"Giving Thanks" Cards, The Neighborhood Giving Project

Post Contributed by Jocelyne Adkins, Program Director

For the 3rd consecutive year, Beye Discovery has participated in The Neighborhood Giving Project's "Giving Thanks" letter writing campaign. Although we make cards, the sentiment is still the same: children are eager to acknowledge and give thanks to those who work during the Thanksgiving holiday, often away from their own families. Students in our Monday and Wednesday classes made the cards last week and they were delivered by the students today.

Heidi

Heidi

 
We began by asking students to consider who in our community would need to work during the Thanksgiving holiday. They compiled a long list that included doctors and all those who work in hospitals, animal hospitals, police and fire personnel, grocery store employees, the CTA, military personnel, airline employees, etc. We then chose 4 categories to focus on, as this year we planned a walking field trip to deliver our thank you cards in person. Our recipients included The Carlson Animal Hospital, Dominick's, The Oak Park Fire Department, and The Oak Park Veteran's Center (although this organization moved to S. Harlem Ave., so these cards were delivered separately).

Carson

 

Students made some very heartfelt and detailed cards, using collage and colored pencils. A few students included a pop-up feature to their cards and another card included a short comic. They enjoyed delivering the cards and are eager to do so again next year!

Theo

At the fire station, children were given an impromptu tour and were able to sit inside a firetruck! They also met all the firefighters on shift, including the captain and the station office manager, who keeps the entire department running smoothly. Before departing, students also received a red fire helmet! An additional bonus as our walk was coming to an end, was the ability to hand-deliver one of the cards to a police officer. She was very surprised and quite pleased to be recognized by the children : )

Xantal

We extend a huge thank you to all the children who participated in The Neighborhood Giving Project's "Giving Thanks" letter writing campaign (there were over 600 participants)!!! Each and every child added a bit of cheer to a number of community workers' days due to their thoughtfulness and appreciation.

Dexter

Jessica

Jessica

Yinka

Yinka

Ginger

Ginger

Ethan

Ethan

Cassie

Cassie

Cassie

Ginger

Emory

Emory

Anika

Anika

Peyton

Joey

Joseph

Elijah

Ben and Joseph

Ben

Ben

Ben

Lucy

Lucy

For additional information about The Neighborhood Giving Project's annual "Giving Thanks" Letter Writing Campaign, please visit the following link:

TNGP Project Description:
http://www.neighborhoodgivingproject.org/past-projects.php

TNGP Photo Gallery:
http://www.neighborhoodgivingproject.org/gallery.php

Biospheres Update

Post Contributed by Ally Berstein, Teaching Assistant

Ginger drew her plant as if under a magnifying glass

Exciting news, families - the biospheres that we planted during our "Art with a Heart" themed week have sprouted and grown! This cold weather experiment was not sure to have a favorable outcome - we were uncertain that the seeds would have enough heat and natural light to germinate and grow. There must be a little bit of magic in Room 302, because nearly all of the biospheres have boasted hearty growth! Today, we cracked open our nature journals to chronicle the growth observed thus far.

A snapdragon plant thriving.

Beye Discovery students were asked to sketch their plant within the biosphere, write observations and create a hypothesis for future growth. Students were able to observe a peer's biosphere if their own lacked observable growth or if they had been absent for the first lesson.

Elise's sketch and observations

Joseph focuses on his biosphere

Joseph and his completed sketch

In these images, you may notice that the biospheres are filled with condensation - the bottles had clearly heated up quite a bit to allow for growth! The students who had planted wildflowers observed significant growth. Those who had planted snapdragons also noticed flourishing plants. Most of the basil plants either didn't germinate or didn't exhibit significant growth, although a few students noticed that their basil plants displayed interesting and unexpected colors.

Wilson

Lucy's artistic depiction

Peyton sketching

Laila and her observations

Ben and his illustrated journal cover

Jordon's drawing

Anika sketching

Watching the plants grow every day has been a treat, as they have brought greenery to the classroom, even with limited natural light. We plan to revisit the experiment periodically and will keep you updated on our plants' progress.

Performance: "Happenings" inspired by Alan Kaprow

Post Contributed by Ally Bernstein, Teaching Assistant

For Ms. Bernstein's lesson during our performance themed week, we visited the art historical tradition of performance art. We specifically learned about artist Allan Kaprow, who is associated with the avant-garde group Fluxus and considered to be a pioneer of the movement.

In the late 1950s, Kaprow created "Happenings" in his New York apartment. These "Happenings" consisted of instructions written on cards which were then given to participants to perform. The instructions are considered part of the artwork, as is the performance.  Happenings often feel like a game - the translation from written script (or "score," as the group Fluxus would call it) to movement and performance was often unexpected.

Ms. Bernstein first demonstrated the concept by calling on volunteers to read and follow instructions from "scores" of her own creation. The instructions were fairly simple, including "Shake the hands of three audience members" and "Sit down, cough 10 times, and then get up." Beye Discovery students were quite creative inventing their own instructions, and the Happenings were performed in front of a rapt audience of their peers. Some students performed their own Happenings, while others asked classmates to follow the given instructions.

Jessica performing Ms. Bernstein's "score", shaking hands with a student

Jessica continuing the score above, shaking hands with a 2nd student

Norah performing Ms. Bernstein's 2nd score, read by Jessica

Ethan performing a classmate's score

Lucy's score on left: "Do you have 4 arms?" Score on right: "I can see a flower"

Joey perform's Lucy's score: "Do you have 4 arms?"

Joey performs Lucy's score: "I can see a flower" (first motion)

Joey performing Lucy's score: "I can see a flower" (second motion)

Ethan performs a Happening to a rapt audience

Ethan

The performances were hilarious and sometimes baffling, yet Beye Discovery's written "scores" are also fascinating to look at. Some students chose to give specific instructions for their performers, while others created abstract directions that were more open to interpretation.

score: "erase this paper, this is great, turn this page"

Joey's top score:" pound your chest like a gorilla". Bottom score: "pat head and rub belly, then sit down"

Score: Yell "I love you!"

score: "run to the table, eat your leftovers, sit down"

On left: an in-depth score. On right: "play frog jump with your family and friends"

Making this type of performance art reminds us that artmaking doesn't need to be a solitary pursuit, nor does it need to be "static". If you are looking for a fun family activity on a snowy, frigid winter day or evening (or maybe at your next block party), this is it!