In Daniel Soares’s school in Inhumas, Brazil the teachers and students have a permanent cordel hanging in the hall. Daniel explains, “I teach three different classes, and anything they produce, instead of handing it in for a grade, they hang it on the cordel in the hallway of the school. It has become a ritual. It allows for conversation between classes.”

To learn the theory and practice behind the cordel click here: The Cordel

Read more about how our partner SmART Schools used the cordel in their arts education programs: smart-schools-cordel

Borrowing the popular practice of chismógrafos from Mexican youth culture, the Habla team created an arts activity that encouraged the teenage students to write stories about their own lives. These stories were “published” together in books that were the individual and the community’s creative product.

Download the Chismógrafos PDF here:  chismografos

When Habla partner Break Arts from Chicago visited Habla, Amanda Lichtenstein and Leah Sobsey presented this practice at a workshop called “Speaking Through the Sun” for the local community. They then worked with our local partner schools to pilot this process with students in two small towns near Mérida.

Download a PDF of the process here:  cyanotypes and poetry

We developed this approach at our  lab school in Mexico. Students interview each other and write biographies using only a few words. This activity connects the “word with the world” in Paulo Freire’s terms and helps to build a classroom community.

Learn more about this Habla original activity: 28-word-bio