At PS 196X students Vinton Coley and Jonathan Martinez have both won first place in the District 85 Women’s History Competition. Their work is now entered in the Bronx Borough President’s Women’s History Competition. Vinton Coley is in 3rd grade; (his teacher is Ms. Lisa Greenblatt). He wrote a winning poem called “Rosa Parks.” Jonathan Martinez is in 2nd grade; (his teacher is Ms. Ericka Grooms). He created the winning portrait of Marian Anderson. What were the winning teaching strategies that facilitated these students’ standard-setting works? For Vinton Coley there were the biography and poetry genre studies and work on the writing process. His work-in progress conferences with the school’s contest coordinators (Ms. Rosa Rahbani and Ms. Molly Serratore) further enriched his efforts, (see text box on page 4 for Vinton’s poem).

ROSA PARKS
BY VINTON COLEY,
GRADE 3, P.S. 196 IN THE BRONX

Rosa Parks sitting on a bus
The driver made a fuss
And started to cuss.
This is against the law.
You belong in the back
Because your skin is black.

Rosa Parks sitting on a bus
The driver made a fuss
And started to cuss.
Rosa was arrested
And sent to jail,
This brave and courageous female.

Rosa Parks sitting on a bus
The driver made a fuss
And started to cuss.
People boycotted
They didn’t ride the bus.
The laws were changed
It’s good for us.

Rosa Parks sitting on a bus
The driver made a fuss
And started to cuss.
Rosa Parks without using
Fists to fight
Wanted to make things right.


Jonathan Martinez worked, along with other class members, on author study. Meeting Faith Ringgold through her books was exciting for Jonathan, who was especially drawn to the themes in her writings and art. Ringgold’s Dinner at Aunt Connie’s House
(1996) inspired his painting of Marian Anderson.

[Book Note: Faith Ringgold created the text and pictures for Dinner at Aunt Connie’s House (1996, Hyperion Paperbacks). First published in 1993, its inspiration was Ringgold’s own original art, a painted story quilt completed in 1986 called “The Dinner Quilt.”—Ed.]

REVITALIZING EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE RENEWS PASSION FOR TEACHING AT M.S. 391K
BRUCE SOLOFF, GUIDANCE COUNSELOR

I was a disillusioned teacher, I admit. After 32 years in the system, all the joy I originally felt in teaching was draining away. I was ready to call it quits, hang up my chalk and leave my school in disgust. I was angry, frustrated and growing bitter, and everyone I spoke to on (or off) the job, knew it.

Now, along with the teachers in my school I come in 40 minutes early each day. I smile as I greet my co-workers, and I look forward to working with fellow teachers and my students. I work with the belief that my school, district, colleagues and the work I do, all contribute to the growth and development of the students who deserve all the help our system can provide.

What has changed? Everything! The school I work in has been taken into the Chancellor’s District, District 85. Our Principal, James C. Brown, has clear vision and focus for our work. Collegial supports, materials, and professional development enable the vision to materialize. These factors have revitalized and renewed me and have energized our school community as well.

The chancellor’s policy—all staff, all programs, and all support services, for teachers, students and their parents, must be aligned with the commonly accepted goals of improved literacy—supports our new cohesion. We have a UFT Teacher Center. Audrey Hubbard, UFT Teacher Center staff member, coordinates professional development activities with colleagues, staff developers who are knowledgeable about literacy strategies, and who invest time in developing collegial and supportive groups that learn together. Our focus and goals are clear: Students will improve their reading and writing skills. Our school day, the classroom, and professional development are all synchronized around this goal.

I’ve seen many education fads ‘du jour’ over the past years, watching, with dismay, the many staff changes. Finally I see the unified, focused and supported common vision that can really promote student learning. This does not mean that instantly all students are achieving at levels we want, far from it. But I do feel that we are making a significant difference in students’ lives, and that our school is once again on the right track. While the challenges still exist (as always), for the first time in ten years I feel confident that we can meet those challenges.

I’ve been frustrated (as have been many of us). Now as I do my counseling work, I know that productive conversations with my colleagues about the difficulties a student is experiencing will result in our developing meaningful interventions to support students and encourage them to improve and achieve. This is why I went into this profession in the first place. Further, I also have the feeling that all of us—other teachers, staff developers and administrators— will continue the work of ensuring that an intervention is as successful as it can be. And that’s also what I originally expected as a professional educator.

It is clear to me that when vision, leadership, professional learning and mutual support are simultaneously in place, then learning for all takes place. I am pleased and I am proud to be a part of the new MS 391 learning community.

LITERACY DISPLAY IN WINNING SHOEBOX DIORAMA AT P.S. 30 M
When 5th grade teacher Brenda Shufelt announced the commencement of the Cleary Club to her students at P.S. 30 in Manhattan, she also invited all of the teachers and students on the fourth floor to participate. The very first to respond, participate, and win is Antoine Green, a student in teacher Dwayne Clark’s 6th grade class.

Antoine, having read Beverly Cleary’s book The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965), had an enthusiastic proposal for his project, which as Ms. Shufelt specified, was part of club membership. Students who completed their projects—such as detailed graphic organizers, book reports, dioramas or plays (based on the whole or a part of a book)—would receive a prize. Ms. Shufelt said that she approved Antoine’s plan to create a diorama. “It was completely his idea,” she says, “although I was a little surprised that he approached me to participate because I didn’t know him that well.” With Mrs. Shufelt’s help during lunchtimes, Antoine made his
project and, then, reworked it several times.

The creative, winning diorama, made from a shoe-box painted purple on the outside, has on the inside, two pipe-cleaner motorcycles suspended from its ceiling. The background of the interior’s center is an out-door scene in collage that includes the book’s little mouse character. Along the sides of the interior, Antoine inset his story notes about the plot, characters, setting, problem and solution. His prize? A brand new book of his choice from Ms. Shufelt’s collection.

Reference
Cleary, B. (1965). The Mouse and the Motorcycle. New York: Scholastic, Inc.

STUDENT AUTHORS CELEBRATED AT P.S. 85 X
The 4th and 5th graders in the Performing Arts Class at P.S. 85 in the Bronx, celebrate authors’ day twice a year. Students of Ms. Isobel Kopstein and MS. Sharon Kravitz invite other staff members and parents to see and hear the students, who have developed their writing from seeds in their writers’ note-books to finished work, as they dramatically present the results in a theater setting. Along with reading their work, students discuss
it, explaining why they write, techniques they are learning, and what has inspired them to complete a piece. At the end of the presentations and discussion, refreshments are served. In the text box are excerpts from the reflective writing of student, Yasmin Colon.

IN MY OPINION…

YASMIN COLON
AGE 10, MEMBER OF THE PERFORMING ARTS CLASS, P.S. 85X

I think all schools should celebrate the “Author Celebration” because it’s not just for children. Parents learn new things from it as well…

…You can put your creative ideas in a notebook, and believe it or not, that typical marble notebook becomes your heart and soul. You can keep that book forever and ever. Then one day in the future, you can open that same notebook and remember the great moments and thoughts you had in your childhood…
…
Finally I’d like to thank the teachers of the Performing Arts Class, Ms. Kopstein and Ms. Kravitz, for putting that wonderful idea of celebrating our day into action. On this special day, we get to honor ourselves as well as our peers, for writing. We are proud of it because every single piece of writing in all genres is worth so much. It’s priceless. Thanks to these two teachers was given the opportunity to express myself and share my thoughts with others…
…
And for all those children out there, my advice is to start writing. Just start with anything that comes to your mind because those words on that piece of paper are your soul…
Excerpts are from The Greatest Celebration in P.S. 85 History by Yasmin Colon.