CONTENT SPECIALISTS

Visual Arts taught by

Mr. Clarke

The intent of the Visual Arts program at The Gil Hodges School, P.S. 193, is to develop visual thinkers and to encourage creative problem solving on all levels of instruction. This program promotes visual literacy through studies in art history, aesthetics, art appreciation and criticism as well as through the process of creating original art. Art enables us to perceive, interpret, and evaluate life's experiences in a way that is unique to each of us. Structured learning situations are an essential part of the intellectual, social, and emotional growth of every child, and the art curriculum is designed to develop the unique mental capabilities which foster flexible, divergent, original, fluent, and imaginative thinking. Additionally, the arts present opportunities to develop the higher levels of thought.

While art enhances learning in all subject areas by providing visual, auditory, and sensory experiences, it has intrinsic value and is worth learning for its own sake. Our students truly enjoy the art classes and have demonstrated time and time again how incredibly talented they are.

Science & Technology with

Mrs. Wu

At P.S. 193, our students are busy with Science and Technology. At this time, students are in the process of working on the yearly research projects. Parents, please refer to Ms. McGinty's Science website for resources and information about topics in Science.:

http://ps193science.wix.com/science

We are also excited to announce that at PS 193, our students participated in the “Hour of Code” using the free resources at Code.org. The goal is to introduce students from kindergarten to grade five to some basic coding skills, in class, with hopes that they will continue to practice at home, going through the different levels of mastery. Code.org levels start with Block Coding and drag and drop skills using an an “Angry Bird” game maze and proceeding through puzzles and problem solving with Minecraft, Star Wars, Frozen, and various Play Labs. Each student may proceed through the levels at his/her own pace. The kids love it. They are learning while having tons of fun!

Brief history on "Hour of Code":

Hour of Code was launched in 2013 by Hadi and Ali Partovi. The goal of the twin brothers was to get every school in the USA to teach computer science and computer programming. Hadi Partovi attended Harvard University where he earned degrees in computer programming and is the CEO of Code.org, an organization that has reached over 100 million students. He found that there were not enough computer programmers to fill the 100,000 available jobs in computer science each year. Code.org started out as a hobby for Partovi but became a full time job to make sure every school in the USA teaches and that every student gets some exposure to computer science. Code.org is dedicated to expanding access to computer science to women and under represented minorities, is available in over 40 languages and is currently being used in almost every country in the world. Many other organizations and companies now also offer Coding applications, some free and others for a fee.

Coding Resources:

Code.org

Code Academy

Code Avengers

Code Combat

Code Monster

Khan Academy

Scratch and Scratch Jr.

Tynker

Hackety Hack!

Codesters

Music taught by Mrs. Shkop

Under the direction of Mrs. Shkop, our students will learn how to play different instruments including keyboarding. Our students look forward to learning different styles and genres of music. As the year progresses, our students will also learn, while preparing for a demonstration, that Performance is an ensemble activity, where everyone works together in order to succeed.

At any time, you can hear the beautiful sounds of music and song from our children through out the building.

This video is an example of the great work our students, Mrs. Shkop and our team puts forth.

The 4Rs Program

(Reading, Writing, Respect & Resolution)

PS 193 uses a program called the 4Rs program. The 4Rs Program (Reading, Writing, Respect & Resolution) integrates social and emotional learning (SEL) and the language arts for pre-kindergarten to middle school.

The 4Rs builds on an engaging, interactive curriculum that uses great children's literature as springboard. In weekly lessons, teachers engage students in reading, writing, discussion, and skills practice aimed at fostering caring, responsible behavior, including:

building community
understanding and handling feelings
listening
assertiveness
problem-solving
dealing well with diversity
cooperation

The 4Rs curriculum is grade-specific: Each grade has its own teaching guide, books, and age-appropriate activities. Each 4Rs unit begins with a Read Aloud of a children’s book, carefully chosen for its high literary quality and relevance to the theme. Next is Book Talk — discussion, writing, and roleplay to deepen students’ understanding of the book and connect it to their lives. Then comes Applied Learning — skills practice related to the theme.

By highlighting universal themes of conflict, feelings, relationships, and community, the 4Rs curriculum adds meaning and depth to literacy instruction. Since reading and writing are excellent tools for exploring conflict, feelings, and problem-solving, the 4Rs approach enriches conflict resolution instruction as well.

Enrichment Clubs

One of the major goals of the enrichment program at PS 193 is to provide each student with an opportunity to develop his or her own strengths, interests, and talents. Our CIG Enrichment Program will expose students to various activities which will broaden their academic experience while working collaboratively. This takes place every Friday during last period. Students were given surveys where they chose 3 clubs to participate in throughout the year. The clubs include chess, dance, cheerleading, poetry, yoga, Spanish, Legos, coding and more. Students do not have to join as a class, they are able to choose any club they'd like.

Aside from learning a specific skill, enrichment programs promote socialization, friendship building, problem solving and strategic thinking within a supportive environment that allows our children to grow and learn while having fun.

Physical Education

Ms. Odom, Mrs. Jacques and Mr. Hidais

Physical education (PE) is an important academic subject that teaches students to be physically active, work as a team, and set fitness goals that can last a lifetime. The fitness-based skills that students learn in PE is what emerging research shows is essential to learning. At PS 193 our children are active and learning how to be as healthy as they can. There are 3 gyms within the school and our teachers Ms. Odom and Mr. Hidais are fully vested in engaging our students in activities and behaviors that will contribute to our student’s lifelong health and wellness. Our student’s physical fitness is assessed using NYC Fitnessgram. To learn more about this program click here.