Girl Scout Troop text...

OMG- I love it! It came out awesome- you did a great job organizing and encouraging the girls to do this...

QUOTE OF THE MONTH... "THE BEST DAY EVER"...
by a 4th grader creating a song and green screen music video about FREEDOM as they were studying the Revolutionary War.

• Alice Leon has known Bayville School all of two months.  In total, she hasn't even accumulated 20 days walking its halls and entering its classrooms.  Yet in this short amount of time, she touched every student and educator that calls this place home. In the education field, we try everyday to make an impact.  We want students to work hard, learn well, and be successful.  Each grade level works hand in hand in an ultimate quest to make each and every student the best that they can be.  Miss Alice brought the same enthusiasm and perspective to our school and in her classes.  She pushed her students, inspired them, and gave them a reason to be proud.  The evidence of such an accomplishment is not found in one place.  It is interwoven in the lyrics, carried by the melody and visible in the smile of every proud face that sang for the school.    - Mary Guinan / Principal / Bayville Elementary

• Your talent amazes me...I actually listened to all three songs and I'm blown away at how you can make music about anything.  How I wish this was the way we could always teach!  I'm so appreciative of your visit and the way you have enriched the students' lives.
  I hope to see you for songwriting next year! "Amy Cazes/ 3rd Grade Teacher/Lakewood Elementary 

• "Alice brought in the content we've been learning in literacy in our  Journeys  program," explained Gess. "Recently, the students read informational texts about service dogs. They have also been working on writing persuasive essays and are using what they have learned to create digital photo stories to persuade people to raise service puppies. Now, they will be able to use their new recorded soundtrack as part of their photo stories."
  With marker in hand, Leon asked the fourth-graders to share what they knew about service dogs. Words like "intelligent disobedience," "smart," "cute," "color-blind" and "wheelchair" quickly filled the flip chart page. Then, Leon coached them to look at the words and chain them together to create lyrics.
  Within an hour, the group had written and recorded a snappy track, "We Love Service Dogs":  This is Common core at work!                 -Andrea Gess / 4th grade teacher / RP Connor School 

• Our second graders worked extremely hard on their song.  Their theme was community and school and they sure encapsulated both in their lyrics.  These students not only wrote the lyrics to the song, but also were able to create the melody.  Students are understanding the steps to be a great writer, whether as an author or a musician!
  "It is a tremendous opportunity for the students to see all the world has to offer. We can learn from more than just a textbook.  Students have learned how to write through music.  They have seen how to identify author's purpose through song.  They have been given a chance to create, which is something they will not soon forget."         -  Steve Rieder, Supervisor of Bayville School