John Street School fifth graders were tasked with coding their Piper computers to recreate the lights and sounds of a siren on Nov. 21.

Last month, the fourth grade classes built the Piper computers – designed to be put together like a wooden puzzle – from scratch during their lessons with districtwide STEAM teacher Melissa Geiger. Now, during their lessons with districtwide coding teacher Julia Caizzo, the fifth graders are utilizing the computers to learn coding basics.

During their most recent lesson, the students were tasked with using the Piper computers and PiperCode to simulate a siren. Working in pairs, they built circuits with red and blue lights and wrote code with sounds to recreate their own version of a police car siren.

Districtwide, students engage in STEAM lessons with Ms. Geiger and coding lessons with Ms. Caizzo. The teachers spend approximately one month at each building, rotating throughout the school year.

Polk Street School fourth graders concluded their history unit on local Native Americans by hosting the annual Native American Village event on Nov. 15. The students’ families, as well as their peers in third grade, were invited to immerse themselves in Native American culture by exploring the village set-up.

Spread across the school’s Outdoor Learning Center, the Native American Village featured the students’ projects from throughout the unit, such as dreamcatchers, longhouse displays, false face and rim-dweller masks, and cornhusk dolls. Students shared Native stories in the longhouse, which was built by Principal Gilbert Torossian.

Animal skins, fur clothing and bones – which were donated by the PTA – were on display for visitors to explore. Students and their families were also able to play popular Native games, like corn tosses and the bean game.

As this was a cross-curricular initiative, the students created coil pots during their art classes and learned “Hey Ya Na,” an Apache hand game song, during their music lessons. Earlier in the month, the fourth graders took a field trip to Garvies Point Museum and Preserve in Glen Cove, as well, to learn more about Long Island’s Native American tribes.

This annual initiative is an engaging and fun way for Polk Street’s fourth graders to learn about local Native Americans and share their knowledge with their peers and families.

Click here to view the Annual Native American Village at PSS slideshow.

Date Added: 11/19/2024