MAGAZINE
TED-ED: IDEAS WORTH SPREADING
SCIENCES FOR PEACE
#8 DECEMBER * 2021
SPOTLIGHT
RIOMUN: CONCEPT IS THE BIGGEST DELEGATION OF THE SIMULATION
Sciences for Peace
PROJECT IN FOCUS Journey to the Red Planet
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FESTIVAL OF LEARNING
TABLE OF CONTENTS
4 EDITORIAL 6
Photos and moments that marked the celebration of learning
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TESTIMONIALS
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TRAÇO COM ABRAÇO
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PODCAST
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2022 READY
Watch video testimonials from parents, learners and educators
TED-ED TALKS Ideas worth spreading
DIPLOMACY Lessons learned at Rio Model United Nations
Sustainable store created by Grade 3 learners from Concept São Paulo
Writer Maisa Zakzuk talks about biographies and family memories
Middle School takes part in an assembly to design next year for a change
PREVIOUS EDITIONS Get involved in our community through Spotlight magazine
EDITORIAL
SCIENCES FOR PEACE
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Learning the meaning of learning. This was the tagline created when we launched Escola Concept, back in 2018, and it became a motto for our everyday journeys. But, after all, why do we learn what we learn at school? On November 10th, Unesco celebrated the International Science Day for Peace, and this date gives us a hint of what we consider to be a priority in education: to nurture citizens that will continuously learn and give back to society by putting their knowledge into practice. The contents covered in this Spotlight edition celebrate knowledge in different areas: Language, Science, Arts, and Diplomacy, to name a few. We are very proud of the difference our learners are already making in the world! Enjoy the summer break with your family,
Hope you have a great reading!
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PROJECT
JOURNEY TO THE RED PLANET How can humans safely explore Mars?
By Andréia G. Marques, Grade 3 educator at Escola Concept São Paulo
One of the thematic areas of Science in Grade 3 is Earth and Universe. Thinking about one of the pillars of Concept School, which is collaboration, we invited João Paulo Guerra Barrera, a Middle School student, to chat with our group. João has been in love with space since he was very young: at the age of 5 he wrote his first book on this topic and at the age of 7 he was the winner of a NASA award. So, nobody is more inspiring than João to kick off the second project of the year. 06 | spotlight - december 2021
Learning by the book - and in practice Grade 3 started studying about the planet Earth, making comparisons to Mars. As reading is one of our principal activities, we answered many of the project's essential questions with incredible readings: Manu and the Earth inside (Renata Regina Constantino Barrela), Night and day (Eunice Braido), Earth and Moon (Torrey Maloof). Some biographies for children also helped us: Isaac Newton to find out more about gravity and Neil Armstrong to understand more about the exploration of the Moon. One of the significant questions of this learning journey was brought by student João Paulo Nascimento Fainberg, after listening to part of the book which said that there was a possibility that bacteria could be found on Mars, was: “Is it possible that what happened here on Earth, as the Theory of Evolution of Species says, also happened on Mars?” That question led us to read the biography of Charles Darwin and deepen our knowledge of his theory.
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Throughout this journey, we had an expert help us! Gabe Gabrielle is a former NASA engineer and currently delivers motivating and inspiring talks around the world. At first, he talked with all Grade 3 learners to tell them about space, NASA and motivate children to always persist as a way to achieve their goals. Inspired by Gabe's energy, students decided to create something to help man explore space. In Design Technologies classes, they thought of several ideas, but ended up deciding to build an astronaut suit that would allow humans to explore Mars.
NASA Consulting In this project, we connected our discoveries with UN Sustainable Goal 9: Industry, innovation, and infrastructure. We reflected on the importance of technology in our lives in the past, present and future. With this in mind, the big question came up: “How can humans explore Mars safely?” The “safety” part came about after understanding the extreme conditions on the red planet.
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Taking into account everything they learned, mainly in Science, they made their first drawings. Each group was responsible for a part of the outfit: helmet, upper body, pants, boots, and backpack. When the initial schemes were finished, we invited Gabe again, this time only to listen to the children and give feedback on their inventions. We can say that this was one of the highlights of this project.
Prototyping an astronaut suit in Maker Space According to the NASA expert's guidance, the children put the pieces together to adjust some more details before building the prototypes. In Art classes, one student from each group joined with others forming mixed groups to design the layout of the final costume. As the last step of the Design Thinking process is prototyping, the long-awaited time to get their hands on arrived! The Fab Lab has turned into a laboratory of creation and imagination for Grade 3B learners.
As a final objective, the children prepared a Space Exhibition to show the clothes they developed at the Festival of Learning. In addition, to develop the Habit of Mind Communicating with Clarity and Precision, the learners prepared a digital newspaper and a newscast, including interviews, about this learning journey that was so memorable and meaningful for students of Grade 3B 2021!
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CELEBRATION
On stage, on the court, in parks, in collaborative spaces, in the library/Inspiration Commons, in Maker Space/FabLab, or in reference spaces. At Escola Concept, learning happens all the time, anywhere, and this is very evident on the days of Festival of Learning. How amazing it was to bring our community together on campus for a week before the end of 2021! 10 | spotlight - december 2021
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"My daughter thinks outside the box. At Escola Concept, students are encouraged to develop critical thinking, curiosity, research and seek new ways to solve challenges."
Paulo Perazzo
Escola Concept Salvador family
Watch this and other testimonials from families, educators, and learners in the website escolaconcept.com.br/visitas/sp
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TED-ED
IDEAS WORTH SPREADING!
The TED-Ed Student Talks Program supports learners as they discover, explore and present their ideas in the form of short, TED-style talks. Only schools approved to participate in the TED-Ed Club can promote those events. Escola Concept is one of them and we have been working on learners' communicating skills in a weekly lesson in Middle School. Check out some of the ideas worth spreading that have been developed by our learners during the year!
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EQUESTRIAN THERAPY Equestrian practitioner, Manuela
Clemente (Grade 9, São Paulo) had the opportunity to observe riding lessons that have a different objective than her own – which is to compete – by focusing on health care for children and adults. "I wanted to know more about how therapy with horses works and I discovered that its reach goes beyond syndromes and
SELF-STUDY Joaquim Bento Gonçalves (Grade 9, São Paulo) began exploring games and children's programming software, such as Fortnite and Minecraft. Then he jumped to website programming, using the html language, and today he is dedicated to learning more about phyton and artificial intelligence software. In this journey, Joaquim understood that it is possible (and very rewarding) to study alone. "You can pick the topic that interests you and move at whatever pace you can," says the 9thgrader, who chose the self-study topic to present as a TED-Ed talk.
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physical problems, being a great helper for the treatment of emotional or psychological cases", she says. "The horse is a partner who does not judge you, it is not selfish".
BENEFITS FROM VOLUNTEER WORK Luiz Felipe Stankovic Rudge Leite (Grade 8, Ribeirão Preto) is going to talk about volunteer work, based on an experience that moved him deeply. "I organized a children's birthday party at a hospital, with the help of my parents and I felt really happy about it. So I see that being involved in volunteer work, at the same time that it makes someone happy, brings us happiness." In his TED-Ed talk, Luiz will share the benefits of volunteer work from the perspective of the volunteers and he hopes that his example can inspire other people.
THEATER CLUB! Since the beginning of the year, Middle and High School learners from Concept Salvador have been having weekly meetings to read and deepen their language skills in the English Club. They found a common passion in theater and have transformed their club into a Theater Club. On the last day of the school year (December, 10th), they presented the play, "The Wish Peddler," inspired by Tom McCoy's play of the same title. The play is about the wishes we make that could go terribly wrong, teaching us to be careful about what we wish for. The theme is also connected to Global Goal #1, aiming to end poverty.
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When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.
M a l a l a Y o u s a f z a i
DIPLOMACY
LESSONS FROM RIO MODEL UNITED NATIONS The Rio Model United Nations (RioMUN) conference was a unique opportunity for diplomacy simulation, hosted by the Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro in midNovember, together with members of The British School, Rio de Janeiro. RioMUN gathered students from top international schools in Brazil to partake in two days of intense debate regarding current topics. Escola Concept’s delegation was the largest in the conference, with 68 Middle and High School participants, from our three campi. It was exciting to see each learner’s dedication, from the preparation to the conference. They learned about parliamentary procedure, how to address the chair, how to write a resolution, the process of voting, and how to prepare amendments. 24 | spotlight - december 2021
This experience offered a meaningful opportunity for our learners to practice their public speaking skills, understand the value of communicating with clarity and precision, manage their impulsivities of wanting to share their opinions at any time, share their speeches in favor or against the topics being discussed while listening with understanding and empathy, and showing respect when interacting with delegates from other schools/nations.
IT WAS EXCITING TO SEE EACH LEARNER’S DEDICATION, FROM THE PREPARATION TO THE CONFERENCE.
We are proud to see learning made visible through the dedication, time, and practice our learners put forth! Check out their words about the experience.
João Antonio de Lacerda Soares, Grade 7 - Escola Concept São Paulo What I liked most about the experience was... To observe how the other delegations were expressing their point of view, with the information they brought, and the alliances that happened between the delegations based on similar points of view. What was most difficult for me when adapting to formal debate… Defending my delegation and explaining my points with good reasoning. An interesting thing I learned about the country I represented… That actually Portugal, is top 1 in the life quality ranking. I opened my mind to a different point of view when... each delegation was showing their amendments, so that we could reach a resolution. I swear that I had to ask for clarification from each delegation before I could vote. 25 | spotlight - december 2021
Thomás Dias Ferraz de Campos, Grade 9 - Escola Concept São Paulo
What I liked most about the experience was… having the opportunity to defend Brazil, my country, in a debate. I also enjoyed discussing with other delegates in an informal way during the process of making our resolutions to the issue at hand. What was most difficult for me when adapting to a formal debate was… the language. Besides English being a difficulty, we couldn't use personal pronouns. An interesting thing I learned about the country I represented was… that Brazil does not make the effort to participate in UN debates on racism, a topic that was debated in the simulation.
I opened my mind to a divergent point of view when… whenever delegates would defend countries who had a position contrary to mine. Giovana Ramalho Lacerda, Grade 8 - Escola Concept Salvador What I liked most about the experience was… that I had the courage to face the Taliban with confidence, in the position of the Russian delegation, in defense of the sovereignty of Europe and respect for traditions and regions. What was most difficult for me when adapting to a formal debate... was finding the right words to express my country's opinion, being understood, and acting as a diplomat in the effort to resolve a conflict. An interesting thing I learned about the country I represented... is that Russia has already tried to implant communism in Afghanistan to have better results in the Cold War, and this country was even at war from approximately 1979 to 1992 because of the dispute for the government. I opened my mind to a dissenting opinion when... the Taliban representatives announced that they planned to invade Europe. Russia was on the Taliban’s side, as it had an interest in oil, but as it did not want to lose its trades with Europe, it changed sides. 26 | spotlight - december 2021
Gabriel Marcassa de Vasconcelos, Grade 9 - Escola Concept São Paulo
What I liked the most about the experience was… seeing how easy it is for me to write resolutions.
What was most difficult for me when adapting to a formal debate was... not using personal pronouns. You had to say "The UK Delegation" instead of "I" or "my country".
An interesting thing I learned about the country I represented was... the strong position
of the UK, interfering in issues around the world. I opened my mind to a divergent point of view when… I was contradicted by another delegate, as this forced me to think more, reflect and consider the opinions of other countries.
Olivia Abreu Martins, Grade 8 Escola Concept Ribeirão Preto What I liked most about the experience was… that it is a very real experience, from the formal way of speaking, to the conversations that are grounded on the position of each country/delegation. I didn't know much about China and representing it was a challenge. I researched a lot and asked for help to get prepared. I also learned a lot from seeing how other students spoke at the event. What was most difficult for me when adapting to a formal debate was… that as much as we prepare, everything can change. Discussions can go down different paths. I always tried to use what I knew to argue during debates. An interesting thing I learned about the country I represented was… that China’s political priorities are very different, compared to ours in Brazil. For example, the use of military force. I opened my mind to a divergent point of view when... we needed to give up on some points of view to reach an agreement and deliver a successful resolution. 27 | spotlight - december 2021
From: Traço com Abraço team To: Concept Families Dear families, We are Grade 3C and we are writing this letter because we want to introduce you to Traço com Abraço. Traço com Abraço is a project that aims to protect animals and the environment. Throughout the project, we made lots of drawings to become prints for different products. All the profit will be donated to Instituto Camila e Luiz Taliberti, whose motto is justice and respect for others and the environment. It is that time of the year that we buy gifts. What about buying sustainable gifts designed by children to help a great cause? You will be helping the environment and the products are awesome. Visit our shop! With gratitude,
Grade 3C Escola Concept São Paulo
Flower pots (Cachepôs)
Coin purses (Porta moedas)
Kindle cases
(Capas para Kindle)
Illustrated pockets (Bolsos temáticos)
You can find these products in our online store at "Quero Dobra - Traço com Abraço Concept". Just access the QR code or click HERE.
PODCAST
FROM EACH PERSON'S STORY, YOU KNOW THE WORLD Come listen to our second episode of Concept Cast, in which we invited writer Maísa Zakzuk to answer questions and curiosities from Grade 1B learners from Escola Concept São Paulo, who read her book "A Árvore da Família". Por Camila Icassatti, líder de comunicação e marketing da Escola Concept In the second episode of our Concept Cast series, we had the joy of talking to Maísa Zakzuk, writer and producer of educational content. Maísa worked for a long time as script writer for programs that marked generations in TV Cultura, such as X-Tudo and Castelo Rátim-bum. She has already written five highly sensitive and awardwinning children's books, among which A Árvore da Família, Meu Avô Árabe and Eu estou aqui - children who left their countries to start a new life in Brazil.
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The questions that Maísa answered were asked by Grade 1B learners from Escola Concept São Paulo, a group that developed a project on family biographies and history. At the end of the project, in December, the writer came to school to meet the children and check their research registers and the autobiographical book they wrote and launched at the Festival of Learning. Maísa brought a suitcase with several documents and her family stories. "I love hearing stories," said Maísa Zakzuk, "By hearing more about each other, we discover that all people are one world." That's why Maísa defends that all of us – families and educators – should cultivate the habit of telling stories to children.
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Concept CAST Episode 1: The science of happiness. With positive psychology expert Carol Romano
Episode 2: Family Memories. With writer Maísa Zakzuk
Tune in to our podcast channel
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2022
Let's design
together!
We celebrated the upcoming school year of 2022 in an assembly with Middle and High School learners, in wich we gifted them with a pair of "post-it sneakers" to inspire them to design their future!
The theme, Designing for Change, was used to lead the conversation and share the gift. Designing for change and designing for impact starts with each one of them. One person can make a difference and this difference starts with small actions every day.
What difference will our learners design for 2022?
During the meeting we had with learners in the last week of the school year, we asked them to think about and write what they would start/stop/continue doing to grow as learners. We spent 1 hour reflecting and sharing ideas and actions. It was an afternoon filled with reflection, excitement, and celebration.
We are 2022 Ready!
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