Chinese Dance Residency

Students in Ms. Santana's class (321) and Ms. Marino & Ms. Barnosky's class (302) were taught a form of Chinese dance that broadened their dance literacy and allowed them to develop an understanding of the historical and cultural connection in dance.  For five weeks, students learned Chinese folk dance languages, techniques and incorporated martial arts. Throughout the residency, taught by Ling Tang from the NY Chinese Cultural Center, students improved their self-control, refined their gross motor and listening skills.  "My students really loved this program", said Ms. Santana.  "The are so focused on each movement and learned a lot about traditional Chinese culture".

Special thanks to Makalina Gallagher, LOTUS Music & Dance Arts in Education Coordinator, and Janie Wong, Operations Manager at the New York Chinese Cultural Center, for bringing this great program to the students of PS4!  See the photo collage below to see highlights of each class and videos from the final performance!

Free collage generated with Smilebox

Korean Dance At PS4

Class 320 celebrating Korean Dance.

The Korean Cultural Service of NY, along with Lotus Music and Dance, are promoting Spotlight Korea; an educational program which sends traditional dancers and musicians to K-12 New York City Public Schools in order to teach and perform Korean music and dance.  Click here for more information about this program.

Since January, twenty-five students from Ms. Schwartz class (320) have been working with Vongku Pak, a professional Korean drummer and instructor.  Recently, representatives from the Korean Cultural Service and Lotus, students, parents and teachers were invited to the celebration held in the auditorium.  Congratulations to Ms. Schwartz and class 320 who had a very good performance!

Click here to see a video from the show!

Innovate My Classroom

As part of a celebration of the last year of the 3-year Title III Grant that PS4 has been a part of since 2009, Mr. Nycz (co-teacher from class 320) was one of the 20 teacher-presenters at the "Innovate My Class" Workshop held at the Harlem Renaissance Technology Center!  He did a lesson on how to use Student Response Systems or "clickers", as students affectionately refer to them.  Richelle P., Monise F., Duly O., Anderson T., and Jake H. all joined Mr. Nycz at the workshop because they were excellent students throughout the year.  After the workshop, each of the five students discussed details of how the system works. 

Mr. Nycz presenting at Harlem Renaissance Technology Center.

 
Congressman Charles Rangel came to speak at the workshop and was able to witness Mr. Nycz and his students at work! "What are you doing and why are you using the clickers?", he asked the group. Though some of the students were shy, they each gave Congressman Rangel strong explanations. He was extremely impressed with the students from class 320 and was more than happy to take a picture with them to help celebrate their success.

Council Charles Rangel with Mr. Nycz and students from 320.

Congratulations to Mr. Nycz and his five technology experts!  Special thanks to Carolyn Semet from the Manhattan Office of Educational Technology for her support and expertise.  If you'd like to read Mr. Nycz's lesson, click here!