On May 10, third graders at Meadowbrook Elementary School in East Meadow learned all about butterflies and moths through a presentation from Steve Fratello, also known as “The Butterfly Guy.”

Mr. Fratello presented several colorful displays of moths and butterflies from tropical rainforests, as well as those from here on Long Island. He explained the differences and similarities between the two insects, their life cycles, and even shared in a mini-lesson on geography, covering the rainforests of South America, Madagascar and New Guinea.

Date Added: 5/19/2022

Mrs. Cosolito has been wanting to plan a Graphic Novel Unit for her fifth graders at Meadowbrook Elementary School in East Meadow for a few years now.

She was finally able to implement a Graphic Novel Reading/Writing Unit over the past two months. During reading, the class read a mentor text, “El Deafo,” and analyzed all the features that a graphic novel displays. While reading “El Deafo,” students read their own graphic novel to analyze during Reading Workshop. Throughout their Reading Workshop, students were simultaneously writing their very own graphic novel.

The process consisted of creating a protagonist, antagonist, and round and flat characters. The students needed to create settings that changed the mood of the reader. Fifth graders created numerous pages of dialogue that matched their story mountain. They also studied different types of panel layouts that their graphic novel could have. The last stage was to publish their graphic novel. Some students handwrote the entire graphic novel while others used Google Slides or Book Creator.

To celebrate the students’ hard work and to share their graphic novel, Mrs. Cosolito’s class hosted a Graphic Novel Publishing Popcorn Party on April 29.

Date Added: 5/4/2022