Written by 2023-24 AFA Intern Mackenzie Timbrell
October 28, 2023:
On Saturday, October 28th, I had the privilege of shadowing two teaching artists, Kim Schafer and Nicole Hogsett, at the Corlears School in Lower Manhattan. The school was hosting their Halloween Fall Fest, and Kim and Nicole taught a class surrounding theater and crafts. The children were all dressed up in their costumes and excited to learn. Kim began the class with a few exercises to get the kids engaged and comfortable in the environment. We started with a thumbs up, middle, or down movement to see how everyone was feeling that day. Then, Kim and Nicole had everyone engage in a dance warmup game that was call and response. I could see the children starting to become more comfortable being expressive and having fun with the games. They then moved on to the main activities of a rhythm game and a dance game. The rhythm game was called “We are going on a ghost hunt” and taught kids how to clap on beat at different speeds through this action of “seeing” monsters on a ghost hunt. Next, we did a monster freeze dance activity where we played music, and when it stopped, everyone had to stop and do a pose as the monster that was being called out by Kim. It was so heartwarming to see all of the kids excited to be a part of these group activities while also learning new skills! Our final activity of the day was to make a paper plate pumpkin with markers. I loved being able to see each child’s individual artistic style and how focused they all were on making their pumpkins as colorful as they could. I had such a wonderful time seeing the teaching artists engaging with the students and creating a space where the students could express themselves in whatever way they were comfortable with.
November 11, 2023:
On Saturday, November 11th, I was able to shadow Nicole Hogsett for the second time at the Corlears School. For this class, Nicole had a few different activities planned. As the children arrived, they were able to draw freely on paper until the class began. This was also a great chance for the students to get to know each other, as it was a class day where anyone could attend. When more students showed up, we were able to begin with a book about gratitude and being thankful for our family and friends. After the book, Nicole led everyone in an activity called “gratitude soup.” This involved every person “putting” something into the middle of the circle that they were grateful for, such as family, friends, or food. After this, we did a movement exercise that involved a freeze dance, and then we moved on to our final activity. This was an art project where all the children got to make their own paper plate fall trees! The kids were able to make each tree their own and could add a trunk to the bottom of the paper plate at the end. The children really liked this last activity, and it was great to see everyone’s own individual style of tree.
February 10, 2024:
On Saturday, February 10th, I was able to shadow Nicole Hogsett at the Corlears School. This day was really fun, as it was Lunar New Year. All of the activities for this session surrounded the holiday. The first thing Nicole did was have everyone join her on the carpet, and they read a book about the history of Lunar New Year. Then, they discussed and repeated loud sounds that you might hear on the holiday, such as fireworks or clapping. The kids loved coming up with the sounds and repeating them back to Nicole for the whole class to do. Our next activity was a freeze dance game with scarves that the kids could swing around and throw in the air. Nicole engaged the kids in the game by letting them start and stop the music when they wanted. It was so fun to see all the kids free to dance their hearts out! Our last activity of the day was to create a dragon puppet out of a paper bag and handprints. The kids first had to trace out their hands on paper and cut them out. These were placed on the backs of the bags to show the hair of the dragon. The kids then were able to color in and make the dragons however they pleased. It was so interesting to see how each student made their own puppet and how excited they were to “become” and talk through their new dragons!
March 2, 2024:
On Saturday, March 2nd, I had the chance to come and help teaching artist Nicole Hogsett at the Corlears School. The theme of the day was sports, so Nicole had planned a full session of sports-related activities. First, we started with a hello song to get the children ready for the class. Nicole brought out her dragon puppet to talk with the kids about what sports are, and the kids helped the dragon identify different sports like tennis, basketball, and soccer. The kids loved talking with the puppet, and Nicole had a few of them help her control the puppet by moving its arm! Then, we did a freeze dance game with motivating songs to help the kids get more comfortable in the space and have some fun! Finally, our last activity of the day was to create banners for whatever team or sport we love! The kids loved this idea, and Nicole brought a ton of fun crayons and sticky letters for them to use. My favorite part of the day was a little girl who showed me her artwork and, after explaining what it was, said, “I’m an artist!”. It was such a wholesome and lovely moment to see kids actively believing in themselves and their abilities through Arts For All’s programs. It was so wonderful to be able to join Nicole at Corlears School again, and I look forward to next time!
April 20, 2024:
On Saturday, April 20th, I made my last visit to Corlears and met up with teaching artist Nicole Hogsett and new intern Christian Rongavilla. Today was so much fun! The theme for the day was Earth Day, and Nicole had some exciting activities planned. First, Nicole introduced the class by singing the hello song, and then she began discussing what Earth Day was with the students. I was happy to see that most of the kids knew what Earth Day was and were all very excited. Our first activity of the day was a big parachute that we all held a corner of. We replicated sounds like waves of the ocean, a storm, and then walked around making the noises of our favorite animals. The kids loved this engaging activity and didn’t want to stop! Next, Nicole brought out a video of a Yellowstone hot spring and explained to the students what was happening in the video. The kids were all amazed by the nature in that video, and it was a great transition to ask what the students favorite parks in the city were. After the conversation about nature in the city, Nicole passed around a globe beach ball. When you were passed the ball, you had to say what your favorite part of nature was. I think by having all of these engaging physical activities, Nicole was able to keep the students’ attention while also teaching. Our final activity before moving to the tables was a scarf freeze dance game that the kids love to do every time. Our last craft was to draw your own globe or Earth Day picture with your favorite places outdoors. Nicole also brought stickers that they could draw on to really make it their own. This was such a wonderful day at Corlears, and it was a great last day working with the students!
