sábado, 29 de noviembre de 2014

Concierto


Festival de Luces Concierto 2014
Este concierto en colaboración con el Coro Latinoamericano de Pittsburgh de adultos va a mostrar las canciones que aprendimos durante el taller de Otoño 2014. Los invitamos a disfrutar estas canciones en español de Latinoamérica y España. Gratis y abierto al público general.

Fecha: 20 de diciembre, 2014
Lugar: Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Horario: 7:30pm



Festival de Luces CONCERT
This concert in collaboration with the adult Coro Latinoamericano de Pittsburgh will showcase the songs we learned during the Fall 2014 workshop. We invite you to join us to enjoy Spanish traditional songs from Latin America and Spain. Free and open to the public.

Date: December 20, 2014
Place: Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, University of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Time: 7:30pm









domingo, 23 de noviembre de 2014

Décima sesión

   

L@s niñ@s entraron en el Círculo hoy e hicieron una actividad para colorear. Tenían la opción de crear una pintura de la Navidad para colorear o colorear un dibujo ya hecho. Cuando la mayoría de los nin@s llegó, jugamos “Simón Dice”. Los niños realmente disfrutaron este juego y también tuvieron la oportunidad de ser la persona que daba las órdenes. El juego era en realidad un poco difícil cuando l@s niñ@s er@n Simón porque no decían "Simón dice" y hacían que nos equivocáramos. Después de este juego, practicamos la canción más reciente, "Hacia Bélen va una burra", que era muy difícil para l@s niñ@s y voluntari@s por el tempo rápido del coro. Después, l@s niñ@s se dividieron en grupos y l@s voluntari@s ayudaron a resolver un crucigrama, que usaba las palabras de "Hacia Bélen va una burra". Much@s de l@s niñ@s resolvieron el crucigrama muy rápidamente, y antes de la merienda cantamos la canción una vez más.
Para la merienda, tuvimos muchas opciones. Tuvimos uvas, donas en polvo, chips de tortilla, ponche de frutas, galletas y agua. Después del almuerzo, fuimos afuera porque el clima estaba maravilloso y jugamos un par de rondas de “zombie tag”. Después de que l@s niñ@s hicieron ejercicio, practicamos las canciones otra vez. La primera canción que cantamos fue "Kandelikas" y despues cantamos "Portal de Belén". Much@s de l@s niñ@s no necesitaban ya la letra de la canción para la práctica. Después de practicar nuestra canción, nos despedimos e intercambiamos buenos deseos para el Día de Acción de Gracias. ¡Y ahora todos podemos esperar ansiosamente la próxima sesión del Círculo!


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 


As the kids walked into the Círculo session today, they were greeted with a coloring activity. They had the choice to either color in a nativity scene or drawn their own scene and color it in. Once most of the kids had arrived, we decided to play Simon Says. The kids really enjoyed this game and also got the chance to be the person to give the demands. The game was actually a little more difficult when the kids gave directions because they wouldn’t say “Simon says” and would trick everyone into doing the wrong actions. After Simon Says, we practiced the newer song “Hacia Bélen va una burra,” which is still pretty difficult for the kids and volunteers to sing because of the chorus’ fast tempo. Once we had sang it a few times though, the kids were split up into groups and the volunteers helped them solve a crossword puzzle, which used words from “Hacia Bélen va una burra.” Many of the kids were able to figure out the crossword puzzle pretty quickly, and before snack we sang the song a few more times in practice for our final performance in December.
    At lunch we had many options to choose from. We had grapes, powdered doughnuts, tortilla chips, fruit punch, pretzels, and water. And after lunch, due to the wonderful weather, we were able to take the kids outside after snack and they played a few rounds of zombie tag. After the kids were done with their exercise we all went back inside and practiced singing again. The first song we sang was “Kandelikas” and then we sang “Portal de Belen.” Many of the kids didn’t even need the lyrics to sing the song because of all of their practice. We also didn’t have to remind the soloists about their part in the songs; they remembered it all by themselves! After practicing our singing, we all said goodbye and shared warm wishes for Thanksgiving Day. And now we all can’t wait for the next Círculo session!




   

domingo, 16 de noviembre de 2014

Novena sesión



Para preparar l@s niñ@s para las festividades de fin de año, comenzamos con una actividad para colorear dibujos de menorahs de Hanukkah. Un@s de l@s niñ@s colorearon sus dibujos muy simplemente y otr@s los colorearon con arcos iris. Entonces l@s voluntari@s ayudaron a l@s niñ@s con un crucigrama sobre la canción “Portal de Belén” que han estado practicando hace nueve u ocho semanas. Después del crucigrama, l@s niñ@s practicaron para su presentación de fin de año. Específicamente, practicaron cómo mirar a la audiencia y no moverse durante las canciones. También esta semana tuvimos solistas nuevos y much@s de l@s niñ@s no necesitaron las letras para cantar las canciones.
               Para mejorar las habilidades auditivas, l@s niñ@s oyeron una canción que l@s dirigía a saltar o brincar. ¡L@s niñ@s y voluntari@s necesitaban hacer las cosas rápidamente y fue como una sesión de ejercicios para todos! Entonces l@s niñ@s practicaron más canciones y después fuimos a comer una merienda que tenía frituras de vegetales, pretzels, y agua. A l@s niñ@s les gustaron las frituras de guisante y comieron varias porciones. Para la última actividad l@s niñ@s cantaron “A la nanita nana” y “Portal de Belén” hasta el fin de la sesión.
¡Nos vemos el domingo!

*****************************************************


To get the kids in the mood for the holidays, we started the session with the kids coloring pictures of menorahs, a traditional Hanukkah decoration. Some kids kept it simple with a few colors, and others let their imagination run freely with rainbow color schemes. After the creative start, the volunteers helped the kids with a crossword puzzle on a song we have been practicing for weeks- “Portal de Belen” The kids also practiced their presentation for the performance. The instructor taught the kids how to stand straight with their eyes forward while performing their songs. There were new soloists this week, all young boys that did not need the lyrics to sing the holiday song.
To improve their listening skills, the kids were played a song that gave directions to jump, hop, and skip around like a horse. The kids and volunteers were able to mimic all of the movements quickly and it almost felt like a workout! We kept the musical theme and transitioned to singing more songs in preparation for the performance. After practicing more posture and singing, the kids had a healthy snack of vegetable chips, pretzels, and water. The kids could not get enough of the snap pea crisps, and went back for seconds and thirds. Upon returning back to the activity room, the kids practiced the “A la nanita” and “Portal de Belen” until it was time to be dismissed.
See you next Sunday!

domingo, 9 de noviembre de 2014

Octava sesión

(English text below)
 Comenzamos el Círculo jugando “zombie tag” y cantando la canción "Chumba la cachumba", sobre esqueletos durante el Día de los Muertos. L@s voluntarios y niñ@s caminaban en un círculo para ser como los esqueletos en la canción. Para hacer a l@s niñ@s más activ@s, l@s voluntari@s hicieron con ell@s la actividad con la lección de lento y allegro. Cuando escuchaban el sonido del piano lento, caminaban lento como zombies y cuando el piano aceleraba caminaban rápido. Luego, decidimos practicar la canción llamada "Hacia Belén va una burra". L@s niñ@s aprendieron la canción rápidamente y, por eso, seguimos con el repaso de "Campana sobre campana". Primero, cantamos en un gran grupo y luego nos dividimos en grupos más pequeños para que l@s niñ@s cantaran la canción lentamente hasta memorizarla.




Después de practicar las canciones un poco, comimos mandarinas, dulces chocolates, chips de verduras y jugo de manzana. ¡L@s niñ@s disfrutaron mucho las verduras fritas y se sirvieron dos tres veces! Después del almuerzo, hicimos un ejercicio sobre ritmo. Nos dividimos en dos grupos y la instructora nos dio un ritmo diferente para cada grupito. Luego, tuvimos que aplaudir los ritmos diferentes. Esta vez, l@s niñ@s y l@s voluntari@s lo hicieron muy bien porque los ritmos fueron fáciles. La instructora lo hizo un poco más difícil pidiendo aplaudir y hacer ritmos al mismo tiempo. ¡Lo hicimos sin ningún problema! Despues, practicamos cantando "Portal de Belén" y "A La Nanita Nana". En esta sesión tuvimos a una chica que se ofreció como voluntaria para cantar un solo por primera vez y lo hizo muy bien. Durante la segunda canción,  muchos de los niños pidieron cantar un solo. Al final del Círculo, much@s de l@s niñ@s se quedaron hablando y jugando con sus amig@s. L@s voluntari@s estamos muy content@s de ver a l@s chic@s divertirse porque significa que se sienten cómod@s junt@s. No podemos esperar hasta la próxima sesión.


 
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





   Today we began Círculo by following the children’s request to play zombie tag and later singing along to the song “Chumba la cachumba,” which is about skeletons during the Day of the Dead. The volunteers and students walked around in a circle and acted out what the skeletons were doing in the song. To keep the kids active, the next activity we did focused on the difference between lento and allegro. As the piano instructor played slowly on the piano, the kids and volunteers walked around slowly like zombies, but when the piano was played quickly, the kids and volunteers picked up their speed and ran around the room. Afterwards, we decided to settle down and practice our singing. We learned a new song called “Hacia Belén va una burra” making it our sixth song. The kids quickly learned the song so we went on to review “Campana sobre campana”. First we sang as one big group and then we split into smaller groups and had the kids sing the lyrics very slowly to help them memorize the song.
    After practicing our singing for a little bit, we had snack which included tangerines, chocolate chip cookies, vegetable chips, and apple cider. Our snack was a little longer than usual, but that may have been because the kids really loved the vegetable chips and came back for seconds and even thirds! Following the food we did an exercise to practice rhythm. We split into two groups and the music instructor gave each group a different rhythm. Then she had us clap the rhythms separately when she pointed at us. This time, however, the children and volunteers were having an easy time with the rhythms so the instructor made it a little more difficult by having us clap both rhythms at the same time. But due to all of our practice, the kids and volunteers were able to do this without a problem! Next we practiced singing “Portal de Belén” and “A La Nanita Nana”. This session we had our first girl volunteer to sing a solo and she did really well. During the second song a lot of the children actually volunteered to sing a solo, which shows how confident they are all becoming with their singing. At the end of Círculo today many of the kids even stayed afterwards to play with their friends and draw on the classroom’s chalkboards. The volunteers are really glad to see how comfortable the kids are becoming with their Círculo friends as well as their singing and we can’t wait until the next session!


domingo, 2 de noviembre de 2014

Séptima sesión

Hoy en Círculo celebramos Halloween y Día de los Muertos. Para comenzar, los niños tuvieron tiempo para colorear imágenes de calaveras. Luego, dividimos a l@s niñ@s en grupos para una búsqueda del tesoro. L@s niñ@s buscaron 8 pistas,1 a 8, y l@s voluntari@s las pusieron en diferentes lugares. Cuando terminamos la búsqueda, tuvimos algunos grupos con extras de algunos números para cambiar pistas con los otros grupos. Después, l@s niñ@s leyeron los acertijos con l@s voluntari@s. Cada respuesta era una palabra del vocabulario de las canciones. Cuando l@s niñ@s adivinaban la palabra a un acertijo, recibían una segunda pista. Las palabras eran sobre el Día de los Muertos, como "ofrendas" y "dulces". Cuando l@s niñ@s encontraron la respuesta al segundo juego de pistas, pudieron obtener su tesoro – ¡dulces!



Después de la búsqueda del tesoro, l@s niñ@s se organizaron en grupos para hablar sobre sus disfraces de Halloween. Este año, l@s chic@s fueron muy creativ@s con sus disfraces como un reportero, un zombie ninja y “String theory”. L@s niñ@s practicaron luego una canción sobre el Día de Los Muertos. Durante la merienda, entre calaveras de azúcar y pan de muertos, tuvimos la oportunidad de ver un clip corto sobre un niño esqueleto que fue a una fiesta mezclada de Halloween y el Día de los Muertos. Los niños disfrutaron del espectáculo y luego pasaron a practicar su canción. Cantamos todas las canciones para practicar como: "Campana sobre campana," "A la nanita nana", "Portal de Belén" y "Candelikas". Al final l@s niñ@s recibieron máscaras de calaveras para decorar y much@s se quedaron después del final de la sesión para terminar de decorarlas.

Resumen en video: http://youtu.be/vAOlm8TyLeM

¡Nos vemos el domingo!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 





Today in Círculo we celebrated the two holidays of Halloween and Día de los muertos. To begin, we let the children have some time to color in pictures of skulls. Then we split the kids into groups for a treasure hunt. The children searched for 8 clues, which were numbered 1 to 8 and scattered in different locations across the room. At the end of the search, however, we had some groups with extras of some numbers and there had to be a trade of clues amongst the groups. Then the students sat down and read the riddles on their clues. Every answer was a vocabulary word that we had learned from our songs. When the kids guessed the word to a riddle, they were rewarded with a second clue, which this time was a word. When all of the riddles were figured out, the kids then had to guess what all of the words they had earned had in common. The answer was that all of the words were things that belonged to Día de los muertos, like “ofrendas” (offerings) and “dulces.” And once the kids got the answer to the second set of clues, they were able to get their treasure – candy!



    After the treasure hunt the kids got together in their groups again and took turns talking about what they dressed up as for Halloween. This year the kids were very creative with their costumes. Amongst them we had a reporter, a ninja zombie, and String Theory. Next the kids practiced singing a song about the holiday of Día de los muertos. For their beautiful singing, the kids were then able to go and enjoy snack time, which included bread, sugar skulls, and popcorn. During snack time we also had the chance to watch a short clip about a skeleton boy who went to a Halloween party and scared all of the human kids by taking off his head. The kids really enjoyed the show and then went back to practicing their singing. We sang all of the songs we have been practicing throughout the session: “Campana sobre campana,” “A la nanita nana,” “Portal de Belen,” and “Candelikas.” The kids are getting really good at memorizing the words and our volunteer soloist had no problem singing during this session. Once they were done singing the kids were able to decorate a skull mask with stickers and markers to wear for the rest of Día de los muertos. Many of the kids even stayed after the session had ended to finish their masterpieces. We look forward to the next session.



Video summary: http://youtu.be/vAOlm8TyLeM