Study Guide

Tomás and

The Library Lady

2

Contents

ATTENDING A PERFORMANCE AT TILLES CENTER ................. 3-4

YOUR ROLE AS AN AUDIENCE MEMBER ...................................... 5

BEFORE YOU SEE THE SHOW ....................................................... 6

BEHIND THE SCENES OF A TOUR..................................................... 7

QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE THE SHOW..................................... 8

EXCERPT FROM TOMÁS AND THE LIBRARY LADY ...................... 9

AFTER THE SHOW ......................................................... ................10

CONNECTION TO STANDARDS ..................................................... 11

ABOUT TILLES CENTER ..................................................................12

3

ATTENDING A PERFORMANCE The concert hall at Tilles Center seats 2,242 people. The Krasnoff Theater seats 502 people. When you attend a performance at Tilles Center, there are a few things you should remember:

ARRIVAL • Plan to arrive approximately 30 minutes prior to the show.

• Performances cannot be held for late buses.

• LIU Post Public Safety will direct buses to parking areas.

• Remain seated on the bus until instructed to unload.

• Please stagger chaperones throughout the group to help keep students in lineand moving quickly to the seating area.

• Groups are directed into the theater in the order that they arrive.

BEING SEATED (IMPORTANT!) • Upon entering the theater, ushers will direct students and teachers to sit row

by row. Students will be seated in the order which they enter the building.Groups from your school may be seated separately from one anotherthroughout the theatre. We ask that at least one chaperone is assigned toevery 15 students for grades Pre-K- 5, and one chaperone to every 30students for grades 5-12. We recommend that a teacher or chaperone sitat the end of each row of students in the theatre. With adequate adultsupervision, students which may be seated in different sections of thetheatre will have enough chaperones to ensure safety. We ask for your fullcooperation with this procedure in order to start the show on time!

• Please allow ushers to seat your group in its entirety before makingadjustments within the row. This allows us to continue seating groups thatarrive after you. Once the entire group is seated you may rearrange students innew seats and use the restrooms.

• Schools are not allowed to change their seats.

• All students must be supervised by a teacher at all times including whengoing to the restroom - high school students are no exception.

4

DURING THE SHOW • There is no food or drink permitted in the theater or lobby areas.

• Photography and audio/video recording are not permitted during the performance.

• Please turn off (or leave behind) all electronic devices, including cell phones, portable games, cameras, and recording equipment. Keep them off for the entire performance. The devices may interfere with the theater’s sound system as well as being disruptive to both the audience and the actors. And please – no texting or checking messages during the show!

• Please do not disturb the performers and other members of the audience by talking.

• If something in the show is meant to be funny, laughter is encouraged!

• Please do not leave and re-enter the theater during the performance.

• There is no intermission; visit the restroom prior to the start of theshow. Performances generally run 50 - 60 minutes.

EMERGENCY CANCELLATIONS If schools throughout the area are closed due to inclement weather, Tilles Center performances will be cancelled. If, on the day prior to a performance, it appears that inclement weather may cause a performance to be cancelled, all schools will be called by our staff to alert them to this possibility. School representatives should periodically check the Tilles Center website (tillescenter.org) when winter weather advisories and warnings are in effect. Updates will be posted regularly on the home page. On the morning of the performance a message will be posted on the website no later than 6:30 AM indicating if the performance has been cancelled.

If a performance is cancelled, Tilles Center will attempt to reschedule performances on a date mutually agreeable to the artists and the majority of ticket buyers.

DISMISSALSchools are dismissed in the order they arrived (the first in is usually the first group out- in most circumstances.) Assuring that students leave the building in a safe and orderly manner is our first priority. Dismissal does take time, especially from the concert hall. Thank you in advance for your patience!

5

YOUR ROLE AS AN AUDIENCE MEMBER

TO THE TEACHER: An essential component needed to create a live performance is the audience. Please talk with your students about what it means to be an audience member and how a “live” performance is different from TV and movies. Please share the following information with your students prior to your visit to Tilles Center. Some performances may involve audience participation so students should behave appropriately, given the nature of the performance and the requests of the artists on the stage. By discussing appropriate audience behavior, as a class ahead of time, the students will be better prepared to express their enthusiasm in acceptable ways during the performance.

BEING AN AUDIENCE MEMBER: Audience members play an important role— until an audience shows up, the performers are only rehearsing! When there is a “great house” (an outstanding audience) it makes the show even better, because the artists feel a live connection with everyone who is watching them. When the “house lights” (the lights in the part of the theater where the audience is sitting) go down, everyone feels a thrill of anticipation. Focus all your attention on the stage and watch and listen carefully to the performance. The most important quality of a good audience member is the ability to respond appropriately to what’s happening on stage… sometimes it’s important to be quiet, but other times, it’s acceptable to laugh, clap, or make noise! If the audience watches in a concentrated, quiet way, this supports the performers and they can do their best work. They can feel that you are with them!

The theater is a very “live” space. This means that sound carries very well, usually all over the auditorium. Theaters are designed in this way so that the voices of singers and actors can be heard. It also means that any sounds in the audience - whispering, rustling papers, or speaking - can be heard by other audience members and by the performers. This can destroy everyone’s concentration and spoil a performance. Do not make any unnecessary noise that would distract the people sitting around you. Be respectful!

Applause is the best way for an audience in a theater to share its enthusiasm and to appreciate the performers, so feel free to applaud at the end of the performance. At the end of the performance, it is customary to continue clapping until the curtain drops or the lights on stage go dark. During the curtain call, the performers bow to show their appreciation to the audience. If you really enjoyed the performance, you might even thank the artists with a standing ovation!

Tomás Rivera travels with his Amá, his Apá, his Papá Grande (grandfather), and his little brother Enrique from Texas all the way to Iowa to find work picking corn, spinach, and beets. Tomás is haunted by memories of a teacher in his Texas school who punished him for speaking Spanish. His parents are worried about him, but reassure him that he is smart and talented. When the Riveras arrive in Iowa, they discover that their new home is little more than a chicken coop. One day Tomás’ Amá sends him to the post office, and he discovers the Carnegie Library next door. The Library Lady invites him in and introduces Tomás to books. Tomás enthusiastically shares the new stories that he has found with his family, and he and his brother Enrique find other books in the town dump. Tomás teaches the Library Lady some Spanish, becomes more confident in English, and realizes that he doesn’t need to be afraid of his Nightmare Teacher back in Texas any longer. Then comes the day when Tomás comes to visit the library lady and tells her that he must teach her a sad word in Spanish: Adiós. Tomás Rivera grew up to become the father of Chicano literature, as well as the Chancellor of the University of California at Riverside. The library there bears the name of the boy who was encouraged to read by a library lady in Iowa.

LITERACY:

Reading Foundations (4.RF.3)- Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis in decoding words.

Reading Literature (3.RL.3) - Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events

21ST CENTURY LEARNING:

Leadership and Responsibility (K-12)- Inspire and Guide Others

©Childsplay 2017 www.childsplayaz.org 6

The Power of Books

By José Cruz González Adapted from the book by Pat Mora

Tomás and the Library Lady

How does it all come together? The design team and production staff have many challenges when creating a tour. They have to consider how many months the production will be on the road, how to fit all the elements (including the actors) into a van, and how to make the load-in, assembly of the set, pre-set of props and costumes, sound check and load-out as easy for the actors as possible. This is accomplished by countless meetings and planning sessions that occur as much as a year before the first performance.

Where do we go and how do we get there? We travel all across the nation in a large van. In a week’s time, a touring company may perform up to 14 shows in as many as 8 different locations. Tours can be on the road anywhere from 6 to 12 months, sometimes even longer. By the end of the tour, the actors may have performed as many as 200 performances.

How do you put everything in just one van? All of the scenery, props, and costumes that you see in a Childsplay tour must fit into a van. The scenery usually comes apart into several pieces and then stacks, folds or nests together in the van. There is also room in the van for the sound system, toolbox and the cast – which could be as many as 5 actors. If the cast is lucky there is usually room to squeeze in a few suitcases when they go out of town!

What happens when you arrive at a theatre? Once the cast arrives at to their destination, they have to set everything up in less than one hour, and depending on the size of the cast, with as few as 3 people. The Childsplay scene shop uses what they like to call “tool-less technology” to create tour shows. This means tour sets get assembled with as few tools as possible, sometimes none! Pieces are held in place by screwing in knobs; pieces interlock or rest on posts and sometimes fabric appliqués are Velcroed on to hard scenery frames. Tours also have a portable sound system with sound effects pre-programed on a computer. Once the sound system is set up all the actors have to do is hit one button on the computer to run sometimes very complicated sound sequences.

Use the restroom before seeing the show as we do not have intermission during our student performances.

Stay seated during the performance.

Be respectful to the performers and other people in the audience by not talking during the performance.

Appropriate responses such as applause or laughter are always welcome.

Food, candy, gum and beverages will not be allowed in the theater.

Use of cell phones (including text messaging), cameras or any other recording device is not allowed during theperformance at any time.

©Childsplay 2017 www.childsplayaz.org 7

What is a touring show? Childsplay creates a production with professional actors, a full set, costumes, props, and sound, then packs everything in a van and brings the show to theatres across the United States and Canada.

Pepita Talks Twice/Pepita Habla Dos Veces by Ofelia Dumas Lachtman

Cesar: Si, Se Puede/Yes, We Can by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand

Calling the Doves/El canto de las palomas by Juan Felipe Herrera

Doña Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart by Pat Mora

A Library for Juana: The World of Sor Juana Inés by Pat Mora

Actors as Close Readers...

Theatre is a collection of choices. A choice is an artistic decision that is made to highlight a component of the character’s personality, the story, or the theme. An actor’s job is to draw evidence from the text to make choices that bring characters to life on stage.

Activity: Vocal Choices Page four of this document contains a cutting from the script between siblings Tomás and Enrique, and their grandfather Papá Grande. Have the students read the play synopsis on page one to learn more about the story and characters. Next, have them read the scene in groups of three and then make vocal choices for their characters based on the text. Students should pay close attention to the stage directions to find information about what the characters are feeling and doing. When making a vocal choice, think about pacing (fast or slow), pitch (high or low), emotion (what the character is feeling), and subtext (underlying meaning).

Does your family speak a language other than English at home? Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t un-derstand the language someone was speaking? How did it make you feel?

What is an example of an adult who has influenced your life or shared something special with you?

If you could become part of one of your favorite books, which book would it be and what part of the story would it be?

What is your favorite story that you like to hear again and again? Why do you think we like to hear stories more thanonce?

When did you first learn to read? What was the first book you read by yourself?

We all have dreams when we sleep. Sometimes they are pleasant and sometimes they are nightmares. Share a dreamthat you’ve had. Have you ever had the same dream more than once? Why do you think that happens?

©Childsplay 2017 www.childsplayaz.org 8

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

WHERE EDUCATION AND IMAGINATION TAKE FLIGHT

From Tomás and the Library Lady by José Cruz González

ENRIQUE Papá Grande tell us the cuento about the man in the forest!

PAPÁ GRANDE En un tiempo pasado, once long ago on a windy night--

(ENRIQUE creates the wind.)

PAPÁ GRANDE --a man, un hombre, was riding a horse through a forest.

(YOUNG TOMÁS creates the hooves of the horse galloping.)

PAPÁ GRANDE The wind was howling, whooooooooo, and the leaves were blowing, whish, whish…

YOUNG TOMÁS All of a sudden something grabbed the hombre.

PAPÁ GRANDE He couldn’t move.

ENRIQUE He was so scared to look around.

PAPÁ GRANDE All night, todo la noche, he wanted to ride away.

YOUNG TOMÁS But he couldn’t!

PAPÁ GRANDE How the wind howled, whoooooooo. How the leaves blew.

ENRIQUE How his teeth chattered!

PAPÁ GRANDE Finalmente, the sun came up. Slowly the hombre turned around. And who do you think was holding him?

YOUNG TOMÁS A thorny tree!

ENRIQUE & PAPÁ GRANDE ¡Tomás!

PAPÁ GRANDE You know all my cuentos! Tomasito, you’re going to have to learn some new ones!

©Childsplay 2017 www.childsplayaz.org 9

The Power of

Books

Tomás moves a lot between Texas and Iowa. Have you ever had two “homes” at once? What would it be like to have to

leave your home for months at a time? What would you miss the most?

What helps Tomás overcome his fear of his teacher? When in your life have you overcome something you were afraid of?

How did you do it?

What did the Library Lady learn from Tomás? What are some of examples of ways adults can learn from young people?

Tomás had to practice a lot in order to become good at reading and speaking English. What is something you’ve had to work

very hard to achieve?

Papa Grande thinks Tomás is going to be a writer or painter someday. What do your parents or grandparents want you to

be? What do you want to be?

Tomás has a hard time saying goodbye to the Library Lady. When have you had to say goodbye to someone who you knew

you wouldn’t see for a long time? How did you feel?

The actors play more than one character. How do they make the characters different from one another?

Do you remember images from the book that appeared in the play? What do you remember from the play that was not in

the book?

Tomás and the Library Lady By José Cruz González

Adapted from the book by Pat Mora

Voices from the Field: Children of Migrant Farmworkers Tell Their Stories by S. Beth Atkin

Barrio: José’s Neighborhood by George Ancona

In My Family by Carmen Lomas Garza

Family Pictures/Cuadros de Familia by Carmen Lomas Garza

Magic Windows by Carmen Lomas Garza

Cesar: Si Se Puede by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand

©Childsplay 2017 www.childsplayaz.org 10

LITERACY

Reading Foundations (4.RF.3): Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis in decoding words.

Activity: A multisyllabic word is a word that contains several syllables. Sometimes, these words can be challenging to sound out and decode, but by breaking them down syllable by syllable, this challenge can be lessened. Look around your world and find multisyllabic words. Examine words on road signs, posters, books, magazines, and even this resource guide! Try breaking each word down syllable by syllable to see if you can sound them out! Need more help? Ask a fellow reader or parent to help you out!

Reading Literature (3.RL.3): Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

Activity: Think about what it must have been like for Tomás as a newcomer to Iowa. Was he able to succeed dur-ing his time there? Write down the character traits the Tomás had to have to be able to overcome the challenges he faced during his time in the Midwest. Then answer the following: How did these character traits impact the way Tomas’s story turned out?

21ST CENTURY LEARNING

Leadership and Responsibility (K-12): Inspire and Guide Others

Activity: In the story, Tomás had to overcome adversity in order to succeed. There may even have been times where he wanted to give up because of all of the hardships he was facing. Pretend that Tomás was ready to quit reading and achieving in school. Now, write him a letter to inspire him to want to continue forward. What sorts of words would be helpful for him to hear? What would you want to hear from someone if you were ready to give up?

©Childsplay 2017 www.childsplayaz.org

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

WHERE EDUCATION AND IMAGINATION

TAKE FLIGHT

11

Tilles Center for the Performing Arts,at LIU Post in Brookville, is Long Island’s premier concert hall.

Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post in Brookville, is Long Island’s premier concert hall. For 38 years, Tilles Center has been host to more than 70 performances each season by world- renowned artists in music, theater and dance. Tilles Center was the first to bring the New York Philharmonic to Long Island and Bruce Springsteen’s legendary “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” was recorded onsite.

Tilles Center’s Concert Hall seats 2,242 and features orchestral performances, fully-staged operas, ballets and modern dance, along with Broadway shows, and all forms of music, dance and theater from around the world. Thanks to the generous support of Eric and Sandra Krasnoff, the Krasnoff Theater, formerly Hillwood Recital Hall, has been refurbished and expanded to include new cushioned seats, a regraded floor for better views and an improved overall layout.

Arts Education programs are made possible, in part, by the Gilbert and Rose Tilles Endowment for Arts Education.

Tilles Center’s Education Programs are made possible, in part, with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

School Partnership Program An intensive part of Tilles Center’s Arts Education program is the School Partnership program, modeled on the highly acclaimed aesthetic education program that has evolved over a 35-year period at Lincoln Center. The Partnership is a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning about the arts, applicable to all grade levels and academic disciplines. The Partnership inspires students and teachers to approach the arts with an open mind and to gain insights into the creative process. Attendance at professional performances at Tilles Center is combined with experiential in-school workshops. Led by teaching artists and teachers, students explore their own artistic capabilities while strengthening essential skills – abstract thinking, teamwork, critical judgment, and problem solving. Guided to a deeper level of understanding, students learnwhat to look for, and listen to, in a performance or work of art.

The School Partnership works with students inPre-K through high school and providesprofessional development for teachers.

For information about the School Partnership Program and other performances, visit tillescenter.org or call (516) 299-2752.

2018-19 School Partner Districts

East Meadow Carle Place Freeport East Williston

Great Neck Glen Cove Roosevelt

The Portledge School (Independent)

12