Check out our newest and coolest projects! Plus: Intern Kat's Day in the Life blog delivers updates about daily office fun working alongside our hilarious students and amazing volunteers. And don't forget to get your student news coverage from the 826LA Good Times at 826LA East and The Venice Wave at 826LA West!
Posted by Danny Hom, Programs & Social Media Coordinator
English Language Learner camp is off to a great start here at 826LA East and 826LA West, where we're happy to say we've been seeing a lot of Destiny, Mai, Sam, Jenine, Frank, Suivel, Zooey, and Nina (below)! Our first day was spent on an 826 favorite, Storytelling and Bookmaking, part of the experience we usually give to classroom teachers who take their elementary school students to our centers on field trips. After much brainstorming, scribbling, and hamster-stomping, students came up with an epic tale aptly titled The Cow Rescued by a Flying Baby and a Stick-man. Here's a little taste:
"Once upon a time, there was a stick-man named Bob who had to take care of a flying baby. They lived in a city of cows called Cowtopia. The baby was a girl, but she liked to hang out with boy babies and do things like play hockey and other contact sports. Her name was Angel. One day, Angel and Bob were walking along in Cowtopia when a tornado came out of the sky and swished up all of the cows in Cowtopia except for one."
The students had to resolve this dramatic crisis with individually-written endings ... and, as luck would have it, all their stories were approved.
What did we do for the rest of the week?! We will tell you. (One thing we did do was teach students use of the interrobang.) We took the TOWL-3 test, a standardized exam that helps us gauge students' writing skills (very important). We wrote letters to Michelle Obama, and collectively came up with some rules "upon which we agree." So far, so awesome! Be sure to check back soon for more ELL news.
Hi. Have you heard about our book clubs? Each month, volunteers, staff, interns, and neighbors gather in an 826LA writing lab to discuss a collection of short stories, nonfiction, or a novel that they selected the month before.
Last month, we read stories of Flannery O'Connor and Wells Tower.
This month, we're reading two novels by Japanese authors; "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro and "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami.
Want to join us? See below for the fine details, and start reading!
826LA East Book Club
Reading: "Never Let Me Go" by Ishiguro
Where to buy:
Pick up your copy at Skylight Books and receive 15% off. Or, check out a copy at your local library.
Date: Thursday, August 5, 2010
Time: 8:00pm - 9:30pm
Location: 826LA East
Street: 1714 W. Sunset Blvd.
City/Town: Echo Park, CA
Feel free to bring your own spirits and refreshments.
Creating the second issue of their own 'zine is not the only press surrounding sixteen-year-olds Anna Rivas, Michelle De Leon, Brenda Morones, and Yesenia Pum. This group of 826LA East regulars was recently featured on NPR as well as Entertainment Studio’s new television series “Young Icons.”
On NPR, you can hear the girls talk about Brando Skyhorse’s new book The Madonnas of Echo Park. Growing up in Echo Park, the author draws upon his own childhood experiences in order to expose the history of the neighborhood. The girls consider Skyhorse’s portrait of their home accurate, explaining that they may even feel like Echo Park Madonnas themselves.
We are thrilled for and so proud of this group of inspiring and smart girls! Congratulations!
You can also pick up the fantastic first issue of their 'zine, Style Shenanigans, at The Echo Park Time Travel Mart today!
My first day on the job, a third grader named Mark asked me to help him with his multiplication problems. I sat down and asked him what questions he had. He took this as an open invitation.
“Why did we go to Vietnam?”
“There are a lot of answers to that question, Mark.”
“What’s one of them?”
“Well, we wanted to stop the spread of communism.”
“What’s communism?”
I could have dismissed the kid and told him that it was a complicated answer (which, granted, it is) and that we should really concentrate on his math problems. Instead, I broke down the political and socio-economical factors of communism (mostly taken from Marx) then broke out a world atlas to show him where Vietnam was and how there used to be a thing called the Soviet Union. He seemed to grasp some of the ideas--even if he didn’t, he was still intrigued. He wanted more history, less times tables. I cut Mark a deal: every time he finished a column of math problems, I got to tell him something else about the world. I taught him a trick when multiplying 9 with something and soon he was zipping through, most of the problems correct. We corrected them and then the questions came. I got to explain to him the American Civil War, DNA, Comrade Tito and Yugoslavian wars, Rasputin, obscure phrases in Polish and what narwhals were. He was particularly impressed by the roly-poly unicorn of the sea, and who wouldn’t be upon the discovery of such a creature?
While my spewing out what is essentially quiz bowl knowledge didn’t help Mark with the particular writing assignment for the day (a poem about his hair) it did get him excited to learn more about wars and creatures. It also made me wish I knew more about narwhals.
Corey Chan
So, in honor of our after-school tutoring writing prompts, I was going to use this post to list my Top Ten Intern Moments at 826LA East. But then I realized how utterly impossible it would be to try to compress the past two months of 826LA madness into a mere 10 moments; the effort would be completely antithetical to the very reason I wanted to do a top ten list in the first place (ie. laziness). Every time I thought of something cool to list, I would remember more and more details and it just didn't seem right to dilute these awesome memories into simple bullet points. Like our amazing field trips with Mr. Barnacle: what would I put on the list? 1) Hand of Doom (especially that kid who practically went full kowtow on him!) 2) How excited the kids got when brainstorming possible characters (an evil scientist--named Phil!) 3) Or how about that time when I overheard a bunch of kids chatting impatiently while waiting for their books to be bound, barely able to contain their excitement about bringing home a book that was "gonna look like Harry Potter!" A book they wrote themselves!
Every day at 826LA is filled with moments such as these. Even on days when the kids ask me for help on their math homework (they teach calculus in 4th grade now??), I'm glad that I'm there (and grateful that there are other tutors who know calculus). These days, things are more calm, now that school is out and our summer programs have yet to get underway. It's a nice change of pace, but I have to say: I am certainly looking forward to more zany days ahead, and to the further adventures of Corey the Intern.
When I think about my first few weeks at 826LA East, I automatically recall the ridiculous things I hear everyday:
Barnacle
Shopaholic farmer in a vampire mall
Hand of Doom
...and the epic story of the exotic animal trainer and the punk rock unicorn.
Nothing is quite as sad as a unicorn that can't see his favorite punk bands, and nothing is quite as awesome as listening to a 6th grade class describe the hilariously tragic story.
However, my best moments so far have come from our Storytelling and Bookmaking field trips in which I play the role of illustrator. I sit at my table quietly with my pencil in hand, waiting to draw a dinosaur, a lion, or something along those lines. Instead, I've had to draw such characters as the monster with drool like gravy and chicken for teeth, and the werewolf in love who is being attacked by the queen zombie, Peaches.
If the kids want a queen zombie named Peaches, then they are going to get the best dang zombie they've ever seen.
I'm definitely looking forward to even more amazing and imaginative stories to hear and illustrate over the course of the summer.
Christina Magaña
Summing up my experience here at 826LA is no easy endeavor. My first week as an intern at 826LA East began with a field trip. I found that my greenness and nervousness at being a new intern subsided with the excitement of the incoming students.
Our field trip got underway with a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ activity. As I sat listening to the laughter and excited responses of the students, I was reminded of my own elementary school self and how exciting those ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books always were. While observing the students and listening to all the directions the plot of our story could take, I saw the expansion of possibilities before my very eyes. As evidence, let me just say that the kids in our group created a story that involved a spy who was on a mission to save Justin Bieber from an evil Bruce Willis! The kids in our group were so completely excited, uninhibited, and bold. I felt really blessed to be involved with an organization that allows such excitement aimed at learning to take place. Along with the kids, I too was excited when they were able to take their very own book--the one they created--home.
After lunch, I became acquainted with after-school tutoring where I met some really lovely students. One even became my very own twin since we both spell our names Christina--no easy feat in a sea of Cristinas or Kristinas! At the end of the day, I felt incredibly lucky to be a part of this really great and special organization. And I found myself really excited for the special programs the summer will bring.
Donielle Kaufman
“Who should our superhero be?” Darrell asked the group of third graders. There was a pause followed by a cacophony of ideas—a dinosaur, a princess, Spiderman, and Spider Dude. The class of forty students finally voted on their ultimate super hero: a talking taco. This talking taco lives in a burrito mansion in Burrito City, Arizona. He enjoys swimming in his giant pool of hot sauce and in his free time battles a sinister monster that is as tall as a skyscraper and has chicken for teeth. (Ew.) With the help of his sidekick, a girl burrito named Beauty, our talking taco superhero is able to use parts of his taco filling as projectiles and thus defeat the evil monster.
This “Choose Your Own Adventure” field trip was the only introduction needed for my first morning at 826. Before the class arrived, I was confused as to what exactly would be happen. How could we possibly write and print a book in the next two or three hours? (This task seemed especially daunting after spending a year writing my senior thesis). But, let me tell you, these third graders not only published an adventure book in less than three hours, they were creative and willing to commit new ideas and words to paper. It is refreshing to think about narratives and characters and facts in a way that is unusual. A talking taco certainly challenges my conception of a super hero. With less than a week left in the academic year, I can’t wait to see what adventures 826 kids chose for their summer vacations!
Zoe Kerrigan
My first week at 826LA East I was immediately thrown into helping out with field trips, tutoring students and going on an in-school trip. All of this was exciting but also rather overwhelming. Before each new activity I was quickly briefed on how to run the activity, but most of the time I was a little unclear as to exactly how everything would work out.
On my second day at 826LA a long-time volunteer let me in on a little secret. He explained that leading a new activity can often be confusing or intimidating, but somehow things always seem to work out. I’m still figuring out where supplies go and desperately trying to relearn 5th grade-level mathematics (like how to find the volume of a cylinder), but what I have already noticed during my time here is that activities with students do, in fact, always seem to work out in the end. No matter how crazy or rushed a Storytelling & Bookmaking field trip may end up, there is always that moment when you hand a student a bound book that includes his or her own writing and ideas and you can literally see the excitement in their eyes as they flip through a book that they have helped to create. I’m looking forward to getting more comfortable with how things work at 826LA, but for now it’s comforting to know that the students’ excitement and enthusiasm make every activity worthwhile in the end.
Posted by Danny Hom, Programs & Social Media Coordinator
826LA's after-school homework help program recently celebrated the release of 2009-2010's final Dogtown Book ... in a spunky, new, never-before-seen-in-Dogtown-Books form, a slam book. What, you may ask, is a slam book? Urban Dictionary aptly defines it as "a spiral bound book where a collection of people can slam their own opinions down about a question/idea written at the top of each page." Well-spoken, Urban Dictionary.
Our students slammed down their opinions concerning important topics such as:
1. basketball players
2. the size of the earth
3. fried chicken
4. the nature of what love is (clearly, we have some very deep kids in our midst)
One writes:
"I wouldn't like to be a Chasmosaurus because they're ugly! They are half bunnies and half rhinoceros! They are herbivores. I hate eating herbs because they are disgusting! I never liked herbs and vegetables because usually when I eat them it gets stuck between my teeth and every time I try to brush my teeth it's hard to get the lettuce and other stuff off! The end."
And on an appreciative note, one writes:
"I had a great day today. I had a fun time over here [at 826LA]. I think I might come again. I hope I can. P.S.: thanks."
The staff at 826LA would like to say a big thanks of our own to the great people who made the slam book's publication possible: Wendy VanLandingham, Beth Hagenlocker, Brando Skyhorse, Danielle Walker, and Women Helping Youth! Stop by to see a copy of our aforementioned masterpiece, This Is What It Was in the 1980s.
At 826LA, we're lucky to work with all our students. Sadly, one of our first passed away this month after a lifelong battle with her illnesses. While it's hard news to take, we like to remember Tori Lynn Turner, who grew up in Venice and went to Grand View Elementary and Westside Leadership Magnet, in a happier light—like the one we see in this four-year-old piece from drop-in tutoring.
"Wanted"
by Tori Turner
I always wanted a baby pit bull. He should know how to do high five and bathe himself. I will take him everywhere: Sea World, parks, swimming lessons, and to my brother's house to play with his pit bull. I would love my pit bull. Boomtown!
Over three hundred people from our community were in Oakwood on Saturday to remember her. We'll miss you, Tori. Thanks for making 826LA special. Love, the staff.
Posted by Danny Hom, Programs & Social Media Coordinator
826LA received a generous donation from the organization Women Helping Youth on May 8th. With the donation, 826LA West has been able to purchase a new binding machine and a new copying machine. Already the kids have been getting good use of out them!
Posted by Danny Hom, Programs & Social Media Coordinator
ELL at 826LA Now Open for Registration!
Summer is almost here, so all of us at 826LA have been gearing up for our Summer English Language Learner Camp! The workshop's geared toward strengthening speaking, reading and writing skills, and it's open to all students between the ages of 7 12, regardless of English speaking ability. We work on all kinds of projects, from poems to news articles to vampire stories and back again. Free classes are happening Monday through Friday, from 1-3:30 p.m., July 7th until August 13th. Registration is easy at either 826LA location (826LA West in Venice, 826LA East in Echo Park), so sign up soon – it’s a hot ticket!
During our unit on pirates at last summer's camp, after we had interviewed a live pirate, Robert Jr. composed this letter:
Dear Pirate's Mom,
Arrgh! Me name is Captain Pollywag (a.k.a. Robert Jr.). I saw your son in the sea stealing treasure from the treasure bank. Ground him when he comes home. Give him a shower because everyone that I talked to says that he smells like rotten eggs. I know your son because we played billiards at the bar. He will always cheat. I call the owners of the bar but he runs away from them. I hope I can see you!
Sincerely,
Captain Pollywag (a.k.a. Robert Jr.)
Watch this video by Tabletop Moviemaking teacher Brick:
Posted by Danny Hom, Programs & Social Media Coordinator
Two weeks ago, both of the main rooms where we run projects at 826LA received some brand new chairs thanks to a grant from the Ayrshire Foundation! They've replaced all the old, wooden chairs that once inhabited our writing lab (and were prone to breaking!). The sturdy, aluminum, and hopefully indestructible chairs seem to be a hit with our after-school tutoring kids already!
