The Frosty the Snowman Intrigue

Who played Frosty this year?

    Each year the holiday assembly is cloaked in one simple intriguing question. Who is Frosty the Snowman? Typically, a mystery staff member slips into the Frosty outfit and stands perfectly still on stage, until a magical hat brings him/her to life. But students and most staff members have no idea who is in the costume until Frosty's true identity is revealed near the end of the assembly. A week before the event, we run an online poll asking students who they think it will be. They'll vote early and often in favor of who they want it to be or who they have deduced it will be based on previous Frosty selections. And as one might expect, the polling data never reflects the actual outcome. This year's dancing Frosty? It was Bryan LaBoy, our ubiquitous custodian. In the end, after multiple staged plot twists and storytelling head fakes during the assembly, orchestrated by Dr. Houseknecht, in which students are teased with the possibility of Frosty being "this person or that person," children and adults alike are always joyfully gratified, when the mystery is revealed. This is Edgewood School. Always tantalizing. Always imaginative. Always fun.

Watch Frosty come to life with the help of our Principal for a Day and holiday singers Annie Cavalluzzi and Shoshana Levine. - Paul Tomizawa

Sculpting an Act of Faith and Charity

   

4th grade donated over 700 cans
of food with this sculpture.

     At the holiday assembly, the 4th grade unveiled an impressive sculpture of the American Flag. It was a work of art consisting of 373 cans of Campbell's Tomato Soup and 174 cans of Starkist tuna cans. But like any collaborative project or novel approach to learning, there were doubts. Would it work? Would it be appreciated? And considering the many needs of building a classroom community, teaching/learning the curriculum, and meeting the diverse needs and interests of an energetic student body, would it be a worth the time invested in this learning experience? So the teachers, Mrs. Aberman, Mrs. Mraz, Mrs. Nedwick, and myself and our students, slogged through the doubts, looking for reasons to believe and persevere.
    Students and teachers discussed construction strategies, engineering and mathematics, elements of design, and we experimented in the computer lab by building short towers of cans and wondered how high we could build, before they toppled. We had begun collecting cans in early November. Parents quickly responded to our requests for donations. And while we had ambitious designs on completing the sculpture in time for the Thanksgiving assembly, things...you know... happen. Still we persisted and took advantage of the extra time to sort through questions across the grade level and experiment with ideas that were sprouting across the grade level. We debated whether we should build a single layer construction or a double layer.
    The original Canstruction sculpture from which we drew our inspiration, used a double layer. But a double layer meant asking parents for nearly 100 additional soup cans, to match our original goal. A single layer could be built against a backboard, but would probably mean that we'd lose the bend in our sculpture that would make our flag look like it was waving in the breeze. It was clear that students wanted to keep the flag-wave, but acknowledged that we didn't have time to collect more cans. Fortunately, in visiting the rules for creating Canstruction sculptures, we learned we could use tape. YES! So teams of students began binding the cans that we had and later stacked them in columns on stage.
    Today, this sculpture only lives in memories and photos. Shortly after we unveiled this beautiful work of art, we deconstructed it, and donated over 700 cans of food to the Soup Kitchen at St. Peter's Church in Portchester, NY. Looking back, it was clear that this project was not just about collaboration, engineering, and design. It was an act of conscience shared by parents, students, and their teachers.  - Paul Tomizawa

Knitting Club

The Knitting Club meets weekly
during lunch.

     The Edgewood Knitting Club, which meets during lunch, is in full production mode. It is safe to say we not only eat lunch and socialize, we use our listening skills to learn how to knit and purl. We follow directions and repeat the same stitch over and over until it is committed to memory. We knit until we complete a 36-inch strip that is measured using a yardstick until we reach that magic length. The strips are sewn together to make a baby blanket that will be donated to a charity. Some us have learned to purl and interpret written directions and have made hats, scarves, headbands, and leg warmers. The Knitting Club is more than meets the eye for 4th and 5th grade boys and girls. - Ellen Fiorella

Screen Time. The Good Kind.

The look of rigorous learning.

     During the Hour of Code, one common sight among students and adults engaged in programming was the prolonged, unblinking gaze into a screen. And a head prop. It was as if the brain activity was so consuming and heavy that it was necessary to support the head with one or sometimes two hands.
     More to the point, not all screen time is bad. There is passive engagement, such as watching videos, that can be considered a "lean back" screen activity. And then there's "lean forward," in which children are actively engaged-- creating, problem solving, communicating.
     The American Academy of Pediatrics recently reworked their restrictions on screen time for children under the age of two. Now pediatricians are encouraging the use of positive media. Recognition that today's children are intellectually engaged with technology, pivoting the focus of our culture from consumption to creation. - Paul Tomizawa

Thanksgiving Tradition

Mr. Brown leads Pilgrims
in song.

     In the Edgewood community, Thanksgiving doesn't begin, until first grade enters the gym. For 24 years, first graders have been the centerpiece of this holiday assembly. They sing about family, gratitude, and the first Thanksgiving. And while the morning also includes songs of liberty and enlightenment from fourth and fifth graders and marks an end to our PTA sponsored food drive featuring a donation of 30 boxes of food to the Salvation Army this year, it’s the first graders who send heartwarming reminders of why we are grateful to call Edgewood our home. 

     Before the performance begins, they enter from the back of the gym dressed as lady and gentleman Pilgrims. They look surprisingly bold, given the attention about to be heaped on them. Late arriving parents, suddenly discover the perks of SRO spots, and snap pictures of backstage rituals. First grade teachers (Mrs. Cucolo, Mrs. Lamonaca, Mrs. Mangiamele) beam with words of encouragement, while making last moment adjustments to aprons and hats. 

     And when Ms. Forte begins playing a light piano melody of the classic Edgewood Thanksgiving assembly song, Hey Pilgrims, the first graders enter the gym, two by two. Parents rise and hold their phones and cameras steady for this once-in-a-lifetime event. Older students well up with nostalgia as they flash back to their time as Pilgrims. And upper grade teachers, watch the procession with an eye on the possibilities that are budding within each child and they imagine, "Someday a tree." This is how we begin Thanksgiving at Edgewood. 
   
 Listen to first graders singing the classic Hey Pilgrims here.
- Paul Tomizawa

Indoor Growing Season Begins

 

Mr. Fitzpatrick demonstrates
the hydroponics system.

   “Repeat after me,” Mr. Fitz(patrick) cheerfully instructs. “Hydroponics.” The kindergarteners repeat the new word in staggered unison, as you might expect at this age. “We’re using water to grow plants.” And with this, these young learners entered the era of Sustainability.
     The students had come to Mr. Fitz’ art room to learn about the new hydroponics vegetable garden that was being installed in their classroom. In a hydroponics growing system, plants are placed in nutrient-rich water that is fed through a tube and up a vertical structure by a motorized pump. It’s a common hydroponics system that requires no soil and uses less space than a typical garden plot.
     “Criss cross applesauce. So everyone can see,” Mr. Fitz reminded the excitable group of students as they leaned forward and ever higher for a better view. “Are the roots going to stay wet? Yes! And it’s going to pump the water with all the nutrients to the roots of the plant.” In this case, basil, beans, and tomatoes.
     Several Edgewood classrooms are engaged in the hydroponics experiment. It’s part of a larger effort in support of the school’s Compact Committee theme Sustainability. And it’s a reminder that today’s school is more than just Readin’, ‘Ritin’, and ‘Rithmatic. - Paul Tomizawa

Halloween Tradition

5th graders make their
carnival games from scratch.

The 5th grade Halloween Carnival is a relatively young Edgewood tradition, but it has quickly become a standout event for young, creative minds. These students assembled teams and designed games and activities for all Edgewood students. They scavenged the school and their homes for household items and recyclables to build games such as Skull Ball, the Wheel of Misfortune, and the Tunnel of Terror. Click the link below and listen to students provide insight into their (witch)craft.

Audio Sampling featuring Audrey O'Hare, Andrew Lewis, Nate Lewis, and EllaJoy Eikamp.

- Paul Tomizawa

Persuasive Writing

     Everyone’s got an opinion. And parents aren’t going to like to hear this, but Scarsdale teachers are training elementary students to strengthen their powers of persuasion through a literacy unit on Writing Opinions.This unit is a K-5 writing strand and it is aligned with the national Common Core standards. In a recent writing workshop in Mrs. Blackley’s 5th grade class, Kristin Smith, a staff developer from Teachers College coached students on how to structure a well-reasoned opinion. She emphasized the use of supportive research.
     While other Edgewood teachers observed this fishbowl-styled professional development lesson, Ms. Smith instructed students to review the list of reasons they had given to support their written opinions and to look for a fairly common mistake-- overlapping reasons. For example, she explained, “It’s good exercise and it’s good for your health” are not two reasons. They are one and the same and should be combined and rephrased. “But what if I don’t have a third?” She assured students that opinions are better supported with “two good ones, than one that sounds the same” as the others.
     This session also reminded students that they are writing for an audience and that the purpose of rewriting and restructuring their arguments was to ensure that their reasons were compelling and persuasive. So, fair warning parents. Don’t be surprised if those backseat or kitchen table arguments in the future become a little more challenging to squash. - Paul Tomizawa