Interdisciplinary Collaboration--Creative Writing

We are delighted to share that during January the wonderfully talented visiting artist J’miah Baird has been leading creative writing workshops with Mr Godley and Mr. Senft’s NSD students at Abbott and St. John’s.

These  will be part of our Black Panther Party interdisciplinary collaboration’s partnership with 826NYC,  and later on J’miah will  lead similar workshops with NSP students.  

We are privileged to have J’miah join us to share his warmth and his care for our students as he encourages them to shape  their emotions into stirring poetry.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

 

Zine Collections in Los Angeles!

Los Angeles Public Library Catalog listing Passages' students' zines

Back in December my Belmont colleague Jessica Ernyey, English Language Arts teacher, approached me about collaborating on a zine mini-unit with one of her groups. 

We were celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month then,  but due to Covid concerns we were foregoing the traditional food-oriented event planning.  Then Ms. Ernyey requested we do some zine-making centered around favorite foods and so we co-planned some lessons.  As the students became engaged in zine-making, I happened to learn about the Los Angeles Public Libraries zine collection through this article.  

We discussed it with our zine makers and with their permission we submitted their work to the LAPL collection.  And so now we're proud to say their zine work is part of the circulating collections at several public library branches in Los Angeles - check them out here and here! --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Overturned by Lamar GIles

 

After having his death sentence commuted, Nikki’s dad is eager to come home and get back to his casino business in Las Vegas. This spells bad news for Nikki, who’s been running her father’s show for the past five years while he’s been in prison. Nikki now finds herself needing to expedite her plans to leave Vegas before her father learns too much. Middle school students and older looking for a suspenseful, who-done-it mystery will be glad they picked Overturned up.--Claudio Leon

Giles, Lamar. Overturned. New York: Scholastic, 2017. Print.

Programming Spotlight: Mindful Coloring

Last month during the week of December 20 the library at Belmont collaborated with Rebecca Fernandez, School Psychologist, and Michael Morgan, Social Worker, to offer a mindful coloring program to all seven of the groups currently at Belmont. 

Unfortunately, two groups went into quarantine at the start of the week,  but the remaining five visited the library as a regularly scheduled part of their week and were introduced to mindfulness and mindful coloring.  While we played ambient music in the background, we distributed coloring books and gel pens,  and then and there staff and co-teachers were invited to join the students in mindful coloring.

All the students who participated were gifted with the coloring book they had been using to color,  and were encouraged to use it as a coping tool during the break or whenever stress was getting to them.   To the houses of the two quarantined groups we sent coloring books and directions for mindful coloring for each student.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Interdisciplinary Collaboration Kickoff: The Black Panther Party

In spite of attendance challenges, some of us educators at Passages Academy’s Belmont site are kicking off a co-planned interdisciplinary collaborative unit on the Black Panther Party this week.  Social Studies, ELA, Art, and Special Education teachers are collaborating with the Reading Specialist, Speech Language Pathologist, and Librarian to lead students through an exploration of David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson’s graphic novel, above.   Student engagement is high.  You can read (and watch and listen to!) NYPL's Amber Certain review of the graphic novel here, along with her excellent recommendations for related texts. (Thank you, Hermithe Bernard, for sharing it!)  More soon. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Breaking News

Photo credit: Claudio Leon

Massive congratulations to colleagues Jamila Abdulrashid and Claudio Leon, school librarians serving Bronx Hope and Horizon, respectively, for winning the BUILD Up grant from the NYC Department of Education, Office of School Library Services, and Mackin.  Both school librarians and their school library locations have been awarded $5000 in new school library books for their collections.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown by Steve Sheinkin

With a gripping narrative,  author Sheinkin describes the Cold War’s arms race and the space race,  first dropping the reader into the streets of Brooklyn.   There a spy’s meticulously crafted device finds its way into the hands of a teenage boy.   

From the local to the global,  Sheinkin brings alive the competition between the United States and Soviet Russia and invites us to experience suspense at the brink of global nuclear destruction -  a chess game played by JFK and Nikita Kruschev.  

Hearty backmatter includes source notes, an extensive bibliography, acknowledgements, image credits, and an index.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Hidden Oil by Fabrice Erre Illustrated by Sylvain Savoia

Where does oil come from?  How was it used in ancient times?   And how did it become the essential commodity it is in our society today?  

This brief overview begins at the beginning in a comic fashion, and in 46 pages this small book gives a valuable perspective to English language readers who are curious to understand oil’s history.  The young age of the narrators may limit the book’s appeal to teens,  but those who can see past that will find a trove of information, including the timeline, short bios, overviews of UAE and a summary of oil and pollution.  Recommended for sparking inquiry, developing schema and as a Social Studies supplementary text.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Papertoy Monsters are Baaaaack

I want to share these pictures of the Papertoy Monsters that invaded our school library just  a few weeks ago.  As usual,  some students enjoyed that activity more than others and one particularly pleased participant said he found the construction activity to be therapeutic.  

All houses received copies of the Castleforte book so that the fun can continue after school.

Many thanks as always  to Literacy for Incarcerated Teens for providing us with the supplies to keep our students hands’ engaged while we worked with an accompanying lesson on managing students’ frustration in the classroom.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month 2021 (continued)

Bronx Hope celebrated Latinx Heritage Month by highlighting centuries-old traditions and creating new art pieces.  Students observed the Rep Your Culture Flag Mask they and others designed, read about Guatemalan Worry Dolls, listened to the rich history & music of the Taino, and decorated a sugar spoon skulls for Dia de los Muertos.  Upon completion of the gallery walk, we all enjoyed traditional Spanish dishes prepared by staff members.-- Jamila Abdulrashid

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month 2021

This September students visiting Belmont’s school library celebrated Hispanic Heritage in our community by learning more about the terms Hispanic, Latinx, and initiating independent inquiry projects.  

We broke out the Latin America puzzles as usual, but this year we also put our hands on decorative corn and wondered about its origins through Mann’s Before Columbus, while considering its role in multiple cuisines. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Banned and Challenged Book Week

Students at Passages Academy engaged in a rich discussion about why books are challenged and/or banned in some schools or public libraries.  They understood that these challenges/bans are subjective based on community ideals.  Ultimately, they decided to celebrate their freedom to read and push back against censorship.  

Passages Academy students read!

--Ms. Abdulrashid, Librarian

A Belated Welcome Back!

A belated “welcome back!” to everyone.  We’ve been so busy with re-opening and constantly disinfecting our libraries we haven’t had a moment to ourselves.  Our two largest libraries are up and running and warmly welcoming students back to routines and nourishing literacy development.  We’ll post pictures and program notes soon. 

Summer Farewell--Whew!

Going to take a breather to re-up.  Wishing you a healthy summer full of good reads.  See you back here in September! --The Passages Academy Library Team  

Why Juneteenth Matters (re-posted from The Brown Bookshelf)

 If you only read one blogpost on the subject, I highly recommend this one by Kelly Starling Lyons and Torrey Maldonado, featuring the voices of some of Passages' favorites, including Coe Booth, Zetta Elliot, Rita Williams-Garcia and Cheryl Willis Hudson.  Many thanks to Esther Keller for sharing it.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson

In writing this book, I wanted to be as authentic and truthful about my experience as possible.  I wanted my story to be told in totality: the good, the bad, and the things I was too afraid to talk about publicly.  This meant going to places and discussing some subjects that are often kept away from teens for fear of them being “too heavy.”

So begins Johnson as he introduces his memoir manifesto with an author’s note.  As the reader wades in, the heaviness is inevitable, but what Johnson’s first words do not prepare the reader for are the love and joy he conveys in describing his beautiful close knit family and their senses of humor and fierce devotion to one another.  

After his note and introduction, the author breaks his story up into four “acts,” collections of essays relayed in a conversational tone to a young adult audience.  He concludes with an afterword.  Teachers may wish to simply share the Introduction to bring this essential voice of our time into the classroom and allow students to select to read it in full as independent reading.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Johnson, George M.  All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson

Click here for discussion questions from the loft.org.

Who Was Bruce Lee? by Jim Gigliotti Illustrated by John Hinderliter

This fast-paced juvenile biography dives into the 1964 spectacle of 23-year old Bruce Lee doing pushups using only two fingers on one hand before an amazed crowd at the International Karate Tournament in Long Beach, California.  Hinderliter’s masterful pencil illustrations support visual learners,   while text boxes cover some of the most interesting aspects of Lee’s tragically short life including his passion for dancing the Cha Cha. Recommended for curious readers of all ages. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Gigliotti, Jim and John Hinderliter.  Who Was Bruce Lee?  New York: Penguin Workshop, 2014.  Ebook.

This copy was accessed through the New York City Department of Education collection available digitally on Sora.

Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage

We kicked off AAPI Heritage Month 2021 with a schema activity around the geography of Asia using Geo Kids’ Asia puzzle.   Many thanks to Literacy for Incarcerated Teens for providing these approachable puzzles that invite students to use their hands assembling the Asian continent from Iran to Japan.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon

“The best way to eliminate a group is to demonize them, such that their disappearance is seen as an act of justice, not discrimination.”  These words from the forward of Beyond the Gender Binary could appear in any book about New York City youth experiencing detainment.  Vaid-Menon uses this short and powerful frame to challenge the reader to shake oneself from the ignorance and complicity of transphobia.  Trans folks, non-binary people, and students with friends and family members whose identities go beyond the gender binary will find this book essential.  Which is to say: everyone. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Vaid-Menon, Alok.  Beyond the Gender Binary.  New York: Penguin Random House, 2020. ebook.

Click here for a short interview with the author from the publisher.

Guest Post: I Could Pee on This and Other Poems by Cats by Francesco Marciuliano

I Could Pee on This and Other Poems by Cats offers us a sweet, humorous, and rather  bold look at how cats view their interactions with us humans and with the world around them.  I personally enjoyed the obnoxious "Man's Best Friend" and the adorable "Cute Bed Jump.”   But it’s the title poem that for me seals the deal and blows my mind as I imagine cats actually having those thoughts. 

Readers of all ages will find enjoyment between the covers of this book,  and educators will find the poems,  with their use of humor and irony,  an excellent way 

to engage students -   even those struggling  with literacy - in writing poems of their own. --E. Latham

Guest Blogger E. Latham currently teaches at Passages Academy.