Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Lucie Week 4

Our fourth session of Luciernagas Hispanic Family Reading Program was lots of fun! We have had such large crowds that we moved to a bigger room, which gave us lots of elbow space. Nice!
This week we acted out "Pepita Talks Twice." Pepita has to translate for people who don't speak either English or Spanish and gets tired of it. She decides not to speak Spanish anymore. Only when her dog, Lobo, nearly gets run over does she realize the value of speaking 2 languages. We had a wonderful discussion about heritage and being proud of who you are and where you come from. We also talked about the importance of maintaining your heritage and customs, even as you assimilate new ones.
Each session features an "infomercial" for parents.This week, we all learned a lot about banking, including the fact that many banks have someone who is bi-lingual to help with transactions.
Next is "Where the Wild Things Are," one of my favorite books. Watch for pictures of our "Wild Rumpus" next week!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Luciernagas Hispanic Family Reading Program

"Lucie," week 3, saw three new families join those already registered. The theme for the night was "Coping" and we started off with one of my favorite stories, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Both children and parents enjoyed helping us repeat the refrain "Terrible, Horrible..." each time in both English and Spanish. I had written a song about the story, and had lots of help from audience percussionists, who played my bell tree, gourd rattles, sheep toenail shakers, etc.
Next, we read Magda's Tortilla's. Magda wants to learn to make tortillas, but finds it's harder than she thought. After the story we talked about coping when you have a bad day, or when something is difficult. One suggestion from the audience was to sing, so we did. You can see Magda "serving" her tortillas at left.