Dear Parents, 
          I want to wish you a very Happy New Year!  I look forward to an exciting second semester teaching your children and learning from them!  Thank you so much for your support and interest in Spanish. 
                             See you next year!  
                                     Miss Linda 

Dear Parents, 

      We had so much fun yesterday singing Cascabel, Jingle Bells, in Spanish.  Some of the children have copies so you can sing along with them at home.  

K-4   We continued learning Jingle Bells, Cascabel, in Spanish.  We also discussed the meaning of the word sleigh, trineo, pasear, going out, and sonar, to ring. I love the responses to the meaning of sleigh.  One of the most interesting was:  " It is like a boat, but it flies and has presents Santa is bringing to us."  We discussed other modes of transportation, but after the children started thinking about Santa and reindeer, I think we will have to return to the discussion of transportation next year!   Children  learned Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas, and Prospero Ano Nuevo and heard the story, Winter in Spanish. 

K-5  We also sang and talked about the meaning of the lyrics to Cascabel.  We also reviewed foods  we like to eat.  Children heard The Three Little Pigs in Spanish.  The version I read is different and very kind to the wolf.  I like that. 

1st grade completed a worksheet with Spanish vocabulary about silverware and dishes.  They also sang Cascabel. 

2nd Grade completed the worksheet above and created their own sentences about objects used at the dinner table.  We shared them orally.  They  received their papers back from two weeks ago on numbers.  They did an excellent job on this paper and I am extremely proud of the children.  They work very, very hard.  Thank you! I worked with individual children on telling dates in Spanish which we started  last week. 

3rd grade sang Christmas carols and also did a worksheet in Spanish with new vocabulary related to eating and setting the table.  They received graded work which I hope they will share with you.  

They also received a sheet listing alphabet letter names in Spanish.  They wanted to take the sheet home and work on it over vacation.  I like that, but there is NO official homework. 

4th grade worked on vocabulary related to professions.  We discussed the many cognates the two languages share which makes learning new vocabulary easy sometimes.  For example, profesor/a, professor, arquitecto/a architect,  pintor/a painter, cientifico/a scientist.  There are many more! 

We sang Silent Night and Jingle Bells in Spanish.  I love our fourth graders!  They also received graded papers which I would like you to examine.

I wish all of you a Feliz Navidad.  Thank you for your interest in St. John's Foreign Language Program and for all of your generosity and support this past year.  

                                                             Srta. Linda 

I am sorry I was unable to post anything last week.  My computer was at the shop.  Thank you for communicating with me via text and social network.  Please do not hesitate to phone me at any time. I like to talk!  

Dear 5th and 6th Grade Parents,
                 I explained in detail the use of the verb ser in Spanish.  I distributed a sheet listing 21 professions in English  and their Spanish equivalents. Students began the homework assignment.  It is due on Friday.  Most students had completed or attempted Monday's assignment. I wil collect both today's and last Monday's work on Friday.  I am going to distribute a dialogue on Friday  which will be due on December 12th   Students do NOT have to work on it next week.They will have two weeks to work on the new dialogue.   Next week is a time for family and friends and for reflecting on the many blessings we have.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Note:  We corrected the sentences with ser in class. I would like the students to keep the homework until the 12th.  At that time I plan to use students' sentences relating to professions for a mural we will complete in class.  If students wish to begin gathering photos from magazines showing different professions listed on the worksheet, they may do so.  Please have students bring pictures on Friday the 12th. Thank you. Again this is NOT  a homework assignment for Thanksgiving week, but for the two weeks that follow.

 Dear Parents,
    K-4 reviewed their dinnerware vocabulary.  They may be asking for a fork or spoon in Spanish this Thanksgiving. I hope so!  We added a few new terms.  We also continued singing a song about what we eat for breakfast and what we drink.  Me como cereal, Me como naranja, Me como melon.  I eat cereal, I eat oranges, I eat melon.  Me tomo leche, Me tomo agua. I drink milk. I drink water.  The tune is the song Buenos Dias.  We read a story about colors as well as our story about giving thanks.  These stories are in Spanish, of course.
   K-5 also reviewed dinnerware vocabulary, colors, and learned a new song, Duermese mi nino. It is a lulluby.

lst grade learned weather vocabulary.  They loved the lesson!

2nd grade also learned weather terms. They wrote them down ad illustrated with an icon for each weather condition.  We discussed number words to 100.

3rd grade learned weather vocabulary and wrote terms down.  They also corrected their worksheet on time and numbers to 1,000.

4th grade presented their dialogues.  They did a wonderful job with them.
           
There is no homework over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Dear Parents,
       5th and 6th did a fantastic  job on their homework from last week.  The new assignment given in class is to use forms of the verb "ser" to create sentences.  Students copied the correct forms of the verb in class.  I explained that ser is used to indicate a permanent condition, to express the time, and to express personality traits.  We will continue this lesson in class on Wednesday, so your child does not have to complete the assignment until we meet again.  Many students already understood the use of ser and I encourage them to attempt to create some original sentences.  For example:  Expressing someone's profession in Spanish is done using forms of the verb ser. Examples:  Yo soy maestra,  tu eres estudiante, el es doctor, ella is doctora, nosotros somos carpinteros,  Ellos son plomeros, Ellas son abogadas.  Here is is list your child can use to construct some sentences:  carpintero- carpenter, ingeniero, engineer, piloto, pilot, doctor, doctor,
mecanico, mechanic, arquitecto, architect. They already have the worksheet needed to create sentences illustrating the correct form of the verb with various persons--yo, tu, el, nosotros, ellos.
                                                                 

Dear Parents,
       K-4 and K-5 did a fantastic job naming tableware in Spanish.  We also learned a new song about breakfast foods.  Ask you child to sing it for you.  It uses the tune of Buenos Dias.  the words are:  Me como cereal, Me como cereal, Por la manana, Por la manana, ( n is accented). Mah nya na. Que comes tu? Que comes tu?  Por la manana. Por la manana. We substituted melon, and tocino.  Melon and bacon.   We also read a new story, Un dia de nieve.

1st grade received their clocks and can tell time to the hour!  Some children can tell time to the half-hour.  All of this is in Spanish, of course.

2nd grade We worked on telling what time we get up and what time we go to sleep.  We alos reviewed time to the half-hour. Me levanto a las seis.  Me acuesto a las ocho. I get up at six. I go to bed at eight.  The answers varied.  One student said he went to bed at midnight, but that was only once!  I love our second graders!  they are so eager to learn and share with one another.

3rd grade completed their number page in class. They did an awesome job!  They also have a dialogue to study.  Some students already presented their dialogue, but I want to work on it more next week.  I am so pleased with our third graders and admire their desire to learn Spanish.  the dialogue is about a lost hamster!

4th grade presented their dialogues.  They did so well!  I asked them to prepare an original dialogue based on the one they presented today.  They need to change the lost hamster to another small animal.  they also need to change the locations in which the animal hides in the classroom.  Some animals suggested are: culebra-snake, rana- frog- pollito- chick, tortuga- turtle, gato- cat.  Children have a list of prepositions they can use to change the hiding places around the room. .
I am so grateful for your support and interest in  Spanish.
                                  M iss Linda

Dear 5th and 6th Grade Parents,
                        Your child has two homework sheets for next Friday. 
Students need to write thirty sentences using forms of the verb to be--estar.  All the information is given on the homework sheet. If your child lost his/her copy, please let me know.  Students are required to have a notebook for my class and should have the worksheet in that notebook.  Examples are given on the sheet which can be used in the sentences your child composes. 
The second sheet is a review of numbers. All of the words needed to complete the assigment are on the worksheet.  Today, third grade completed the assigment without any problems, so I am confident my sixth graders can easily complete the assignment.
Thank you for your interest in your child's Spanish class.
                                     Atentamente,
                                        Miss Linda

Dear Parents,
                     
  K-4 and K-5 learned new vocabulary related to common objects used at the dinner table.  They learned the Spanish words for: knife- cuchillo, teaspooon- cucharita, tablespoon- cuchara,  fork- tenedor,  plate-plato, glass- vaso, cup.  We also reviewed foods, greetings, and all of our songs.  Our story in Spanish  was about being being thankful.  I am so pleased with your children's progress in Spanish.  I will reinforce the new vocabulary next week when we have a "mock" Thanksgiving dinner.  It is going to be fun!

1st grade finished their clocks.  We also counted by fives in Spanish.  I also read a story in Spanish about giving thanks.  I will bring the clocks to school next week so your child can take it home and show you what he/she learned.

2nd grade-  Students began a worksheet designed to teach the number words from 0 to 1000.  It is not as difficult as it seems!  We will continue with this activity next week. 

3rd grade-  We also completed the worksheet listed above.  About five students wanted to work without help.  I encouraged them to do so.  I distributed a dialogue in Spanish about a hamster lost in a classroom.  Students were able to read the dialogue and determine the content based on previously learned vocabulary and the use of cognates embedded in the dialogue.  I am very very pleased with the progress of our third graders!  We will continue with the dialogue next week.  Students should practice reading their lines for their presentations next week.

4th grade-  4th graders received a study sheet with prepositional phrases and common classroom objects.  They also have a copy of the dialogue about a lost hamster and will make presentations next week.  We are making solid progress in both fourth grade classes.  I am  very happy! Students should practice their lines for next week.  It is not necessary to memorize the lines because I know students are acquiring important phrases and vocabulary through the use of dialogues even if they are being read and not recited from memory.

Please do not hesitate to contact me about the activities or homework assignments.
Gracias por su cooperacion y apoyo.  Thank you for your cooperation and support.
   
                                 Atentamente,
                                               Srta. Linda

Dear Parents,
              Costume Day was fun!  Some of the students wanted me to call the name of the character they represented when I took roll instead of their name.   I am happy to report that Spider Man, Dorothy, Godzilla, and all of my pirates and princesses were in attendance on Monday!
K-4 and 5 continued counting in Spanish.  I would like students to be able to count to 100!  I know they can do it. Some children can already count to 40 in Spanish. Students heard a new story about how a dinosaur says, "Goodnight."  All stories are read in Spanish. Picture books offer opportunities for students to acquire new vocabulary without direct translations.

1st grade began to make their clocks.  Students can tell time to the hour in Spanish.  Each child will take home a clock next week with directions so they can practice numbers and telling time at home. 

Grade 2 wrote some sentences expressing their likes and dislikes in Spanish.  They may continue at home in they like, but it is NOT a formal homework assignment becaue of all of the events and activities taking place this week.

Grade 3 also wrote sentences expressing likes and dislikes.  Again, I did not assign a formal homework assignment, but encouraged students to try to compose more sentences on their own if they wish.  I was very pleased that third grade did so well on the assignment which actually was prepared for 5th and 6th graders.

Grade 4 wrote and shared sentences telling what they like and dislike.  We will continue with this activity in the form of a dialogue next week.  Again, students who wish to compose more sentences may do so, but there is no formal homework assignment for next week.

I hope to see you all at Eaglefest on Thursday.  Hasta el jueves.
                                                          Atentamente,
                                                                    Miss Linda

Dear 5th and 6th Grade Parents,
                   Students presented their dialogues in class today.  They did a superior job on their presentations.  Students also read sentences they created using the target expression: A mi me gusta combined with a verb or a verb and prepositional phrase from the worksheet I prepared for them to use as a guide.  There is no class next Friday,  October 31.  The school will be closed.
I asked students to  create an original dialogue based on today's presentations for our next class on November 7th, Friday.
They all have the worksheet to use as a guide.  These hand-outs are extremely important.  The instructions are:  Change the names of the students in the dialogue.  Change the countries.  Change the sentences stating what the student likes.  Add sentences/lines of dialogue stating activities students do NOT like.  For example:  No me gusta bailar.  No me gustar jugar al tenis.  No me gusta escribir cuentos, etc.  There should be a balance of likes and dislikes.  ALL of the vocabulary needed to complete this assignment is on the worksheet.  Please contact me if your child loses or misplaces the worksheet.  There are also translations included on the worksheet.  Some students wanted to use other verbs not mentioned on the worksheet.  This is fine.  Translating verbs from  a translator on the computer should not be a problem.  Problems occur when students try to translate entire thoughts from English to Spanish.  Unless the ideas are simple,  the translations are sometimes awkward or incorrect.  This is why I gave a worksheet to the class to use for their own original dialogue. 
Have a wonderful weekend.  See you at Eaglefest on Thursday!

                                   Miss Linda

Dear 1st through 4th grade parents,
                    We did a short cultural activity about The Day of the Dead, El Dia de los Muertos.  this celebration is celebrated in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries.  Students were told the significance of the celebration and were asked to compare it to North American celebrations.  I pointed out that it has nothing to do with Halloween.  Each child decorated an ofrenda, an altar which people set up in their homes to honor their loved ones who have died.
I also discussed other ways people celebrate the day. Knowledge of the culture of Spanish-speaking people is an objective identified by the Mississippi State Department of Education.
Next week we will talk more about the celebration as well as begin a new unit in our study of Spanish. More information will follow about the new unit.
 K-4 and 5 learned a new song, Calabaza, Calabaza.  Calabaza means pumpkin.  We also practiced a conversation about foods we like and don't like.  Children are going to participate in a make-believe meal using paper plates and utensils next week to simulate eating at a table where people speak only Spanish.  I can't wait.  They will learn how to say about ten new words related to eating dinner.  This activity is called authentic learning, but I am thinking that some children are going to ask me where the real food is! 
Thank you for your cooperation and interest in our foreign language program at St. John's.
                                                 Atentamente,
                                                       Srta. Linda

Dear 5th and 5th Grade Parents,
            The parts of the body posters were very creative!  I will try to put them on display so everyone can see them.  I had listed about eighteen vocabulary words for students to use.  Some students used only five or six, so I graded accordingly.  Students were asked to label at least twenty parts in class. 
Next week's homework has two parts.  The first part is composing twenty sentences telling what students like to do.  Me gusta bailar. I like to dance.  Me gusta pasar tiempo con mi familia. I like to spend time with my family.  It is all on the worksheet, including translations.  I distributed a worksheet with detailed instructions and an example.  We also created and shared sentences orally in class.  The second part is a two-person dialogue for students to present in class next Friday.  Most of the students began the sentences in class.  If your child loses the worksheets, please contact me.  I will be at school on Monday and will distribute another copy to the student. Please make sure your child has a Spanish notebook.  Two students said they do not have one.  It can be a spiral notebook or a section in their 3-ring binder exclusively for Spanish.  The notebook is REQUIRED.
I would like to explain that Spanish is an academic class and students receive a letter grade in the  class.  The new directories are available explaining consequences of not completing homework or projects.   Students'  nine week grade may be lowered based upon how many missed assignments they have recorded. Students will have an opportunity to complete missed assignments if their absence was excused.  Students who do not complete assignments who were not absent will have the opportunity to make-up the assignment at the discretion of the teacher.  Please consult the new directory for more information about homework policies for all classes and excused absences.  I will notify you when assignments are missed so you can speak to your child about it.  Please contact me if emergencies and or other situations occur that make it difficult for your child to do the homework assignment.  I believe there is a section in the directory about family vacations and making arrangements with teachers beforehand in order to complete the assignments that will be missed.
Thank you for your cooperation and interest in Spanish.  I love teaching your child Spanish! We are really making progress!
                                                          Atentamente,
                                                                    Miss Linda

Dear Fifth and Sixth Grade Parents:
                           Homework for fifth and sixth graders is to label parts of the body, at least twenty, using the figure of an animal, human, funny cartoon character, or a picture from a magazine.  The figure can be drawn or painted on a poster or on a plain 8 and one-half by 11 piece of paper.  The object is to review the parts of the body in Spanish.  I did a quick check on this vocabulary skill last week and students were not sure of basic vocabulary introduced last year.  Some of the parts should include: la cara- face, los ojos-eyes, la boca-mouth, las orejas-ears, la cabeza, head, el cuello-neck, la pierna-leg, los pies-feet, el codo-elbow, el pelo-hair, el estomago-stomach, los brazos-arms, los dedos-fingers, los dientes-teeth.
I hope some students make a poster so I can use their work as a visual for other classes.
                    

Dear Parents of 4th Graders:
                           I was not in class on Monday and forgot to ask my substitute, Mrs. Driskell, to tell fourth grade students to review their dialogues for our next class. Since there is no school on Monday, October 13, our next class will be Monday. October20. Some students may want to write their own dialogues, which was an assignment I gave to my 5th and 6th graders!  I definitely feel that any student who wants to write an original dialogue may do so.  I think that is fantastic!  It is not, however, a formal assignment.  Each class has different assignments based on the instruction they receive in my class.  I often group activities in the following manner:  K-4 and K-5  have similar activities.  lst Grade:  Students usually have lessons unique to their grade level, but ocassionally they will share lessons with 2nd gradel.  3rd:  My third graders also have lessons which are rarely the same as other grade levels.  4th, 5th, and 6th:  these three grade levels often have the same lessons in class. 
Note:  6th Grade often has additional work in class and additional homework.  Please check the blog and your child's Spanish notebook.  All students in Grades 3,4,5, and 6 are required to maintain a Spanish notebook which they take home.

Dear Fifth and Sixth Grade Parents,
     Students have an assignment due on Friday, October 10th.  They have done this assignment last year, so it is something they are capable of doing.  I asked students to write an original dialogue in Spanish based on the two dialogues they have already presented this semester.  I am asking students to use the two dialogues as a guide.  They may simply change the names and countries and cities mentioned in the dialogue, or change the names of the students to other names.  My goal here is to have the students become familiar with greetings, questions, nationalities, countries, and cities in Spanish.  For example, the previous dialogue was between three students from Mexico, Spain, and The United States.
Students all have notebooks in which they keep their hand-outs and class lessons.  I passed out extra dialogues in class on Friday.  One or two students asked for a duplicate.  I would like  you to encourage your child to be responsible for maintaining his or her folder.  All handouts need to be kept for use in future assignments.  Accepting responsibility for one's assignments is a very important study skill which has been shown to assist students in achieving their academic goals.  I need your help in this matter.  Of course, I can continue to distribute extra copies, but I feel that I am not encouraging students to be responsible in doing so.  Thank you for your support and interest in our Spanish Language Program.
               Srta. Linda

Dear Parents,
           Monday was a very busy day in Spanish class. Here is a brief description of what your child did in class.
K-4 and K-5 :  Children sang all of our songs in Spanish, including our new song, Estrellita Brillaras--Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  I will be sending home the words to all of the songs so you can sing at home with your child!   We are finishing our unit on foods.  I am thinking about asking parents to help their child with a poster showing the foods they like to eat and the name of the food in Spanish.  More information will follow after this grading period.  I read a story to the children in Spanish about an owl who could not sleep.  All of the stories I are designed to help students acquire new vocabulary in Spanish. 
1st :  I introduced telling time to the hour to the first graders.  They did an excellent job with this activity.  We will be making clocks soon so children can practrice at home.  Please review the numbers from 1 to 12 in Spanish with your child if you can: uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once, doce.  Your child know these numbers as we have counted in Spanish up to twenty.  Some children can go beyond twenty in Spanish. 

2nd grade:  All students have notebooks which I will keep in class unless there is homeowork.  I introduced short paragraphs about the culture and history of Mexico to the students.  We will be working on learning about different cultures for the next few weeks along with our study of language.  Each student copied down an informative paragraph and will be adding paragraphs to their notebook in the coming weeks.  The paragraphs are in English with key vocabulary words in Spanish, such as, bandera-flag, mariachi- traditional Mexican music, calavera-skull, popular image in art created by Jose Posadas.
3d grade:  The third graders also learned paragraphs containing information about various topics related to Mexican culture.  They took their paragraphs home in their notebooks. Please ask them to share the paragraph with you.

4th:  Fourth grade presented their dialogues.  They did very well.  Several students needed to practice more in the future with their partners.  I will give students a chance to present their dialogues again.  Students should continue practricing the two dialogues they have presented to improve their fluency in Spanish. 
Thank you for your interest in our Spanish Language Program.  I enjoy working with you children.  Students are at the intermediate level of production already.  I am so pleased. Please contact me if you have any questions about the activities.
                         Atentamente,
                              Srta. Linda

Dear Parents,
           It was a pleasure talking to you tonight at our Open House.  I hope you enjoyed looking at our student-authored books.  I am so proud of the children's interest in learning Spanish.
I was able to speak to some of you about our plans for a Parents As Authors Tea in the spring. I would like parents to write a book in any language to share with other parents, students, and staff.  It can be similar to your child's book.  We will display the books and parents and students will have the opportunity to present their work  if they wish to do so.  My vision for this activity is a fun evening of parents and their children sharing their books with the St. John's Day School Family. I will send you some ideas in the next few months about this activity.  The books may be in any language, in fact, I am hoping that bilingual parents will produce a bilingual book to share! 
Thank you for participating in our Open House.  I really enjoyed talking to parents and I loved  seeing  children's reactions to discovering their book on display for all to read!   As the credit card commercial notes, "Priceless."
                                                     Srta. Linda

Dear Parents,
       Here is a brief summary of our activities in Spanish class today.
 
K-4 and K-5   I am so pleased with the progress your children are making in Spanish.  We are learning a new song every week.  This week, I presented Maria tenia un borreguito, Mary Had a Little Lamb, to the students.  I have several new stuffed animals this week, one, of course is a little lamb!  Students also sang Estrellita brillaras, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, in Spanish.  I distributed  toy food items to students and asked them to tell me that they liked or didn't like the particular food.  We are having authentic conversations in class now.  As I mentioned, I can conduct the class almost entirely in the target language  which is Spanish. We concluded by hearing a story in Spanish. I will be reading a different book every week to conclude our lessons. The picture clues assist students to understand the meaning of the text.  Students love listening to the stories! 

1st grade  We also answered questions about different foods using the manipulatives mentioned above. We reviewed basic questions about age, days of the week, months of the year, colors, simple commands in Spanish.  It is so rewarding to be able to build on concepts and vocabulary the students learned in the past two years.  Please come out tomorrow night to see your child's book in the foyer of the main building.  I will have a special display of your child's work in Spanish.

2nd grade  We reviewed the list of commands in Spanish.  The students discussed the second group of words. I asked them to please try to review them before next week.  We also used the manipulatives to discuss food preferences.

3rd grade  We reviewed the commands in Spanish and took a short oral quiz on their meaning.  We also worked with the manipulatives to form sentences about food we like and do not like.  The students were assigned the second group of vocabulary words to learn for next week.  Most students already learned them as well as last week's group of words.  I have some extremely motivated second language learners in this class!  Please ask your child about the list of words.

4th grade   We have a new dialogue to learn for next week.  Students are working in groups of three for this activity.  They need to learn one student's lines of conversation, either, Elena, Pablo, or Joaquin, the three students in the dialogue.  If they can memorize the lines, that is ideal, but it is not necessary.  Please ask your child whose lines they are learning.  Last year I had students who learned both parts of a two student dialogue!  Again, that was the option the particular student chose.  Any student who wishes to learn all three parts or perhaps only two may do so.  We discussed the meaning of the dialogue. I chose may cognates to help students understand without the use of a dictionary. Most of the sentences also contain known vocabulary.  Please contact me if you have any questions about the assignment.  If you would like to come to school to hear any of the dialogue presentations, you are more than welcome to do so.  They are really fun!  Please let me know of your interest so I can obtain a suitable area for us to use.  The art room is small.  Students need to present their dialogue on September 29.
I look forward to seeing all of you tomorrow night.  Thank you for your interest and support
                                                  Srta. Linda

Dear Parents of 5th and 6t Graders,
                      Presentation of the dialogues was wonderful!  I am very proud of your children. Some of the 5th graders needed to work on their presentations for a chance t  o improve their grade.  I asked selected students to continue practicing with their partners or alone.  I will remind them on Monday by stopping by their classroom.  Students had a week to practice, but I am giving some student extra time to study.  They will have the opportunity to present again in two weeks.
                 We continued reviewing basic expressions and classroom commands in Spanish orally.  Everyone did much much better this week.  Ask you child to see the list of twenty expressions.  You can help him or her to learn them by saying the expressions in English  and asking them to give you the correct Spanish word or words.
             I hope to see you at Open House on Tuesday. I will be in the foyer of the main building with a display of student-authored books in Spanish.
                                                      Srta. Linda

Dear 5th and 6th Graders and Parents,
                        Tomorrow we will be presenting our dialogues with your partners in class. If you do not have a partner, make sure you have learned either Student A or Student B to present with me or with a student I choose to present with you.  A student informed me that they did not have a partner.  That is fine. ALL students have to learn one part of the dialogue for an oral language grade.
                         Some students still have one of the books they created last year or two years ago.  i am so pleased that they saved their work!  If you have any of the books at home, please bring them to school tomorrow. I would like to display them with other students' books.  Just to refresh your memory, the books we created as individual projects were about: Clothing, Numbers, Foods, and Time.  PLEASE look for your book.  If you can't find it or discarded it, I understand.  However, the books were really beautiful and I would like to share them with parents on Tuesday evening at Parent Open House.

Dear Parents of K-4 through 4th Grade.  Here is a description of what your children learned this week in Spanish.

K-4, K-5:  We all learned our new song, Estrellita, in Spanish.  I teach things songs to help students acquire new vocabulary.  For example, in the Spanish  version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, children learned seven new vocabulary words!  I will send the words home with your child's teacher as soon as possible. We also reviewed parts of the body and colors using bright, high-interest dinosaur pictures.  This activity was a great success!  Children love dinosaurs.   They were asked to find parts of the body to make the face of a whimsical dinosaur.  We completed the lesson by listening to Corduroy  in Spanish.  It was so much fun. 

K-5 The class also make a color sheet to take home. They will be making one for more colors next week. 
1st and 2nd: Children read their books to the entire class since we did not have time to do so last week.  I am so pleased that children can read some sentences in Spanish.  We began to explore more sentence structures expressing likes and dislikes, which is one of the standards for foreign language.  All of the concepts taught are identified as  standards for the teaching of foreign language distributed by The State Department of Education.

3rd Grade:  We counted to 100 in Spanish.  We also completed a list of commands and useful expressions in Spanish. I would like the children to learn the first eight words or phrases for next week.  I sent the list home on Monday with the children.  If it was left in class, it's ok.  Students do need to bring the list back next week.  I discussed allowing children to look over the list in class if time permits.

4th Grade:  I collected students' drawings and sentences about their favorite season.  I will collate them and present them in the form of a book at Open House. Students also received the same list of words third grade was given.  4th grade needs to study the list for a short quiz next week.  I know students may not learn all the terms, but I would like them to try to learn as many as possible.  There are about twenty expressions.  I encourage students to go above and beyond what we complete in class and many of them wish to do so.  For example, some students wanted to write entire sentences with the expressions. I hope they do so!  However, applying the expression in a sentence  is an optional assignment. 

Thank you for your interest in our Spanish program.  I hope to see you at Open House next week.  I am going to have a table set up somewhere in the main buiding, so please look for it!

Dear Parents of 5th and 6th graders,
                                We worked on new vocabulary this week.  Students were given a quiz (oral) on their understanding of the lsit I distributed to them last week.  Students need to reviw those words for next week.
Our new homework assignment is a short dialogue students need to present this Friday, September 19th.  They are working with a partner to learn their lines.  I prefer that the students present the dialogue without reading it if possible.  As I mentioned, the dialogue is very short.  We will be working on creating our own short dialogues to present in the future.
Students are grasping the concept of verb conjugations in the present tense.  I have introduced some verbs in the past tense, but I want to concentrate on the present indicative tense for a few more weeks.  We will cover the past tense this semester! 
I will be at Open House next week.  We are preparing a table with student authored books.  Please stop by and take a look at books students in Grades 1,2, 3, and 4 have written. 
                                                      Thank you for your interest in our foreign language program.
                                                                       Miss Linda

Happy Grandparents' Day!  I really enjoy teaching your grandchildren!  They are wonderful children!
     Dear Parents,
                  Grades K-4 and K-5 had lots of fun on Monday.  I can conduct most of the class in Spanish with the K-5 children.  Thye understand so much.  We reviewed days of the week and months of the year, all basic questions in Spanish, and met our new friend, El Sr. Mono. Mr. Monkey.  The only problem is that some students insisted that Mr. Monkey is really Miss Monkey because she has long eyelashes and pink inside of her ears.  So, I changed her name to Srta. Mono--Miss Monkey.  She joins Elefante, Leoncito, Pancho and Pepe who all assist the children in their mastery of Spanish language skills.  I couldn't do it alone! One class learned a new song, "Estrellita."  It is the Spanish version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." All will be learning the new song. 

Grades 1 and 1 shared their original books about what they like to eat.  Thank you so much for helping your child to complete this assignment/project.  I also want to thank Miss Connie and Miss Lisa  for making sure everyone was aware of the importance of completing their book and remembering to bring it to class! 

Grade 3 worked on new vocabulary which they used in simple sentences in class. I asked the students to please try to continue composing sentences at home.  They have a sheet with classroom objects and a small visual they created to learn the meaning of the words.  The sentences can include adjectives if students wish. Most of the students wanted to go "above and beyond" the assignment. I had forgotten that we learned that expression last year!

Grade 4 shared their simple descriptions of their room.  I stressed the importance of coming to class prepared with their worksheets and notebooks.  We began an assignment about the four seasons.  Students need to complete their work at home by illustrating their favorite season and tellling why they like that particular season.  The pages will be used to make a class book about the four seasons.  All students copied the four seasons in Spanish and the sentence they need to complete.  If they did not complete it, we will do so next week, but the illustration must be completed at home and brought to school on Monday.

Thank you for your interest and cooperation in our Spanish Language Program.

                                                   Miss Linda

Dear Parents of 5th and 6th Graders,
                       We shared our sentences about meals.  Students did a very good job with this assignment.  I will be calling parents of students who are not doing their homework assignments.  Fortunately, there are not many students who fall into this category.  On Friday, these two classes also received their first edition of a Spanish language newsletter/magazine created by Scholastic Magazines.  Sixth grade was able to take a copy home with them.  I hope they will read through the articles and do some of the activities on the activity page if they can.  I want this magazine to be fun for students and to become part of their reading for pleasure activities. The magazine is not difficult for beginning students.  We also discussed a list of Spanish commands.  I would like  the students to study the twenty or so words for a short quiz next week.  They will match the Spanish command with its English translation.

Fifth grade has a worksheet with basic commands in Spanish to complete. They will NOT be taking the same quiz the sixth graders are taking since we did not finish matching the command in Spanish with its English meaning.  They should try to complete the worksheet for next Friday.  They are familiar with most of the words already if they were enrolled in my class last year.
If you have any questions, please email me or leave a comment for me on this blog.



                                        Srta. Linda

Dear Fourth Graders,
            Please try to bring the books you created last year in our Spanish class. Pop them into your backpack today so you don't forget!  I am planning an exhibition of your work for all to see very soon.  Mil gracias, estudiantes.  ( A thousand thanks).
                     Atentamente,
                             Srta. Linda.

Remember these titles from last year?    Sr. =  Mr.
                                                                Srta. = Miss
                                                                Sra.  = Mrs.


Hasta el lunes.  Remember the days of the week? 
                         
                        domingo- Sunday
                        lunes         Monday
                        martes       Tuesday
                       miercoles   Wednesday.  (There is an accent on the  1st e.)
                       jueves         Thursday
                       viernes        Friday
                       sabado        Saturday  Accent on the a.
     
  Days and months are written with a lowercase letter in Spanish, but not in English!

                    

Dear Parents of Fourth Graders:
              Last year your child created a book in Spanish that I would like to display this year along with other student work.  Would you please have your child bring his/her book to school on Monday, September 8th? All of the books were beautiful, but we didn't have time  to properly display them with all of the end-of-the-year activities.  The books will be returned.  I know some of the students really wanted to have their books back!  I didn't keep any of them.

I want to clarify that K-4 thru Grade 4 have Spanish on Mondays.  Students in grades 2-6 have notebooks they must bring to class for Spanish.  If they are using a 3-ring binder, there must be a section exclusively for Spanish.  This way, they can keep track of assignments and save hand-outs.  We do not have a textbook so saving all hand-outs is extremely important. 

Grades 5 and 6 have their Spanish class on Fridays.  They need to bring their notebooks on Fridays. 
 I appreciate your cooperation and support.  We are making excellent progress in Spanish!  Thank you so much for your interest in our foreign language program.
               Atentamente,

                 Srta. Linda

For Fifth and Sixth Grade: 
 On Friday, Fifth and Sixth grades were given a new homework assignment for next Friday. They need to compose sentences telling what various family members eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  They copied down the model sentences and we did examples of what they are expected to write.  We learned the names for family members last year, but here is a list they can use:   mama- Mom, Papa-dad, hermano- brother,  hermana- sister, abuelo, grandpa, abuela-grandma, primo- cousin, boy,  prima- cousin, girl, tia-aunt, tio-uncle. 

EX: Mi mama come pan y fruta para el desayuno.  Mom eats bread and fruit for breakfast.
        Mi papa come ensalada para el almuerzo.    Dad eats salad for lunch.
         Mi hermano come pollo y papas para la cena.  My brother eats chicken and potatoes for dinner.   Students were given a list of possible foods to use in their sentences.  They may also tell me what friends eat, for example,  Mi amiga Sarah come frambuesas para el desayuno.  Myfriend Sarah eats raspberries for breakfast.  The more practice sentences the students complete, the better, but I require at least ten to receive credit for the assignment. 
 Students who wish, may use other forms of the verbs they learned for "to eat," such as:
Nosotros comemos tomatos para el almuerzo.  We eat tomatoes for lunch. 
Ellos comen coliflor y zanahorias para la cena.  They eat coliflower and carrots for dinner.

ALL STUDENTS RECEIVED A LIST OF FORMS OF THE VERB TO EAT- COMER .
They must keep the hand-outs in their notebook for reference.  They also, as mentioned, received lists of foods in Spanish with their English translation.  I passed out EXTRA sheets of both hand-outs on Friday. 
Please contact me if you need clarification about the assignment.  Just leave a comment on the blog for me to read.
    Have a wonderful holiday. 
Miss Linda

Dear Parents,
 Fifth and Sixth grade will be meeting on Fridays beginning this week.  Please see last week's blog for their homework. I will be writing a special blog for them on Friday explaining their homework, which  will be due on September 8th due to the holiday next Monday.
Grades K-4, and K-5 did a wonderful job with their numbers, colors, days of the week, and months of the year.  I conducted most of the class in Spanish and read a story to the students in Spanish  as well. I am going to try to arrange a visit to your child's Spanish class so you can see how well your child is doing in Spanish.  Everyone understood so well. I am so proud of your children.  Learning a second language at an early age really helps children master the language and develop the accent of a Spanish-speaker.  Thank you for your support and participation in St. John's Foreign Language Program!
 Grades 1 and 2 have a project which will be due on September 8th. They received a detailed informaion sheet about the project.  They need to create a book in Spanish about the foods they like to eat.  All of this information is on the sheet.  I will bring some extra sheets to school on Friday and give them to Miss Connie and Miss Lisa if your child lost his sheet.  Please contact me if you do not understand the project.  You can leave me an email message at: linda.delascuevas@sjdslaurel.com.
I need to change my email since I changed my name!  Leave me your phone number in your message and I will call you if you prefer.  The book can be six pages long or sixteen!  Some students wanted to know if it could be twenty pages!  I have very highly motivated youngsters in class!  Thank you!  You may help with the art work and execution of the book.  It should have a cover and title.  All of this information is on the hand-out.

Grades 3 and 4 continued to work with composing sentences in class.  We did some oral language work as well.  Your children are amazing. I love working with them. 

Dear Parents,
Grades K-4 through 2nd do not have any homework.  First and second graders will receive information about their first project next Monday.  We reviewed vocabulary and continued our unit on foods.  I will be sending home a list of the names of foods in Spanish for first and second graders to use in their project next week.

Grades 3 and 4 received a worksheet with a list of adjectives to use to compose sentences telling about foods.  They may complete the list if they can at home.  We completed half of the sentences in class.  If the students lost their list, please have them write ten sentences using the following words:  delicioso, bueno para la salud, malo para la salud.  Delicious, unhealthy, or bad for one's health, good for one's health or healthy. As you can see, I am working on helping students make healthy eating choices. If all of this is too hard, please do not worry. I will work on it with students in class, but I know they can handle it if they were enrolled last year.  Anyone who was not enrolled does not have to complete this assignment. I am pleased that several new students successfully completed last week's homework with no problem based on instruction in the classroom last Monday and, apparently, a strong desire to learn Spanish!  Way to go, New Students!
 Grades 5 and 6 have three verbs to use in sentences for homework.  We completed examples in class. I never send students home without instructing them about the required homework assignment.  Students who were not enrolled last year DO NOT have to complete the homework. Grades 5 and 6 will be learning a dialogue for their first project.  More information will be given in class next week.  We did many dialogues last year, so students are familiar with learning their part for an oral presentation or "skit."  Intensive review was not necessary with my fifth and sixth graders.  They really remembered vocabulary and concepts acquired last year.  We only need to work on number and gender agreement, which takes some time since English does not require agreement between adjectives and nouns. 
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to send me an email or leave a comment on this blog.
Gracias,
Srta. Linda

Dear Fifth and Sixth Grade Parents:
           I distributed a list of food vocabulary  to students this morning, which they can use   to compose their homeowork sentences for Monday. I assigned twenty additional sentences.  Please remember that new students do NOT have to complete the assignment.  Any student who was not enrolled in my class last year will not have to complete last Monday's assignment.  They will be given alternate homework assignments in the future.  Any project based on our study of culture, however, will be for ALL students enrolled this year.  We usually do the study of various Spanish-speaking countries in English, therefore, a student's language proficiency in Spanish does not prohibit them from completing the project.  Thank you.  Have a great weekend.
Miss Linda

Dear Parents,
          I am excited about another year of instructing your children!  Our first class was Monday.  We are working on the second floor of the Main Building now. 
 K-5  We reviewed most of our songs and drew pictures of the foods we like to eat.  We learned the names of some of the foods and will continue next week with our food unit.  Then, we will learn how to express activities we like to do in Spanish.  Everyone remembered what we learned last year so well! We also learned how to say fork, knife and spoon in Spanish:  tenedor, cuchillo, y cuchara. (cucharita- teaspoon).

1st grade  We answered basic questions about ourselves.  The students did very well. We also reviewed colors, numbers, seasons, and the days of the week.  Our first graders are ready for new adventures in Spanish! 
 
2nd  grade  We had a basic review of concepts which were introduced last year.  I want to review foods and began describing  favorite activities and things students don't like--likes and dislikes next week with our second graders. 

3rd grade  4th, 5th, and 6th  We began working with the verb" to have" in Spanish.  Students were encouraged to write simple sentences using the names of foods and bring back their sentences next week to discuss.  Sixth grade was asked to write at least twenty new sentences in Spanish.  Model:  Yo tengo los tomates rojos.  El tiene la lechuga verde. 
I told students they may use any nouns that we learned last year in their sentences.  Note:  If students are having difficulty composing sentences,  we will work on them next week.  NEW STUDENTS OR STUDENTS WHO WERE NOT ENROLLED IN SPANISH  ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HOMEWORK.  I am using food vocabulary  to link up with our new horticulture program.
Please contact me if you have any questions.  You can leave a comment  on this blog, leave me a phone message, or leave your name and number with Melissa or Kathy in the office if the directory hasn't been distributed yet.   I will return your call promptly.
  Bienvenidos al curso de lenguaje extranjero de St. John's.

Dear Parents and Students,
                     Have a wonderful summer!  I can't wait to see everyone next school year.  Thank you for a fantastic year. 

                                                      Fondly,
 
                                                       Srta. Linda

Dear Parents,
              I can't believe we only have one more Spanish class on the 19th. Students have learned so much!  We are going to continue learning dialogues in Spanish next week.  I also want students to have an opportunity to read their classmates original books.  I will return the books to students on Monday. Please make sure your child is in school to receive their book.  I think some of the books should be in our school library!
           K-3,4, and 5 reviewed days, months, seasons, and basic questions and answers.  They are doing so well!  In addition, K-5 is working on their song for graduation.  I think you will enjoy hearing them sing in Spanish.
                  I look forward to another wonderful year of teaching your children.  Thank you for your support, coooperation, and interest in St. John's Spanish Language Program. 
                                                       Atentamente,
                                                                Srta. Linda

Dear Parents,
             K-4 is really doing well in Spanish.  I am teaching atraditional Spanish folk song to one of my other classes and feel that K-4 can handle the lyrics as well.  They are so receptive to learning Spanish!
        1st grade is able to not only answer questions in Spanish, but ask other students questions as well.  I am so pleased.  I am thinking of putting together some hand-outs so students can review what we have done this year.  Please let me know if you are interested in receiving a hand-out. 
2nd grade-  Wow!  I can't tell you how happy I am that our family tree project was so successful.  Please stop by the cafeteria to see your child's work.  The students are so positive about learning Spanish.  It is such a pleasure to teach your children.

Grade 3 presented their original books to the class. All of the books are beautiful.  I had very high expectations for this project and your children certainly met those expectations.  I will be returning the books at the end of the school year.  So many children wanted to take their book home on Monday, but I want to display them in our classroom for everyone to see.

Grades 4,5, and 6 presented their itineraries  and dialogues to the class on Monday. They were fantastic!   Students are so eager to share their work with others.  We will be presenting more dialogues in class, but there is no assigned homework for students this week.

I spoke to the students about the significance of Cinco de Mayo and how it is celebrated in Mexico and the United States.  We will be talking more about the history of Mexico next week.

 Thank you for your interest in St. John's Second Language Program.

                                                                   Miss Linda

Dear Parents,
         K-4, K-5 and 1st grade are making excellent progress in listening and speaking skills in Spanish.  I am pleased with their responses to basic questions and their ability to recite the days of the week, months of the year, numbers (to 50 for most students), and the seasons of the year. I am amazed that we have been able to accomplish so much in thirty minutes of instrutional  time once a week! 
Grade 2 worked very hard to prepare their family trees.  Due to the limited time we have left this school year, I will mount all of the photographs and drawings for the students and bring the mural to school on Monday.  I am not sure where it will be displayed, but am thinking about the cafeteria.  Once I know where the project will be displayed, I will post the location so parents can stop by to see their child's family tree.

Grade 3 worked on presenting a weather report.  the activity was used to reinforce weather terms in Spanish.  Their projects are due next Monday.  Miss Melissa has extra copies of the instructions.  Please ask her for a copy if students' copies were lost or misplaced.  I also showed students examples of what the book may look like using students' books which were  presented to me early.

Grades 4,5, and 6 also have a project due on Monday.  Miss Melissa has extra copies of the instructions if students need one. They are preparing an imaginary trip to a Spanish-speaking country.  Student have had three weeks to prepare the project and we have worked on it in class. Project may be presented using a poster, Power Point presentation, or oral presentation from prepared cards.  Please see Miss Melissa if you have not seen the instructions.  I distributed the sheets several times in class and posted detailed information on previous posts. 
This is an important project, our last of the school year.  I have stressed to the students that the project will be used in part to determine their final grade in Spanish. 

Thank you for your support and interest in our foreign language program. It has been my pleasure to teach your children this academic school year.
                                                            Atentamente,
                                                                    Srta. Linda

Dear Parents,
             We had a very productive Monday!  K-4 and 5 are making excellent progress learning Spanish.  K-5 is working very hard to learn "De Colores."  They are great with the chorus, so far, as well as the parts about how the animals sing that are mentioned in the song.  I know you will enjoy listening to your child sing the song.
K-1 continues to respond well to questions in Spanish.  We reviewed days, months, and the four seasons.  Counting is a snap for this group, as well! 

K-2 did several pages in class.  I would like you to try to send those family photographs for our family tree project.  I do have some hand-drawn portraits the students made that we will use instead of photos for some of the students.  I would like to complete the project the week after Easter.

3rd Grade  received their project information.  The books are due May 5th.  Please look over the sheets with your child and let me know if you have any questions. Students will need to make a book in Spanish with illustrations.  Some children want to make the book a bilingual book, which is fine.  We reviewed days of the week, numbers to 100, seasons, and months.  I wil be going beyond 100 next week with the students.  Students also received study sheets, although we will not be taking any more tests on numbers this year. Knowing how to count and write numbers in Spanish is an important skill and I encourage students to practice the numbers over the summer.

4, 5, and 6 brought their research on the country they will be "visiting" for their final project.
Students shared their experiences working with their parents on the project.  They are becoming aware of planning for a trip, airports with direct flights to different countries, air fare, hotel and other related costs. I am very proud of all of the students. 
                We started some serious study of verb conjugations, as well. 

Thank you for your interest in our Spanish Language Program.  Please contact me if you have any questions about the projects due on the 5th of May. 
                                                      Atentamente,
                                                           Srta. Linda

Second Grade Parents:  Please send some family photos to school tomorrow with your child.  You can also leave them in my mailbox in the teachers' workroom.  Please make sure your child's name is on the photo. they may be scanned or actual photos.  We are doing a family tree project. 
Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 will receive more information about their final project which  is due May 5.  I may have written May 2nd in error on a blog or on the sheet I distributed to some students last week.  Your child may turn in the project early if he/she wishes.  Some have already asked me if they may do so.  The children must explain their work to the class.  4th, 5th and 6th must also have a written dialogue in Spanish to accompany their project.  The presentation about their trip may be made in English. Of course, I would love to hear some of the presesntation in Spanish if students can!  Only the dialogue, however, must be in Spanish.
It is hard to believe that this school year is almost over.  El tiempo vuela.  Time flies. (When you are having fun working hard).
                                                         Atentamente,
                                                                      Srta. Linda

Dear Parents,
                       Grade K-4 did a wonderful job on Monday with their songs and questions.  They are doing well with numbers as well.  Some students want to count to 50 in Spanish, so I am encouraging them to do so.  I am so happy with their progress.

K-5 will be really working hard on "De Colores,"  a tradtional Spanish folk song.  They learned a new song, "Leoncito," on Monday.
 Grade 3 will continue working on their final project, which is writing and illustrating a book about anything we learned these past two years in Spanish.  I will explain in more detail  on Monday.  I gave some students the numbers from one to 100 to study on their own.  If your child did not receive a nubmes sheet to study, it is because they have mastered the number words  in Spanish and no further study is needed.  We will not be taking any more tests on the numbers, but I would encourage students who received  the number sheets to study whenever they can.
 Grades 4, 5 and 6 have information about the final project which is to plan a trip to a Spanish-speaking country.  We will talk more about that on Monday.  Students have unti May 2 to do their report.  The sheet I distributed to students has specific details about the project.  Some students want to plan more than one trip.  It is not necessary, but I would never discourage a student who wishes to go above and beyond the assignment!  Two trips will be fine!  Only one is required, however.
  Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.  I will appreciate your interest in our Spanish Language Program.
                                                       Atentamente,
                                                                 Srta. Linda

Dear Parents,
                           Grades K-4 and 5 and lst learned a new song with new vocabulary.  The song is about spring.  They are really making progress.  I can conduct part of the class entirely in Spanish .   I am very proud of them.  As you know, my approach to second language acquisition is to introduce vocabulary  and grammatical structures in a relaxed, "natural" atmosphere.  In many ways, it is the manner in which your children learned their first language at home.  The activity which  produces a product, such as the picture of a butterfly  garden the children completed, is NOT the main emphasis of the "lesson."  The language used to instruct the students in producing the picture and reinforcement of the target vocabulary  during the activity is the object of the particular class.

Grade 2 has a dialogue to practice at home about two students meeting at school.  I modified the dialogue for some students who said it was too difficult.  Those students need to practice  two lines of dialogue for their presentation.  The rest of the class needs to practice either Student 1 or Student 2's part.    They may read their part on Monday. Some students may want to memorize their part.  I would love that!  We read the entire dialogue four or five times in class. If your child needs help in reading their lines, please call me.  I would be more than happy to assist them. I also want second graders to gather photographs, draw portraits or find pictures in magazines that resemble their parents, grandparents, siblings and cousins for a family tree project.  I think we are going to do this activity in class in the form of a mural. Perhaps a Family Tree Garden!

Grade 3, 4 and 5 took a short quiz on numbers.  Grade 3 will be given information on their final project of the year next week. They have one month to complete the project. I do not want them to begin during our school-wide testing period! 

Grade 3's project is to write and illustrate a picture book in Spanish for children.  They may use any material they wish.  It should be a minimum of twelve pages.  Detailed information will be distributed to children next week. 

Grades 4, 5 and 6 have are responsible for preparing a project as well.  Their project is to plan a trip to a Spanish-speaking country.  Students were assigned a country in class and asked to begin gathering basic information they will bring to class next week.  The information they need is:  How will they travel to the country?  How much will transportation cost?  Where will they stay?  What tourist sites will they visit?  What will they eat once there?   All of that informtion can be in English.  Part of the project is to prepare a short dialogue in Spanish which takes place in a restaurant or open-air market.  It can also take the form of a dialogue with a Spanish-speaking student at a cafe asking questions about his/her school and leisure activities.  Students will receive all of this information in a hand-out next week.

I can't believe we are almost finished with this school year. Realmente, el tiempo vuela--Time flies!  Thank you for your continued cooperation and interest in our second language program.
                                                          Srta. Linda

Dear Parents,
          Second grade will be doing a Family Tree Project.  Please begin to look for photographs your child can use in the project.  We are learning vocabulary relating to family members and the project will reinforce the new words.  I will explain more in class on Monday.  This in only for second grade.  I will assist student in class on Monday. 
         Third grade will be completing a final project as well.  They will choose a unit we studied in class to use as the theme for a picture book.  I will discuss this with students on Monday.
         Fourth, fifth, and sixth grade will be completing a project based on a cultural theme.  they will plan an imaginary  trip to a Spanish-speaking country.  One-half of the project may be in English.  The other half will involve a conversation in Spanish with a resident of the country the student visits.  This will be explained in class on Monday. 
            Students will have two weeks to complete their projects.  Project will not need to be done until the second week of May.  Students will not be required to work on projects during testing.
 K-3, K-4, K-5 and 1st will complete a mini-project in April based on community workers. Most of the project will be completed in class.  There will be some preparation needed to be done at home.  I will be sending a detailed explanation home with your child soon.
                         Thank you for your support and cooperation in our Spanish Language Program.
                                                                  Atentamente,
                                                                         Srta. Linda

  3/24
    Grades 3 are having a quiz next week on the numbers in Spanish from 1-50.  Students already know how to write the numbers from 1-20.  They need only learn 30, treinta, 40, cuarenta, and 50 cincuenta.  As they are in English, Spanish numbers combine these words with one, twok and three--uno, dos, tres, etc. to form the rest of the numbers. 

 Grade 4 will have a quiz on telling time.  They might need to review the numbers above in order to write the time correctly.

Grade 6 has a sheet of vocabulary words. I asked students  to create sentences employing the words.  They have the knowledge of correct Spanish syntax, so I feel the assignment will not be difficult for them to complete.  If it is, please contact me and I will assist them with the assignment by telephone or email. 

Grade 2 reviewed the words need to talk about family members.  We will be composing simple sentences about our families and begin a family tree project.  Of course, information sheets will be given to the students to complete this project.

There is no homework for Grades K-5 and lst.

Thank you for your interest and support in our Spanish Resource Program!

Dear Parents,
          K-4 can respond to ten questions in Spanish.  They students also understand simple stories I read to them in Spanish.  I do not have to translate very much unless the picture clues are ambiguous, or the story presents vocabulary not previously introduced to the children. We sang all of our songs in Spanish and learned a new song for the days of the week and the months of the year. I am going to teach the children to count to 50 since at least half of the class has mastered counting to 20 in Spanish.
    K-5 is learning the traditional Spanish song, "De Colores."  We also reviewed questions and food vocabulary.  Students learned a new verb, gustar, which means to like.

  1st grade added new words to their food word bank.  They also reviewed all questions, months of the year, days of the week and numbers.

 2nd grade learned a short dialogue in class about going to a birthday party.  Several students wanted to write their own dialogue in Spanish.  I encouraged them to do so.  Having more instructional time with second graders has really helped students this year.  I am grateful that Miss Stone was able to increase the time I have with Miss Lisa's students this year.

3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th graders learned a new dialogue about two students meeting in the cafeteria.  Students who wrote their own dialogue for homework worked with me on polishing their work.  They corrected the scripts and will present them next week for the entire class.  That is their homework for this week--to prepare for the oral presentation with their partner. Those students are not responsible for the cafeteria dialogue.  Only students who copied the cafeteria dialogue will present that skit next Monday.  They need to practice with their partners.  All sixth graders have an original dialogue to present since 100% of the class wrote an original skit.  I am very proud of them! 

Please contact me if your child needs assistance with their dialogue.  Each child will present two dialogues--their own and their partner's.  Some children were confused about this.  One of the students explained the assignment in the following manner to her partner: "I am me and you are the other person the first time we present. Then, you are you and I am the other person the second time we present." I love it! We have a teacher -in-the-making here.
  Thank you for your support and cooperation.  I sincerely appreciate it. Your children are making excellent progress in Spanish, which makes me extremely happy.
                                                            Atentamente,
                                                                       Srta. Linda