Once upon a time, there were three students, Francisca, Rania, Gloria, who went to the Tucson Museum of Art. They met three docents, leader teachers at the museum. Two of them worked at the University of Arizona. They showed us many pictures and explained them to us. We saw pink flamingos made out of pipe cleaners, a sculpture made out of clay that looked like an octopus, and a huge head statue made out of metal. We also saw a picture made out of black and white strips. It was called “I Will Sleep Tonight.” Some strips said, “I am scared. I am scared. I am scared.” Some other strips said, “I am not afraid. I am not afraid. I am not afraid.” Maybe the artist made this picture to welcome you, so you will be comfortable and not afraid.
We decided to make our own picture for our classroom. But we wanted it to be rainbow colored because it is more lively and lovely. We like to show people how we learn at Literacy Connects. Each student wrote a line about how they felt about their stay at Literacy Connects. For some students, it was about their first day. For some students, it was about their second day, then their third day, then their fourth day—every week that they keep coming. Some students came in the middle of the project, but they contributed to the picture, because it is awesome and marvelous and fantastic and fabulous.
Dorithy Chayee, Omar Cunningham, Jesus Lopez, Alexander Nez, Francisca Peraza, Alicia Perez, David Sacco, Gloria Serrano, Gus Tucker, Rania Tutu, Easlyn Williams
Tohono Chul Desert Garden
By Easlyn Williams
On Tuesday, October 30, the students went on a trip to the Tohono Chul Desert Garden. We saw some very interesting sculptures, creatures, and drawings. They looked so real and the teachers explained those drawings and sculptures to us. The students and teachers had a wonderful time. The teachers were very knowledgeable about every sculpture and drawing. I personally was amazed on seeing the nice plants. They were real.
Painting
The face of this wooden painting reminds me of putting pieces together to form a puzzle. It is very remarkable, and the teachers are very artistic indeed.
Sun Dial
By Omar Cunningham
This article is about the field trip. It was a great view. I learned a lot of things that I had never seen like the sun time clock that could tell the time back then.
I wonder how cool stuff worked in the early days. It’s just nice to look and compare to the way we do things today.
It is important to remember because when you do you can write a story about the things you learned. There is a lot to discuss, but I can just write a line to let someone know what you learned.
If I Were A Vulture
Alicia Perez — If I were a vulture, I would like to go to lots
of places and eat a lot of dead animals. I will have dinner of a big piece of beef.
Alexander Nez — If I were a vulture, I would be around looking
in the valley for animals, rabbits or something else that are already dead.
Francisca Peraza — If I were a vulture, I would fly everywhere.
If I see some animals dead on the ground, I would get it to eat.
Chicken Stories
By Rania Tutu, Alicia Perez, and Easlyn Williams
Once upon a time, there were chickens and roosters. Some of the chickens lived in Yuma with Alicia, and some of the chickens lived with Easlyn in Grenada on her grandparents’ land. When Easlyn moved to Trinidad, the chickens stayed in Grenada with her grandparents. When Alicia moved to Tucson, she brought some of the chickens with her. Alicia had one chicken and one rooster. Easlyn had many chickens and one rooster. You can only have one rooster because they will fight and get in people into trouble.
All the chickens ate cracked corn. Easlyn’s chickens also ate cooked rice. If you don’t cook the rice it will puff up in the chickens’ stomachs, and they will die. Chickens drink water. At night, they sleep in coops, or they fly up into the trees. Alicia’s chickens and rooster flew so high up into the tree that the coyote could not catch them. He ran around the tree, but Alicia threw rocks at him, and he ran away.
Alicia’s chicken was named Linda, and her rooster was named Daniel. One of Easlyn’s chickens was her namesake, Easlyn, and the rooster was named Sam. Linda and Daniel had a baby chicken, Star. Star gave a lot of brown eggs. Easlyn’s chickens had lots of chicks and eggs, too.
When Easlyn was young she liked to play with the chickens. She gathered the eggs. Some of the eggs hatched, and they cooked some of the eggs. She would call them, “Chick, chick, chick, chick, come, come, come.” They understood.
Alicia’s rooster was very smart, too. Daniel came inside her house when she called him, and he protected the back yard of the house. One day, a little boy was picking on the rooster. He was trying to get Daniel’s feathers. Daniel scratched the little boy on his face. The mother got mad and went to the doctor. Doctor said, “He is okay. Take him home and tell him not to make animals mad.”
Alicia’s chickens used to fly out of the back yard. They would walk around her neighbors’ houses. Alicia was scared that they would hurt somebody. The hawk tried to catch the chickens. He would hide in the trees and watch for the chickens, but the rooster was very protective of the chickens. The hawk was afraid of the rooster.
Finally, Alicia took the chickens and Daniel back to Yuma, to the community where her sister lived. The chickens walked free, with no hawks around them.
Easlyn’s grandparents’ chickens ran around in the yard. Sometimes, her grandparents would kill one or two for dinner, especially on Sunday. They had stewed chicken with callaloo and rice.
Vulture Sculptures at Tohono Chul
By Francisca Peraza
Wh
en we went to Tohono Chul I saw some sculptures. One of them was an eagle made with motorcycle parts. It was sitting above a tree. The female eagle shows red and brown colors.
I saw another kind of bird sculpture that was called a vulture. It was a sculpture made of metal. It looked like an eagle but it actually was a vulture. It’s near some steps and sits above some bushes on the ground. It stands on its two feet. Its body is covered with feathers. The feathers are made of long metallic strips. In front of the vulture was marvelous natural green vegetation.
By Alexander Nez
The vulture has a body made of a gas can. It is sitting on a tree. The color of the vulture is red and brown. The feathers are made of metal and the vulture has a long neck. The horse sculpture caught my eye. I wanted to jump on it, but it was too tall. The person who took us
around the tour said it is made from parts of reclaimed metal. I also saw a deer made from a different kind of metal.
By David Sacco
The sculpture of the vulture at Tohono Chul is made from a Yamaha motorcycle tank. It may make a statement about motorcycles and vultures and what happens to someone who wrecks their Yamaha in the desert. After they die do they get eaten by vultures? Just a thought!
By Alicia Perez
The sculpture is in the branches of a tree. The vulture is made of metal. He looks like an eagle and he is brown. He is a big bird. I like the sculpture a lot.
