Field Trip! Second Graders Visit Harlem’s Jazz Museum

At BtB, we love field trips! In the past 10 years, we’ve learned that a love of reading often takes root when students discover that the world of a book mirrors their own real world, and field trips are a fun way to make those connections.

Ms. Olivero’s 2nd grade class has been working on a program centered around Renee Watson’s book Harlem’s Little Blackbird. Blackbird is the story of Florence Mills, the often overlooked (in part because there are no known recordings of her) but incredibly talented figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Inspired by Mills, the students wrote about their big dreams and, on Monday, they visited the National Jazz Museum in Harlem to learn more about Mills, her legacy, and jazz.

The students impressed Artistic Director Loren Schoenberg with their knowledge about Mills and the Harlem. He played some piano for them, then gave a quick lesson on how to scat like real jazz singers. A couple of students were brave enough to try!

Check out the pictures below, and thank you to the Jazz Museum for the enriching experience!

Field Trip! Second graders visit their pen pals

Our programs are unique opportunities to enrich students’ understanding of the world while improving their reading and writing skills. In that spirit, last week, Mr. Braverman’s second grade class from PS 46 joined author Susanna Pitzer at the Kateri Residence nursing home to meet their pen pals for the first time!

It was an exciting day of crafts and camaraderie; a great time was had by all. Check out the great photos, as well as Susanna’s heartwarming letter to the class about the trip.

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Dear Mr. Braverman, Andrew, Anthony, Antwan, Carli, Joemy, Leroy, Natequan, Omari, R’Meek, Zamia, Zavon, Ms. Outlaw, and Ms. Wiggins,

Thank you all so much for coming to visit us at Kateri Residence yesterday.

All your pen pal friends were so happy to see you!!!!! They had a lot fun. They loved hearing you read. They enjoyed talking with you and working on art projects, and they were grateful for and impressed with the gifts that you made.

I was very proud of every one of you. I was so pleased with how well you interacted with your pen pal friends. You made their day much better and mine, too. : ))
I’m always happier when I see you all.

I’ve known most of you for many months now. I can’t get over how every time I see you, your reading skills are stronger, your drawing and art skills improve, how you are growing up to be such kind, wonderful, and valuable members of the community. Yesterday, I was able to see you all in action — you were truly making life better for other people by your attention and kindness to them.

Thank you so much for that.

Antwan and Leroy,
It was so nice to meet you. You are a terrific addition to this great group of people. : ))

I can’t wait to see you all again!!!

Your friend,
Susanna

Isabel Hill and writing mentors visit CS 21!

A student revises his piece with a volunteer

What might you notice if you stop to look closely at the buildings around you?

One second grade class at CS 21 in Bed Stuy is writing about architecture with Isabel Hill, author of the book Urban Animals. Last week, the students went on a walking tour of their neighborhood, taking pictures of the kinds of architectural details they had learned about from Isabel and her fabulous book; details which they had never noticed before.

Since then, the class has been hard at work writing drafts for their class book. Each student choose one of the pictures they took and described it – its texture, shape, and size; what kind of architectural detail it was; what they were reminded of when they looked at it.

The class began with a story from Isabel about the publishing of the book – a story about what it means to edit one’s own work. She described how one publisher liked the photographs she had taken more than the drawings that accompanied them, and how she understood where they were coming from, so she took the photographs out. But when the same publisher asked her to change the text of the book – from a rhyming romp focused on teaching readers about architecture to the story of some children taking a walking tour – she could not bring herself to make the change.

“Revision,” she explained, “is trying something on. In the end, only you know what your art is, because you are the artist.”

The class then broke into small groups, a few students and an adult volunteer, to read their drafts and work on improving them. The students set about adding more detail, trying to describe their photos so the reader could see the architecture in their mind’s eye. The most fun part was making associations: the belt course looks like the one on my grandma’s building, or the texture was smooth like grease.

After the small group work, Isabel signed each of the students’ copies of Urban Animals, and the class took a picture. It was an exciting day of writing, and we can’t wait to see the finished book!

The whole class, Isabel Hill, and the volunteers

Busy writing

Paying attention to detail

Isabel works with a student

One student reads what he has so far

Considering even more details!

Excited to read their work!

A volunteer helps with revision

Author Isabel Hill with an early draft of her book

Matt de la Pena visits the Community Health Academy of the Heights

One of our coolest ongoing programs is with the three 10th grade classes at the Community Health Academy of the Heights (CHAH) (check out our other programs at CHAH) where students have been reading Matt de la Pena’s novel We Were Here. Written as a series of court-ordered diary entries, the story contemplates self-discovery and self-worth as the narrator, Miguel, tries to sort through his experiences at Juvi, his complicated family relationships, and what life means. Miguel’s frank, unapologetic voice inspired a couple of students to declare Matt “the best author” ever and, with his fantastic ear for character, it’s not hard to see why they think so.

On his first visit, Matt read the students a short story where a man describes his life in just two words: car wreck. Shifting to workshop mode, he asked the students to come up with their own two word descriptions which later became the basis for a short story. Today, Matt returned to the classroom to teach a lesson on revision; we were all excited to see how the student’s tales had evolved from their two-word-seeds.

“My favorite part of the writing process is revision,” Matt explained at the beginning of the lesson. “I revise my work over and over and over again because I know it will exist forever between two covers.”

He stunned the class by adding he revised We Were Here nearly 30 times before it was finally published. He revised his first book, Ball Don’t Lie, over 100 times!

Several brave students volunteered to read their drafts aloud and have them discussed. Matt laid out the workshop protocol: start first with what’s working, pointing to specific moments in the story, before moving on to the parts that need smoothing out. It’s not always easy to have your work on the chopping block, but the 10th graders took his advice seriously and some great workshopping ensued. Matt wrapped up the class with some tips for revision – check back tomorrow to see the whole list! (In the meantime, check out Doreen Rappaport’s Rules for Writing Biography.)

Matt and Mr. Dickhudt’s 10th grade class

Fooling around

 After the official visit, Matt stopped in for a quick hello and book signing with some 7th graders who were eager to meet him.

Thanks from all of us to Matt for a great visit!

New Student Book: Where 802 is From

April is National Poetry Month, and here at BtB we’re celebrating in our favorite way: with student books! Poetry is an incredible mode of discovery and self-expression for young writers, and so every year we make sure to bring poets into classrooms; this year we were fortunate and had the opportunity to work with Alan Katz, Doug Florian, Tony Medina,and John Grandits.

Today, we’re featuring the work of East Harlem 8th graders from JHS 13. The students began by personalizing journals with BtB teaching artist Barbara Korein, where they recorded their thoughts, questions, analysis, and reflections on Tony Medina’s I and I Bob Marley, a biography of the reggae icon in verse. (Find out more about BtB journals here.)

Tony visited the classroom twice; on his first visit, he began by pointing out how tone, cadence, diction, phrasing, and images contribute to the feeling of a poem. He then introduced “I am from” poetry, inspired by “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon. Tony encouraged the students to think about both the physical and emotional landscapes which shape our selves. When he returned for a second visit, the class wrote haikus, and had the opportunity to share their “I am from” poetry.

Check out the class book here, and be sure to check back for more student poetry throughout the month of April!