Tenafly — For two second grade classes, one from the Bronx and one from Tenafly, June 9 was more than a typical day at school. It was a day when students met their pen pals that they have been writing to throughout the year.
|
Staff Photo Joe Camporeale
Nicole Frankel tries to beat the heat by decorating a picture frame in the shade with her classmates.
|
Brianna Schuldin, second grade teacher at J. Spencer Smith Elementary School, has partnered up with her mom, Patricia Schuldin, second grade teacher at Rose E. Scala School in the Bronx, to have their classes write letters back and forth.
Brianna said they thought it would be a great idea to do pen pal writing while teaching the students how to form and write letters.
"Through their letters, we kind of learn what’s going on in each school," Brianna said. "We do suburban versus rural versus city schools."
Brianna said they were in contact all year long when they studied books. The children from the Bronx wrote about their school as did the students in Tenafly – and then they sent the final product to one another.
Two students from Rose E. Scala School are matched up with one student from Smith School and then send each other letters asking and responding to questions with photos as a way to get to know one another.
"We take a topic…we start off with ‘all about you,’" said Patricia. "They would learn about their families, what kind of makeup their family is and then their communities – their own homes, holidays – what do they celebrate."
Patricia said it’s a great opportunity for her students to come to Tenafly because it’s like a day in the country for them and they’ve learned a lot about cultural differences.
"They know that this school has 400-something children where ours has 1,760 children…the communities are much different," she said. "Their stores and the way they are set up and how they have to drive."
According to Brianna, at the end of the year, the schools get together to meet each other and "just have a day of fun" to culminate the unit.
Due to the extremely high temperatures, the school district had a half-day, which shortened the visit by 45 minutes.
The heat wasn’t enough to stop these children who were enjoying water games like tossing the sponge, decorating picture frames and making friendship bracelets followed by a pizza lunch and ice pops.
Patricia said the biggest lesson the students learn is that there are a lot of different cultures in different places but the students are still very much the same.
"Just because they live here and it’s different…they have the same toys and the same likes," she said. "Kids are kids around the whole world…and they all like Wii, Playstation, Barbie and Hannah Montana."
This is the second year the Schuldins have held this event and Patricia hopes to do it again next year because the children really enjoy the day.
"They’re just having a great time. It’s like they’ve known each other and they’re all getting along just fabulously."
