Archive for December, 2009
Actores y flores
Monday, December 14th, 2009BOOK DESCRIPTION
This anthology contains six plays appropriate for students in second to fifth grade.
One of the plays, La enfermedad de Pepe, is an original play of the many developed by Alma Lafuente Salvador, mother of Alma Flor Ada, when she was coordinator for the FLES [Foreign Language in the Elementary School] in Atlanta, Georgia. Alma Lafuente created humorous plays that were performed and broadcasted to Atlanta students. Two of the plays were originally created by Alma Flor Ada and Isabel Campoy: La cuchara de palo is a new version of the traditional tale Stone Soup while El árbol is a dramatic game, in which children will pretend to be a tree. As they read or say the lines they can experience all the gifts a tree offers and internalize that they, as the trees, have much to offer. La mata de guayabas by Clara Rosa Otero is a dramatization of a Latin American trickster’s tale. Tamarindo el pastelero a humorous play by Beatriz Dourmec. The final selection, Los colores, is a poem to be dramatized, written by the well-loved Puerto Rican poet Isabel Freire de Matos.
CHILDREN’S THEATRE
The values of the use of involving children with theatre are multiple. Plays can be an excellent tool for promoting the ability to speak in front of a group, which is a leadership skill. Since they offer children the opportunity to utilize words and language registries they may not have other opportunity to use, plays can be strong vehicle for vocabulary and language development.
When used for choral reading plays can strengthen reading skills. In addition, acting on a play enhance children’s self-confidence and self-esteem while providing opportunities to learn about one’s self and others. Most importantly, putting out a play, no matter how simply, promotes the values of collaboration and solidarity.
To read more on the significance of theatre click here: Let’s Raise the Curtain! The Benefit of Theatre in the School and for suggestions on its use in the classroom read the section “Plays and Dramatic Games” in Chapter 3 of The Magical Encounter: Latino Children’s Literature in the Classroom and for dramatic responses to books, the section Promoting Dramatic Expression in Chapter 4 of that same book.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Promoting that children have access to read and act plays has always been one of my basic concerns. Even if it is done with great simplicity acting in a play can have very positive results. It certainly was so for me. Encouraged by my extraordinary sixth grade teacher, Dra. Rosa María Peyrellade, I wrote my first play which we performed in class. As a high school student I wrote three plays, and while very simple my classmates performed them with enthusiasm. We invited the High School Faculty of the Instituto de Camagüey to the premier of one of them, which I entitled La sonámbula or The Sleep-walker. Even though some of the professors did not enjoy the criticism to their very traditional pedagogy which was part of the performance, there was enough interested public that we rented the best theatre in town, el Teatro Principal to give a couple of public functions.
When I became a High School teacher at the Colegio Abraham Lincoln in Lima, Perú, I invited my students to do theatre and we had great fun doing so!
My mother, a coordinator for FLES [Foreign Language in the Elementary School] in Atlanta, Georgia, used theatre very effectively in the teaching of Spanish, and wrote a number of plays that were performed by children and broadcasted via the district TV station.
As a teacher educator in the United States I have continuously emphasized the use of theatre. I have had the privilege of having my mother co-direct with me three different performances of Historia de una muñeca abandonada, by Alfonso Sastre during three summer courses: at the University of Texas, at El Paso, in Philadelphia, and in Puerto Rico. I was later able to continue to invite teachers to perform this outstanding play, in Chicago, through the Associate Colleges of the Midwest, and in Madrid, both at the Universidad Complutense and at the Fundación José Ortega y Gasset. [This play is included in this collection in the book Ensayo general]
I am convinced that one is better able to teach something one has enjoyed doing. And just as Isabel Campoy and I emphasize, in our courses of Authors in the Classroom, that teachers who create their own books will be better able to get their students to become authors, I believe that encouraging teachers to do theatre and experiencing the richness of the process would better allow them to incorporate plays in their regular teaching.
For a delightful anecdote that shows the magic of theatre click here: Let’s Raise the Curtain! The Benefit of Theatre in the School.
You can also find more about my personal experience with theatre in the section It’s Play Time! in Alma Flor Ada and You volume II, published by Libraries Unlimited.
ABOUT THE CIELO ABIERTO THEATRE COLLECTION
Each of the seven anthologies in this series offers a variety of plays well-suited for either reading aloud or for full-scale performance. For the early grades, Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy have created original adaptations of traditional children’s stories. Familiar tales are retold in the form of plays, choral poems, and theatre games, inviting children to explore movement, characterization, and imaginative play. The use of traditional Hispanic folklore, woven into the dialogue, enhances the cultural setting in which the stories have been recast. For the older grades, a selection of the best plays written for children throughout the Spanish-speaking world has been carefully assembled.
The anthologies are:
- Primer acto [PreK-2] 48 pages
- Risas y aplausos [K-3] 48 pages
- Escenas y alegrías [1-4] 48 pages
- Actores y flores [3-6] 64 pages
- Ensayo general [4-7] 80 pages
- Saludos al público [5-8] 96 pages
- Acto final [5-8] 96 pages
Teachers have found the anthologies in this collection both inviting and inspiring.
READERS’ RESPONSES
If you have enjoyed reading or sharing this book, I would very much like to hear from you. Please click here to send your comments.
Alma Flor Ada and You, Volume II
Monday, December 14th, 2009BOOK DESCRIPTION
Following up on the first volume featuring prolific author Alma Flor Ada, this second volume offers further insight into her life and work. Here the author discusses her work as a poet, dramatist, writer of memoirs, re teller of folktales and legends for children, and original stories. She discusses her collaborative work and the process involved in working with Isabel Campoy with whom she has co-authored numerous books, with different illustrators, in particular Leslie Tryon, with songwriter Suni Paz, and her daughter Rosalma Zubizarreta, who has translated many of Alma Flor’s books.
The book is enhanced by chapters contributed by Isabel Campoy, Leslie Tryon, Suni Paz and Rosalma Zubizarreta.
Alma Flor’s s work as a translator and promoter of Spanish and English books for all children –well known and valued in bilingual education– is also detailed. Finally, drawing on the author’s years of experience as Professor of Education and her many author’s visit to schools, the book furnishes useful ideas and activities for using her books in the classroom to spark the writer within every young reader.
The book concludes with an excellent chapter by Janet Hill and Anthony L. Manna who offer an insightful analysis of the significance of Alma Flor’s work in the fields of children’s literature and education
“THE AUTHOR AND YOU” SERIES DESCRIPTION
Playing on the phrase, “the author and you”–a common reading comprehension strategy that teaches the learner how to look at the words of an author and make inferences about what is being said–this series helps the teacher and teacher-librarian understand the underlying purposes of an author as they prepare learning activities for their students. The series focuses primarily on books for the elementary age child (K-6), featuring insights into the author’s background, purposes and goals in writing his books. By furnishing an overview of the author’s works, the books in the series give teachers the big picture. Each book features personal information about the author, including insight into why he writes the type of books he does. In addition, lesson plans and/or activities are offered for each of the author’s books featured. Lessons stress the particular interests of the author so the “author and you (the teacher)” can build a collaborative instructional relationship using the material provided. Each book is written by the featured author or in close collaboration with her.
Two volumes in the series feature the life and work of prolific author, Alma Flor Ada, discussing her life and work as a bilingual children’s author. Because Alma Flor has compiled such a large volume of work, the series will feature two volumes about her. The first volume focuses on her life and her picture books for children. Discussion of Alma Flor’s childhood in Cuba, her schooling in Europe, and her immigration to America is interwoven with discussions of her children’s picture books. The reader thus learns the genesis for the ideas and the stories. This book provides a fascinating window into the life and work of the beloved children’s author and her desire to help children develop the writer within.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: Words of Hope. Living to Write, Writing to Love
PART I: Becoming an Author
My Elementary School Yeras
My High School Years
PART II: Creating Original Picture Books
Hearts and Minds: Illustrating Children’s Books by Leslie Tryon’
Writing in Collaboration: One Plus One is One, or Two by Isabel Campoy
When Poetry Becomes Song by Suni Paz.
Learning the Act of Translation by Rosalma Zubizarreta
PART III: Writing in Multiple Genres
The Richness of Multiple Voices
Poetry and I
It’s Play Time!
Telling My Own Life Stories
Creating Non-Fiction Books
PART IV: The Readers’ Voices
The Transformative Power of Language: Alma Flor Ada’s Gift to Her Readers Richness of Multiple Voices by Janet Hill and Anthony L. Manna
- The Power of Language
- The Memoirs
- The Importance of Names and Naming
- The Value of Shared Experience
- Conclusion
Questions Most Frequently Asked by Children
Thank You Letters from Children and Teachers
Alma Flor Ada Literary Works
Literary Publications for Adults: Novels
Literary Publications: Children’s Literature
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The invitation from Libraries Unlimited to write two volumes to share with teachers, parents and librarians the stories behind my stories was a rare gift. To that moment I had not gone into analyzing why I had written each of my books. It was a beautiful moment of discovery to find out that even the simplest or shortest of picture books indeed contain an important part of my life, to delight remembering how much my own children had been inspiration for many of my books and to recognize how much of the values and feelings I hold most dearly have motivated many of my words.
This book was enriched by the reflections and words of very dear collaborators: Isabel Campoy, Suni Paz, Leslie Tryon and my own daughter Rosalma Zubizarreta who share their own experiences as creators in different fields.
I felt very much honored by the chapter written by Janet Hill and Anthony L. Manna who had such a generous interpretation of my work.
The joy of writing these books is enhanced whenever readers share with me that my journey of discovery has inspired them to reflect on their own journeys.
READERS’ RESPONSES
If you have enjoyed reading or sharing this book, I would very much like to hear from you. Please click here to send your comments.
Alma Flor Ada and You, Volume I
Monday, December 14th, 2009Playing on the phrase, “the author and you”–a common reading comprehension strategy that teaches the learner how to look at the words of an author and make inferences about what is being said–this series helps the teacher and teacher-librarian understand the underlying purposes of an author as they prepare learning activities for their students. The series focuses primarily on books for the elementary age child (K-6), featuring insights into the author’s background, purposes and goals in writing his books. By furnishing an overview of the author’s works, the books in the series give teachers the big picture. Each book features personal information about the author, including insight into why he writes the type of books he does. In addition, lesson plans and/or activities are offered for each of the author’s books featured. Lessons stress the particular interests of the author so the “author and you (the teacher)” can build a collaborative instructional relationship using the material provided. Each book is written by the featured author or in close collaboration with her. This second book in the series features the life and work of prolific author, Alma Flor Ada, discussing her life and work as a bilingual children’s author. Because Alma Flor has compiled such a large volume of work, the series will feature two volumes about her. The first volume focuses on her life and her picture books for children. Discussion of Alma Flor’s childhood in Cuba, her schooling in Europe, and her immigration to America is interwoven with discussions of her children’s picture books. The reader thus learns the genesis for the ideas and the stories. This book provides a fascinating window into the life andwork of the beloved children’s author and her desire to help children develop the writer within. Grades K-6.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword: A Promise for a Better World by Janet Hill and Anthony L. Manna
Introduction
PART I: My Life as an Author
An Author’s Journey
On Writing for Young Readers
The Special Process of Creating Picture Books
Coauthoring Books with F. Isabel Campoy
When Words Sing: Suni Paz
The Readings that started the Journey
PART II Creating Original Picture Books
Letters and I
- The Origins of the Hidden Forest World
- About the Characters
Newspapers and I
- The Role of Newspapers in My Life
Latino Identity
- In Search of a Common Name
- A Dual Heritage
The Joy of Family and Traditions
- The Yearly Miracle of Christmastime
- Piñatas, Wonders and Surprises
Respect for Farmworkers
Childhood Memories
The Richness of Chidren’s Folklore
Diversity
- Friendship in Diversity: The Joy of Life
- Diversity and Freedom
The World of Nature
- Growing Up in Nature
- The Wonders of a Seed
- The Wonders in an Egg
- No, I Don’t Like to Eat Bugs
- Birds and Helpers
The World of Fantasy
In Search of Identity
The Promise of Transformation
PART III: Retelling Folktales and legends
The Rich Heritage of Folktales and Legends
Traditional Characters in Contemporary Settings
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The invitation from Libraries Unlimited to write two volumes to share with teachers, parents and librarians the stories behind my stories was a rare gift. To that moment I had not gone into analyzing why I had written each of my books. It was a beautiful moment of discovery to find out that even the simplest or shortest of picture books indeed contain an important part of my life, to delight remembering how much my own children had been inspiration for many of my books and to recognize how much of the values and feelings I hold most dearly have motivated many of my words.
The joy of writing these books is enhanced whenever readers share with me that my journey of discovery has inspired them to reflect on their own journey.
Watercolors
Sunday, December 13th, 2009Information coming soon
Pencils
Sunday, December 13th, 2009Information coming soon
Crayons
Sunday, December 13th, 2009Information coming soon
