May 16, 2018 - Last week the PS 8 Library hosted author Adam Gidwitz with Ms. Marquez and Ms. Coates classes. The author discussed his childhood, his career as a teacher, and his inspiration for writing the bestselling children’s books that have been published. Students brought dozens of thoughtful questions and were treated to a preview of future books in The Unicorn Rescue Society series that Adam Gidwitz will cowrite with renowned authors Joseph Bruchac, Hena Khan, and Emma Otheguy. It was a lot of fun! The library is looking forward to hosting more visits from authors and illustrators in the future. Read More →

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This week the first grade classes took field trips the Salt Marsh Nature Center in Marine Park to enhance their science unit about insects.

First graders have been learning about the different characteristics of insects and the important roles that they play in our ecosystem. Classes toured the Salt Marshes with Urban Park Rangers and discussed the different insects and the ways they interact with their environment.  Students were then invited inside of the Nature Center to learn more about many of the animals that live in the salt marshes.  Before breaking for a picnic lunch, students were invited to become “nature detectives” to sort through compost looking for different insects that had been discussed throughout the day.

A great, buggy time was had by all!

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“A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.”  – Gertrude Jekyll

For years, the front garden at PS8 was forgotten, unused, and barren. The garden committee was born in 2012 and dedicated weekends and early mornings to digging for ways to make our green spaces even greener. And today, thanks to years of planning, amazing volunteers, and several grants, our little front yard is cheerfully green and alive with flora and native to our area.

Back in December 2016 staff at Grow to Learn kicked-off the work by organizing a visioning session with teachers (a group of 5th grade students did the first visioning work, drawing up plans for our outdoor space as part of their science environments unit in June 2016!).

In early 2018 our garden committee received three more grants:

• Department of Education Office of Sustainability grant of $5K
• $1K Target gift card from a grant jointly administered by the Department of Education Office of School Wellness Programs, together with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation
• $550 grant from Citizens Committee for NYC and the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board to fund supplies to extend compost-related education initiatives in the outdoor classroom.

In all, our school has received $10,550 in funding which has been spent mostly on plants — those gorgeous magnolia trees, hydrangeas, and sweet violets (we still have $1K more to spend on supplies to bring our outdoor classroom to life). These amazing financial gifts don’t even include all our generous in-kind donations, including more than 10 cubic yards of soil and compost from NYC Parks, mulch from the Red Hook Community Farm, and borrowed tools from the Poplar Street Community Garden.

The wisdom of the staff and volunteers at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden has been critical over the years. A million thank yous for all the volunteer hours Rebecca McMackin, Director of Horticulture of Brooklyn Bridge Park, for helping us design, source plants and oversee volunteers, including a team of 5th grade garden volunteers. We’re so grateful for her help, her passion and dedication to every detail.

Our little oasis has been a long time coming. Throughout the years we’ve received grants from both Grow to Learn and the Office of School Wellness that has funded our garden work more generally — much of that money has gone to the soil, seeds and planters in the back and sides of the yard. Every year in these spaces, the 2nd grade plants kale as part of their science program; 3rd grade plants corn, tomatoes and other vegetables as part of their Native American study; and 5th grade plants lettuce, radishes and herbs as part of their nutrition unit. We have also been fortunate enough to have a partnership with the Teacher College Program on Nutrition, whose graduate students support all of our garden programming — promoting healthy food choices throughout the school year and helping get our seedlings going so that our winter kale sprouts become a spring salad.

There have been so many hands sowing the seeds of our garden committee’s success. Come get your hands dirty with PS8’s garden, wellness and sustainability team in the 2018/2019 year.

Watch for our garden opening party in June where we will dedicate our new outdoor classroom to our graduating 5th grade class.

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This year the teacher of film club was Ms. Melissa and the students were: Alexander, Nathaniel, Noah, Drake, Asher, Lio, Oscar, Noga, Scarlett, Rafi, Will and Elli. What we did in film club was first we would create a story idea, next we would plan it out on a paper, then we would get costumes and FILM!!! Finally, we would edit our movie. Sometimes we would make a trailer for our movie. Film Club is at PS8 Robert Fulton School every Thursday after school. We joined Film Club because making movies is fun and you can create something totally random from your imagination, kind of like writing but you get to act it out.   Click here to watch this year’s films – hope you enjoy them.

-by Asher, 4th grade film club member

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We are thrilled to announce that PS 8/MS 8 has been recognized with the Kathleen Grimm School Wellness Council of the Year Award for 2017-18!  This city-wide award recognizes the work we have done this year deepening our middle school health education program.  Longtime PS 8 teacher Dianne Galashaw joined 7th grade students this spring to teach health, 6th grade science teacher Leigh Stumme introduced “health education Fridays,” and 8th grade teachers are incorporating critical drug and alcohol awareness lessons into their advisory curriculum this month and next.  A DOE health and wellness education expert worked with our teachers to support this work.

We also increased programming with outside health experts.  We formalized and expanded our Human Development and Sexuality residency with the amazing Ekem Merchant-Bleiberg, growing our program to have ten-week “residencies” with both the 7th and 8th grades.  We researched and are bringing in experts in drug and alcohol awareness and education to speak with both 7th and 8th grade students and 5th-8th grade parents/guardians.

Perhaps most important, our teachers are using a wellness grant we received to help build student engagement in wellness planning for the future!  We know it’s just a start, but we are excited about how far we’ve come and look forward to continuing our growth next year on a variety of wellness issues.

Want to get involved?  Email wellness@ps8brooklyn.org.  Learn more about our SLT Wellness Council and issues we have focused on over the past 3 years.

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May 27, 2018 - PS8/MS8 has joined a coalition of 50 New York City area schools to help Syrian refugees that have fled their civil war and now live in Jordan.  Collection boxes will be set-up at both schools for donations of school and art supplies. Click for a list of items that are most needed. Read More →

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Last week Tamara Bower and Laura Foos visited Ms. Elrafei’s 6th grade Social Studies classes. Laura, mom of 6th grader Kaspar is an archaeological photographer, specifically for Egyptologists. Tamara is an archaeological illustrator and children’s author. She has written three books that are set in Ancient Egypt. She brought her most recent “The Mummy Makers of Egypt” to our class and  gave a great presentation. Students had an opportunity to ask her questions about everything from her experiences in Egypt on digs and excavations; the process of mummification; and her process of writing books!

We just got to see what Tamara did when she was in Egypt and pictures of different things she found. We saw a picture of a dead mummy in his casket…he looked so dry! We also saw what Tamara Bower found when she was searching through the tombs in Egypt, artifacts like pottery and broken cups. She showed us a picture of them and then the drawings she drew of them after. It was cool because if a piece was scratched off or broken or something like that, she would show it in her drawing. We also got to smell some fragrances from back then and she also showed us a picture of some of the people she was working with.

Dashawn N., class 6-603

I thought it was really cool that we got to smell some of the stuff that embalmers used on mummies.

Ace M., class 6-603

You can buy Tamara’s book here, or at your favorite bookseller:

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This year my class participated in the 3rd Grade Learning Through Art Guggenheim Residency.  The focus of our program was “Wayfinders.”  “Wayfinders” are objects that help you find your way during a journey.

Throughout the school year, 2 teachers from the Guggenheim would come to work with our class. We imagined what the Wayfinders looked like and then created a picture of them in our notebooks. Then the Guggenheim teachers gave us two pieces of fabric and we copied our Wayfinders onto it.  After we drew our Wayfinders, we cut the fabric and sewed the pieces together.  We left a small space open to fill them with cotton and then sewed them closed.

We went on three field trips to the Guggenheim and every time we learned something different about art.  On the final field trip we went to the “A Year With Children” exhibit.  I was so surprised to see my Wayfinder there because only a few pieces from each class were chosen.  I felt very happy to see my art there.  Thank you PS8 PTA for the Guggenheim Learning Through Art program.  I had a very fun time doing it.  It was the BEST part of this year.

Thank you! – Will, 3rd grader

***

PS8’s third grade students just completed their exciting artistic residence program, The Guggenheim Museum’s Learning Through Art (LTA) Program. Under the guidance of teaching artist Iviva Olenick, and Learning Through Art volunteers Maria Lerusalimskaya and Lara Kazan third graders were introduced to wayfinding* and asked to investigate their daily travels to and from school and the role senses play in mapping familiar places. Students learned different ways to represent navigation and identify a marker or landmark that they either saw, heard, smelled, or felt on their routes.

After several rounds of drawings in their sketchbooks, trips to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and learning embroidery techniques, students finalized their depictions of their wayfinders and transformed them into stitched and stuffed sculptures, using fabric markers, beads, and buttons to add color and detail.

Once each piece was completed, several of our student’s work was selected to be exhibited in the Guggenheim’s gallery A Year With Children. In the exhibit every participating student’s artwork, including that of all PS 8 third and fourth graders, appears in a slideshow which loops continuously in the gallery. The museum chooses students to act as docents, at least one from each grade. These students attend two training sessions, where they write a speech, practice delivery, and attend the (adults only) opening to speak to funders and other attendees about their work and about the residency experience.

*Wayfinding encompasses all of the ways in which people (and animals) orient themselves in physical space and navigate from place to place.

Photo by David Heald © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York. All Rights Reserved.

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As part of their social studies curriculum, PS8 kindergartners learned all about what it means to be part of a community – starting with their own families, getting to know the smiling faces they see in school and finally, taking to the streets to explore the neighborhood.

Families were invited to class to share family traditions and customs and why families are important. Once students understood what makes them unique they explored and investigated the school building and interviewed several key staff to gain a greater understanding of the school community and what role each person has in making life at PS8 so wonderful.

For the final unit of the community study students became experts in city playgrounds.  They took several walking trips to research, document and test out the features that make one playground a great place for monkeying around and another a swinging good time.

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2nd Grade

Zac J. & Alice M.

3rd Grade

Jude Y. & Lilla B.

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June 1, 2018 - Get ready for PS8/MS8’s beloved annual block party on Saturday, June 9th! There will be fun rides, arts & crafts, an obstacle course, a chess tournament, delicious food and a performance by the MS8 Rock Band! Read More →

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Throughout the school year, third graders became experts on the Northeastern region of the United States. First researching and reporting on the native animals and land formations and finally, the most anticipated part of their social studies unit – learning about the Northeastern Native American communities. During the study students learned about the way of life and culture of our native people.

This study included research, activities and explorations, in addition to visits to the American Museum of Natural History’s Native American exhibits. To finalize their studies students celebrated with a fun arts and crafts day and each class planted the 3-sisters garden.

In the Native American study we had three groups: food; shelter; and clothing. We made books, trifolds and posters. Also, in the yard we planted the 3-sisters: corn; beans and squash – then we celebrated Native American craft day. We made corn husk dolls, pottery and false face masks then we showed them to our parents at the publishing party. – Miles C. 3-305

On arts and crafts day students learned about the Legend of the Corn Husk Doll, made clay pots and discovered why false face masks were important to their culture.
The students planted and celebrate the Three Sisters: Corn, Beans and Squash. According to Iroquois legend, corn, beans, and squash are three inseparable sisters who only grow and thrive together.
Children gained an appreciation for life of our native peoples and had a great time in this comprehensive, hands-on unit. Many thanks to the 3rd grade teacher for keeping it fun.

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On Wednesday, June 20th, PS8/MS8 is planning a “School Spirit Night” at MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones. Come to historic Coney Island to see the Cyclones take on the Hudson Valley Renegades. This night is a great way to support PS8/MS8, celebrate the end of the school year, and enjoy summer with family and friends. Gates open at 5:30 PM. School Spirit Parade at 6:15 PM. Game begins at 7:00 PM

Tickets Include:

• Free Cyclones Cap
• Free Cyclones Wristband
• Pre-Game School Spirit Parade around the field (6:15 PM – line up in sect. 24)
• Free Cyclones Batting Practice Top for first 2,000 fans in attendance
• Personalized scoreboard welcome

Tickets may be purchased online HERE.

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Inspired by the artist Cao Fei (b. 1978) and her “RMB City” project in which she created a virtual city in the online program Second Life, student artists designed avatars and the virtual worlds they inhabit our 4th grade students learned about the concept of an avatar as a virtual or graphic representation of an alter ego or character and created their own based on aspects of their identity but with added imaginative or exaggerated elements.

Under the guidance of teaching artist Rose Nestler and Learning Through the Arts interns Jaynie Gillman Crimmins and Ghislaine Sabiti students thought deeply about how those virtual worlds impacted their avatars and how their avatars impacted their virtual worlds, students created relief portraits of their avatar situated in their invented world constructed from monoprints, stamps, collagraphs and foam etching prints.

“Visual thinking brings out the inherent genius in students, whether they are looking closely at a work of art, drawing from observation, or building a sculpture. As a teaching artist, I enable students to envision limitless possibilities in art making; this process opens new channels for student, where they feel empowered to transport their artistic brilliance, imagination and problem-solving abilities into all aspects of their lives.” – Rose Neslter, Teaching Artist.  

Photo by Tracy Lantz

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No School for Students on Thursday, June 7th!

All teachers will be attending a workshop with Border Crossers.

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We are thrilled to announce that PS 8/MS 8 has been recognized with the Kathleen Grimm School Wellness Council of the Year Award for 2017-18!  This city-wide award recognizes the work we have done this year deepening our middle school health education program.  Longtime PS 8 teacher Dianne Galashaw joined 7th grade students this spring to teach health, 6th grade science teacher Leigh Stumme introduced “health education Fridays,” and 8th grade teachers are incorporating critical drug and alcohol awareness lessons into their advisory curriculum this month and next.  A DOE health and wellness education expert worked with our teachers to support this work.

We also increased programming with outside health experts.  We formalized and expanded our Human Development and Sexuality residency with the amazing Ekem Merchant-Bleiberg, growing our program to have ten-week “residencies” with both the 7th and 8th grades.  We researched and are bringing in experts in drug and alcohol awareness and education to speak with both 7th and 8th grade students and 5th-8th grade parents/guardians.

Perhaps most important, our teachers are using a wellness grant we received to help build student engagement in wellness planning for the future!  We know it’s just a start, but we are excited about how far we’ve come and look forward to continuing our growth next year on a variety of wellness issues.

Want to get involved?  Email wellness@ps8brooklyn.org.  Learn more about our SLT Wellness Council and issues we have focused on over the past 3 years.

The post We Won! appeared first on PS8 PTA.

PS8/MS8 was honored to be officially recognized as the Kathleen Grimm School Wellness Council of the Year by the Office of School Wellness and NYC DOE Deputy Chancellor Elisabeth Rose, in recognition of the hard work our committee has done over the past 3 years, and especially our work growing health education programming at MS8 this year. Amazing students from both our lower and middle schools accompanied SLT Wellness Council members and Assistant Principal Caren Gandelman to accept the award on our school’s behalf.

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June 10, 2018 - Simplify the back-to-school process and raise funds for PS8/MS8 by ordering your school supplies online now through SchoolKidz, a Staples company. Click for instructions. Read More →

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Why didn’t Handel go shopping? Because he was Baroque.

Jokes aside, this year with Mr. Bloom our budding musicians have covered serious musical techniques like tempo and pitch and major vs minor. Over the past two weeks students have showcased some of their hard work. From patriotic classics to folk songs and a couple new international pieces from India and West Africa in the program – the PS8 kids sang loud and proud.

The musical celebrations didn’t just showcase students’ vocal abilities, the 3rd and 4th graders got to rock out on recorders – pretty much an American kids’ right of passage.

Some of the grades performed a songs from a popular musicals:
3rd – “It’s the Hard-Knock Life,” from Annie
4th – “I Won’t Grow-Up,” from Peter Pan
5th – “Ease on Down the Road,” from the Wiz 

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Recently I attended the Urban Advantage science expo and overall think it is a fun experience for all students, regardless of your grade. As soon as you get there your teachers are waiting for you and ready for the fair. You are required to very quickly fill out a few forms that take around 3-5 min. for all students to be done. Then you enter the building and hop on a quick line so you can have your board have its picture taken professionally. A few things you should note are: they give you free lunch, we get to choose a movie to see, parents aren’t allowed to enter the fair until 1:00 p.m., and you are allowed to go to the gift shop. The free lunch consists of choices like turkey sandwich, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, salad, American cheese, and more; with each choice, you get chips (the type of chips depending on the meal you want), an apple, a cookie, and a juice box. After you are settled in your designated spot you have time to eat your lunch. You are then asked to vote on a movie option to go to (depending what movie is voted on the waiting time changes) the movie I saw was called “Amazon Adventure”, I found this movie very interesting, it was about how bugs and animals came to mimic other bugs and animals. After we attended the movie we went to the gift shop and took a look, you also buy things if you had any money with you. By now it was almost 1 o’clock and professional photographers went around taking pictures of students with boards. You also have to option to complete a bingo sheet to find out about other students and their projects for a reward. Parents start to enter the building and a few short speeches are given. After this, you are free to leave if you like or stay until it closes at 3:00 p.m.

By Miyo Y.
Class 603

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