Tomás and the Library Lady

overture.org /onstage

2018 19

OnStage Resource Guide

ABOUT OVERTURE CENTER

FOR THE ARTS

Overture Center for the Arts fills a city block in downtown Madison with world-class venues for the performing and visual arts. Made possible by an extraordinary gift from Madison businessman W. Jerome Frautschi, the center presents the highest-quality arts and entertainment programming in a wide variety of disciplines for diverse audiences. Offerings include performances by acclaimed classical, jazz, pop, and folk performers; touring Broadway musicals; quality children’s entertainment; and world-class ballet, modern and jazz dance. Overture Center’s extensive outreach and educational programs serve thousands of Madison-area residents annually, including youth, older adults, people with limited financial resources and people with disabilities. The center is also home to ten independent resident organizations.

RESIDENT ORGANIZATIONS

Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society Children's Theater of Madison

Forward Theater Company Kanopy Dance Company

Li Chiao-Ping Dance Company Madison Ballet

Madison Opera Madison Symphony Orchestra

Wisconsin Academy’s James Watrous Gallery Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra

Internationally renowned architect Cesar Pelli designed the center to provide the best possible environment for artists and audiences, as well as to complement Madison’s urban environment. Performance spaces range from the spectacular 2,250-seat Overture Hall to the casual and intimate Rotunda Stage. The renovated Capitol Theater seats approximately 1,110, and The Playhouse seats 350. In addition, three multi-purpose spaces provide flexible performance, meeting and rehearsal facilities. Overture Center also features several art exhibit spaces. Overture Galleries I, II and III display works by Dane County artists. The Playhouse Gallery features regional artists with an emphasis on collaborations with local organizations. The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters’ Watrous Gallery displays works by Wisconsin artists, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art offers works by national and international artists.

RESOURCE GUIDE CREDITS

Executive Editor Writer/Designer

Meri Rose Ekberg Danielle Dresden

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Dear Teachers,

In this resource guide you will find valuable information to help you apply academic goals to your students’ performance experience. We have included suggestions for activities which can help you prepare students to see this performance, ideas for follow-up activities, and additional resources you can access on the web. Along with these activities and resources, we’ve also included the applicable Wisconsin Academic Standards in order to help you align the experience with your curriculum requirements.

This Educator’s Resource Guide is designed to:

• Extend the scholastic impact of the performance by providing discussion ideas, activities and reading to promote learning across the curriculum;

• Promote arts literacy by expanding students’ knowledge of music, science, storytelling and theatre;

• Illustrate that the arts are a legacy reflecting the values, customs, beliefs, expressions and reflections of a culture;

• Use the arts to teach about the cultures of other people and to celebrate students’ own heritage through self-reflection;

• Maximize students’ enjoyment and appreciation of the performance.

We hope the performance and this resource guide will provide you and your students with opportunities to integrate art learning in your curricula, expanding it in new and enriching ways.

Enjoy the Show!

Table of Contents

About Tomás and the Library Lady ........... 2

Background on the Play............................ 3

More Background & Activities ...................4

Activities from Childplay ..........................5

Resources ...............................................6

Activity - My Life Story .........................7-8

Activity - Dubbing ...................................9

Academic Standards .............................. 10

About Live Performance .........................11

Social Emotional Social StudiesLanguage Arts

Curriculum Categories

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About Tomás and the Library Lady Tomás and the Library Lady is a play based on a book and inspiring true story, plus a bit more. It shows and celebrates the power of stories, reading, and caring adults to transform the lives of children.

The play tells the story of Tomás Rivera, a little boy traveling with his migrant worker family all the way from Crystal City, Texas to Hampton, Iowa to work in the fields. He has nightmares about a cruel teacher in his last school who punished him for speaking Spanish, plus their new home looks like it was meant to house chickens. His family carries on, enjoying occasional sweet treats like pan dulce (sweet bread) and stories from Papa Grandé, the grandfather. When Tomás discovers the local library, and the kindly Library Lady who helps him explore its wonders, his life is changed. He discovers books about anything and everything he cam imagine.

As Tomás becomes friends with the Library Lady and

begins to teach her Spanish, he becomes more confident in his English. Even though his family must keep on moving on, the special friendship formed between the little boy and the librarian will help inspire him for the rest of his life.

José Cruz Gonzaléz wrote the script, music, and lyrics you’ll hear in the show, basing his work on the picture book, Tomás and the Library Lady, written by Pat Mora, and that’s just one of the more than 35 award-winning children’s books she’s written. A Mexican-American woman, Mora is the founder of Children’s Day, Book Day, a community-based, family literacy program designed to promote “bookjoy” for all children, from all cultures, speaking all languages.

Reading Tomás and the Library Lady is a great way to prepare your students for this performance!

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About Childsplay

Childsplay is a professional non-profit theatre company of adult actors, performing for young audiences and families. Their mission is to create theatre so original in form, content, or both, that it instills in young people a lasting awe, love and respect for the medium. Their goal is to inspire and preserve young people’s imagination and wonder, those hallmarks of childhood that are the keys to the future.

With its home base in Phoenix Arizona, Childsplay was founded in 1977. Since then, the company has educated and inspired more than four million young people and families, developing a national and international reputation for innovative, thought-provoking, and award-winning theater for young audiences. Childsplay maintains a strong commitment to arts education, conducting workshops and activities in more than 40 communities each year.

Background on Tomás and the Library LadyTomás Rivera in Real Life

There really was a Tomás Rivera. He was born December 22, 1935, in Crystal City, Texas and Tomás and the Library Lady is based on his life. When he was growing up, he and his migrant worker family labored in fields throughout the Midwest. In fact, Tomás spent so much time working in the fields that he always had to play catch-up at the start of each new school year. But he loved books and learning and saw how getting an education could improve his chances in the world, so he stuck with it. Tomás graduated from high school, then a junior college, then a four-year college, got a Master’s degree and a Ph. D. He first worked as a high school teacher, then he became a professor and a dean, eventually becoming the first Chicano-American to serve as Chancellor of the University of California, Riverside.

In addition to his active citizenship and his heavy teaching load,Tomás wrote novels, short stories, and poetry. Some describe him as the “godfather of Chicano-American literature.” After he died in 1984, the General Library at UC-Riverside was renamed the Tomás Rivera Library, a fitting tribute because that’s just the kind of place where his extraordinary life’s journey essentially began.

Tomás Rivera wrote this in 1961, “Love is necessary in the classroom. A teacher should realize that if he has love for children he will be creating lasting, happy individuals. A degree of love brings security to a child and makes him feel worthwhile. A child realizes he is loved and in turn will respond as a unique individual to that love.”

About Migrant FarmworkersMigrant farmworkers are people who travel away from their homes to plant, harvest, and do other agricultural work. According to Student Action on Farmworkers, 75% of the roughly 1-2.7 million migrant farmworkers in the United States were born in Mexico. More than half live apart from their families, staying in temporary housing. The work is hard, usually not well paid, and can be dangerous. Farmworkers themselves often face discrimination. However, thanks to Cesar Chavez, the noted activist, and years of activism by groups like the United Farmworkers of America, conditions for migrant farmworkers are better today than they were when Tomás was a boy. Efforts continue to improve the health and safety of farmworkers and make sure they are treated fairly and with respect.

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More Background & Activities About Libraries

Today there are 119,487 different libraries found throughout the United States, but that wasn’t always the case. The first free public library in the United States was made possible by a donation from Benjamin Franklin, and giving has been a big part of libraries ever since.

A Scottish immigrant named Andrew Carnegie, who made a fortune in steel and gave 90% of it away to different charities, paved the way for a huge expansion in public access to libraries across the country. A believer in helping people who were industrious and ambitious, between 1883 and 1929 Carnegie paid for the establishment of 3,000 public libraries around the world, including 1,795 in 47 states throughout the United States.

Wisconsin has its own library leader. After working as a teacher and librarian, Lutie Stearns (1866-1943) went on to spread the benefits of books and libraries across the state through her work with the Wisconsin Free Library Commission. Between 1895 and 1914 she established 150 free public libraries and 1,400 traveling ones, sometimes giving as many as 56 lectures in six months.

The library Tomás visits in the play was a Carnegie library. How many other people’s lives do you think were changed by libraries? In what ways?

Carnegie Library, Paxton, Illinois

Post-Show Discussion Questions

1. All plays have three P’s: People in a Place with a Problem. Who are the people in this play? Where does the play take place? What are the problems?

2. What happens at the beginning of the play? The middle? The end?

3. How is the play different than the book? How is it similar?

4. Tomás develops a special relationship with the librarian. Is there an adult who has influenced your life?

5. Tomás learns English as his second language. Does anyone at your house speak a language other than English?

6. Tomás moves a lot in this play. What would it be like to have to leave your home for a long time? What would you miss most?

7. When Tomás reads, his imagination takes him right into the story. If you could become a part of one of your favorite books, which book and what part of the story would it be?

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Activities from ChildsplayWhat Do You Want To Know?

Tomás tells the library lady he would like to read about tigers and dinosaurs. What do you want to learn about? Ask students to make a list of 5 things that they would like to read about. Discuss the different topics with your class and brainstorm ways to find books to read about them.

A Story in Two Languages

Papa Grande always starts his stories with “En un tiempo pasado…” Write a story starting with these words and incorporate as many Spanish words and phrases as you can. Or start with “Once upon a time” and write the story in Spanish, and add English words.

Vocabulary

All of the following Spanish words were used in the play. Try translating them into English. See what you can remember (or what you already knew).

Spanish English

compadre godfather

maestro teacher

vámonos let’s move on

la luna the moon

elotes corn

betabeles beets

espinaca spinach

carro car

familia family

cuento story

carne meat

Spanish English

libros books

prestar lend

el tigre the tiger

lapis lapis

pájaro bird

gato cat

perro dog

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ResourcesWebsites

• Reading is Fundamental – The nation’s largest children’s literacy non-profit, full of links to reading resources

• A digital exhibition on the history of libraries in the United States

• United Farmworkers of America

• Student Action on Farmworkers

• Background on Lutie Stearns, with links for more information

Books

• Other books by Pat Mora:

1. Confetti: Poems for Children

2. A Library for Juana: The World of Sor Juana Inés

3. Doña Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart

• Voices from the Field: Children of Migrant Farmworkers Tell Their Stories, written by S. Beth Atkin

• Gooney Bird Greene, written by Lois Lowry

• In My Family, written and illustrated by Carmen Lomas Garza

• Pepita Talks Twice/Pepita Habla Dos Veces, written by Ofelia Dumas Lachtman, illustrated by Alex Pardo Delange

• Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, written by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Yuyi Morales

• Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers, written by Sarah Warren, illustrated by Robert Casilla

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Activity - My Life StoryBy Margie Morrissey, Education.com

Grade Level: 2

You can think of Tomás and the Library Lady as a biography, because it tells the story of an important incident in someone’s life. In this activity, students learn how to write their biographies and autobiographies.

Objectives:

• Students will be able to distinguish between biographies and autobiographies.

• Students will be able to write their own biographies and autobiographies.

Materials:

• Paper

• Pens or pencils

Activities:

Introduction

1. Introduce the term “biography.” Ask the students what they think that word means.

2. Ask the students what is usually included in a biography. Tell students that a biography is often found on the flap of a book or at the very end of the book.

3. Introduce the term “auto-bio-graphy.” Explain that auto means “self,” bio means “life,” and graphy means “writing.” An autobiography is a piece of writing about one’s own life. When a story is about someone else’s life, the “auto” is taken out and it’s called a biography.

4. Have students each sit with a partner. Have each partner tell the other as much about herself as possible in one minute, then switch.

5. Encourage students to begin with when and where they were born.

6. Ask the students if the stories they shared are fiction or non-fiction.

7. Ask what makes these stories interesting?

8. Have each student spend a minute telling her partner as many facts as she can remember about her partner’s life.

9. Ask the students if it was easier to talk about their partners’ life stories or their own? Why?

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Independent working time

1. Tell students that their goals for the following activity are: 1) to write a biography or autobiography, 2) to tell at least five facts about the subject’s life, and 3) to write in proper sequence.

2. Have students take out writing materials and work for 15-20 minutes to create a biography or autobiography about their partner’s or their own lives.

Assessment

1. As students work, walk around and assess their understanding based on whether they’re reaching the activity goals.

2. Once they’re done writing, have students share their biographies or autobiographies with the rest of the class.

Review and closing

1. Review the idea of biographies and autobiographies with the students. Ask them who they would like to read biographies about.

Activity - My Life Story (con’t)

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Activity - DubbingBy Jennifer Moncayo-Hida, Bay Area Discovery Museum

Grade Level: 3-5

Students work in pairs to create and perform an original story. One student is the Picture and can move freely, but cannot speak. The other student is the Dubber, and speaks for the picture and makes “sound effects” as appropriate.

Objectives:

Students will:

• Build their skill and confidence in improvisation.

• Learn how to communicate from another person’s perspective.

• Develop empathy.

Materials:

• Room to move and share short scenes

Activities:

1. Working as a class, brainstorm a list of potential locations for the group’s scenes to take place. Try to list original places that have characteristic sounds like a jungle, a beach with crashing waves, or in the dugout at a baseball game.

2. Divide the class into pairs. Each pair must decide the different roles they’ll play. The Picture acts out the scene while the Dubber speaks for the Picture, including sound effects. Tell students they will have 5 minutes to practice their scenes.

3. The pairs will choose a location from the list and start improvising! The Picture acts out what may be happening at this location, while the Dubber provides the sound effects and speaks for the Picture.

4. Remind students to be sure to play off of each other! The Picture must move his or her lips as the Dubber speaks, and the Dubber needs to stay alert in order to provide appropriate sound effects to accompany the Picture’s actions.

5. After 5 minutes, tell students to start practicing their scenes before they share them with the group.

6. Students share their work with the group.

7. If time permits, invite students to repeat the exercise, but switch roles.

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Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy

Speaking & Listening Standards K-5

1. Engage effectively in collaborative discussion

2. Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a presentation

3. Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker

Social Studies

Political Science & Citizenship

C.4.1 Identify and explain an individual’s responsibility to family, peers, and the community, including the need for civility and respect for diversity

The Behavioral Sciences

E.4.4 Describe the ways in which ethnic cultures affect the daily lives of people

E.4.9 Explain how people learn about others who are different from themselves

E.4.11 Give examples of how artistic creations are expressions of culture

Wisconsin Common Career Technical Standards

CD/Career Development

CD3.b.1.e: Describe why people work and how aspects of the work environment affect lifestyle

CD4.d.1.e: Define what it is to be respectful and non-judgmental

EHS/Environment, Health, and Safety

EHS1.a.2.e: Describe how social, economic, and economic systems have benefits and consequences.

GCA/Global and Cultural Awareness

GCA1.a.1.e: List ways in which people are different from one another

GCA1.a.3.e: Identify historical examples of large ethnic groups emigrating to a new country or community

Theatre Education - Play Reading & Analysis

A.4.1 Attend a live theatre performance and discuss the experience

• Explain what happened in the play

• Identify and describe the characters

• Say what they liked and didn’t like

• Describe the scenery, lighting, and costumes

Academic Standards

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About Live PerformanceUnlike movies or television, theater is a LIVE performance. This means that the action unfolds in front of an audience, and the performance is constantly evolving. The artists respond to the audience’s laughter, clapping, gasps and other reactions. Therefore, the audience is a critical part of the theater experience. In fact, without you in the audience, the artists would still be in rehearsal!

Remember, you are sharing this performance space with the artists and other audience members. Your considerate behavior allows everyone to enjoy a positive theater experience.

Prepare: Be sure to use the restroom before the show!

Find Your Seat: When the performance is about to begin, the lights will dim. This is a signal for the artists and the audience to top conversations. Settle into your seat and get ready to enjoy the show!

Look and Listen: There is a lot to hear (dialogue, music, sound effects) and a lot to see (costumes, props, set design, lighting) in this performance. Pay close attention to the artists onstage. Unlike videos, you cannot rewind if you miss something.

Energy and Focus: Artists use concentration to focus their energy during a performance. The audience gives energy to the artist, who use that energy to give life to the performance. Help the artists focus that energy. They can feel that you are with them!

Conversations: Talking to neighbors (even whispering) can easily distract the artists onstage. They approach their audiences with respect, and expect the same from you in return. Help the artists concentrate with your attention.

Laugh Out Loud: If something is funny, it’s good to laugh. If you like something a lot, applaud. Artists are thrilled when the audience is engaged and responsive. They want you to laugh, cheer, clap and enjoy your time at the theater.

Discover New Worlds: Attending a live performance is a time to sit back and look inward, and question what is being presented to you. Be curious about new worlds, experience new ideas, and discover people and lives previously unknown to you. An open mind, curiosity, and respect will allow a whole other world to unfold before your eyes!

Please, don’t feed the audience: Food is not allowed in the theater. Soda and snacks are noisy and distracting to both the artists and audience.

Unplug: Please turn off all mobile phones and other electronics before the performance. Photographs and recording devices are prohibited.

201 State Street, Madison, WI 53703

Overture Center’s mission is to support and elevate our community’s creative culture,

economy and quality of life through the arts.

overture.org /onstage

Additional Funding provided by: Wahlin Foundation on behalf of Stoughton Trailers, and by contributions to Overture Center for the Arts.