Friday, January 14, 2011
Las Mariposas en Mexico
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Book order forms are in
I hope everyone had a wonderful winter break. I know I'm glad the snow is gone, for now at least, and we are back in school. I've missed your children and am looking forward to teaching them more Spanish.
My recommendations are as follows:
- Mi Primer/My First Book of Spanish Words by Katy R. Kudela. It is a good picture dictionary to help your children practice words they've learned in class.
- My Bilingual Tales Trio/Mis cuentos bilingües trío is a set of books that are bilingual and two are used in my classroom in Kindergarten and 1st grades. The children especially love El Ratoncito Perez y The Tooth Fairy by Jane Cadwallader and Gustavo Mazali which is part of this set.
- Just about any book your child is interested in. If they are a fan of Captain Underpants there's one in Spanish for them. If they are interested in the solar system, there are books about the planets in Spanish. They may not understand every word but it's great practice and they will likely find many words that they do know.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
¡Feliz Navidad!
Diciembre en la clase de español
This month all Grange Hall kids have been learning new material. Here is a quick run-down of what your students are doing in Spanish class.
Kindergarten: Students have mastered the family members and the topic of mom and baby. They loved pulling animals out of the magic box and matching mom to her baby. We are now moving on to Community Helpers, what they do and where they work.
1st grade: Building on what was taught last year, students have mastered the family members and have interacted with different kinds of families. They are also learning about the house and some rooms and things in a house.
2nd grade: Second graders have learned about many foods and the food groups in which each belongs. The idea that an egg (un huevo) is a meat product (carnes y frijoles) and not a dairy product (productos lácteos) was difficult for some. We talked about prices of foods and are now beginning to work with money values. This is all to help them practice their number vocabulary from 30-100. Students by now are pretty comfortable with their numbers up to 29 but they need (and want) to learn the higher numbers.
3rd grade: Students have reviewed the seasons, weather and months of the year. All of this was in preparation for learning about holidays and when they happen. First we talked about some of the holidays we celebrate here in the USA. Now they are learning about some of the holidays celebrated in Mexico. Right now the children are making something for "La Navidad" to take home to their families. When we get back from winter break we will experience a little bit of "El Día de los Reyes" with some books and activities.
4th grade: Fourth graders have learned many different animals that live in the tropical rainforest and some descriptions of each. They can tell you all about the animals using adjectives like grande y pequeño, feroz y tranquilo, bonito y feo, and rápido y despacio. They have talked about some fruits that come from the rainforest and we are going to do a hands on activity next week to reinforce the food vocabulary. Pictures to come...
5th grade: These students have also been learning about the family members and have been learning about different types of families. They have learned more words for extended family members and lots of descriptions for people. We are taking a short break from Spanish classes this week as they practice for their program which they will perform on Tuesday, December 14th. When they come back to Spanish we will celebrate the winter holidays with some fun activities that reinforce basic vocabulary. Then we'll begin in January with a quarterly project in which each student will need to bring in a photograph of a family member whom they will write several sentences about.
This month all Grange Hall kids have been learning new material. Here is a quick run-down of what your students are doing in Spanish class.
Kindergarten: Students have mastered the family members and the topic of mom and baby. They loved pulling animals out of the magic box and matching mom to her baby. We are now moving on to Community Helpers, what they do and where they work.
1st grade: Building on what was taught last year, students have mastered the family members and have interacted with different kinds of families. They are also learning about the house and some rooms and things in a house.
2nd grade: Second graders have learned about many foods and the food groups in which each belongs. The idea that an egg (un huevo) is a meat product (carnes y frijoles) and not a dairy product (productos lácteos) was difficult for some. We talked about prices of foods and are now beginning to work with money values. This is all to help them practice their number vocabulary from 30-100. Students by now are pretty comfortable with their numbers up to 29 but they need (and want) to learn the higher numbers.
3rd grade: Students have reviewed the seasons, weather and months of the year. All of this was in preparation for learning about holidays and when they happen. First we talked about some of the holidays we celebrate here in the USA. Now they are learning about some of the holidays celebrated in Mexico. Right now the children are making something for "La Navidad" to take home to their families. When we get back from winter break we will experience a little bit of "El Día de los Reyes" with some books and activities.
4th grade: Fourth graders have learned many different animals that live in the tropical rainforest and some descriptions of each. They can tell you all about the animals using adjectives like grande y pequeño, feroz y tranquilo, bonito y feo, and rápido y despacio. They have talked about some fruits that come from the rainforest and we are going to do a hands on activity next week to reinforce the food vocabulary. Pictures to come...
5th grade: These students have also been learning about the family members and have been learning about different types of families. They have learned more words for extended family members and lots of descriptions for people. We are taking a short break from Spanish classes this week as they practice for their program which they will perform on Tuesday, December 14th. When they come back to Spanish we will celebrate the winter holidays with some fun activities that reinforce basic vocabulary. Then we'll begin in January with a quarterly project in which each student will need to bring in a photograph of a family member whom they will write several sentences about.
Friday, November 12, 2010
My visit to Central and South America
I have just returned from a whirlwind tour of 4 Spanish-speaking countries. During my visits I learned more first-hand knowledge about many of the topics I teach to your children. I visited a sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica where I got to meet 5 of the sloths that they are currently working with to re-introduce into the wild.
This guy's name is Elvis. Here is the link to the wonderful organization that runs the sanctuary: http://www.costaricasanctuary.org/home.html
In Mexico I got to see the Tulum Mayan ruins, some Mayans dressed in traditional ceremonial clothing and some "voladores" or Sundancers.
And in Panamá I was able to watch several ships pass through the Gatun locks. It was fascinating to see the ships rise and lower with the water levels in order to move through the locks.
I also visited Cartagena, Colombia. That was my first time on the continent of South America. There I saw a Spanish fort or "old town". The architecture was beautiful.
I am looking forward to sharing all of my adventures with my students in upcoming lessons.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
El Día de los Muertos
In México the people celebrate El Día de los Muertos and the lives of family members that have passed away on November 1st and 2nd. Grange Hall students have been learning about this holiday and how it compares to our Halloween. They have observed that other than the skeletons and candy there is really not much in common.
3rd graders made beautiful "papel picado" or cut paper streamers to decorate our classroom.
4th graders made skull masks. Some even had a "breast cancer" theme. Can you find the breast cancer mask?
5th graders created "ofrendas" to remember family members, pets and famous people that have passed away.
Also, 4th graders created projects about Spanish-speaking countries. The above pictures are of the Mexico projects. All of the students are doing great work and are learning so much about the cultures of the Spanish-speaking world.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Los Colores
This is a video of a 1st grade class singing our color song. If I were more talented at editing video clips I would include the lyrics with the video. In the interest of time I will put the lyrics here. You may hear your children singing their Spanish class songs at home because they do tend to get "stuck" in our heads. You will see why.
Lyrics:
Red is rojo, verde, green,
Blue, azul, Negro, black.
Gray is gris, brown, café,
Yellow, amarillo, blanco, white.
Pink is rosado, morado, purple,
Orange, anaranjado, un arco iris (rainbow)
Lyrics:
Red is rojo, verde, green,
Blue, azul, Negro, black.
Gray is gris, brown, café,
Yellow, amarillo, blanco, white.
Pink is rosado, morado, purple,
Orange, anaranjado, un arco iris (rainbow)
Calendar time
Every day the students come to Spanish we spend a little bit of time on the calendar. In Kindergarten through 2nd grade the students sing a song to remind them of the days of the week. Here is a 2nd grade class singing for you.
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