Final Days

Only a few more days of the Banos Project. The year has been full and exciting both for the students and myself, however, I am ready to head home... I miss my coffee pot!

Next week the class will repeat their puppet play for the entire school population and parents. The teachers who observed what the 'English teacher' really does in that classroom were all smiles. Since there is a language barrier, the projects turned more into a show and tell rather than sharing of curriculum.

For example, once they saw the mural, heard the story from a BOOK, btw, reading is not a component down here :(, observed the little ones connecting with the story / play through puppets, heard the students speak in English AND Spanish... they were starting to 'get it'.

With the invitation to share again, the students are now more aware of their actions, words/speaking, moments of needed silence. We are not performing in the classroom, so we will miss the added visual stimulation of the mural, but in the salon where there is a stage. However, the space is like a bowling alley with marble floor and walls - horrible acoustics -, so they will be introduced to a thrust stage and be 'in' the audience on ground level for projection purposes and the audience being able actually see/touch the puppets. I will have 2 students doing photo documentation to round out participation.

Photos of that rehearsal coming up next... stay tuned!

Rehearsal, theatre, puppet play, English

The mural is complete, the puppets are made and now the 'rehearsal' phase begins.

Started off with basic trust games in the courtyard. Little did we know the entire school was an immediate audience; standing, sitting, stopping, wanting to join. This was something very NEW to see. Luckily, it didn't completely break down into a romper room type day!

Then reading the script.... The students had to SIT and LISTEN to each other which is a challenge in itself. But, as they got into it, they eagerly got up to do their lines and repectfully waited for their turn.

The day of the presentation, the Madres asked if the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades could watch. So, they did 4 little 'shows' with the last one being for the parents. The local paper was called and came to take photos of the kids. Suddenly, stardom!

It was in the classroom against the mural and the little ones were mezmerized. Titeres (puppets) are now a rage at Sagrado Corazon!

:)

Everyone had a great time