HSC Bensonhurst Senior Center HOME Project.14 11/18/2021

 

HSC Bensonhurst Senior Center

HOME Project

Blog 14 11/18/2021

With last week a holiday in observance of Veteran’s Day our amazing students had plenty of time to finish their homework. They shared photos of their fabulous miniature houses on WeChat, and it was especially thrilling to see them “live” in 3D during our class. But first we had to warm up our bodies and imagination and what better way to do that than with some more balance exercises.  We are going to BALANCE our little houses today!

We walked on the spot, rolling our shoulders back and keeping our gaze straight ahead as we concentrated on our core, pulling our belly button back to our spine. Next, we shifted weight from side to side and we were ready for the Flamingo. Standing on one leg we leaned into the other and lifted one arm up and tried bringing the other up to match it if we felt we could. The Shooting Star saw our seniors stand with their legs wide apart, lifting one leg to the side and the opposite arm out. If they felt balanced, they released the other arm from the chair support and created a star shape. Finally, the most apt exercise for our ladies is the Superwoman. They used the back of a chair for support, leaned 1 leg back then stretched the opposing arm out in front and if they felt secure, they held out the other arm. They were flying!

Hui Fen made a green cylindrical house with a conical shaped roof. She placed a chimney on her other square roofed house. Like an architect, Ru Ping designed a 4-sided roof for her house which she made from a magazine. Pun added an orange awning over the door of her house creating a 3D effect. Jing Wei added butterflies to the tissue papered windows of her house. For her other house she used newsprint and added diamond shaped windows, mirroring this effect with a similar diamond pattern on the door. So Sim added a metal pipe to the side of her house for the solar panel on the roof! Sook Fong made a garden around the base of her house. She used a Chinese newspaper to make her other house and Lao Yu commented it was like a “pre-Liberation” home, as people used to wallpaper their homes with newsprint. 


Susanna recycled Chinese New Year wrapping paper to create a 3D square roof. Lao Yu added a planter next to her front door and a tiny birds’ house. Stella’s unique roof on her round house was made from overlapping panels. She also created retractable awnings over the windows and is going to add a step under the front door. We always learn something new from our students. One of the many joys of teaching this class!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FAMILY ALBUM POP-UP BOOK MAKING @ QUEENS PUBLIC LIBRARY.7 8/23/2021

Image
  QUEENS PUBLIC LIBRARY - CREATIVE AGING PROGRAM FAMILY ALBUM POP-UP BOOK MAKING Blog 7 8/23/21 As Madlyn was out today she arranged for Kathy and Willie to moderate our program in her place. Thanks very much Kathy and Willie! We had fun warming up our imaginations by thinking of words that best describe us then using gestures to express the word. The final page of the pop-up book is a self-portrait, so this activity helped fire up our brains. Once the base page was folded, we reviewed how to make V Fold Stands. Students made two V Fold Stands and glued them into the base page. Next, they learned a new skill - pocket making. Thinking about the word or words they used to describe themselves, they drew a reflective shape and with a sharpie, wrote the word inside. The word, decorated if desired, was placed in the pocket. Once the page is opened, this word is revealed to help in storytelling.  Another technique learned in an earlier class and reviewed was making the background. O...
Read more

Bensonhurst Senior Center Holiday Party 12/30/2020

Image
Celebrating with our students is a perfect way to see out the old year and welcome in the new. 6am New Year’s Eve I logged onto zoom to smiling faces and a very warm welcome from everyone. Thank you to Hong for organizing our holiday party and a huge shout out to Chip Ma, Winnie Don Lee, and Karen Zhou for all their support and encouragement during this most difficult of years.    This is the season when we traditionally give gifts but separated as we are because of COVID-19 restrictions, we can still share the greatest gift of all, togetherness via technology. We shared stories of family.   Lao Yu inspired us with the story of how her family has spent their quarantine by documenting their footprint in the USA back to her great-grandfather. Original documents such as passports and birth certificates, family belongings and research at City Hall helped them trace their family tree. Lao Yu used her drawing skills to sketch two grinding machines from her hometown where grains...
Read more

LMCC - Creative Learning Grant Book of Home.8 6/15/2021

Image
  LMCC - Creative Learning Grant Book of Home  Blog 8 6/15/2021 Happy Dragon Boat Festival! Tuen Ng is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. It commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a Chinese poet and minister known for his patriotism and contribution to classical poetry who eventually became a national hero. People make zongzi and share them with family and friends. In order to honor the day, we warmed up by paddling our imaginary dragon boat in a battle to win. Then we waved our winning flag! Chi had recently visited the High Line to see the flower show and shared her beautiful photos on WeChat. It is a great medium for not only posting the recording of the day’s class but also for asking questions and sharing homework. It was great to welcome Bobo back to our class. We hope she enjoyed the experience and will log on for future classes.  Some of our students posted the 2nd page they completed at home, and we honored their achievements by sharing photos of their...
Read more