Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Little Learners in Queens!

So much has been happening at PS 201 & IS 237 in Queens!

The students at IS 237 have been busy putting together outfits, learning how to stick to a routine in the evening and in the morning, and have expressed their fashion senses through song and personal reflection.  Justin, Jannat, Samantha, and Araceli recently were hard at work making two different outfits with Miss Shawna (music therapist): dressy and casual!  These students are well on their way to becoming "fashionistas" themselves!


In Mrs. Agati's classroom at PS 201, Shalim, Charlie, Myesha, and Destiny have been hard at work learning how to make conversation with friends, how to continue a conversation, how to politely interrupt a conversation, and how to make a good impression.  In this picture, you'll see Shalim and Charlie shaking hands while singing along to a song used each week to start off the class, "Good Impressions".


In Mrs. Fiske's class at PS 201, all of the students have been working REALLY HARD at zipping and buttoning!  They practice zipping on their jackets, lunchboxes, and vests, and have also practiced buttoning on jackets and sweaters.  They're really getting the hang of it now!  They have also been hard at work decorating their vests that Art Beyond Sight has provided for them to practice their skills with jewels, stickers, and flowers.  Here's Dean hard at work buttoning, and happy that he completed this task!

Can't wait to see how well all of these students will progress - they're surely making a 'good impression' on all of us!!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Getting to know each other through writing and music at P186 X

Art Beyond Sight had its first meeting with children from three class at P186 X on Tuesday November 20th, 2012. After Marie Clapot briefly introduced the ABS curriculum, the classes started with a musical introduction lead my Music Therapist Aaron Shragge in which the children said their names in time with a collective rhythm created by hand clapping. In two of the three classes this lead to a rhythmic jam between Aaron's Shakuhachi (Japanese) and several of the students beat-boxing. Marie Clapot then introduced a writing exercise based on the following poem "Where I'm From" by Georges Ella Lyon.

Students were then asked to answer a series of questions that reflect the structure of the poem. The next step was to cross out the questions and write in "I am from" before each of their answers. The resulting poems were humorous and poignant:

I am from my mom's perfume
i am from a school
i am from university
i ma from rap
i am from chicken patties
i am from braids
i am from baggy pants
i am from dirty
i ma from barnamas hospital.

Those children who shared their poems were able to be empowered in expressing their origins and identity in front of the class being supported by Aaron Shragge's Shakuhachi or Flugel Horn.