What better way to begin National Reading Month than with an author visit?

Todd Second and Third graders recently had a virtual visit by best-selling author Jarrett J. Krosoczka and had a chance to see the “behind the scenes” of what goes on when writing a graphic novel. The PTA not only generously sponsored the visit, but also gifted each student in the second and third grades with a copy of the book “Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute.”

Cleaning chicken coops in sweltering heat may not be everyone’s cup of tea but Briarcliff Senior Finn Torres is all in; over the past few years he has been volunteering at Fable Farm in Ossining and has learned things such as optimizing microgreen production and treating pasted vents in chicks.

There is a famous saying: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Students in Erin Kassas’s second grade class have been learning hands-on about abstract concepts of math by using blocks of tens and ones.

“Today you are not first grade students,” Todd teacher Jennifer Horowitz told her class. “Today you are shape detectives!” she announced ceremoniously and the students grabbed their iPads and went for a walk down the school hallways to look for objects in the shapes of circles, squares, triangles and rectangles.

Why does a musical note played on the violin sound different when played on the cello? How is sound created? Fifth graders in Lori Fraternale’s class have been learning about measuring sound waves and how musical notes sound different on various instruments.