Paulino Brener

educator/performer

"El dueño de la Luz" (The owner of the light) -shadow puppets-

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I always wanted to do a shadows puppet show.  I decided to do one for my students and use it in the classroom for them to make their own stories/shows.

I chose a creation story/myth  from the Warao aborigens in Venezuela: “El dueño de la Luz” (The owner of the light). There are different versions of this story/myth also known as The Owner of the Sun

It took a lot of work to construct the screen and the puppets but I was pretty satisfied with the end result.

Here you can see a few pictures I took during the construction process.

I also made a video of one my rehearsals so that I can see what I needed to correct for the performance to the students.   Here you have an edited version of that video.

I may post another video in the future that includes the narration.

After showing the shadow puppet show to the students I asked them to write a short story. If they included the same or similar characters from “El dueño de la Luz” story then they could use my puppets. Otherwise they would have to make their own.  It’s a lot of fun!

Bailemos Juntos at ACTFL 2009

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I will be presenting “Bailemos Juntos”  at the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Convention and World Languages Expo in San Diego, CA.  If you are attending, I hope to see you there!

Bailemos Juntos
Schedule Information:

Scheduled Time: Fri, Nov 20 – 6:15pm – 7:15pm Building/Room: San Diego Convention Center / Room 22
Title Displayed in Event Calendar: Bailemos Juntos
Session Participants:
Presenter: Paulino Brener (City of Lakes Waldorf School)
Abstract:

This session is a great opportunity to learn line dances to use in the Spanish class. Paulino is from Argentina and he also has worked 7 years at Concordia Language Villages where dances are used as a means to teach culture but also to create connections with grammar and vocabulary.

Waldorf Education

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It’s been now more than six years that I teach at a Waldorf school.  I taught Spanish five year at Spring Hill Waldorf School and now I teach at City of Lakes Waldorf School

For those who don’t know much about Waldorf education here is a quick summary (from Why Waldorf Works)

WALDORF EDUCATION:

  • Is based on a profound understanding of human development
  • Provides a detailed, richly artistic curriculum that responds to and enhances the child’s developmental phases, from early childhood through high school
  • Cultivates social and emotional intelligence
  • Connects children to nature
  • Ignites passion for lifelong learning
  • Is the fastest growing educational movement in the world

Waldorf schools offer a developmentally appropriate, balanced approach to education that integrates the arts and academics for children from preschool through twelfth grade. It encourages the development of each child’s sense of truth, beauty, and goodness, and provides an antidote to violence, alienation, and cynicism. The aim of the education is to inspire in each student a lifelong love of learning, and to enable them to fully develop their unique capacities.

For more information please visit Why Waldorf Works

Day of the Dead in the classroom and in the community

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Day of the Dead is celebrated November 1 and 2. This important traditional Mexican celebration has spread quite rapidly into American culture not only because of the Latino communities in the US but also because it is frequently taught and celebrated in Spanish classes all over the country.

In my school we talked about it in Spanish classes with grades 6th and 8th but also we built a community altar. This altar, located in the main lobby of the school, not only brought awareness to this Mexican celebration but also provided a way for people honor those who passed away in their families.

For more information about Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) click here

Teaching culture with my Halloween costume

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Last year I didn’t wear a costume at school. But this year I thought of a costume that would be a good “tool” to teach culture. I wore a traditional “gaucho” outfit that I used to wear when I was a dancer in Argentina. Since gauchos live in the country and, among other tasks, take care of cows, I completed my costume with a cow hat.
Cow + Gaucho = Cowcho? :-)

Of course when students asked me about it I “had” to tell them all about gauchos in Argentina and how important cows are there.

Learn more about gauchos in English or in Spanish

¡Hagamos una piñata! (Let’s make a piñata!)

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This year I decided to find more projects for my students to do. Most of them will be crafts, some of them more culturally authentic than others. When I was thinking of a first authentic project I immediately thought of piñatas! They are fun and easy, and sometimes messy, to make. I decided to have each student to make a small individual piñata rather than having groups of students working on a bigger one.

I can take a while to get organized to be successful. I did much better with my second group of students making piñatas. Gathering the materials it’s not too hard (students brought the newspaper) but having 20 or more students working at the same time in a classroom can be a little chaotic. They were divided in smaller groups but that can still be a challenge.

The construction of the piñata was part of a mini unit on “¿Cómo hacer una piñata?” (How to make a piñata?). We learned materials, review ordinal numbers, review how to write steps of a process, and reviewed some conjugations (conjugating the process with different personal pronouns.)

Of course in order to teach them how to do it and be able help them with the process I first do it myself. It went something like this.
1) Mezclar agua y pegamento -o harina-. [Mix water and glue -or flour-]
2) Cortar papel de periódico en tiras. [Cut newspaper in strips]
3) Inflar el globo. [Blow up a balloon]
4) Mojar las tiras en la mezcla y pegar en el globo hasta cubrirlo completamente. [Dip strips into the mixture 4 y past the strips on the balloon until it is covered]
5) Dejar secar el globo. [Let the balloon dry]
6) Pegar 2 o 3 capas más. [Paste 2 or 3 more layers]

7) Sacar el globo. [Remove the balloon]
8) Usando cinta ancha, pegar hilo alrededor del globo para poder colgarlo luego. [Using duct tape secure a string around the balloon so that you can hang it later]
9) Hacer conos con papel de colores y pegar en el globo. [Make cones with color paper and glue/tape on the balloon]
10) Cortar papel crepe en tiras con flecos y pegar en el globo. [Cut crepe paper into strips with fringes and paste on the balloon]
11) Cortar papel crepe en tiras largas y finas y pegar en la punta de los conos. [Cut crepe paper into long thin strips and tape to the points of the cones.]
12) Usar como decoración o llenar de dulces y a divertirse! [Use as decoration or fill with candy/toys and have fun!]

Bailemos Juntos

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I love dancing. I’ve been dancing since I was a little kid. At El Lago del Bosque (Concordia Language Villages)  we love dancing, too. We do some traditional dances and also line dances with Spanish music. Almost 10 years ago a groups of friends from ELDB (Kika, Alicia and Luz) and I decided to bring the fun of line dances from ELDB to the classroom and started presenting those dances at different conferences for World Languages Teachers:  IWLA, MCTLC, Central States and soon ACTFL ’09! The presentation is called Bailemos Juntos

Our presentation is usually a big hit because not only we teach fun dances but the four of us have so much fun presenting together that we fill the room with our energy and enthusiasm.

Sometimes I get to do Bailemos Juntos by myself.  Usually at schools. Today I presented Bailemos Juntos at the U of M for the Spanish Field day of CIS (College in Schools). There were more than 500 high school students. I made them all dance!

Here is the proof

This is my third year presenting for CIS Spanish Field day at U of M. I hope I have enough energy to do it for a few more.

For more information go to Bailemos Juntos

Meet Paco, el sapo

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Over eight Summers that I worked at El Lago del  Bosque (Concordia Language Villages) I learned many songs that would become part of my repertoire in my Spanish classes. I love many of those songs but there are two that I kept very close to my heart:  Había Un Sapo  and La Familia Sapo. In fact I love all kinds of animal songs. I also love to make animals toys, usually knitted.

About a year ago I made my first stuffed frog. Meet Paco, el sapo:

Paco made his first appearance at one  my Parents and Tots Spanish class. Young children have a natural connection with animals and their vivid imagination can give life to stuff animal. It was instant success.  Children loved saying “hola” and “adios” to Paco. They would imitate Paco when he showed his dancing skills, go for a walk or jump. And we all enjoyed joining Paco for a short nap or singing a lullaby when he was sleepy.

This year Paco became the “pet” in my Spanish classes in first grade at City of Lakes Waldorf School.  Paco was very excited to meet all the first graders and the students always ask “¿Dónde está Paco?” (Where is Paco?) every class. Now it seems that Paco is a little shy and sometimes we have to look for him.

“¿Dónde está Paco?” “¿En la ventana, debajo de la silla, atrás de la planta?”

We never know where we are going to find him but he usually calls from where he is hiding so that we can meet him. When he finally appears Paco likes to greet every single student.

“Hola, Mary”
“Hola, Paco”

It’s always an adventure with Paco. We never know where is going to be or what he is going to do. But he is usually very tired at the end of the class and we have so sing for him to go to sleep.

Arrorró mi niño (click for audio)

Arrorró mi niño
Arrorró mi niño,
Arrorró mi sol,
Arrorró pedazo,
De mi corazón.

Este niño lindo,
Se quiere dormir.
Y el picaro sueño,
No quiere venir.

My hope is that Paco will accompany us in a long journey. May be he’ll bring stories from the ponds and lakes where he lived. May be we’ll meet his family. May be we’ll also learn about all his friends and have a party together!

It’s always an adventure with Paco, el sapo.

Sr. Brener

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La Familia Sapo (click for audio)

(call and response)

Estaba la familia sapo

Estaba papá sapo

Y chiqui chiqui-chiqui chiqui-chiqui

Y chiqui chiqui-chiqui chiqui-cha

Y cha

Y cha cha cha

¡Eso!

Same with: mamá sapo, bebe sapo (thumb in mouth), abuelo sapo (walking with a cane), abuela sapo (knitting)

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Había un sapo(click for audio)

Había un sapo, sapo, sapo
que nadaba en el río, río, río
con su traje verde, verde, verde
tiriraba de frío, frío, frío.

La señora Sapa, sapa, sapa,
me contó, contó, contó, contó
que tenía un amigo, amigo, amigo
y ese amigo eres tú. (que se llama…)

Welcome! Bienvenidos! Bienvenue! Willkommen!

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Hola,

My name is Paulino Brener and I am an Educator. I currently teach Spanish at City of Lakes Waldorf School. I have also worked several years at El Lago Del Bosque (Spanish Village at Concordia Language Villages). Besides Spanish I also enjoy doing and teaching dance and drama (among other things).