Monday, November 18, 2013

Dear Parents and Grandparents,
   K-4 did an excellent job today answering basic questions in Spanish.  They can answer five questions!  I will be sending a list of questions home for you in the near future.  We read a story about how tortillas are made.  I read the story in Spanish and translate for the students. We counted to 25 in Spanish as well.

K-5  Students can answer six  questions in Spanish.  I am so pleased.  We are learning the days of the week and the months of the year as well.  Students earned a gold star for the months of the year.  We also reviewed colors by naming all of the colors of a drawing of a turkey.  Again, students did an excellent job!  Estoy muy satisfecha con su progreso. I am so pleased with their progress.

Grade 1 also reviewed questions and answers, days of the week, months of the year, names for farm animals, colors, and numbers.  Students really enjoyed the story about how tortillas are made.  The book mentions colors and emphasizes sequencing--from the fields, to the bakery, to the dinner table.

Grade 2 continued telling time.  We made a paper plate clock which we will complete on December 2.  Please ask your child to tell you what time it is in Spanish.  I think they will be able to do so!  My classroom clock does have the minutes listed on its face to indicate quarter and half hour.  We say, " Son las ocho y media"  or "Son las ocho y treinta."  It is half-past eight or eight thirty.  Both are correct.  The same is true for the quarter hour.  "Son las seis y cuarto" or "Son las seis y quince."

Grades 3 and 4 continued working on telling time.  They also made a clock to use at home which we will complete on December 2. 

Grade 5 has a homework project.  Using a shoebox, they will draw or cut pictures to indicate information about the following aspects of their lives:  Family, Values, (What is important to them, such as Friendship, Education, Truth, Beauty, Compassion.}  They should choose one value and find a symbol to represent it on one side of their box.   Their family members should be written in Spanish, but they do not have to write the value in Spanish. I will help them with that in class.  Other sides of the box will show:  Goals for the future,  Interests, such as, sports, hobbies, books, movies they enjoy, games, etc.  Who is their hero?  They need to discuss this with parents or grandparents. Please share with them who your hero is.  A side will be dedicated to Religion and religious beliefs.  A symbol of their beliefs or a picture of their church, a favorite Bible verse or a prayer can be used for this side. 

Please send the completed showbox project to school on December 2nd. 

Grade 6 read their descriptions of a best friend in class.  Their project is a book illustrating things about their best friend.  Some students want to talk about a cousin, or other family member who is their age.  That is fine.  The book should be at least ten pages.  They will mention personality traits and tell their friend's age, with whom they live, likes, dislikes, favorite clothes, colors, TV shows.  They have the basic sentence structure and vocabulary to do this activity. 

Children should complete projects THIS week even though it isn't due until the 2nd.  I want everyone to enjoy their Thanksgiving holiday with their families! 

Que tengan un feliz Dias de la Accion de Dar Gracias.  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Dear Parents and Grandparents,
Tomorrow the K-4 and K-5 classes will continue learning how to respond to basic questions in Spanish.  The students can already tell their age, name, how they feel, what day it is and name parts of the body.  The children also listen to a story every Monday in Spanish and English.  When possible, I like to read only the Spanish text and indicate the meaning of the word by using the picture clues.  We will continue with counting in Spanish to twenty as well.  K-5 is also learning the months of the year and the four seasons.

Grade 1 is going to continue with the months of the year and the four seasons.  I want to teach them a poem about the months of the year and the number of days each month has.


Grade 2 will learn to tell time to the half hour in Spanish.  They will also learn the poem about the months of the year and how many days each month has. 
Treinta dias tiene septiembre, abril, junio, y noviembre
Febrero tiene veintiocho,
Y los demas, treinta y uno.

Grades 3, 4 and 5 will correct their homework activity about telling time in Spanish.  Then, children are gong to learn to associate a time with an activity. Ex. Me levanto a las seis de la manana. Me como mi desayuno a las siete.  Llego a la escuela a las ocho.  I wake up at six in the morning. I eat my breakfast at seven. I arrive at school at eight o'clock.

Grade 5 is also going to receive information about their project, which will be due on December 2.  It is the same project the sixth graders did.  I will provide information to students in class tomorrow.
They do NOT have to work on the project during Thanksgiving week.  They may complete project this week and save it for December 2. 

Grade 6 is going to continue working on describing personality traits of their friends.  Their project for the week will be to make a book about their best friend in Spanish.  This will be similar to their clothing books that they produced last year.  They may use any material, paint, magazine pictures, drawings, crayons,  cloth, yarn, etc.  They will receive complete direction in class tomorrow.  They do NOT have to work on project during Thanksgiving week.  Since we have class on Mondays, they may complete project this week and enjoy their vacation with their families next week.

I wish all of you a very blessed Thanksgiving Day.  Thank you for your interest and support in our Spanish program.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Dear Parents and Grandparents,
                    We are wrapping up our study of telling time.  Students in grades 3, 4 and 5 have a short homework assignment which is due on Monday, November 18.  Grades three and four need to fill in the paper we folded into sixteen boxes on Monday.  I asked them to write a time in each box.  (They need to  write sixteen different times or thirty-two if they wish to go above and beyond the assignment).  After they write the time, they need to use Spanish number words to indicate what time it is).  Example:  8:15  Son las ocho y quince.  Or  Son las ocho y cuarto.
We are going to then continue Monday by learning how to express activities students do and the time of the day associated with that activity.  Ex:  Me como mi desayuno a las siete de la manana. I eat breakfast at seven in the morning. Grade 5 may simply write a time digitally and supply the corresponding time using Spanish number words. (See above).

Grade 6 is continuing their study of describing personality traits of themselves and others.  They need to write a paragraph* in which they use three vocabulary words to tell about five of their friends.  they received the list of words in class.  They may use other adjectives as well.
Some of the words are:  artistico, deportista, serio, bueno, ordenado, inteligente, y gracioso.
We did this assignment describing parents two weeks ago. 
 I am pleased with your children's progress in Spanish. 

Mi amiga Susana es artistica, inteligente, y buena.  Juan es serio, gracioso, y ordenado.  Carol es inteligente, atrevida, y ordenada. 

Please send me an email  if you need more clarity about the assignments. 
Gracias.

Grade K-4  Children are learning how to respond to simple basic questions in Spanish.  We also began to count in Spanish to twenty.  Children wanted to continue after ten