Un Poco Loco about Disney’s Coco (Celebrating Day of the Dead)

Posted by Deanna Wagner, after watching the virtual Day of the Dead Celebrations.

"AY MI AMOR, the way you keep me guessing, you make me 

UN POCO LOCO"

Although using AAC in more than one language can be challenging, we need to remember that it isn't just words.  Communication is connection - to our families, our culture, our feelings.  

Are you feeling “Un Poco Loco” this time of year? The Disney/Pixar movie “Coco” reminds of the depth of vocabulary when we provide access for English-Spanish communicators.  Released in 2017, this movie was showing again at Harkins theaters this month and is available for purchase at Target, Wal-Mart and streaming on Amazon.  And you can get the soundtrack on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, and Google Play.  In this movie a young aspiring musician sets out on a journey to discover his family’s traditions.  Why am I mentioning it?  Because it is absolutely beautiful!  Beautiful to watch and beautiful to listen.  The switching back and forth between English and Spanish used to share memories that are ingrained into the cultural message in this movie was so perfect and seamless.  

Learn more about the movie here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_(2017_film)

And be sure to listen to this amazing bilingual song on YouTube! Poco Loco

Check out Disney’s activities at this link. https://movies.disney.com/coco

Day of the Dead is an awesome time to talk about our families, memories, and favorite stuff.

 

And look for opportunities to celebrate and support switching between English and Spanish (in your AAC systems and in all the ways you use to express yourself) to celebrate the richness of language and culture.  Last month I shared a table with some of the apps I have been exploring in order to share with families who speak both languages.  

Look for the table at the bottom of this post: Building My Spanish Language Skills

You can also find the table on PrAACticalAAC.org as part of my guest blog from October 19, 2020. 

Live Drawing During Storytelling: Using Book Creator

 Live Drawing During Storytelling

by Caroline Ramsey Musselwhite 

 WHY.  So, I'm trying to 'up my game', making Literacy Group more interactive. My group has told me in the past that they really like it when I show videos where an artist illustrates as they describe. So, I decided to try to illustrate it as I shared the folk tale.  

 

WHAT.  Live illustration of a folktale.  We are studying Scotland in Literacy Group, and I wanted to share
a folktale.  I found a great website with a wide range of tales:  Fairytalez

 

You can search that website by region, and I found a lovely story that was listed as both short (less than 5 minutes) and easy (simple vocabulary, with limited local dialect).  I chose The Gillie Dhu  because it met
those criteria, was interesting, and would be easy to illustrate.

HOW.  I read the tale a few times, and picked some parts that would be easy and interesting to illustrate.  I chose the Book Creater app, as it's quite simple, but allows very quick access to:  typing, inserting photos, drawing, and recording.  The drawing was especially helpful, because it includes:

- multiple colors

- three choices for line thickness, and, most importantly,

- and undo button!!

 Before the Storytelling.   First, I started the story, making about 14 pages with text.   I drew a couple of pictures in advance, to save time (e.g., Jessie).  I also stored a few pictures in advance (e.g., Gillie Dhu, animals), to make it go more quickly. 

During the Storytelling.  I I'm not an artist by any stretch, but I was quickly able to:

- Add to drawings.  For example, I drew in the woods as I illustrated the page describing how Jessie walked in the woods.  When she started crying, I added tears to her face.  On another page, the

Gillie Dhu says to Jessie:  “Your tear-drops are falling like dew on the blue flowers at your feet!”  So I quickly drew both teardrops and blue flowers at her feet.

- Insert photos.  As I got to the part about the Gillie Dhu, I inserted his photo.  Similarly, I added each animal as the Gillie Dhu talked about knowing all the parts . . . the rabbit's path, the hare's path, the fox's path, etc.

 

 

REVIEW.  Happily, this first adventure went really well. I think it added to the story engagement (e.g., pulling in animal pics as I narrated, drawing her home
'live). It was a way to add visual supports that were kind of animated. At the end, one student used her eye gaze device to say MOST POWERFUL and another said. LOVE IT. GREAT. GOOD JOB. Really really made my day!