The innovative ideas of three teachers in the Amityville Union Free School District resulted in $2,000 in grant awards, which will be used to further enhance learning opportunities for students. 

Amityville teachers received two out of the five Model Schools awards from Western Suffolk BOCES for their creative use of instructional technology. Northwest Elementary School co-teachers Kerrin Faulkner and Jenny Smith earned one of the $1,000 awards and Amityville Memorial High School social studies Jack Zider received the other. 

Ms. Faulkner and Ms. Smith have taught second grade together for the past four years and have continued to expand the use of technology to engage their students. Every year, students complete nonfiction writing pieces, including a research-based project on topics of their choice. This year, the project came about right after holiday break, but with Amityville schools on remote learning for the first two weeks of January, they looked for a new way for students to complete their projects.

The teachers turned to Book Creator, an app that students could access from their Chromebooks at home. Instead of paper projects, students created digital books on topics ranging from animals to historical events to sports. 

Ms. Faulkner and Ms. Smith said the addition of the technology component raised the level of engagement among students, who worked extremely hard to create their digital books. They were so proud of their finished products, the teachers said, they couldn’t wait to share with their classmates. All of the books were compiled into a digital book museum. 

“This technology really lifted the level of their writing,” Ms. Faulkner said. “It also really opened our eyes to new possibilities for the future.”

The teachers added that in addition to helping them with their research skills, the project showed students the important of including different text and non-text features in their writing, like photos and graphics, a table of contents, a glossary and fun facts pages.

For Black History Month in February, ninth graders in Mr. Zider’s social studies classes created a “Periodic Table of African-American Achievement in History” using Google Slides and Jamboard. Students, working independently or in small groups, created an interactive database in which they identified the accomplishments of notable Black figures throughout history. 

In addition to their Google Slide and Jamboard presentations, students created Flipgrid videos describing the impact those individuals made on society. The ninth graders explained why they chose their particular subjects and why their accomplishments should be celebrated. The projects were uploaded to their digital portfolios on Google Sites and shared with sixth graders at Edmund W. Miles Middle School.

“It’s very exciting,” Mr. Zider said of receiving the grant, “but all of the credit goes to the students. They really made it come to life. I’m just happy that they're being recognized for how dedicated they were to this project.”

Mr. Zider, who taught at the middle school for six years before moving to the high school this year, said that digital citizenship is an important part of social studies education He explained that the work his students do now should prepare them for the digital world they will experience after graduation, which is why he uses technology to such a great extent in his classroom. 

Ms. Faulkner, Ms. Smith and Mr. Zider will be able to use the grant money to pick out instructional resources of their choosing for their classrooms to enhance opportunities for their students. They will be honored at a Model Schools virtual celebration later this year and will be invited to speak for a few minutes about their projects. 

Kindness spread from one Amityville school to another, as students from Edmund W. Miles Middle School connected with their younger peers at Northwest Elementary School for a virtual character education program on March 15. 

Members of the middle school’s National Junior Honor Society chapter spoke to two kindergarten classes and two first grade classes in the first of several digital meet-ups. Each group of Honor Society students was paired with a specific class so they could directly connect with the Northwest children over Google Meet. 

Students learning both in school and remotely were able to join in the discussion about kindness. Honor Society members created digital presentations that Northwest students could view on the classroom digital display boards or on their Chromebooks.
 
The middle school students found many creative ways to spread the message of kindness. They included stories such as “A Joy Story” and “Snow White” in their digital presentations and made interactive games with questions about kindness using Kahoot. Honor Society members also asked the kindergartners and first graders to identify ways they show kindness to others either in school or at home, and challenged them to perform random acts of kindness.
 
Northwest Elementary School Principal Kathleen Hyland said that in a typical school year, Honor Society members visit the school to read to the children and to assist with evening events. Because of the pandemic, she and adviser Carlee Brunson wanted to find a new way for the middle school and elementary school students to connect, so they decided on the virtual meet-ups, featuring character education lesson and read alouds.  

St. Patrick’s Day served as inspiration for students at Northwest Elementary School to enhance their literacy and math skills. Many children donned green on March 16 and 17 as they participated in activities centered around the festive holiday.

Kindergartners created word families based on “at” on green leprechaun hats. They also worked on writing completing sentences using prompts such as “I feel lucky when…” and “Who is worth more to me than a pot of gold?” Their teachers read aloud several St. Patrick’s Day books including “How to Catch a Leprechaun” and “Pete the Cat: The Great Leprechaun Chase.”

First graders tapped into their imaginations and wrote a few sentences describing what they would do with a pot of gold. Second graders worked on their math fluency. They solved double digit equations on coins at the end of a rainbow and wrote two numbers on a pair of shamrocks to make 10.  

To a child, 100 may seem like a very large number, but students at Northwest Elementary School learned that it’s not so big after all. In fact, it only took a little more than half of the school year to get there, as students and staff celebrated the 100th day on Feb. 26.

Many children, and even several kindergarten teachers, dressed up as if they were 100 years old. Donning wigs, glasses, curlers and canes, they were able to envision themselves a century old. 

Kindergarten students sang and danced along to “Count to 100” videos and made necklaces out of 100 Fruit Loops. They also did 100 exercises in groups of tens, learning that keeping their bodies healthy just might help them live to 100. Their peers in second grade did writing pieces about life as 100-year-olds. 

Students throughout the school wore hats to declare themselves “100 days smarter” and “100 days wiser.”

Northwest Elementary School was filled with heart, literally, in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day. The symbol of love could be found all around the building as students learned how the holiday is a celebration of friendship and kindness.

A heart tree decorated the kindergarten hallway in the new wing as students made paper heart crafts with smiley faces and inspirational messages. Students folded paper arms and legs for the hearts as a dexterity exercise. Also to work on fine motor skills, children crumpled up small pieces of tissue paper, glued them down in the shape of a heart, and added their handprints in the middle as a gift to bring home. 

First graders read many books about the holiday including “Happy Valentine’s Day, Charlie Brown” and “Love Monster and the Perfect Present.” Other students sorted candy hearts by color, then graphed their results, as a math activity.