Getting started with the school year

The school year has started off great!  I'm so proud of all of the students for how much they recall from previous years and their enthusiasm for learning more this year.  Following is a quick review of what we are working on in each grade level.

• In Kindergarten we are working on learning the very basics of our routine and some introductory songs.  Seeing the children twice a week this year has proven to be much better for their language development.  We have mastered the Buenos Días song and now the children are learning the Colors song and the Days of the Week song.
• In First Grade the children are practicing saying their name and introducing a friend.  They have also been learning the vocabulary for school supplies and greetings. 
• Second Graders are working on creating labels to label the rooms and places around the school.  They are working in groups of two to create clear, brightly colored labels.  When they have finished their labels will be hung around the school for all students, teachers, parents and visitors to see the vocabulary in Spanish.
• Third Graders are working on creating butterflies in groups.  These will be assembled and mailed to Mexico for an international Symbolic Migration program.  We will receive butterflies from other schools in the spring when the real Monarch Butterflies begin to head north to the United States and Canada.
• Fourth Grade students are working in groups of two to create a poster about a Spanish-speaking country.  They have done some research in the computer labs and will now be working with books in the classroom to complete their posters.  These will be hung in the classroom and on a bulletin board near the 5th grade computer lab later this month.
• Fifth Graders have been working on telling others about themselves.  The next thing they will be doing is writing postcards to 5th grade Spanish students of Harrowgate Elementary telling about themselves and their likes and dislikes.  We hope to receive postcards back from Harrowgate students in November.