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Stadium Drive ‘flat students’ are globetrotters
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Stadium Drive kindergartners Cara Zawrotuk (left), Celeste Box, Carter May, and Natalie Vasquez sang about the "Fifty Nifty United States" during a short concert they performed for parents after their Flat Stanley project on April 30.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Mom Kathy Misel (left) stopped by the kindergarten classroom of her son, Michael Misel, on April 30 to see some of the Flat Student projects of his classmates. As "Flat Michael," Misel traveled to Annapolis, Maryland to visit his cousins.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Stadium Drive kindergartner Sean Guerriero showed off his trip to New Hampshire as a "Flat Sean" on April 30, based on the book "Flat Stanley" by Jeff Brown.
By SARAH FOOR
Over the past six weeks, the kindergartners in Barb Gonda’s Stadium Drive classroom have learned all about geography, whether it is their place in the solar system, world, or particular continent or state.
The students have begun to appreciate their place by doing a bit of traveling themselves, as Flat Students, based on the book “Flat Stanley” by Jeff Brown. Students showed off their journeys to parents on April 30.
In the story of Stanley, he is smashed flat by a bulletin board but realizes a positive in that he can be mailed in an envelope to visit his friends. For their project, Gonda’s students glued a head shot photo of themselves on a flat body and were mailed to friends or family around the nation and world.
Flat Michael Misel traveled to his cousin’s house in Annapolis, Md., and flat Sean Guerriero went to New Hampshire. During her spring break, Gonda brought a flat student to Australia and brought back souvenirs to show to her students.
Along with Gonda’s trip to Australia, a flat student traveled to Italy, as well as California, Arizona, Texas, Arkansas, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, and throughout Ohio.
“The students and their families really were excited about the project and we definitely had a globe-trotting group of flat students this year,” Gonda said. While the flat students were away for six weeks, the kindergarten teacher explored “place” concepts in reading, social studies and science by exploring planets, continents, states, as well as subjects like climates, North, South, East, and West, and distance.
After showing off their trips to parents, the kindergartners performed songs about the planets of our solar system and the “Fifty Nifty United States.”
“It was a pleasure sharing with you all that we’ve learned throughout the last six weeks,” Gonda told parents at the close of the event.