A publication of La Casita Cultural Center 1 Una publicación del Centro Cultural La Casita
Written and illustrated by / Escrito e ilustrado por Fátima Lomeli-Pestana, Zuri Leilani Medina-Gray, Kimari Jenkins, Kimberly Harvey-Cruz, Jeymillian Martínez, Destineé Brown, Skarlette Jerez-Grant, Lalazia Daniels and Daineshka Osorio Reyes graphic design / Diseño Grafico Ariel Samuel Editor / Editora Liamna Pestana collaborators / colaboradoras Ivette Cruz Barso and Yinzhu “Julie” Zhao
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Preface How are the afternoons seen where nobody sees the sun in the sky? I saw the leaves fall from the trees and we took them to be happy. I saw the snow fall from the sky and be transformed into ice cream and laughs in our dreams. Every place was transformed in our eternal Home for creation. We came to this Home to be elevated. With children and like them, now we can live in a better place. Afternoons at La Casita have always been a space of magic and color. The children, sometimes many, sometimes few, arrive and inundate the space with their laughter and disposition. It is always a pleasure to work on projects that illuminate the heart; that bring you closer to those little hearts always ready to give and receive love. Every project started has been an adventure and this time, the adventure was of no less importance. On the contrary, exploring emotions when the world is so full of adversity, sadness, and problems of various kinds is a titan’s job. Children sometimes seem oblivious to what is happening. However, they are more than knowledgeable and let you know it in the most hilarious, beautiful, and enlightening ways. My experience leading this program has been engaging in that sense and flattering because I have been able to find in these children a sincere and direct way of communication and reflection; to meet their families, and share joys and emotions of all kinds. I thank our collaborators, volunteers, and the staff at La Casita for this wonderful opportunity. Liamna Pestana Editor
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writing and Storytelling The program started with some social emotional activities about how the students felt during the pandemic. These exploratory activities about their emotions were a good introduction to projects where the students created poems. It was very interesting to see the students’ responses and how they felt during that difficult time. After the first weeks we started writing different kinds of poems that involved using the five senses. For example, during one week the students created a poem whose visual appearance matched the topic of the poem. The words formed shapes which illustrated the poem’s subject as a picture. The activities around poems seemed to really resonate with the children, and this was reflected in the highly creative projects they created. This program had a big impact on the participants’ understanding of what might have been a difficult experience in their life. It was a good way to demonstrate the idea of how we can use our emotions to create art. At the same time it made us reflect on the importance of writing as a tool to communicate our feelings. Ivette Cruz Barso Literacy Programming Collaborator
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Writing across cultures I am a Chinese international graduate student, working on my Master’s Degree in Social Work at Syracuse University. In this program, I assisted Liamna Pestana and Ivette Cruz with the children’s activities. During those afternoons, we read books, wrote poems, made crafts, and played games together. Through a variety of activities, we shared our cultures and learned English together. On those days, I always began to prepare for our activities early, expecting the children to open the doors of La Casita and come in. By observing and participating in those activities, I could see them changing and growing. Through continuous participation in these activities, many children are more and more willing to open up, be more confident, as well as enjoy reading and writing. I am very happy to see these changes and I am proud of them. Yinzhu “Julie” Zhao Literacy Programming Collaborator
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Table of Contents 8
Section 1: Recipe for Home
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Section 2: Covidian
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Section 3: Acrostic Poems
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Section 4: Concrete Poems
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Recipe for Home Kids were introduced to writing poems in a different way. In this section the goal was to write an unconventional recipe but with the same elements of a cookbook. They wrote with words typically used in a recipe such as prepare, combine, cook, and serve. These recipes were a reflection on living in family during COVID times.
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Recipe for Home Fátima Lomeli-Pestana Ingredients: 2 cups of music 3 tablespoons of guitar 1 cup of family 1 teaspoon of boredom 2 cups of arts and crafts 1 tablespoon of oil 20 grams of shows 30 grams of nature A dash of sleep Directions: For a recipe of home, fold in the music, guitars, and arts and crafts. Then mix 1 cup of family and a spoon of oil. Pour in the family and sift in the showers and nature. Then, finely chop the sleep and mix. Serve warm on a plate of diaper lettuce with sushi.
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Zuri’s Recipe Zuri Leilani Medina-Gray Ingredients: 1 tablespoon of spaghetti 1 basket of strawberries 1 whole cake of chocolate 10,000 love A pinch of bows
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Recipe for Home Kimari Jenkins Ingredients: 2 scoops of family friends 1 teaspoon of sleep 3 pounds of family movie night 3 grams of sewing cloth 1/2 cup of scary 1 pound of my niece 6 cups of alone time 1/3 cup of riding my bike Directions: Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and sift out 2 scoops of family and friends. Step 2: Bake them together and set them aside. Mix with 1 teaspoon of sleep and 3 pounds of family until fluffy. Step 3: Add 3 grams of sewing clothes and 1/2 cup of scary and beat well. Step 4: Add 4 pounds of my niece and mix with 6 cups of alone time until well blended. Step 5: Whip the whipping cream, 1/3 cup of riding my bike, and spread it over the top of my cake. Serve with love and sadness. 13
Recipe for Home Kimberly Harvey-Cruz Ingredients 1 pound of movie night 1 teaspoon of love 1 scoop of family ¼ cup of red hearts 4 cups of “I just read a book” 1 ½ pounds of happiness Hot food. Directions: Step 1: Place the pound of movie night in a saucepan over medium heat until it is tender. Step 2: Brown 1 teaspoon of love and season with 1 scoop of family and ¼ cup of red hearts. Mix together and cook until browned. Step 3: Stir 4 cups of “I just read a book” with 1 ½ pounds of happiness. Step 4: Serve hot over rice.
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covidian
This is a humorous poem about an imaginary creature, which we called a Covidian. It is the combination of “COVID” and “ian.” The goal of this activity was to write a small poem in which the children were asked questions about their individual creature. Each Covidian has a place to live, favorite foods to eat, and funny things they do.
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this is a covidian Jeymilian Martínez Un Covidian vive cerca de una cloaca con mucha basura. Un Covidian come carrots, chocolate, Crayola, and coconuts. Al Covidian le gusta jugar con carros, guiar un carro, colorear, y cocinar. El Covidian guía un camión por las calles en China. El Covidian no camina, no corre, el Covidian rueda. The The The The The
Covidian Covidian Covidian Covidian Covidian
lives near a sewer with a lot of garbage. eats zanahoria, chocolate, Crayola, y coco. likes to play with cars, drive a car, color, and cook. drives a truck on the streets of China. does not walk or run, the Covidian rolls.
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this is a covidian Destineé Brown This is a Covidian, her name is Miley. Miley lives in L.A. Miley eats hotdogs, pasta, and people. Miley is kind (sometimes) and cute. My Covidian went to school with Superman!
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COVIDIAN Fátima Lomeli-Pestana A Covidian lives in cold, chilly California. A Covidian eats coffee creamer. A Covidian likes comedy. A Covidian goes fishing for cod. My Covidian is called the Cookie Monster. (He lives outside.)
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COVIDIAN Skarlette Jerez-Grant Lives in a body! It eats good germs! It likes bad germs! It is dangerous! It makes you sick!
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Acrostic Poems Small poems to reflect about words or names. Kids were invited to spell a word going down and then to go across describing every letter using new words. This exercise is a good way to consider emotions and what the children were experiencing at the time.
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sick Destineé Brown School Ice Clothes Kick
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Comer Jeymilian Martínez Cocina Ojo Mediano Ejemplo Reno
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Jeymilian Jeymilian Martínez Jugar Ejemplo Yema Miedo Idioma Lindo Iglesia Artículo Nadar
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Home Fátima Lomeli-Pestana
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STuck Fátima Lomeli-Pestana
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Familia Daineshka Osorio Reyes Fortnite Azul Mama Ilusión Lagarto Imaginación Amigo
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Concrete Poems When we started writing these poems the first thing was an invitation to travel to an imaginary place where children felt safe. That place in their minds had smells, flavors, sounds, and things to touch. Each sense was filled with the appropriate words. Using those words, they drew the shape of the object or place in their minds.
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Lalazia Daniels
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Skarlette Jerez-Grant
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Fátima Lomeli-Pestana
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Skarlette Jerez-Grant
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Table About of the Contents Authors 42
Zuri Leilani Medina-Gray
Jeymilian Martínez
Fátima Lomeli-Pestana
Destineé Brown
Daineshka Osorio Reyes
Kimberly Harvey-Cruz
Skarlette Jerez-Grant
Kimari Jenkins
Age 6
Age 11
Age 8
Age 8
Age 9
Age 8
Age 8
Age 11
Lalazia Daniels Age 14
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La Casita Cultural Center 109 Otisco Street, Syracuse, NY 13204 Telephone: 315.443.2151 Email: lacasita@syr.edu
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