School One held its annual circus themed S.M.A.R.T. night. This was made possible by a F.A.S. T grant sponsored by the Linden Education Association. It was an enjoyable evening with the emphasis on family learning, fun, engagement, and collaboration. Over 200 Families participated in a variety of interactive activities such as Kahoot Math, Differentiated Math Centers, Beat the Principal Typing, Wacky Science, Arts and Crafts, Karaoke, Photo Booth Writing, Music and Movement to name a few. Each station had a specific objective that correlated to the acronym of S.M.A.R.T. – Science, Math, Reading, Art, and Technology. For example, in the Photo Booth Writing Station students were encouraged to write about their personal experiences at the School One Carnival. This collaborative activity fostered conversations regarding how simple steps in journaling, writing letters to family members, and simple narratives retelling fun experiences can engage students in writing. The Karaoke Station is an example where mastering fluency can come in the form of singing fun! In addition to the above examples, all other stations included the opportunity for parents and students to practice sequencing, gross and fine motor skills, understanding processes, problem solving, deductive reasoning, and team building.
The teachers cohesively worked as a team honing in on the myriad of talent to transfer School One into a circus themed atmosphere. The planning and implementation of this event took several committees working together to define objectives and fine-tune their assigned tasks. All of the details bridged the planning phase into fruition, and ultimately turned into a magical moment in time.
(above) 1st grader Kaycee Feher and her dad Peter Feher have a great time in the photo booth. (We see those bunny ears dad…)They enjoyed writing about their experience.
(above) 5th grader Antonina Parczewska and her mom Beata Parczewska take in all the fun at Under the Big Top at School No. 1.
(above) The Circus Came to Town… said Kendall Pittman and Chloe Latronico of School No. 1. The girls could not stop speaking about…Wacky Science experiements, facepainting, and the most fun was trying to beat Principal Dona Preston in typing. Who knew learning could be so much at a circus!!!
