Isabella and Benny Win Town Hall Contest

Benny and Isabella (front row, wearing white) pose with other contest winners at the award ceremony on May 10th.

Congratulations to Isabella R. and Benny C. from class 402!  They received an award certificate and $50 from the Town Hall for their Black History Month essays!  Six winners were selected out of hundreds of entries from all over New York City!  Their winning essays will be featured on The Town Hall website, for one year.  Click here to visit the website!

Each year, The Town Hall, a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, presents a series of performances - sponsored by Con Edison - in celebration of Black History for public school children. Every school district in the five boroughs is invited to attend, and seats are filled on a first- come, first-served basis. The Black History Celebration consists of daytime performances, offered free of charge to public school classes in grades three through eight, and their teachers.  Following the concert, they hold a Black History Month Poster and Essay Contest for children who attended the performances. The contest encourages children to think critically about the performance, as well as express themselves through words and pictures.

Special thanks to Benny and Isabella's teacher, Dr. Thomas, for providing the quality teaching that helped to inspire winning essays year after year.  Congratulations!

Dominican Heritage and Black History Month

Dancers perform to traditional Dominican music.

During the month of February, we celebrated Dominican Heritage and Black History Month with some exciting trips and activities that were planned for PS4 scholars!  Each morning began with fun facts about famous African-Americans and Dominicans!  For example:

• Did you know that Langston Hughes created a new form of poetry called Jazz Poetry?  Click here for more information (VIDEO).
• Did you know that Dominican entrepreneur Dilcia Granville became the first Dominican inventor to patent and market the product American Dip & See?  It's the only portable indicator of sugar in the drink!  Click here for more information.
• Did you know that Duke Ellington wrote more than one thousand compositions?  His extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy!  Click here for more information (VIDEO).

• Did you know that Dominican-born, Superintendent of District 6 Schools, Manuel Ramirez was a math teacher for middle and high school? Click here for more information!

Special thanks to our PTA for providing our 5th grade students and all families with a Dominican Heritage Celebration on Culture Day!

PS4 Celebrates Black History: Learning Through Art

Artwork depicting African-Americans demanding equal right created by Chrismaldy D.. (class 521).

Black history and culture is such a part of America.   Established as Negro History Week in the 1920's by Carter G. Woodson, February was chosen for the celebration because Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were born in this month.  Extended to a month-long celebration in 1976, Black History Month is an opportunity to emphasize the history and achievements of African Americans.

Class 521, led by Ms. Cabral, celebrated Black History Month through art.  Students spent weeks learning about and reviewing facts about leaders in the Civil Rights Movement and investigating life in the South during the time of segregation.  To see more artwork created by class 521, visit the 4th floor, room 402.

Wall of art  from students in Ms. Cabral's 5th grade class.

PS4 Celebrates Black History: Black History Month Assembly

Under the direction of Social Studies Teacher Mr. Harris, students create a timeline.

At our annual Black History Assembly, students from grades 2 through 5 celebrated a few of the many achievement by African-Americans.  Two students were awarded with certificates for participating in an essay contest and representatives from the Harlem Swing Dance Society showed how Swing Dancing in 1930's Harlem has influenced the hip-hop dancing of today.  Under the direction of Mr. Means, class 501 shared a powerful poem about Harriet Tubman and Social Studies Teacher Mr. Harris guided students in creating a timeline with the names of seven African-Americans in the fields of science, literacy and civil rights.  To see the full video of the performance by class 501, click here or click the photo below!


Tubman Poem By Class 501 from PS4M on Vimeo.

Special thanks to Ms. Barbara Jones and Ray Davis from the Harlem Swing Dance Society!  For more information about their organization, click here!  Take a look at the photo collage below for highlights from the event!

Create a collage

PS4 Celebrates Black History: The African American Experience

Students listen to Mr. Keys' mother and aunts as they share their stories of living in Harlem in the 1960's.

To celebrate Black History Month, Mr. Keys brought in three very special guests!  Guest Speakers Mozella Keys (the mother of Mr. Keys), Helen Baker (Mr. Keys' aunt), and Ann Burley (another aunt)!  These three sisters visited the boys and girls of class 520 and allowed them to ask questions about living in the Harlem in the 1950's and 1960's. They all lived during the civil rights era after migrating from South Carolina.  They were 6, 9 and 11 years old.  They boarded a train and arrived in Harlem where they stayed with their aunt who lived on 158 Street and St Nicholas Ave. This was an area of Harlem called "Sugar Hill".  They shared great stories of attending school with actor and activist Harry Belafonte, actress Diana Carroll, boxer Joe Lewis and famous singer Frankie Lymon. Even the great Duke Ellington lived in the neighborhood!

Special thanks to Ms. Keys, Ms. Baker and Ms. Burley who gave our students a better understanding of the African-American experience.

Celebrating Black History Month

This month, students in grades 3, 4 and 5 were invited to celebrate Black History Month by entering an essay contest!  Three winners will be chosen at our annual Black History Month celebration on February 27th.  Students are asked to research on of three civil rights activists; Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, or Medgar Evers.  In a 5-paragraph essay, students must:

• Give facts about the person
• Explain why he is important
• Compare the problems that he tried to solve with the problems that we're currently having
• On a separate sheet of paper, list the 3-5 sources of information that was used
• Check and correct errors in spelling and grammar

Each paragraph must have at least 8 sentences.  For more information about each of these great African-Americans, students are encouraged to visit the Washington Heights Public Library or click on the links above!  All typed or neatly hand-written essays must be e-mailed to dlennon2@schools.nyc.gov or handed to Ms. Lennon, Dr. Thomas or Mr. Harris before 2pm on Wednesday, February 25th.

Artist of the Month: Faith Ringgold

Tar Beach Quilt created by author Faith Ringgold.

Artist, Faith Ringgold

During the months of January and February, students will study the artwork of Faith Ringgold who began her artistic career more than 35 years ago as a painte!. Today, she is best known for her painted story quilts -- art that combines painting, quilted fabric and storytelling. She has exhibited in major museums in the USA, Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. She is in the permanent collection of many museums including the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Museum of Modern Art. Her first book, Tar Beach was a Caldecott Honor Book and winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration, among numerous other honors. She has written and illustrated eleven children's books. She has received more than 75 awards, fellowships, citations and honors, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Fellowship for painting, two National Endowment for the Arts Awards and seventeen honorary doctorates, one of which is from her alma mater The City College of New York.

Faith Ringgold is married to Burdette Ringgold and has two daughters, Michele and Barbara Wallace; and three granddaughters, Faith, Theodora and Martha. She is a professor of art at the University of California in San Diego, California.  For more information about Faith Ringgold, click here! To see a video of the author discussing her artwork, click here!

Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday

Martin Luther King, Jr., was a great man who worked for racial equality and civil rights in the United States of America. He was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Martin had a brother, Alfred, and a sister, Christine. Both his father and grandfather were ministers. His mother was a schoolteacher who taught him how to read before he went to school.

Young Martin was an excellent student in school; he skipped grades in both elementary school and high school . He enjoyed reading books, singing, riding a bicycle, and playing football and baseball. Martin entered Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, when he was only 15 years old.  Martin experienced racism early in life. He decided to do to something to make the world a better place.

After graduating from college and getting married, Dr. King became a minister and moved to Alabama.  During the 1950's, Dr. King became active in the movement for civil rights and racial equality. He participated in the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott and many other peaceful demonstrations that protested the unfair treatment of African-Americans. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.  Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.


The third Monday of January is now known as MLK Day of Service.  To find out how you can serve your community and make this world a better place, go to www.MLKDay.gov.  In observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, schools and offices will be closed on Monday, January 20th. To learn more about this man, go to www.enchantedlearning.com or click on any of the following websites:

• Brainpop.com
• Kids.nationalgeographic.com
• Video.nationalgeographic.com
• I Have a Dream Speech - Audio

Contest Winners Announced

Congratulations to the winners of the Black History Month Essay Contest! 

• Erika M. - Class 520
• Andy T. - Class 422
• Yasmin R. - Class 501

Students from grades 3-5 were encouraged to write a three to five paragraph essay discussing why it is important to learn about history and giving facts about an African-American that they admire. 

The three winners were given a certificate, a book, a prize pack and a $10 gift certificate.  Winners were announced at the annual Black History Month Celebration, featuring the PS4 Choir with special guests, Voices of Inspiration, on February 16th.  See photos from the event, below.

Special guests, Voices of Inspiration

PS4 Choir

Black History Month Essay Contest

Students in grades 3-5 are encouraged to enter this essay contest celebrating the achievements of African-Americans.  Which of these prominent great African-Americans do you most admire?

• Rosa Parks
• Duke Ellington
• Michael Jackson
• Muhammad Ali

Choose one of the leaders above and write an essay, including 3-5 paragraphs.  In your essay, you must:

• Discuss why it is important to learn about history
• Give facts about the African-American you chose
• Explain why you admire him or her
• On a separate sheet of paper, list 4-6 sources of information you used
• Check and correct errors in spelling and grammar

Each paragraph must have at least 8 sentences.  For more information about these great African-Americans, you may use websites listed under 'Great Websites for PS4 Kids' located on the left-hand side of this blog.  All typed or neatly hand-written essays must be e-mailed to dlennon2@schools.nyc.gov or handed to Ms. Lennon before 5pm on Tuesday, February 14th.  Three winners will receive a $10 Visa Gift Card at our annual Black History Month Assembly on Thursday, February 16th.

Artist of the Month: Jacob Lawrence

Jacob Lawrence

Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 7, 1917.  He is an American painter whose works portray scenes of Black life and history with ivid, stylized realism.  At age 13, Lawrence moved with his family to his family to the Harlem section of New york City.


Gouache and tempera paints were Lawrence's charatcteristic media.  His use of somber browns and black for shadows and outlines in an otherwise vibrant palette lent his worka distinctive overtone.  His best-known works are his series on historical or soceial themes, including  ...And the Migrants Kept Coming (1940), Life in Harlem (1942), and War (1947).   Lawrence taught at various schools and colleges and became a professor of art at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1971;  he retired in 1986.  He died at the age of 83.

Living in Harlem (1943)

For more information about Jacob Lawrence, go to Britannica.com or click here!

Coach Harris and the PS4 Boys Baseball Team Salute Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson's legacy was memorialized on April 15, 2010, by fans, players and Major League Baseball, marking the 63rd anniversary of the Hall of Famer breaking baseball's color barrier. For the second consecutive year, every baseball player at the 12 different ballparks where Robinson played, were asked to wear his retired number; 42.

Click here to see video clips by professional baseball players discussing this historic moment.

Celebrating Black History

Which great African-American do you most admire and why?

Rosa Parks
Duke Ellington
Langston Hughes
Jackie Robinson

Click the links for more information and answer the question by posting a comment!

Happy Birthday, Dr. King!

On January 17, 2011, the country celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr! He was a great man who worked for racial equality in the United States of America. He was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Both his father and grandfather were ministers. His mother was a schoolteacher who taught him how to read before he went to school. Young Martin was an excellent student in school.

After graduating from college and getting married, Dr. King became a minister and moved to Alabama. During the 1950's, Dr. King became active in the movement for civil rights and racial equality. He, along with Rosa Parks, participated in the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott and many other peaceful demonstrations that protested the unfair treatment of African-Americans. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968.