All School Integrated Art Days
JOURNEY TO COLOMBIA
For two Wednesdays in January, the entire school participates in an annual tradition called the All School Integrated Art Program. This year is the eleventh year of this program. The program is based on the theme "Colombia" Along with learning all things "Colombian" this two-day program is a chance for everyone to build community by working together across grade levels and experiencing the joy of working collaboratively in an inquisitive, social, active environment.
Using the visual arts, music, dance, games, social studies, culinary arts, literature, and the study of traditions, students were exposed to various aspects of Colombia. Kerry Higuera, Aurora's Art Specialist, organizes and leads this program. She divides the whole school into six heterogeneous groups bringing students from all grade levels into each group. These groups travel to all six classrooms and explore activities, share books, and have open discussions.
Here are the activities the children participated in:
Room 1
In Room 1, students each had an opportunity to make and eat arepas! Arepas are a staple in Colombian cuisine. Made of pre-cooked cornmeal, they can be fried, grilled, or baked into a piece of bread that is shaped liked a pancake - deeelish! It may be eaten with a wide variety of condiments and dishes throughout one's day. Students and teachers discussed how arepas compare to staple foods in our daily lives. While waiting for their arepas to grill, students had a chance to decorate recipe cards to share with friends or family members.
Room 2
In Room 2, we learned about the Carnival de Barranquilla. It is a famous celebration with dancing and music from around the world. And Barranquilla is our Spanish teacher's hometown! The kids identified influences from Spain and Africa in the music we listened to. Our artists each made their own "toritos," or little bulls, and danced la danza del toritos. Ariba!
Room 3
In Room 3, the kids practiced soccer or "futbol" skills in the auditorium. "Futbol" is Colombia's most popular sport, and a favorite pastime of school age children. Each child worked hard to pass, dribble, and score a goal in an obstacle course that our room 3 teachers set up. It was sweet to hear each team cheering for their teammates! To quench our thirst after the soccer games we made our own batch of Colombian lemonade or "limonada" using panela, which is a hard brown sugar, water, and fresh squeezed lemons. It was quite a treat!
Room 4
In Room 4, the students learned how Colombia came to be a Spanish speaking country. We read a story about the myth of "El Dorado" in which the leader ("Zipa" of the Muisca people adorned himself with gold dust, becoming the gilded man, or "el dorado." Every year, the Muisca performed a ceremony to appease the serpent that lived in the depths of Lake Guatavita, in central Colombia. In addition to the gold and emerald jewels that were tossed into the lake, the Zipa would dive into the waters, washing the gold dust from his body. Word of this ceremony spread, growing until it was believed that there was an entire city of gold hidden in the jungle. One of the reasons Spaniards came to the Americas was in search of "El Dorado," or what they believed was the lost city of gold. The students learned some words in Chibcha, the native language spoken by the Muisca, and then made "gold" medallions to become gilded themselves.
Room 5
In Room 5, we began with a circle on the floor where we had a short discussion about the major export of Colombia, coffee. We used coffee beans to create mosaic pictures. The sizes ranged from about 4 to 8 inch square panels. To add variety and color to their pictures, students used red kidney beans, white navy beans, grey lentils, white rice, and popcorn.
Room 6
In Room 6, we focused on a children's game indigenous to Colombia, la Culebra. This game, which is from the Caribbean coast, features a line dance in which the head of the snake has to chase the tail of another snake. Just as children's games are played in Colombia there were dancers, singers and accompanying musicians on the xylophone and other percussion instruments.