Autobiographical Snapshots: Constructing Self in Letras y Arte

Letras y Arte: Literacy and Art, is a summer course that pairs college students and children from a Latino neighborhood for literacy and art learning. Started five years ago, Letras y Arte provides opportunities in four areas: (1) literacy opportunities that foster distinctive identities and voice; (2) immersion in a broad view of literacy that includes visual arts; and (3) reciprocal mentoring in which college students teach and learn from the children. Children and college students hear bilingual read-alouds of autobiographies and then create their own. Working side-by-side, they share oral stories to highlight distinctive aspects of themselves. Children and college students list identities, select one, and map out ideas for autobiographical snapshots that reveal distinctive identities and funds of knowledge. In pairs, they begin drawing and writing and, as ideas develop, create monotype prints and typed text. After hearing suggestions from peers and teachers in Walkabout Critiques, the pairs polish and present finished books at a culminating celebration for families. Applications for K-12 classrooms and university-community partnerships. (Contains 7 figures.)