Entrepreneurs

Miss Bozdeck's 2nd graders have been studying economics (goods, services, producers, consumers) in social studies and have become entrepreneurs.  Check out their commercials they made trying to convince their consumers to buy their products by clicking on the links below. The Entrepreneurs Fair will be this Friday.
Picture Perfect
Origami Creations
Pipe Cleaner Creations
Super Stress Ball Makers
Rainbow Bracelets
Pet Rocks

Weekly Update 3.26.17-4.1.17

I feel your pain.  Today felt like the Sundays of college-filled with a longing to be starting and not finishing the weekend.   As I quote several of you from Facebook, the end of spring break brings us that much closer to summer!   In the next 8 weeks that lead up to the excitement of summer, I challenge you to finish strong.  Be EPIC!   

I would also encourage you to finish on a positive note.   Change is on the horizon-this will be a time of change for many of our staff members from moving grade levels to moving schools.  How do you want to be remembered during this time?  What will your legacy be for the 2016-17 school year?

   

Concord Expo:

Don’t forget to join us on Tuesday night from 5:30-7 for the Concord Expo!  It is going to be such a fun event-here is the link to the flyer.

Classroom Redesign Challenge:

The Classroom Redesign Challenge is an invitation to rethink and reimagine how you and your students can transform your classroom into a true 21st Century Learning Space!  The Innovative Technology Education Fund has been inspired by Designer/Educator Rebecca Hare and Saint Louis educator, Robert Dillon’s book The Space: A Guide for Educators. Now, we're giving you a chance to redesign and reimagine your space with the support and consultation of learning space designer Rebecca Hare. ITEF will sponsor the furnishings for the transformation up to $5,000!

The deadline to apply for this one-time grant is April 10, 2017. Start your application today!    http://innovteched.com/classroomredesign/

Please include the following  in your communication with parents this week:

Hurry! It's not too late to order your yearbook. The price increases by $5 this Friday, March 31st. Go to www.yearbookordercenter.com and enter order number 14904.

Angie Out of the Building:  

Tuesday a.m. @ CO for interviews

Friday p.m. @ Moore for principal meeting

Library Luge Challenge

The 4th and 5th grade students have planned, designed, tested their designs, and made changes to their luges based on their practice runs in preparation of the final Luge Challenge.  What a successful week in the library!

Webquest

Fourth grade students are completing a Webquest in science to learn about rocks and minerals.

Weekly Update 3.12.17-3.17.17

Supply List: Please feel free to wait until after spring break to determine your 2017-18 supply list.  

Dinner on Thursday: We will provide dinner on Thursday night for conferences.

Nominations for Concord Teacher of the Year and Support Staff Person of the Year should be given to me as soon as possible.  We have so many deserving of this recognition at our school.  Please consider nominating a colleague.

No Family Team this Friday: We are going to cancel our Family Teams this week as we will be getting together on April 5th.  Also, on Friday during your short plan I will be around to talk with each certified staff member about their placement for the 17-18 school year.

We will be “Cruising” Tuesday, March 14-Thursday, March 16. Students are welcome to dress up for this event in beach type wear. We do not allow swimsuits and they still need tennis shoes.

Don't forget - the deadline to order the 2016-17 Concord ALL COLOR Yearbook is March 31.  To order now, CLICK HERE or return the yearbook order envelope you received  to your child's homeroom teacher with a check for $15 made out to Concord PTG.

Please consider giving to the Arts & Education Foundation.  Use the link here.

What an outstanding week of learning here at Concord!  What I loved most was that students were so highly engaged and excited about the authentic learning experiences they were participating in.  I would like to highlight just a few of these experiences in the blog post this week.

Kindergarten: In Mrs. Mais’s room, students designed a math sentence, created a poster, and then created a video to go along with their story problem. You should really stop by to see this display.  Bring your students by to scan the QR codes and see these students in action.

Teeny Tiny Concord Town-1st Grade:

First graders celebrated their economic unit of study by creating a small town.  Each classroom had a good and a service for sale. Students were given play money and were then able to purchase what they wanted.  Students also had to work in their classroom for a portion of time.  Click here to see the video Audrey Norman made.

Greteman’s Garden

Good: Garden supplies

Service: Playing the Dash and Dot Robot

Ms. Faulstich’s  Room

Good: Candy Shop

Service: Games GaloreMrs. Boyd’s Room:

Good: Target $1 Shop

Service: Photo Booth

Mrs. Hickel’s Room:

Good: Blind Bag

Service: Glow in the Dark Dance Party

Mrs. McFarland’s Room:

Good: Popcorn and a drink
Service: Movie

4th Grade Expert Fair:

Students recently completed their Research Unit of Study on a topic of interest and then had an opportunity to share their knowledge with families.  Such a fun event to celebrate the end of the writing unit!

Angie Out:

Monday, March 13th All day at a Principal Retreat

Wednesday, March 15th @ Admin Leadership

Skype Author Visit with Jill Esbaum

Mrs. Martin and Ms. Bozdeck's class Skyped with author Jill Esbaum today.   To prepare for the virtual visit, the students read many of her books ahead of time and created questions to ask her about her writing process.  They were able to ask questions and listen to her interesting responses.  She is an amazing author who writes for National Geographic.  What a wonderful learning experience for our students!

Persuasive Speeches in Action

3rd graders used SeeSaw to record their persuasive speeches from writing.  Be sure to take your iPads and QR code readers for a little field trip.  

   

You can also check out Ms. Tackes' facebook page.

Reading and Writing Strategies Resources

Check out the Facebook page for the Reading and Writing Strategies book for some wonderful resources to download.  To follow their page on FB, search for "The Reading and Writing Strategies Book Community."  Go to Files.

Under Files, you will find many resources to download, such as ready-made mini anchor charts.

Walkthroughs at Kennerly

Saw some cool things at Kennerly today during our district walkthroughs that I thought I would share.

In a 3rd grade classroom, they were using Padlet in groups to discuss how they can make their fairy tale adaptations stronger. One student was a "driver" who typed the response and the others were drivers to help generate ideas.  Then they changed jobs.  I loved this strategy because it engaged all learners in the revision process.

In a 5th grade class, they had 2 student leaders for the week who were in charge of leading a classwide goal setting session.  They started out by discussing if they met their goals the week before and then voting on what their goals would be for the next week.  They referenced their data wall to really analyze what had been happening in the room.  Talk about student ownership!

Expert Fair

Students in 4th grade are celebrating the end of their non-fiction writing unit with an Expert Fair on Thursday.  The students are preparing by creating posters to display all they learned about their topic to support their non-fiction writing piece.

New Books in the Library

Looking for a read aloud over a certain attribute that enhances good character traits?  Check out the new titles in the library under the different category headings:  Social-Emotional Well-Being; Acceptance; Kindness; Nurturing Empathy

Lindbergh Luge Challenge

In the library the 4th and 5th grade students are in the designing phase to complete the luge challenge. They are designing a luge to see which car will travel the farthest.

Weekly Update 3.3.17

Elementary and Middle School Boundary Change Update

On Feb. 22, the Boundary Committee met for the third time to fine-tune elementary school boundaries and discuss middle school boundaries. The committee will have one more meeting on Monday, March 6, before presenting to the Board of Education during a workshop on March 9. The committee will accept feedback through March 3. To view the map that the committee is working on, or to contact the committee directly, click here:https://goo.gl/gc2svb

Just a reminder the Valic representative will be in the staff lounge on March 8th from 11:30-1:30.  Please use the link Terri Musante shared or stop by to visit.

Staff Meeting on Tuesday:

Please bring your Reading Strategies book if you have one.  We will begin at 7:45 a.m.

Random Reminders:  

• PGPs and SLOs should begin wrapping up.  It is always a good idea to go back to your PGP and look at your original goals.  For your SLOs, be sure you have all the data you need.  
• Observation season is not over...please invite me in so I can see specific work on your PGP goals.
• Positive calls home:  As we come to the end of the quarter (which is SO hard to believe), some positive calls home could go a long way.  
• On the flip side, if any student is dropping more than one letter grade in a given class or subject, a call home now would be good.

Thank you for making learning fun this week.  Be sure to check out all of the awesome posts from the week by scrolling down below!  So many great lessons are happening all over our school.  It was a great week to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday and reading!  

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

Just wanted to share a few resources from our learning labs this week:

Florida Center for Reading Research: Click on grade level and then select the activity.  

Readworks Digital: Short pieces-both fiction and nonfiction with paired texts

**Fri March 10th is also the Lindbergh Leader Banquet.**

Angie Out of the Building:

Tuesday, March 7, 10:00-12:00 District Walkthroughs

Friday, March 10, 12:30-4:00 Principal Meeting @ CO

Monday, March 13, all day-Conference

Celebrating Dental Health and President's Day in Kindergarten