Students learn through gingerbread
By Christine Haines
chaines@yourmvi.com
In a world that has become increasingly high tech, first-grade students at William Penn Elementary School in the Elizabeth Forward School District are putting aside their iPads for some hands-on learning this holiday season.
The students continued a long-standing tradition of building gingerbread villages to learn basic math concepts.
“It’s a curricular idea they came up with around patterns. It’s just a neat activity that every student who has gone to William Penn for probably the past 20 years has done,” said Principal Brad Simala. “Even though times have changed and curricula have changed, we’re always going to teach patterns in first grade, so we’ll continue the project.”
Simala said students use different types of candy to demonstrate patterns, showing that they know the concept of a repeated pattern such as AA or AB using different colors of candy and different types of candy.
“The cafeteria staff helps us collect milk cartons to use as the ‘foundation’ of each gingerbread house. The kids bring a container of frosting and decorating supplies to share,” said first-grade teacher Wendy Pasternak. “This year was tough, though. We weren’t sure if we would even be in school to complete the project. Luckily, we were able to return to school in mid-December.”
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