Author: CASANDRA FLORES

Allapattah Flats kindergartners are becoming super sleuths using Secret Stories.  The students learned about what happens when the letters t and h are side by side in a word.  Then, they practiced sticking out their tongues to make the “thhhhhh!” sound.  Lastly, the students used letter Legos to build words that begin or end with th. Pictured, Jolaine Austin works with, back to front,  Timothy Smith, Arieana Mitchell, Jeffrey Sebastian-Agustin, and Tyler Garren.

Students Myron Varn’s eighth grade American History classes just completed a Student Teaching Module (STM) which divided the class into five groups, each responsible for  part of a chapter covering the inventions and early industry from 1740-1790.  They planned lessons to include learning goals and assessments.  Some lessons were as intricate as PowerPoint slide shows with a Jeopardy quiz. Others were as simple as choral reading and questioning.  When asked to reflect, the groups that had the more complex lessons said that they learned more about their subject, but that it took a lot more time to put together.  Groups that had the simplest … Read More

Fifth grade students from Allapattah Flats K-8 learn about the solar system while visiting Indian River State College’s planetarium. Students created Thinking Maps to organize and explore information they gained at the planetarium about the planets in the solar system. Pictured are Brenton Palmer, left, and Arturo Mojica from Janessa Harden’s class.

Allapattah Flats seventh grade students, Maya Sanders , left, and Ashley Bowers express their creativity through writing and illustration.  Both students demonstrated their concept by recreating their own version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  Students’ work includes a title, various characters, and a moral.  Lastly, students presented their story to the class.

Students at Allapattah Flats K8 worked diligently on FCAT skills as they prepared for the test, and will continue to keep up their brisk pace as they dig into the fourth quarter.  In science, students will be working on a variety of topics, like physical and chemical changes, forms of energy, heat, sound, and motion.  In math, students are beginning to dive into an introduction to fifth grade skills that will prepare them for their move into the next grade.  To top it all off, fourth grade students had some excitement as they welcomed their new classmates. The ducks have … Read More

The stupendous second graders at Allapattah Flats are going wild! The students recently enjoyed a visit from Miss Tracy of the Hobe Sound Nature Center. While engaged in the program, the students learned about such topics as why protecting the rainforest is important, conservation, and animals and their habitats. This was a fun and educational way to look at life science!  Pictured are some of the second grade students as they interact with animal puppets. Back row, from left,  Hayden Kwiatek, Christin Shaw, and Jalisse Thomas. Front row, from left,  Tai’Juan Martin and Grace Stern.

Eighth grade students in Linda Chinn’s math classes at Allapattah Flats K8 are studying polygons and invited reading coach Linda Schmeer to read “The Greedy Triangle.” Students also looked at some famous art work based on tessellations to gain background. Students then worked with tesseltiles to create their own unique tessellations. Frank Andrade, left, and Corey Lewis are shown with some of the tessellations students used to create their pieces of art.

Mary Fuller’s sixth and seventh grade math students from Allapattah Flats K-8 are gearing up for FCAT. Her class project was called “Wrap Your Head Around FCAT”.  Mrs. Fuller provided hats for her students to create personalized hats with messages relating to the FCAT Reference Sheet and other mathematical expressions they have learned throughout the year.  Students were eager to wear and show off their hats before FCAT.  Pictured, from left, are seventh graders Arianna Pittman, teacher Mary Fuller, Natalie Velie, and Alexis Starr.                                     … Read More

 The third grade student team at Allapattah Flats K-8 School was excited to host the dunk tank at this year’s Gator Fest. Students from all grade levels, and some parents, lined up to dunk their favorite staff member. Pictured is Jacob Barbour trying to dunk third grade teacher Lauren Monroe.

Students in Crystal Carrington and Bridget Valinote’s seventh grade classes were  excited to attend a field trip to Rave Cinema to see the new movie The Hunger Games. Students had just finished reading the book in their reading class, so they were able to extend their learning by comparing and contrasting elements of the book to the movie.  The votes are in that the book was better than the movie and gave so much more detail!  Students are now very motivated to read the sequel Catching Fire. Pictured, from left, are Madison Kennedy, Brandon White, and Kylie Coons smiling and eager to board … Read More

The concert band of Allapattah Flats K-8 School is preparing for its end of the year concert under the direction of Elyse Larkins.  In class, band members are working diligently to produce a good tone on their instrument by using air support.  With this technique, students will develop a high quality sound.  Along with learning the characteristics of tone of their instrument, band members are learning how to play their music expressively by using dynamics and phrasing.  Pictured, from left, Brenda Villarroel, Scott Barnhart, and Lindsey Allgire.                                

Allapattah Flats K-8 middle grades students recently learned how erosion and deposition have formed the landscape around us.  Seventh grade students studied plate tectonics, while eighth grade students finished up space. To review and prepare for FCAT over the next couple of weeks, the students are doing labs.  Students completed a running lab where they found their speed, velocity, momentum, acceleration, force and work.  Students also created simple machines using a few household objects. Pictured are Tricia Allen, left, and Alexzandra Vericella completing the “make your own simple machine” lab.

Allapattah Flats K8 School  girls basketball team hosted the girls’ “A” Division county tournament recently. The girls team won both games giving up only seven points in two games and scoring 61. This has put them as the # 1 seed in the final four championships that will be played on April 14th at Fort Pierce Central High School. Pictured, front row from left, Natasha Peraza, Abigail Jimenez, Gracie Jimenez, and Rebekkah Peraza, Back row, from left, Nick Spaguolo, Brittany Gladden, Tiara Evans, Madeline Lawson, Kara Flynn, and Jud Allen Not pictured are Gabby Bather and Alexis Tabora.               … Read More

Fifth grade students in Tekia Montgomery’s elementary art classes at Allapattah Flats K-8 are re-introduced to the concept of enlarging.  They will create enlarged drawings from small pictures using a grid technique. Students will use T- squares and work together to make a large grid where they will transfer their original drawings into a larger scale. This year’s theme is under the sea. This particular project is done every year, and although this project is a bit of a challenge for the students, it seems to be a favorite! Pictured are Calendra Holbrook and Jorge Liberate taking their time with … Read More

Students in Marsha Reese’s sixth grade Language Arts classes at Allapatah Flats K-8 read the novel Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor. After completing an evaluation of the character relationships and their impact on the conflict in the novel, the students used their character analysis to design projects that would show how the novel ‘s characters (set in 1933 Mississippi) would fare in present day society. Projects ranged from journal entries to skits. Pictured, from left, are Faith Rice, Rebekah Peraza, and Gracie Jimenez showing off social network profiles that they created for different characters.

Students in Danya Etter’s music class at Allapattah Flats K8 are currently working towards their “black belt” in recorder for Recorder Karate. Recorder Karate is a fun and exciting way to learn all about the instrument and after playing each song, one can earn a different belt color as in karate. This week the fifth graders focused on the popular classic “Ode to Joy” by Ludwig Van Beethoven. Once they master the art of the song, they will begin to test for their black belt. Students are eager to practice in and out of the classroom. Pictured, from left, are Daniel Broland, Jordan … Read More

Allapattah Flats K-8 middle grades students had the opportunity to visit Washington D.C. over spring break. The students visited numerous national monuments and learned about the nation’s history. Students visited the Capitol, the White House, Arlington Cemetery, and the Washington monument. They enjoyed the Jefferson, Lincoln and Martin Luther King Memorials, as well as the Korean, Marine, Viet Nam Memorials and the tomb of the unknown soldier where they witnessed the changing of the guard. The group wrapped up the trip by visiting some of the capitol’s famous museums and spent the last day at Georgetown University checking out the college.

Allapattah Flats K-8 kindergartners celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday with lots of events to emphasize the fun of reading. As part of the celebration, students participated in read-alouds featuring published books by Ted Geisel a.k.a. Dr. Seuss. Students had the opportunity to prepare and taste their own green eggs and ham, as well as dress up for Seuss Day. Pictured, from, left are Aidan Madden and Alexander McFarlane.                                

First grade students at Allapattah Flats K8 are springing into geometry!  To go along with their study of three-dimensional shapes, students were asked to bring in objects from home that represented three-dimensional shapes. These objects were displayed and students took a tour as they identified the faces, edges, and vertices of the spheres, cylinders, cones, rectangular prisms, and square pyramids. The children were so excited to see their math relate to the real world! Pictured, front to back, are students from Stephanie Sanchez’s class  Romin Herrera, Dominic C., Tyler Kwiatek, Cameron Hicks, Zaniya Scott, Hannah Hudson and Jace Celentano.  

Allapattah Flats K-8 students in Edwina Taylor’s fourth grade classroom are currently learning about the life cycle of plants and plant reproduction. Each student was given a flower to examine, so that they could label the parts of the flower. Then, the students created a Brace Map to separate the plant from whole to part. The students really enjoyed this activity. Pictured front row from left, Aiyana Owen-Edjang, and Jaida Baker. Back row, from left, Dymond Willis, and Emmanuel Noel.