PS 29 Arts Overview

From Pre-K through Grade 5, PS 29's arts program enable students to explore the creative process and help them develop confidence as they express themselves through a variety of art forms.  Working with our staff visual art teachers, Kristen Adamczyk and Jeanie Flewell, along with a tightly integrated group of visiting artists from preeminent cultural institutions.  PS 29 students are encouraged to find their creative niche and develop their talents.  While frequent shares and bi-annual school-wide arts celebbrations are the obvious manifestation of our arts programs, the PS 29 faculty and administration hope to encourage creative exploration through a wide range on on-going projects that celebrate our multicultural society. 

Beginning in Pre-K and up through 5th grade, children have the opportunity to work with a variety of dance, drama, music and visual arts instructors to learn the language and fundamental skills required in each artistic discipline.  In Grades 3, 4 and 5, all students are also eligible for lunchtime electives in Beginning Band, Advanced Band and Chorus.

After school, many students continue to pursue their artistic interests through a wide range of PS 29 PLUS afterschool courses, clubs and activities, such as the PS 29 Players (a PS 29 teacher-run drama program in 2008-2009).  In 2009-2010, theater enthusiasts are members of a PS 29 parent-run Grade 5 acting club, "The Cast".

Our active PS 29 PTA Arts Committee oversees arts events in our school and helps identify, research and makes recommendations for arts collaborationswith world-class cultural organizations.  One teacher from each grade serves as a committee liaison, in order to advance and deepen our cross-disciplinary educational goals.

Arts Collaborations and Partnerships with PS 29:

In 2009-2010, we celebrate the sixth year of our flagship collaboration with the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music (BCM), consisting of 25-week Orff-Kodaly-method residencies that offer once-weekly sequential standards-based instruction for Pre-K through grade 4, as well as BCM Recorder Ensemble (Grade 3), BCM Beginning Band (Grade 4-5), BCM Advanced Band (Grade 4-5), and BCM Chorus (Grade 3-5).

Orff-Kodaly Music and Movement:
Based on the teachings of Karl Orff and Zoltan Kodaly, these weekly classes are designed specifically for children in grades Pre-K through 4.  The curriculum emphasizes the joys of rhythm and music improvisation by incorporating instrumental and body percussion with vocal practice (songs and improvisations).  Children learn important lessons in personal challenges and discipline, and the pleasures and variety of musical expression.

Recorder Ensemble - Grade 3:
During these weekly classes, students learn the art of recorder playing along with related musical concepts, including staff notation, rhythm and note values, scales and technique.  Students also learn about ensemble playing using their individual strengths to benefit the larger group.  Meaningful social and individual development are provided through the study of music, with students experiencing a sense of accomplishment through their ability to play an instrument as well as the aestetic joy of appreciating music at a sophisticated level.

Band - Grades 4 and 5:
Students choose among flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and percussion.  Throughout the year, students learn note-reading, rhythmic skills, posture, breath support, ensemble and style.  Beginning students are separated into individual instrumental groups while they achieve a basic proficiency on their instrument.  Later in the year, students form the larger concert band in preparation for the year-end performance.

Chorus - Grades 3, 4 and 5:
Students sing, learning breath support, articulation, good vocal habits, part singing and ensemble skills.  Repertoire may include popular, jazz and classical music.


Our visual arts teachers work in collaborations with City Lore to create an on-going annual Artists-in-Residency Program of one-week masters' workshops.  In 2008 and 2009, guests included Chinese brushstroke master Kwak Kai Choey, Iroquois/Oneida Nation artist Vicky Shenandoah, Tunisian artist Emna Zghal and Nigerian textile artist Foley Kolade.  In 2009-2010, our visiting artist included sculptor and artist Judy Hoffman and PS 29 parent Elliot Arkin and the Mr. Artsee Project. 

City Lore artists work in tandem with our visual art and classroom teachers to integrate social studies, literacy and mathematical themes into units of study.  Students explore a variety of media including painting, collage, drawing, sculpture and printmaking.


The New Victory Spotlight Pilot Dramatic Workshop Residency offers five workshops designed to explore one New Victory performance in-depth.  These sessions in 2008-2009 enriched our fourth graders' experiences of the performance of Jason and the Argonauts, while further developing their understanding of live performance and the role it can play in the world.  While rooted in performance, production themes also served as a springboard to cross-curricular study.  Our Pre-K, K and 5th graders also attended New Victory performances, receiving pre-and post-performance workshops.  In 2009-2010, 2nd graders attended PaGAGnini and 5th graders attended Peter and the Wolf.


Our 10-week Metropolitan Opera Guild collaboration partners PS 29's first grade students and their teachers with a Guild teaching artist to create an aria based on a character study of a book of the class's choosing.  Within this team effort, the students create a story, write a script and its corresponding lyrics, add melodies and musical moments, and create visual elements to enhance the telling of their story.  The result is a process-learning based system of expression, fun and confidence building through theater games, improvisation and music composition.


The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) African DanceBeat and MusicBeat Programs for PS 29's third grade students emphasize cultural connections, literacy in dance and music, and art-making with a focus on teh country of one of the companies from Africa or the African Diaspora that will be performing in BAM's DanceAfrica festival.  Led by BAM's teaching artists, students have the exciting experience of learning about Africa and the African Diaspora thorugh dance and music.  PS 29 students participating in the program attend a performance by the visiting company at BAM, as a culmination of the program and also participate in an end-of-residency share at PS 29.

In conjunction with the 3rd grade social studies curriculum unit on Africa, African DanceBeat and MusicBeat explore, through the arts, the history, geography, and the culture of the visiting company.  In African DanceBeat, students participate in African-based movement techniques and rhythmic expression.  Live percussion accompaniment is provided for each African MusicBeat workshop.  The students learn to sing traditional African songs and perform rhythms on homemade and indigenous instruments.  PS 29's teachers attend a professional development workshop on African music and dance at BAM to strengthen the effectiveness of the residency.


American Ballroom Theater's Dancing Classrooms Program offers PS 29's 4th and 5th graders an immersive 10-week, twice-weekly ballroom dance residency.  Dancing Classrooms uses a curriculum-based teaching approach to achieve social awareness and build self-esteem.  Students are taught the vocabulary of various contemporary social dances in a classroom setting.  Each class in the series introduces new steps, reinforcing what has been previously learned throguh practice and repetition.


Brooklyn Arts Council's Book Arts Residency offers our Kindergarten students the opportunity to assemble a book about our neighborhood, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, using an experimental layout and incorporating unconventional materials and designs.  Students compose their own poetry or prose and then illustrate their work with collage, drawings, paintings or prints.  Their work is collected in a single collaborative 'big' book.


Finally, through PS 29's implementation of the University of Connecticut Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development's Schoolwide Enrichment Model, we offer 10-week enrichment cluster cycles at each grade level -- over 100 offerings, in total, and including many varied choices in visual arts, drama, music, songwriting and dance.  This approach allows, PS 29 to develop a collaborative school culture that takes advantage of our unique resources to create meaningful, high-level and creative opportunities for students to develop their talents.