North Bellmore Families Learn Together

From John Dinkelmeyer Schools:Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles filled classrooms at John Dinkelmeyer Elementary School in the North Bellmore School District on Nov. 21 for Visitor’s Day. The annual event gives the special guests a chance to participate in hands-on activities along with the students.

Each grade level offered a special activity. Kindergartners and their guests made Thanksgiving centerpieces that looked like turkeys, while first-grade classrooms featured the Great Apple Investigation in which partners observed, measured and tasted their apples. Literacy was the focus in third-grade classrooms, where students presented posters about their author study of Patricia Polacco, part of the Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop initiative. Each student and his or her adult visitor made a piece of a quilt based on the book “The Keeping Quilt.” Fourth-grade focused on STEM, which builds skills in science, technology, engineering and math. Children and their adult partners worked together to build structures that could support the weight of a textbook using a limited supply of gumdrops and toothpicks. “This was a nice opportunity for the parents and other special guests to come in and see what the children are learning, to get a glimpse of a day in the classroom,” said Principal Faith Skelos. “The teachers planned cooperative activities that allowed students and parents to do something together.”

Image Courtesy of John Dinkelmeyer Schools