HSC Bensonhurst Senior Center HOME Project.22 1/27/2022

 

HSC Bensonhurst Senior Center

HOME Project

Blog 22 1/27/2022

Our last class for this project and we were thrilled to see Julisa back with us. Imaginations were warmed up with a theater game, miming actions for each room of their pop-up book of Home. Some rooms we didn’t make in the book were added such as the laundry, basement, and the garden outside. The variety of actions included exercising and watching T.V in the living room, riding a stationary bike in the bedroom, chopping vegetables in the kitchen, and toweling their back in the bathroom. 

Next, they ordered the pages of their book and carefully glued them together ensuring the pages opened the same way. Next, they added another page to the front and the back of the book. They chose two pieces of the same colored paper for the book cover, overlapped them by 1” and glued them along the strip. Listening to music while we worked helped the creative spirit. Glue was placed around the edges of the first page of the book and the cover carefully aligned and patted down. They created the spine of the book then folded the remaining cover over the back page and trimmed it. 

Last week we reminded our students to think of a title for their book. Spica and I modeled our examples and we shared ideas. So Sim chose a play on words, referencing a snail which carries its home with it always. Ru Ping and Hui Fen chose “My Warm Home” and Pun and Stella selected a variation on this theme with “Cozy Home” and “Sweet Home” respectively. Lao Yu used the metaphor of the sea in her title, “The Port of my Heart”, while Jing Wei varied this idea with, “The Port of my Soul”. Sook Fong decided on “The Home I Love” and Susanna, “Peaceful & Happy Home”. These are English translations which are not always exact as the Chinese is often more poetic and nuanced. 

Once the title was settled, they decided whether their writing would be vertical or horizontal and considered the colors they would use for the text. First the words were written in pencil then outlined with a black sharpie and cut out. The same process was used to write their name. Finally, they lay out their book cover, experimenting with decorative paper for the background. The finishing touch was making the book tie using colored ribbon. They marked the center of the cover then .5” in from this mark. Using an awl, they made a hole through the cover and first page through which the ribbon was threaded. Tied into place it made a beautiful, finished book. A PowerPoint of each students’ work was played. What fantastic achievements!  

We’ll see everyone again in two weeks to begin our next project. Spica and I want to take this opportunity to wish our students, the staff at Bensonhurst Senior Center and all their families a happy, safe, healthy, and prosperous Chinese New Year. xin nian kuai le and Kung Hei Fat Choi “gōng xǐ fā cái”.

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