Fifth grade teacher Amy Stein and librarian Tim Quinn, from Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School in the Amityville Union Free School District, have been chosen to present at the Long Island Technology and Education Summit in October for their work with the Skin in the Game program.

The summit is co-sponsored by Eastern Suffolk BOCES, Western Suffolk BOCES and Nassau BOCES. Ms. Stein and Mr. Quinn will highlight they work they have done to incorporate technology into an educational board game project. 

The Skin in the Game initiative was launched in the district during the 2018-19 school year. As a culminating project, fifth graders in Ms. Stein’s class worked in teams to create board games that reflected a unit of study from either science or social studies. Among the topics that children chose were biomes, body systems, human rights, natural disasters and the solar system.

Each group had to create a board game that resembled the style of existing popular board games. Every student in the group had a roll including the story teller, the rule maker, the question maker and the designer. With support from Mr. Quinn, children created their game pieces on iPads, which then came to fruition using the 3D printer in the library. The group that created a game about biomes made pieces to look like different animals. Students also used a Selphy photo printer to add visual elements to their games.

Other digital elements were incorporated into the project. Students who made the solar system game — called Space Catastrophes — included spots that could be scanned by an iPad revealing a video of students explaining the rules or facts about the different planets. Other games had QR codes that could be scanned to get a question. 

“Each game had some component that made it unique,” Ms. Stein said.

Student Cheryl Mejia said the key to make a successful board game was teamwork.

“You’ve got to work together to make a project,” she said. “You have to support each other and help each other out.”

After creating, students played each other’s games to give constructive feedback, such as the ease or difficulty of the rules. Ms. Stein and Mr. Quinn will bring the games with them to the technology summit to share with educators from across Long Island.  

 

Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School Principal Robyn Santiago looked out from the stage at the 213 sixth graders sitting in front of her and smiled. She and the students shared a common bond, one that she will remember for the rest of her life.

“This class of sixth graders is very special to me,” she said, “as both they and I entered Park Avenue together three years ago.”

She became principal when they became fourth graders, moving up from Northwest Elementary School. Now, she is sending them off to seventh grade at Edmund W. Miles Middle School, which happened to be the setting for their moving up ceremony on June 25.

“I can’t wait to watch your future success,” Ms. Santiago told the students, boasting about their achievements in academics, art and music, while also highlighting their great character. “Stay kind,” she added.

Superintendent Dr. Mary T. Kelly told students that they had been well cared for over the last three years by Park Avenue teachers and staff who were dedicated to their success. Now, the staff at the middle school awaits them and will be ready to help the students follow their dreams. Dr. Kelly said new opportunities lie ahead such as learning a new language, receiving a Chromebook to use both in school and at home, joining clubs and conducting science research.  

“There is something here for everyone,” she said.

The sixth graders heard from National Junior Honor Society President Daniella Henriquez, who recalled making the same transition two years earlier and how quickly she felt comfortable in her new school. 

“Coming to the middle school is a new beginning and fresh start,” she said.

The Park Avenue chorus, led by Megan Ashe, performed “A Million Dreams” with sixth grade soloists Tiffany Asbell, Sydney Carter, Karina Escobar Rivera and Madelyne Martinez. Certificates were presented to students earning the Presidents’ Award for Academic Achievement and Educational Excellence. Ms. Santiago and Assistant Principal Melissa Wiederhold also recognized John Arango, who earned the New York State Comptroller Achievement Award, and Alessandra Pons who received the Suffolk County Executive Certificate of Achievement. 

A pair of sixth graders from Park Avenue Memorial Elementary Schoolwere recognized for their creative efforts to encourage water conservation.

Kaytlin Valerio was a third place winner in the 2019 Water Conservation Poster Contest hosted by the Long Island chapter of the New York Water Environment Association. Christasha McNeil earned honorable mention. Each student received a certificate and an Amazon gift card.

Students completed their submissions after learning about the water cycle. The lesson included guest speakers from NYWEA. The poster contest is designed to encourage students to learn about their roles in the watersheds in which they live, and how to conserve and protect water resources for future generations. 

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good Game was created by students at Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School, inspired by a book read in their music class, “The Really Awful Musicians.”

The activity supported the district’s Skin in the Game initiative and included a technology component as students used the school’s 3D printer to make the game pieces. Students made board games based upon the book, which is about the royal musicians during the Medieval time period.

Music teacher Megan Ashe said that creation of the games served as a culminating activity for the year, as it had to feature different musical concepts students learned such as rhythms, note values and the EGBDF and FACE note staffs. Each game had to be designed following the format of other popular board or card games, and represent all of the characters from the books and the instruments they used.

Fifth graders from Amy Stein’s class were selected to create moveable game pieces using the MakerBot 3D printer, located in the library. Students used the Tinkercad program to design the pieces. Ms. Ashe explained that every five game pieces took about 45 minutes to print.  

Student Cesia Guevara said it was exciting that she and her classmates were among the first in the school to use the 3D printer. As someone who avidly plays board games at home, she explained that it was also a great experience to learn about the work that goes into creating a game. Marvin Barnes added that it was fun to work together as a group, to help build their teamwork skills.

 

Diving deep into their study of the American Revolution, fourth graders at Park Avenue Memorial Elementary School made videos to share their thoughts about the war that led to the independence of the United States.

After learning about patriots and loyalists, the young historians had a digital debate using Flipgrid. Each student had to decide if he or she would have supported independence of the 13 colonies or would have defended staying with Great Britain. They had to cite historical evidence to back up their arguments in the 90-second videos.

The videos were shared on teacher Leighann Ruggiero’s class page, and students had to create response videos to two of their classmates, giving reasons why they either agreed or disagreed. Students said they enjoyed the opportunity to use technology to share their opinions and have respectful debate with their peers.