Sweet BNS Voices Singing Holiday Songs at Brown Harris Stevens Open House

During the holiday season at the Park Slope office of Brown Harris Stevens, Jonathan Hardy and an enthusiastic group of second and third graders, performed an uplifting concert of seasonal favorites to brighten a rainy afternoon and usher in some holiday spirit. 

The singers performed to Jonathan's keyboard accompaniment for two sets, singing well-loved songs such as Frosty the Snowman, My Favorite Things, and my personal favorite in the BNS repertoire, One Candle in the Night.

During their break, the hard-working kids replenished themselves with cookies and candy canes. Anna Allanbrook came to listen and accept the generous and well-earned $500 donation from Brown Harris Stevens for the BNS Music Department.

Thanks to Jonathan and the singers for a fabulous show--a perfect addition to the holiday season! I am glad to have been able to organize this event and secure the donation for BNS. We hope it will become an annual holiday tradition.

By Karen Shen (Andrew, 5th grade and William, 1st grade)

Water Color Through Still Life

Paola has been reacquainting students with various techniques-watercolor, collage, line drawing. First creating sketches, third grade explored water color through still life. 

Notice how all these artworks look different, have compositional and expressive variety, reveal different approaches to the same problem, and show each child's unique vision in a palpable way. Thank you, Paola for honoring, supporting and providing opportunities for our children to explore and express!

See some artwork you like on the BNS walls? Blog it! Contact the Arts Committee: artscommittee@bns146.org

Keep on Looking: Third Grade Takes on Bamboo

Visiting the China Museum each year is one of the most inspiring experiences for everyone in the BNS community.  The bold and bright reds in the artwork, the strength of the brush marks in the calligraphy, the dynamic projects with warriors, silk patterns and materials to teach of the vivid culture of Ancient China leave us in awe.

An equally inspiring, subtle, and discreet study takes place in the art room, where third graders learn how to "look at" bamboo.  They explore line, form, and "chiaroscuro:" the darks and lights of the forms. Then, using pencils and shading techniques students create three dimensional appearances.  One can not get bored looking at these dozens of drawings of the same scene.  Bamboo, in all it's loveliness, is so appealing to the viewer, but also to the artist.  Discovering it's distinctive markings, soft and hard lines and it's unique compositional structure is thrilling.  

Savor these drawings and look at how each artist's study differs from the next. The power of the drawing lies in the eye and hand of our third graders.

By Janine Sopp

Third Grade: Art Mix-Up Day

This year, third grade started something new: Art Mix-Up Day. The purpose of art mix-up day is to teach children some of the art techniques and tools that they will be using in 3rd grade. We wanted to give students a foundation that we can build on later in the year and that will enable them to become more independent.

During the first art mix-up day, Steve and Nancy taught techniques for using colored pencils; Diane and Ilana taught six different watercolor techniques;

 and Malika and Katherine introduced torn-paper collage.

This week, Steve and Nancy introduced clay - specifically, how to make a slab and a coil, and how to use scoring to join the pieces together. 

Malika and Katherine led a second session on collage, this time introducing colored tissue paper (on a white background) and scissors.  With new materials to expand their repertoire, students continued experimenting with composition, layering, 2D and 3D, and color contrast, while also discovering ways to take advantage of the tissue paper "bleeding."  

Diane, supported by Rachel and BNS/BCS alum Elsa, taught brush painting.  

Students learned the word "precision" as they learned techniques for making thick and thin lines and how to vary the hue (or "value") of the black ink.  This should prepare them well for their apprenticeship next month with Mr. Choey, the Chinese brush painting teacher from the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens who will be coming to work with the 3rd grade.

Thank you, Anna and Katherine for providing this text. Thank you, Third Grade team for providing this awesome experience and for documenting it so we can share it!

Third Grade Africa Museum: 2013

At the Third Grade Africa Museum last spring there was so much to see: poems, books, collages dioramas, murals, diagrams, paper mache, clay, watercolors and more. Through these diverse media third graders explored Africa as a habitat and ecosystem. Animals and plants filled the hallways in a dense tapestry reminiscent of the rainforest itself. Here is a glimpse of the treasures:

 

 

 

                 

If you are interested in blogging about YOUR child's classroom please contact me at bnsartsalive@gmail.com. 

Prektiss, Prektiss, PREKTISS! Third Grade Trip to Carnegie Hall!

We know very little about what is actually happening in these photos except what we see: Our third grade kiddos jamming with a live orchestra at Carnegie Hall! Can it get more awesome than this? 

Thank you, Jonathan for making this trip a possibility!
Were you there? Please tell a story! Add a comment below.

The Roving Parent: What inspires you?

Recent examples of our children's beautiful artwork spotted in the BNS hallways. Have you seen anything on the BNS walls that inspires you? 

Arbo's Class Collages

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 Third Grade Mulberry Leaf Drawings with Ann:

 Fifth Grade Prints:

First Grade:

Thank you, Lynn Groveman, for taking these pics!

Saw some art you liked? Be a blogger. Click here.