Elementary Schools Host “App-Tastic” Family Fun Night

Last week, Wall Township School District’s curriculum team held its inaugural “App-tastic” family fun night for all district elementary students grades, 3rd through 5th, and their families, at Central Elementary School. The event was organized and piloted by Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Jill Dobrowansky, E.L.A Supervisor Cathleen Brenner, Curriculum Assistants, Melissa Bramley and Peg McChesney, and Gifted and Talented Teacher, Mia Gallagher. The goal of the evening was to promote and highlight the emerging field of STEM through the use of interactive Literacy, Math and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) stations, in order to inspire students and generate excitement and creativity.

Under the supervision of Elementary Level Gifted & Talented Teacher, Mia Gallagher, parents and students were introduced to one of the district’s new 3D printers through a live demonstration.  The audience watched in amazement as the new 3D machine created a teacup right before their eyes. The students were also challenged to create a tower out of construction paper, using a minimal amount of duct tape.  The tower had to remain upright for at least 30 seconds.  The “Gumdrop Domes” and “Geodestic Domes’” were also a popular activity with the audience.

The Math activities featured a measuring station, entitled “Measuring Up”, in which  students had to measure their parents and parents had to measure their children.  Students were then instructed to convert their measurements to feet and inches.  The data was gathered and graphed onto a giant line plot and put on display for all to see.  Math fluency was also tested at another station named, “Make 24”, which involved students and parents competing against each other to become the first team to make the number 24, by using the four digits on their playing card and any of the four mathematical operations.  Students also created 2D and 3D figures out of colored marshmallows and toothpicks and learned about the various attributes of these shapes.

The Literacy stations celebrated reading as an exciting adventure.  The iPad exploration station displayed Literacy and Math Apps that the students and parents accessed.  Parents were exposed to literacy best practices that have been implemented in our school district, such as Readers Theatre, to increase reading fluency, and Bloom’s Taxonomy Of Higher Order Questioning, to enhance comprehension.  Parents and students also had an opportunity to participate in an exciting Spelling Bee competition and expressed their creativity through a Story Quilt creation which illustrating their favorite book.

In addition, local author Linda Hodgins author of the book, “The Blue Sand Dollar: The Magic Blue Sand Dollar” shared her story and discussed the importance of kindness with the audience.  Linda also discussed her voyage to becoming an author and asked the students to pen their own piece of writing.  Linda encouraged the students to continue their adventure as young authors. The evening concluded with a drawing of $15 iTunes gift cards, and a grand prize drawing for an iPad mini, which was won by Sara Nugent, a third grade student at West Belmar Elementary School.