will be open if students want to come in to watch the movie.  During this time, students will have the choice to participate in the following activities:

• Kona ice snow cone-Food truck on the parking lot by the playground
• Free choice on playground
• hula hoop, jump ropes, chalk and bubble activities by the pavilion
• Movie in the library

Class Placements:

For class placements, we will be trying a new process that will hopefully make things super smooth, easy, and stress free.  Please be sure to do the following 2 things BEFORE learning labs on Thursday, May 5th:

• Complete your yellow and green placement cards.
• Make a copy of this template and complete it with your current class list.  You can simply save this in your drive.  

You will want to bring the placement cards, any notes that will help you, and your laptop.  

Friday, May 6th
Please be sure to park at the Farmer's Club on Friday for Kindergarten Grandparents day. Also, we will have moms joining us for DOC lunch with students. This should not affect your lunches other than students may be sitting in various places around the school to have lunch with their moms.

Flyervision Shout Outs:

Any time you have a shout out, you can complete this form rather than emailing us.  I will put a link on our blog so that you can always easily find it.  We want to find ways to start celebrating more than just ALEKS or ExtraMath.

Lounge Clean Up

Please put dishes in dish washer after use. Also, if you have items up for grabs from your spring cleaning, you can place on table outside of lounge and this will be thrown away daily if no one claims them.

Do you ever struggle with how to confer with your higher level readers?  Check out this video.  

You failed. OUTSTANDING! 37 second video to reinforce that failure is an important part of learning! Terrific as a discussion starter!


A special thanks to the Ippolito and Stockmann family for providing lunch for the teachers during our staff appreciation week.

4.30 iDrive Event at High School 9-3

5.3

• JA in a day-Grades K, 1, 2
• PTG board meeting 9-11
• LEAP Medieval Fair

5.4

• National School Nurse Day
• JA in a day-Grades 3, 4, 5, PEGS
• 1st Grade to Science Center
• 5th grade strings rehearsal 9:15-11:00
• Super Teacher Lunch Provided in Lounge by Stockmann family

5.5

• Class Placements during block
• Super Teacher Viviano’s Lunch Provided in Lounge by Ippolito family
• 9-10 a.m. K, 1, and 2 MAP celebration
• 2-3 p.m. 3, 4, and 5 MAP celebration
• 4th grade strings rehearsal 9:15-11:00
• 4th grade strings performance 6-7, 5th grade strings performance 7:30-8:30

5.6

• PARK @ Farmer’s Club
• K Grandparents Day
• Mom’s pizza lunch with DOC
• 4th grade Marshall the Dog presentation
• 1:00 Excellence in Art @ HS

5.7 Garden work day from 9-11

5.9 BOGO Scholastic Book Fair

5.10 Staff Meeting

5.12 iDiscover 4th grade Grandparents event

5.13 Staff Recognition and PD day

5.14 Spirit Festival and Parade

Angie Out:

5.6 @CO from 1-4

5.11 Admin Leadership @ Moore

BONUS! For anyone who reads to the end of this blog post, let's celebrate the Blues on Tuesday with a Blue's spirit day.

Hard at Work!

Here are some great things going on around Concord!

Measurement in Kindergarten

SS Travel brochures in PEGS

Measurement Activity in 5th Grade

Feedback for Writing pieces

Historical Fiction Book Clubs

The 7 Habits in Action in 2nd Grade

Midweek Update

There is so much going on, and I just want to make sure everything is clear so I am adding some business for a midweek update.

MAP Updates:

We have a few changes so please read this updated information.  

MAP Lunch schedule will remain in effect until Monday May 3rd.

Block Schedule will remain in effect until Tuesday, May 4th: 

Week 3	5/2/2016 (Mon)		5/3/2016 (Tues)
8:55-9:45	3rd		3rd
9:45-10:35	5th		1st
11:00-11:30	K		K
11:30-12:20	4th		4th
12:50-1:40	2nd		2nd
1:40-2:30	1st		5th
2:30-3:00	K		K

JA in a Day:

Junior Achievement will be coming next week.  Here is the schedule.  Grades K, 1, and 2 will have their sessions in their room on Tuesday, May 3rd.  Note: For 1st grade, block teachers will need to report to the rooms of their scheduled classes at the adjusted block time of 9:45-10:35.

Grades 3, 4, 5, and PEGS will have their sessions in their room on Wednesday, May 4th.   Note: For Grades 3, 4, and 5, block teachers will need to report to the rooms of their scheduled classes.   We will have an arrival station in the front lobby and student ambassadors will be bringing the volunteers to your class. 

MAP celebration on Thursday, May 5:

9-10 a.m. Grades K, 1, and 2

2-3 p.m.  Grades 3, 4, and 5

Teachers will get to celebrate with their students at this time as well.  I would ask that teachers spread themselves out around the playground.  Paula will be in the library and the door to go in and out of the library will be open if students want to come in to watch the movie.  During this time, students will have the choice to participate in the following activities:

• Kona ice snow cone-Food truck on the parking lot by the playground
• Free choice on playground
• hula hoop, jump ropes, chalk and bubble activities by the pavillion 
• Movie in the library

Class Placements:

For class placements, we will be trying a new process that will hopefully make things super smooth, easy, and stress free.  Please be sure to do the following 2 things BEFORE learning labs on Thursday, May 5th:

• Complete your yellow and green placement cards.
• Make a copy of this template and complete it with your current class list.  You can simply save this in your drive.  

You will want to bring the placement cards, any notes that will help you, and your laptop.  

Flyervision Shout Outs:
Any time you have a shout out, you can complete this form rather than emailing us.  I will put a link on our blog so that you can always easily find it.  We want to find ways to start celebrating more than just ALEKS or ExtraMath.

Parent Emails and Updates:

Please remember to include both Marco and I on parent emails you send home.  It helps us to keep in the loop on what is happening in your classrooms.  Thank you!

Earth Day Scavenger Hunt

Check out this collaborative Earth Day Scavenger Hunt by Mrs. Martin.

MAP Updates:
I so appreciate everyone’s flexibility and patience with MAP testing.  Our students put forth their best effort this past week and remained quiet in the halls.   The LEAP schedule for 3-5 is a little different this week. There is no LEAP for 5th Grade on Monday, 4th Grade goes in the afternoon on Tuesday, and 3rd Grade goes in the morning and will return before lunch on Wednesday.  Let me know if we need to make adjustments for individual students.  4th graders will need to eat lunch BEFORE leaving around 11:45.

MAP celebration:   We will be celebrating the end of the MAP testing and the efforts of all students on Thursday, May 5th.  Grades K, 1, and 2 will have extra recess from 9-10 and Grades 3, 4, and 5 will have extra recess from 2-3.  In addition, we are working to secure some kind of fun treat.  

Lindbergh Foundation Grants

Saturday, April 30 at the LHS parking lot from 9-3, you can test drive a car from Sunset Ford.  No sales pitch.  The foundation gets $20 for every test drive.   I can’t wait to see all of you there.

Administrative Professionals Day

This Wednesday is a special day to celebrate the lovely Terri Musante for all that she does.  Be sure to recognize her in some special way.  

Viviano’s Order

Please be sure to submit your order for the Viviano’s Italian lunch if you have not already done so.

Teacher Survey

Please take a quick moment to complete this survey.  I appreciate your honesty and reflections.  This is the perfect time of year for all of us to be thinking about what was effective and what can be improved upon for next year.

Outdoor Learning
It was so great to see all of your students enjoying and learning in the outdoors this past week.  Don't forget about the science carts.   I am hoping we will have the tree stumps for the garden ready this week.
A Random Idea to Try: EdCamp for Students

A special thanks to Anna Martin, Paula Graef, and Teri Keutzer for attend the PTG meeting.  The parents really appreciate seeing your dedication!

I also want to thank Valerie and Katie for their extra flexibility during MAP testing.  We so appreciate the use of your rooms.

4.25

No LEAP, 6:30 p.m. Truman and Sperreng 5th grade parent orientation

4.26

• ½ day p.m. LEAP 4th grade
• Teacher Leadership and Student Leadership Meeting

4.27

• ½ day a.m. LEAP 3rd grade
• Admin Professional Day-Be SURE to show some love to Terri Musante!

4.30

iDrive Event at High School 9-3

5.3

• Muffin day to celebrate YOU!
• JA in a day-Grades K, 1, 2
• PTG board meeting 9-11
• LEAP Medieval Fair

5.4

• JA in a day-Grades 3, 4, 5, PEGS
• 1st Grade to Science Center
• 5th grade strings rehearsal 9:15-11:00

5.5

• Class Placements during block
• Viviano’s Lunch
• 9-10 a.m. K, 1, and 2 MAP celebration
• 2-3 p.m. 3, 4, and 5 MAP celebration
• 4th grade strings rehearsal 9:15-11:00
• 4th grade strings performance 6-7, 5th grade strings performance 7:30-8:30

5.6

• PARK @ Farmer’s Club
• K Grandparents Day
• Mom’s pizza lunch with DOC
• 4th grade Marshall the Dog presentation
• 1:00 Excellence in Art @ HS

5.7

Garden work day from 9-11

Angie Out:

4.25 11:30 Lunch with Terri

4.26 Interviews at CO

5.6 @CO from 1-4