BWS Classes
Las clases de BWS
Sculpture Class altars: Ms. Dame
Students from Ms. Dame's sculpture class each received a BWS Fabrication Lab kit with a laser-cut altar to assemble and several altar elements. With the materials, they built their own mini altars in their homes, and added symbolic as well as personal elements and decorations.
In sculpture class, Ms.Dame teaches clay hand building techniques. As part of their altar kits, students received air dry clay and were able to practice two traditional hand building methods: rolling a coil to act as the archway for their altar, and sculpting a pinch pot to hold salt. We hope you enjoy seeing their video tours and photos below!
CArson M.
For Día de Los Muertos, I am honoring my grandma Betty Johnson with my altar. She passed away two years ago from cancer. The skull is to represent her body. The cinnamon roll, bread, and water are all foods she used to love. The salt is to represent the continuance of life. The candle is to lead her spirit to the altar. The flower represents beauty. The arch represents the passage from life and death. Some of the other items on the altar are her Bible, her favorite apron, and a plant because she loved to grow plants. The altar is our dining room right in front of the window that she loved to look at.
Maggie's OfrendaMaggie C.
Ryan's Dia de los Muertos Ofrenda VideoRyan D.
Jordy z.
I chose Cameron Boyce to represent for my Day of the Dead project. I chose him because I grew up watching his shows. I chose to build a rose, sushi, and coffee. Sushi was his favorite food, a rose represents paying respects, and he loved to drink coffee. I also included a red arch and his picture in the middle.
Jade E.
For my project, I am honoring my grandpa Lenny Eisenberg. He died when I was 4 or 5 and even though I didn’t know him for long, he was a very great man. In my altar there are many light colors because he was a very well-rounded, happy person. From clay, I made a strawberry because they’re sweet and a rose because roses represent love.
Ms. Dame
My Altar is dedicated to our neighbor’s dog, Jimmy. My family would take care of Jimmy when my neighbor needed a hand. We would walk him, feed him and he often would come over our house to visit our young daughter, Mabel. My daughter and Jimmy bonded immediately. He was the most gentle and patient dog I’ve ever met. Of all things, he loved raw broccoli. My fondest memories are my daughter, Mabel, and him eating broccoli together. We knew Jimmy for only three threes but he made a huge impact in our lives. We were delighted to dedicate our first experience creating an altar in Jimmy’s honor.
Digital Art Class calaveras: Mr. Gonzalez
Students from Mr. Gonzalez Digital Art class created calaveras to celebrate family members, pets or admired celebrities that passed away. Using iconic imagery from the Dia de los Muertos, they created this fun images using their new image manipulation skills.
Examples of student work / ejemplos creados por estudiantes:
Español 1A: señora Valdés
Students from Señora Valdés' class have learned how to conjugate the verb "ser" and when to use it. They wrote wonderful paragraphs in Spanish to family members, their pets or Latin artist who have passed away. They described them, talked about their nationality, professions and birthdays using the correct conjugations of the verb. Their work is displayed on the virtual altar.
Enjoy!
Español 1A y 1B: Sr. Pleitez
Sr. Pleitez-Guerra facilitated a lesson on the Día de los Muertos and its origin. Students practiced vocabulary used for this celebration: "candelas", "calaveras", "altar", "flores", "tumbas", "cementerio", etc. Additionally, students were exposed to some of the folklore of the Salvadorian traditions by listening to some "leyendas".
Oaxaca presenta una tradición de sincretismo indígena y español
Los altares y las decoraciones propias de la festividad
Las calaveras se decoran en algunas regiones de México
Las candelas de muerto son largas y de cera amarilla generalmente.
Algunas leyendas salvadoreñas:
La Siguanaba o Ciguanaba
El Cipitío
La Mano Peluda
Español 1b: profesora Campbell
Students in Profe Campbell's 8th grade Spanish classes spent time learning about the origins of Día de los Muertos and how it--and similar holidays--are celebrated not only in Latin America, but also throughout the world! Through classwork and homework, students built virtual altars, created virtual ofrendas for loved ones, listened to the song La Llorona, and learned new vocabulary to have discussions on the topic of Day of the Dead.
