Briarcliff Fourth-Graders Teach Younger Pupils

From the Briarcliff Manor schools

Deborah Adelberg’s first-grade class at Todd Elementary School in Briarcliff Manor was full of high-fives and smiles when the room was filled with some older visitors.

Katherine Hall’s fourth-grade class brought their personal devices to teach their younger peers how to play Cool Math games.

“The fourth-graders worked really hard on a presentation,” Hall told the class. “They each picked a game, and they are going to show you how to do it.”

The fourth-grade students carefully explained how to play their games and patiently answered questions from their buddies.

They had prepared slideshows to explain their games independently and worked for three sessions with Todd technology teacher Lori Whitman on preparing the framework for the class.

“We took a really long time making the slides that explain how to play,” fourth- grader Desmond said.

The fourth-graders embraced their roles as teachers and offered encouragement to their buddies throughout the period, as the younger students navigated the new games.

“This is awesome,” first-grader Matthew told his buddy Theodore.

Riley said she chose the game “Primate Pile Up” for her buddy because “people like monkeys, and it’s really colorful.”

She said explaining a concept to a younger student can be difficult, but found a good strategy to get through to her buddy.

“It’s harder because I am older, and I understand what certain words mean,” she said. “But I just have to think about how I was in first-grade.”

Photos: Todd Elementary School fourth-grade students taught first-graders how to play Cool Math games using individual presentations on their personal devices.