Tag Archives: writing workshop

Apr 25 2019

A Writer Belongs Everywhere: Stories from a Writing Workshop for Middle School Girls

 

By Tracey T. Flores, Ph.D.

On a hot evening in June, four Latina girls, Rocky, Reyna, Blanca and Elizabeth, entering ninth and tenth grade, and their parents, Valente, Samuel, Alma and Rose, gather at the local university for an evening of drawing, writing and sharing. In the small meeting room, sitting side-by-side at tables, girls and their parents busily sketch, in pencil and crayon, a drawing in response to the question: “Where are you from? / ¿De dónde eres?”

Walking around the room, I notice many different sketches. Rocky sketches a self-portrait of herself with wavy brown hair and blonde highlights. With a blue crayon, her father, Valente, sketches the flag of Honduras. Alma shows her daughter a sketch of the world with México at the center, as Blanca sketches a large brick house with two small girls with braids smiling in front of it. Rose colors the hair on her stick figure black, while her daughter, Elizabeth, draws a girl looking into a small mirror while putting makeup on her face. Samuel finishes his sketch of the U.S. flag and the flag of México, intersecting the shape of a heart between them, while his daughter, Reyna, colors the red tongue of the small dog she has sketched.

Rocky’s self-portrait

As families finish their sketches and begin sharing, the room becomes alive with stories. They share stories of family camping adventures, cherished memories of times spent with abuelitos, inside jokes shared between hermanas and of childhoods growing up in México y Honduras. Listening to each other, they nod in agreement, ask questions and connect through the collective telling and sharing of stories and histories.

Tonight is the first night that these Latina girls and their parents have come together to write and draw stories from their lived experiences. Over the next six weeks, as they participate in Somos Escritores/We are Writers, we will read and discuss a variety of bilingual (English/Spanish) print and digital texts, explore our experiences and histories, and use drawing, writing and oral storytelling as tools for self-expression and self-reflection. Somos Escritores is a writing workshop that brings Latina girls (grades 6-12) and their parents together for the intergenerational exchange of stories and knowledge through drawing, writing and oral storytelling.

After sharing our sketches, we read and discuss two poems, Where I’m From by George Ella Lyon and De Donde Yo Soy by Levi Romero. In these poems, poets explore their histories and describe through vivid language and detail all the people, places, moments and memories that shape who they are and how they walk in the world. These poems serve as an invitation for girls and their parents to further explore their lives while considering the ways their familial, cultural and linguistic histories shape who they are and who they are becoming. Finally, girls and their parents take their drawing to writing, using these poems as inspiration for crafting their own Where I’m From / De Donde Soy Yo poems.

Reyna wrote, “I’m from the family of whom love me very much. I’m from the land of the proud and brave. I’m from who I made myself to be.”

Samuel reads, “I am from a humble family, who lived poor but was rich in love.”

Blanca wrote, “I am from a not so perfect family, but from a family who is perfect in its own way.”

Holding her picture up, Alma shares, “Yo soy de un lugar cerca de la tierra y el amor de la galaxia.”

Alma’s sketch

As a facilitator and writer alongside girls and their parents in Somos Escritores, I have the honor and privilege of bearing witness to their lived experiences through our collective sharing of stories. Their stories welcome me into their lives, allowing me to learn about their experiences and realities in their own words. Through their stories, I learn about who they truly are, as Latinx girls, women and men, what matters most to them and what they envision for their futures.

I learn that Rocky, Reyna, Blanca and Elizabeth are fighting to be seen and heard. They are socially conscious girls who are aware of the negative stereotypes that society places upon them, as Latina girls. Through their actions and words, they are speaking to society in powerfully loud ways by excelling in school, cultivating their many passions and setting goals for their future selves. These girls refuse to be defined by society’s narrow definitions and views of who they are and what they are capable of achieving. Collectively they are working to be the change, the voice that our world needs.

I learn that Valente, Samuel, Alma and Rose are courageous, supportive and loving mothers and fathers. These parents provide their daughters with a solid foundation to pursue their passions and accomplish their goals. They work tirelessly, both on the job and at home, to meet their daughters’ personal, social, and academic needs.

At the close of our first workshop, I ask girls and parents to reflect upon why we must write and share our stories. Each girl and parent writes and shares their reflection, speaking to the importance of hearing different perspectives, realizing they are not alone and learning valuable life lessons. Finally, Valente is the last to share his reflection with the group. He reads, “I have to write because I want to be an example for my daughter and let her know my story and that I’m here.”

Note: Somos Escritores/We Are Writers was imagined from my work alongside my 2nd grade students in family writing workshops. This project is part of my dissertation work and has evolved into a writing workshop for Latina girls (grades 6-12). Twitter: @Las_Escritoras

Tracey T. Flores is an assistant professor of language and literacy in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a former English Language Development (ELD) and English Language Arts (ELA) teacher, working for eight years alongside culturally and linguistically diverse students and families in schools throughout Glendale and Phoenix Arizona. Her research interests include Latina girls’ language and literacy practices, family and community literacies and the writing instruction and development of Latinx youth. Tracey can be reached at: tflores@austin.utexas.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 23 2016

A Writer Belongs Everywhere: Stories from a Writing Workshop for Middle School Girls

 

By Tracey Flores

“A woman who writes has power, and a woman with power is feared.” ~Gloria Anzaldúa

On an overcast and windy day in May, ten young girls and women–daughters, sisters, mothers and teachers–gathered in Mrs. Gonzalez’s 7th grade classroom for an afternoon of sharing, writing and storytelling. Nibbling on pepperoni pizza and pink frosted cookies, desks arranged in a small circle in the front of the room, we sat with folders, notebook paper, and pencils, writing a letter to our sisters or mothers. This letter was the culminating writing of an afternoon of drawing self portraits and writing how we see ourselves and how we see our sisters and mothers.

As the the pencils stopped and everyone came to their closing thoughts, I invited everyone to turn to their sister or mother and read the letter they had just written to them. As I walked around the room to lean in and listen, with permission, I noticed that these handwritten letters were filled with words of advice, encouragement, and promises. They were filled with the words that many times we are too shy or afraid to share for fear of ridicule or embarrassment.

Alexandria read, “Dear Mom, An advice I want to share with you is ‘Live life to the fullest.’”

Dede read to her older sister, “…I believe in you whatever you do.”

Estefania read to her daughter, “…my sweet little miss…just know everything you do big or small I am proud of you everyday.”

IMG_3447 IMG_3448

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This vignette of an after-school writing workshop for middle school girls and their families illustrates the transformative power of creating space with and for our students and their families that honors their lived experiences and ways of knowing. For two weeks, we gathered in Mrs. Gonzalez’s room to engage in discussion, reflection, and storytelling on topics such as creating positive self-definitions, family, and education. Although our time together was brief, we created a supportive community of writers.

As a classroom teacher, and now as a PhD candidate, I have the privilege of working with families in after-school bilingual writing workshops, like the one in the vignette. In these writing workshops, students, their siblings and grandparents work side-by-side to tell, draw, write and share stories from their lived experiences. It is an opportunity for families to enter the classroom as experts and draw upon their cultural and linguistic resources to reflect on their lived experience through storytelling, drawing, and writing.

These bilingual family writing workshops are designed within a writing workshop framework, with a mini-lesson, writing time, sharing time, and a closing reflection. Each workshop begins with the reading and discussion of a bilingual picture book, poem, or short memoir. This text is carefully selected and serves multiple purposes. First, it is selected to introduce families to the theme of the workshop. Second, the topic of the text is considered in how families may relate to it or connect it to their own experiences, if the book is culturally relevant or rather recreates negative stereotypes. Lastly, the topics, writing, text structure, and organization are considered in how they might provide families with a powerful mentor text (Fletcher, 2011) for their own writing.

After the opening text is shared and discussed, I model my own writing by talking through what I am doing and thinking as I put drawing and writing on chart paper. Sometimes I model my brainstorm and other times I just draw and write. Then, I invite families to draw and write their own stories or poems. This is my favorite part, watching students and their families write and share their stories, many times for the first time with one another.

Over the years, in these workshops, families shared stories of celebrating Las Posadas with their family and community, stories of ranchos that stretched over acres in rural parts of México where they learned to tend the animals and to cherish all the resources of the tierra, and stories of special abuelitas who embraced them and loved them in that special way only an abuelita loves you.

As I wrote earlier in this post, in preparation for working with families in workshops, I always gather several texts in a variety of genres to use as mentor texts. Below is a short list that I have used as mentor texts in bilingual writing workshops with Latinx families in schools and community centers across Phoenix and Glendale in Arizona.

IMG_3446Alarcón, F. (2005). Poems to Dream Together/Poemas para sonar juntos. Illustrations by Paula Barragán. Lee & Low Books.

Carlson, L.M. (2013). Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States. Square Fish.

Cisneros, S. (1994). Hairs/Pelitos: A Story in English and Spanish from The House on Mango Street. Dragonfly Books.

Cisneros, S. (1994). La Casa en Mango Street. Translated by Elena Poniatowska. Vintage Books.

Cisneros, S. (1991). The House on Mango Street. Vintage Books

Costales, A. (2007). Abuelita full of life/Abuelita llena de vida. Illustrations by Martha Aviles. Cooper Square Publishing.

Fanelli, Sara. (1995). My Map Book. HarperCollins.

Garza, C.L. (2005). Family Pictures/Cuadros de familia. Children’s Book Press.

Garza, C.L. (1996). In My Family/En mi familia. Children’s Book Press.

González, L. (2008). The Storyteller’s Candle/La velita de los cuentos. Illustrations by Lulu Delacre. Children’s Book Press.

Herrera, J.F. (1998). Laughing Out Loud, I Fly: Poems in English and Spanish. HarperCollins.

Lyon, G.E. (1999). Where I’m From: Where Poems Come From. Absey & Co.

Medina, J. (2004). The Dream on Blanca’s Wall: Poems in English and Spanish/ El sueño pegado en la pared de Blanca: Poemas en ingles y español. Illustrations by Robert Casilla. Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.

Ortiz Cofer, J. (2004). Call Me María. Scholastic Inc

Ortiz, A. (2015). Rant. Chant. Chisme. Wings Press.

Rodríguez, L. (1998). América is her name. Illustrations by Carlos Vasquez. Curbstone Books.

Soto, G. (2005). Neighborhood Odes. Harcourt.

Note: This summer, I will be collaborating with three teachers to facilitate a second series of bilingual writing workshops for Latina middle school students and their mothers. Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post with stories and learnings from these writing workshops

 

321988_10101177230382771_455531340_o-1Tracey Flores is a former English Language Development (ELD) and Language Arts teacher who worked in elementary classrooms for eight years. She currently serves as the director of El Día de los Niños, El Día de los Libros and is a teacher consultant with the Central Arizona Writing Project (CAWP) at Arizona State University (ASU). Currently, Tracey is a PhD Candidate in English Education in the Department of English at ASU. Her research focuses on adolescent Latina girls and mothers’ language and literacy practices and on using family literacy as a springboard for advocacy, empowerment, and transformation for students, families, and teachers. In her free time she enjoys writing, reading Young Adult (YA) literature, drinking coffee, running, practicing yoga and spending time with her 8 month old daughter.