Snow day equals party time for Norwalk students and staff
NORWALK — Still dressed in their pajamas and holding tight to their favorite stuffed animal, students and staff spent part of their snow day dancing, listening to stories and creating art at a virtual snow day party hosted by the school district.
The night before the first snow day earlier this month, Amaris Melendez, the education administrator for early childhood for Norwalk Public Schools, called Superintendent Alexandra Estrella and suggested hosting a virtual event like the reading programs that Melendez had hosted during the early days of the pandemic.
At that time, PBS had released a program that allowed teachers to read books to kids while displaying the pages on a separate screen. Melendez recorded three read aloud videos, learning more and more about how to light herself properly and provide the best sound quality.
“The pandemic forced us to lean in and figure out the technology. Lots of rewarding things came from that,” Melendez said. “Families that couldn’t come to school, it was a challenge to work around schedules, now we have a model of engagement where we can be anywhere at any time. It taught us a lot.”
She added, “In-person social interactions are super important for all children, but mindful usage of screen time can be beneficial to everyone.”
Melendez not only reads the stories, but engages the
kids on the Zoom to participate. While reading Tuesday’s book, “The Snowy Day,” she would ask the kids to read certain words together or ask them questions about what would happen next in the story.
“Everyone is sharing. The voices are bumping, but it’s not chaotic. The children tried to listen to each other, but they’re also excited to shared,” Melendez said. “There’s a certain trust you have to have going in. If you don’t have the confidence, it will just fall apart.”
Estrella added, “It’s what we expect in the classroom, to hear positive noise in the room. The Zoom meeting was all positive noise.”
The first session catered to preschool, kindergarten and first-grade students. Every participant was encouraged to show off their favorite “stuffie” including the school officials. Estrella snuggled with her oversized teddy bear while
Melendez brought on her stuffed Baby Yoda. Assistant Superintendent of Schools Rob Pennington also joined the party with his stuffed Shrek doll.
Following story time, Melendez played DJ for the dance party. About 85 kids participated in the Zoom call with 35 more trying to enter the room by the end of the session. More than 100 kids participated in the first snow day party.
“It brings the kids and families together in a nonthreatening, risk-free way to enjoy and have fun,” Melendez said.
During the second session, geared at students in grades two through five, Melendez read the book “The Word Collector.” The kids then created art projects using words that were meaningful to them in their life.
“It’s beautiful to see kids express in art and language and talk about culture and the words that
help define who they are and what they value,” Estrella said.
In the final session, students in the middle school grades could play virtual bingo or test their snow day knowledge in a trivia game.
Melendez and Estrella plan to host more events on future snow days, reading new books, adding more arts and crafts, and playing more games with the older kids. Melendez also wants to incorporate subject matters beyond literacy such as math and science.
“Right now, it’s focused on literacy — reading aloud, building language, making connections. I think we could move into other areas. It will continue to evolve,” Melendez said.