Metal Calveras
September 2023 Cafecito
This Cafecito helped to prepare the students and families for the upcoming school-wide Día de los Muertos celebration that was scheduled for October. The students and families each created their own Milagros (a small token or image that individuals keep to honor their loved ones. Various types of calaveras are often used on the family ofrendas (altars). Everyone was given a thin piece of aluminium with the edges taped. They used a pencil tip and a stencil of a metal calavera (skull) and poked holes outlining the skull. Then, they decorated the calaveras and we used them for the school Día de los Muertos ofrenda.
September 20, 2023
Ways to Say Hello
August 2023 Cafecito
This Cafecito started the new school year off. We wanted to focus on linguistic and aspirational capital for this school year so we thought focusing on the different ways to say hello would be a perfect way to begin. For this activity, we showed the students and families various images. Some of those images were of people phsyically saying hello greetings (like hugging, sharing high-fives, fist-bumping, etc.) and other images were saying hello greetings in different languages. After the images were shared, the students and families then demonstrated how they said hello in their families and we took photos of them with a Polariod camera. Then, they drew that same image on paper tracing their hands and then decorating the image. We then used the Polariod and drawings to decorate a bulletin board at school.
August 23, 2023
Ballet Nepantla Valentia
May 2023 Convivio
This Convivio was the culminating event for the school year and it was the collaboration between Ballet Nepantla, the elementary school, and the Senior Ladies. At this event, students and the Senior Ladies performed the song they had learned about since 16 de Septiembre, Chiapanecas. The Senior Ladies also performed an additional solo piece, Guadalajara. They were then able to perform alongside Ballet Nepantla during actual selections of the ballet performance in front of a live audience. This event captured the intergenerational exchange of knowledge through dance between professionally trained dancers, senior ladies, and youth which captured the essence of the entire year of work towards uplifting familial capital through ancestral knowledge (Sandoval, et al. 2016) and abuelita epistemologies (Gonzalez, 2019). The focus of Valentina is the Mexican Revolution and all curriculum material that was provided to the teachers connected to that. This included the students making their own family nopal, similar to the April convivio activity, learning about the historical background of the Mexican Revolution, and reading and reflecting on Friends from the Other Side / Amigos del Otro Lado, by Gloria E. Anzaldúa.
May 24, 2023
Día de los Niños - Family Nopal and Terrarium
April 2023 Convivio
The majority of the students attending the elementary school were third and fourth generation immigrants to the United States. Many of their ancestors immigrated to the U.S. as part of the Mexican Revolution, others where crossed by the border when it was moved south. To reclaim this familial history, students completed a Nopal Family Roots activity where they traced their genealogy back to their families experience with border crossing. Teachers were able to use the Nopal Family Roots as cultural artifacts within their classrooms in preparation for Ballet Nepantla. The other activity that the students and families participated in was building their own personal terrarium. Our partner, the Botanical Gardens of San Antonio, led this activity and taught the families about the different soil and plants in our local region. Each student was given the book, Growing an Artist, by John Parra which tells the story of young boy learning about his father who is a landscaper and the creativity and artistry that goes into that work.
April 20, 2023
Dancing with the Senior Ladies
March 2023 Cafecito
This Cafecito highlighted dances performed by the Senior Ladies, culminating a year of work during the evetn. Families were invited to dance wtih the children and ladies.
March 22, 2023
Wolf Trap
February 2023 Cafecito
At this Cafecito, though our partnership with the Tobin Center, Wolftrap performers came to a Cafecito. They engaged the families in song and movement using body parts and bilingual songs. They taught the students and families the connection between song, dance, and language and how all three work together to enhance learning.
February 15, 2023
Lunar New Year
January 2023 Covivio
For this Convivio, the families created a jegi (similar to a shuttlecock) that can be used for the Korean folk game Jegichagi. The game is played where children make paper Jegis which are similar to shuttlecock made of paper scraps wrapped around a coin and then kick the Jegi before it falls to the ground. The parents were provided a description of how to make the Jegi and the history behind the game. For the second activity, the families made paper lanterns out of construction paper. For the third activity, the families made a Chinese dragon out of card stock and tongue depressors. The final event of the evening was a special performance from the San Antonio Lion Dance Association. They danced a traditional lion dance and one of the dancers was approximately the same age as the elementary students attending the performance.
January 26, 2023
Rattle Drums
January 2023 Cafecito
The Cafecito focused on The Lunar New Year and prepared the students and families for the upcoming convivio that would happen two weeks later. We first read the students an expository book about Lunar New Year. Then, they explained to the students that they would be decorating one side of the drum with the Chinese calligraphy for the words Good Luck. Then, we demonstrated on a paper how to make the characters and went to each table to demonstrate the calligraphic movements. We also passed around additional texts about Lunar New Year and Chinese calligraphy and counting books as mentor texts. After the parents assisted the children writing Good Luck, then they assisted the children in decorating the drum with markers, crayons, and strips of cloth for the edges. At the end of the activity, the facilitators had all of the children play their rattle drum in a group
January 18, 2023
Corn Husk Dancers
December 2022 Cafecito
Inspired by the illustrations in Duncan Tonatiuh’s Danza and Suzy González’s work with corn husk figures, we created an activity where students could think about dress and costume as an element in performance. We provided students with a template that had the outline of a figure in the style of of a Mesoamerican Codex. We then demonstrated how corn husks could be colored using markers, cut using scissors, and glue onto their figure. We also provided a wide variety of skin tone markers so that students weren’t limited in their representation of human pigmentation. Families and students worked together to color and create clothing for the figures. In the resulting artifacts we see student’s were able to present a creative variety of clothing designs for their corn husk dancers.
December 14, 2022
Loom Weaving
November 2022 Cafecito
For the November Cafecito, we selected the art of weaving to honor indigenous peoples. We demonstrated a weaving technique using notch looms. The students and families were provided with yarn and looms and taught the weaving process using the over/under technique. The students and their family members were instructed on the process and cultural significance of weaving. They learned about the history of textiles and how weaving is an artistic expression used among many cultures. The students were excited to learn and receptive to the new craft we shared with them.
November 16, 2022
Día de los Muertos
October 2022 Convivio
Día de Los Muertos is a celebration where Latinx families honor their loved ones who have passed on. To honor the deceased family members of the school community, we created activities for each student to participate in. We built and assembled an ofrenda (altar) for the students to decorate with the art they created which we had on display. Each student decorated a frame where they placed a picture of their deceased loved one. They wrote a brief description of who they were celebrating and each frame was placed on the altar. The evening’s activities consisted of calavera mask making, cempasúchil (marigold) flower crowns, and bow tie making stations. The students also participated in a dance demonstration led by a CULTIVAR team member where they learned two dances, and later performed for their families before the end of the event.
October 27, 2022
Catrina and Señor Calavera
October 2022 Cafecito
During Día de los Muertos, many families from Latinx backgrounds honor their loved ones who have died. In San Antonio, TX, this has become a major city-wide celebration in which many schools have decided to participate. During this initial cafecito, students and families learned about two of the most iconic images associated with Día de Los Muertos: La Catrina and Señor Calavera by José Guadalupe Posada. Students then made their own Catrina puppets that were then used as part of the school’s community altar. Teachers were given a copy of the children’s book, Just a Minute by Yuyi Morales for their classrooms. This book draws curricular connections to math and social studies through the use of counting and the Día de los Muertos holiday.
October 19, 2022
16 de Septiembre
September 2022 Convivio
16 de Septiembre is Mexican Independence Day. The majority of the students at the partner school are from a Latinx background. To honor this heritage, we continued our collaboration with the Senior Ladies who returned to the school for a curriculum experience where they learned about the origins of an additional folklórico dance, La Bruja, where a woman dances with a lit candle on top of her head. Classroom teachers were given the children’s book, Danza by Duncan Tonatiuh to further extend the curricular experience into their classrooms. Curriculum connections were made through students' written reflections based on the information they learned.
September 16, 2022
Maracas
September 2022 Cafecito
In an extension of students' engagement with bodily rhythm experienced in dance with the Senior Ladies or Abuelitas, we create maracas at the cafecito. We used two paper cups, dried beans, washi tape, markers, and paper streamers to create simple percussive instruments. Students worked with their families to personalize their instrument with the markers and streamers which drew inspiration from piñata. We closed the cafecito by create various rhythms using the maracas that the students created.
September 14, 2022
Folklórico and Flamenco and Ball Moss Painting
August 2022 Convivio
At this event, we invited a local baile folklórico artist, and her dance company, to come and perform at the family Convivio. The local artists represents the Senior Ladies dance company that is dedicated to senior citizens, members are all over the age of 65. Students dressed in traditional folklórico outfits. The local artist was the keynote speaker for the event and she gave a historical commentary on the Chiapanecas dance for the families and students. Students were then invited to participate in a dance demonstration alongside the other Senior Ladies. We drew on this experience to engage the school community in learning about familial capital (Yosso, 2005). Yosso (2005) explains that familial capital includes the exchange of intergenerational knowledge(s).
August 25, 2022
Día de los Niños - Paletas
April 2022 Convivio
This event was our second largest Convivio. Students made a paper cutout of a paleta, making bells that resembled bells on the paleta truck, and writing their own story about what they might do with a paleta. We also hired a paleta truck to come and give paletas to each person in attendance. Each child received the book What Can You do with A Paleta, by Carmen Tafolla. The author attended the event doing a read-aloud with the families.
April 28, 2022
First Cafecito - Milagros
April 2022 Cafecito
At our very first Cafecito, students and families created milagros. In the Mexican-American culture, individuals display milagros in their homes for good luck and to ward off evil. Students created milagros together with their families. Several of the students reflected on the connections they were making between an upcoming standardized exam and wanting to be successful. The milagros activity provided an outlet for students to share their fears, hopes, and dreams.
April 20, 2022
CULTIVAR Kickoff Night - Family Storytelling
December 2021 Convivio
This was our first family art event after the CULTIVAR grant was awarded. This kickoff event was the first Convivio (gathering) of our students and families to create art together at the school after the school day. There were nine art stations and all of the students and their families completed three art rotations (of the possible nine activities). The theme for the event was family storytelling. These activities included: interactive story telling, ribbon dancing, sock puppetry, Our Family poems, immersive theatre storytelling, making luminarias, making paper poinsettias, storytelling through music (violins), drawing pictures to tell a story, and writing their family name in Chinese caligraphy.
December 9, 2021
Nopal Watercolor PD
April 2023 PD
During this professional development, teachers were introduced to nopales (cactus). They were given background knowledge about their significance to the Mexican Revolution. Teachers were then given the opportunity to paint their own nopales using watercolors.
April 19, 2023
El Sargrado Corazon PD
October 2023 PD
This professional development introduced the faculty at the school to polymer clay and connected their learning with the cultural traditions of our region. The Sagrado Corazon Professional Development (PD) training was develped to do this. The Sagrado Corazon or Sacred Heart is a prevalent icon of devotion in our region that is rooted in Catholic iconography but has spread beyond that specific religious context. We knew this image would be familiar to teachers and would ground them as they explored a new medium. We began by demonstrating the basics of polymer clay sculpting to teachers and asked them to create their own sacred heart as a memorial to someone important in their own lives. We connected this activity to the upcoming Día de Los Muertos and the theme for the year of familial capital. We then had teachers go around the room and appreciate the memorial that their colleagues had created. They offered the opportunity to connect with the artistic creativity and personal narratives of the teachers in our school. We closed the professional development by demonstrating how to cure the polymer clay by baking it in a toaster oven.
October 12, 2022
Block Printing PD
June 2022 PD
This professional development was conducted at the univeristy in the art lab. The exercise included the co-construction of definition for CULTIVAR Arts Integration. As part of the event, the block printing process was shared by an artist. Each participant created their own design, carved it into a stamp pad, and used the original pad to make a block print.
June 1, 2022
