Cynthia Weiss introduced her version of collage at the 2011 Habla Teacher Institute: Beneath the Surface. This Habla best practice, written by Cynthia Weiss and Kurt Wootton, documents Cynthia's methods for teaching collage as well as offering some examples of how it might be adapted to different classroom settings.

To download a PDF of the Habla Collage Best Practice click here.

Broadsides are a form of publication called "street literature." Street literature has taken many forms since the invention of Gutenberg's printing press.  Habla previously documented one of these forms from Brazil: The Cordel. Now we bring to you Broadsides, often referred to as "fugitive literature." A version of broadsides was piloted at Habla in partnership with CAPE and with support from NALAC by Chicago artist William Estrada, Chicago educator Mary Beth Werner, New York artist Vanessa Ramirez, and México City artist Karla Hernando Flores.  In addition Colorado artist Anne Thulson presented her version of broadsides at the 2010 Habla Teacher Institute.

Download the PDF and read more about broadsides: Broadsides

This best practice, Icons, is one of our favorites because of how simple it is to implement, how aesthetically captivating the results are, and how many different ways there are to integrate it in any subject area. We first learned about using icons in the classroom from the work of artist Bernard Williams in Chicago. Read about Mr. Williams work and see how Arnold Aprill, the founding and creative director of Chicago Partnerships in Arts Education, and Kurt Wootton, the director of Habla, describe the use of the icon best practice in different educational settings.

To read more about Icons and to download the PDF click here: icons

Our work using physical sculptures has been influenced by numerous educators and performers including Augusto Boal from Brazil, Shakespeare and Co in the United States, and artist educator, Jan Mandell. We used physical sculptures as a staple of our work at the ArtsLiteracy Project at Brown University.

Learn more about using physical sculptures for literacy development: Physical Sculptures

Download the PDF and read more about the process: Junkyard Portraits

Click here to download the guide for using Milagros in your classroom: Milagros

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

While in Chicago we had a chance to visit two or our partner organizations, Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) and Project AIM at Columbia College. Working with several schools, and a cadre of teaching artists, these organizations were exploring the concept of mapping with students. We took this idea of mapping and began applying it to literature. In Santa Monica we worked with elementary school teachers and mapped the life of Frida Kahlo through symbols and images.

Download the PDF and read more about Mapping Literature:  mapping-literature