December 12th and 13th. 

K-4  The classes learned Cascabel ( Jingle Bells) in Spanish. They can sing it with out assistance.  We also reviewed terms for silverware:  tenedor, fork, cucharita, spoon, and cuchillo, knife.  Each child had the opportunity to sing a song about the parts of the body.  They did a wonderful job! I love having the opportunity to work individually with the children.  Small classes are one of the reasons I love teaching at St. John's. 

K-5  The children also sang Jingle Bells in Spanish. We reviewed silverware and weather. 

Grade 1  The children learned the names of some common clothing gifts for Christmas as well as the names of  toys they may receive from Santa.  Each child had to express a sentence in Spanish using at least two new vocabulary words in their sentence.  

Grade 2 The students each had the opportunity to express what they would like for Christmas from Santa entirely in Spanish. The children also heard The Gingerbread Boy in Spanish. 

Grade 3 Students learned the names of toys and winter clothing in Spanish.  I returned graded papers to the students.  Please make sure the students keep all of their papers in their Spanish notebook. 

Grade 4  We reviewed the names of continents and oceans in Spanish.  I would like the students to study their terms for next week, if we are able to meet. 

Grade 5  I distributed copies of our Scholastic magazine in Spanish to students and pointed out some of the interesting articles about contributions made by Hispanic inventors, including color TV!  I asked the students to complete some of the activities in their copy, but it is not homework.  Students took their exam on the continents and oceans using a blank map they need to label with the correct terms in Spanish. I am proud of our fifth graders!  They work very hard. 

Grade 6   We only were able to meet for 20 minutes because  of rehearsal in the gym for their chapel program on Wednesday.  Students who are missing assignments were given copies of the missing assignments to complete by next Tuesday.  I would like them to place their work in my mailbox by next Tuesday, December 20th.  Students also need to complete a page in Scholastic Magazine about opposites.  I explained it to them in class.   The missed assignments MUST be completed by next week in order to receive a grade for the missing assignment on the next report card.  Students have had several opportunities to complete the missing work.  This is the last opportunity they have before grade are posted in January for the second nine weeks of school.    Please call me if you have any questions.  601-428-1704.    Thank you! 

                  ! Feliz Navidad !             Merry Christmas!  

                                         Love, 

                                    Mrs. Linda 

November 28th and 29th

Grade K-4  The students reviewed numbers and food they like. All students can name at least three and sometimes four foods they like and express that information in a complete sentence in Spanish.  We also talked about the weather.  I hope the children will show you what they learned when they are home.  I asked them to share things they learn in Spanish with you at home  Please let me know if they do share with you  I read El muneco de jengibre--The Gingerbread Man, to the children.  They loved the story.

K-5  The children heard the story of The Gingerbread Man in Spanish,  and reviewed weather, foods and numbers.  They received a gingerbread man to color in class when they have time.

Grade 1  The students heard the story of The Gingerbread Man and colored a picture of him.  We also learned the names for some important symbols of Christmas in Spanish.

Grade 2  Grade 2 continued learning how to express the time in Spanish and associate specific times of the day with activities.  They also learned the names of some important symbols of Christmas in Spanish.   Our second graders really enjoy studying Spanish and are doing very well.

Grade 3 The children read a dialogue about the classes they take in school.  I would like them to study the dialogue at home.

Grade 4  We discussed the names of the continents and oceans in Spanish.  This work is part of our nine-week plan of study. The children received a map of the world to label with the appropriate continent or ocean.

Grade 5  Grade 5 continued their work with maps and geography.  The children labelled a map with the appropriate continent and ocean. I asked the children to study their map. STUDYING THE MAP AND THE NAMES OF THE CONTINENTS AND OCEANS IS A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT.

Grade 6  The students received two dialogues to study.  I asked them to create a comic strip based on ONE of the dialogues. THIS IS A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT.   I would love it if they create two dialogues however!  Due to practice for the Christmas programs, our next two Spanish  classes will be shortened; therefore, studying and creating comic strips will help the students to learn the new vocabulary which was introduced.

              I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

Week of November 14th.

K-4 The children used weather expressions in Spanish to talk about the cold weather.  They reviewed numbers and expressions to tell how they are feeling.  The children heard the story, Where the Wild Things Are in Spanish. They loved hearing  about Max and the "monstruos. "

K- 5 The children talked about weather and cold weather clothing in Spanish.  We reviewed numbers and heard the story, Where the Wild Things Are .

Grade 1  We continued talking about how to express time in Spanish.

Grade 2  The children associated activities with different times of the day to the half hour. They expressed what time they get up, what time they eat lunch, and what time they go to bed in Spanish.

Grade 3 The children received a new dialogue about the weather.  I asked them to try to review the dialogue at home during vacation.  It is NOT homework.

Grade 4  The children received a new dialogue and made presentations in class.  Grade 4 is doing very well in Spanish!

Grade 5  Grade 5 did not meet today.  I would like them to review their work from last week, the seven continents and five oceans in Spanish.  I would also like them to review the vocabulary they received last week in class associated with maps and geography.

Grade 6  Students made their presentations based on their autobiographies.  I am very pleased with their work!  I am so happy that most of the students completed the project.  It is part of their next report card and missing assignments will be reflected in the grade your child receives.

                             

Week of November 7

K-4 and K-5  The children continued talking about foods and beverages they like to eat and drink.  They can now give a list of foods they enjoy eating entirely in Spanish.  The children also heard the story of Maria and her llamita, a Spanish version of Mary had a little lamb that takes place in South America.  The lamb is a baby llama in the Spanish version!  They loved the story and comparing their school and clothing to the school and clothing in the brightly colored illustrations.  

Grade 1 We continued telling time in Spanish.  We will begin talking about different activities done at different times of the day in Spanish.  I reviewed some important expressions in Spanish. 

Grade 2  Students received a new dialogue to practice at home.  It is entitled, "A Snow Day." 

Grade 3 Students received a dialogue about a snow day.  We worked in groups reciting the lines.  I encouraged students to practice the dialogue at home.  Grade 3 students are really progressing in Spanish this year! I am proud of them. 

Grades 4 and 5 began their study of the five oceans and seven continents in Spanish.  We will begin our study of early exploration of the North American continent by Spanish explorers. These lessons will be done in Spanish. 

Grade 6  Students presented their dialogues in groups.  Several students wanted to present the dialogue alone.  Three students received special recognition for a perfect oral presentation.  I will share their names with Miss Stone.  I am proud of all of our sixth graders.  This is an amazing group of students!  The homework is:  Using an empty shoebox, students will illustrate each side of the box with information about themselves based on the questions they answered in their autobiographies at the beginning of the year.  They can use photos, drawings, pictures cut from magazines, etc. as illustrations.  Some of the information is"  My hair color, eye  color, favorite quote, free time activities,  and future profession.  They will present their work in class on Monday.  I distributed magazines to the classes so they could begin to gather pictures for this project.  

Week of October 31

K-4  K-4 continued learning how to express emotions in Spanish. I used various pumpkins with the emotions drawn on their faces.  We also reviewed numbers in Spanish. I am hoping children will  be able to count in Spanish as well as they  do in English! The children also told one another, "Good Job" in Spanish.

K-5 The K-5 class also continued learning how to express emotions in Spanish.
We reviewed numbers and parts of the body.

Grade 1  Grade 1 played several vocabulary games in class.  The games are designed to review previously learned vocabulary in Spanish.  Today we reviewed foods and body parts.   Chidlren won prizes for winning the game.

Grade 2  I discussed the holiday, El Dia de los Muertos" with the class.  I showed visuals to the children so they could see the important symbols associated with this holiday in Latin American countries, especially in Mexico. We began learning how to correctly express time in Spanish using plastic clocks.

Grade 3  Grade 3 heard information about El Dia de los Muertos.  Children who did not complete their homework had the opportunity to complete their comic strip in class while other children decorated a page with symbols associated with The Day of the Dead in Mexico.

Grade 4  We discussed El Dia de los Muertos.  Children decorated a calavera, an intricate patterned skull used in Mexico to celebrate this special holiday.

Grade 5  Students decorated a calavera and received a Scholastic magazine with an article about The Day of the Dead in Mexico. I encouraged the students to read all articles and complete some of the activities and puzzles in Spanish.

Grade 6  Students who did not complete the homework assignment were given the opportunity to complete the comic strip in class.  Other children received a calavera to decorate.  We discussed important symbols of The Day of the Dead, the history of the holiday, and ways it is celebrated in Mexico.  Next Monday students will be asked to present one of the dialogues they received for an evaluation of their oral language proficiency.  I asked they to team up with a partner and prepare the dialogue.  Some students wanted to work in a group of three.  That is perfectly fine.

Monday, October 24 and Tuesday, October 25

K-4  The children can now identify the vocabulary in Spanish associated with all silverware and other important tableware terms.  I always make learning fun for the children by playing a game, in this case, a guessing game using a paper bag and utensils.  Children also are "Teacher" and ask questions to other classmates.   We sang our song about the funny pumpkin and reviewed various terms for feelings:  sad, happy, scared, and surprised.

K-5  The children reviewed adverbs to describe feelings and played the paper bag utensils game. Children love to ask the questions to their classmates.  I am very proud of our k-4 and K-5 children.  They really enjoy Spanish.

Grade 1  Children recited the dialogue about a football game and received a picture of a football to color.  I am very proud that our first graders are becoming literate in Spanish.  Most of the children in class have been learning Spanish since K-3.  It really makes a difference in their progress.

Grade 2  Students received a new dialogue.  I asked them to create a comic strip with at least four boxes containing figures and dialogue from any of our dialogues.  This is due next Monday, October 31. We began the comic strip in class.  Please note:  The children wanted to create the comic strip after they viewed the work of my fifth and sixth graders, which I shared with them.  Several children also have siblings who created a comic strip.  their little sisters and brother wanted to do the same project.  I am only requesting four boxes of figures and dialogue.  Of course, students may create more than four.

Grade 3  Students received a dialogue about children meeting in the park and engaging in various activities; such as, taking photos of flowers, running, and climbing a hill.  They have a homework assignment to create a comic strip with at least four boxes, (five to eight if they wish), with figures and written dialogues in the balloons.  We began the project in class and I saw some absolutely beautiful drawings!  We have some talented artists at St. John's!  Please call me if you need further clarification.

Grade 4  Grade 4 has a comic strip assignment to create using one of our dialogues about football, the weather , or a day in the park.  It is due on Monday. 10/31.   Four to eight boxes is sufficient.  Note:  Some students wanted to make a comic BOOK.  that is fine.  I am NOT requiring a complete comic book, however.  Several students also wanted to create four dialogues using all of the dialogues we have studied.  ONLY ONE DIALOGUE IS REQUIRED.  I encourage students to create more than one.  Going above and beyond the assignment is characteristic of many of our students.  I am so proud they want to do extra work if they have the time.

Grade 5  Students need to study our new dialogue about a day in the park.  Our fifth  graders are very hard-working.  I may distribute two dialogues for them at a time! Some students  do not feel that studying is homework and want to produce a product; e.g., a diarama, a poster, etc.  I explained that studying/practicing their dialogue to polish their oral language skills is a very important part of learning.It is homework.

Grade 6  Class did not meet due to Costume Day parties.  I collected the homework from both sixth grade classes.  I will be working with students  who did not turn  in their comic strip  on Monday.

Week of October 18

K-4  The children are learning Spanish so quickly!  I asked individual children to be the teacher as we wrapped up our study of foods and utensils used to eat different foods.  It was amazing how well they were able to conduct the lesson, ask the questions, and give praise to one another--all in Spanish!  I appreciate your support for your child's study of a second language.  It makes a difference in a child's progress. 

K-5  K- 5 students also continued their study of expressing likes and dislikes in Spanish.  They also played the teacher and asked questions in Spanish. They took to the lesson like the proverbial duck to water!  Their confidence level is very high!  Thank you for your support of our foreign language program. 

Grade 1  First graders reviewed vocabulary associated with speaking about the months of the year, calendar information, and applying previously learned vocabulary  to new situations.  We used their homework as as visual to help them talk about foods and utensils.  I hope they are using some of the new vocabulary at the dinner table!  I want to thank Miss Connie for making sure the assignment was completed on time.    I kept the students' work in class, but please ask your child to name utensils in Spanish for you.  They also know the names of many foods. 

Grade 2  Second grade students have a new dialogue about football!  They colored an activity sheet with the Saints logo, the fleur de lis.  They paired up with a partner to recite a short dialogue about a school football team.  I allowed them to take their dialogue home to practice.  

Grade 3  Third grade also received the new football dialogue.  Students practiced in class with a partner.  I encourage students to practice the dialogue at home.  

Grade 4 did not meet due to a program in the gym. 

Grade 5  Students recited a new football dialogue in class.  They need to practice all of our dialogues at home.  It is very important that students keep all handouts and study them.  We do not have a textbook, so the handouts are essential to our study of Spanish.  Each dialogue emphasizes a new grammatical concept, verb tense, and theme-based vocabulary.  

🏈                                                                       🏈                                                       🏈

Grade 6  Students worked in groups reciting the football dialogue.  I checked their understanding of questions based on last week's autobiography composition.  I am so pleased with out sixth graders' progress in Spanish. For homework, students need to create a comic strip using their own dialogue or a dialogue copied from one of our handouts.  This is due on the 26th of October, our next class meeting. 

                                       Have s wonderful weekend.    


Please call me if you have any questions about grades or the assignments. 

                          📚                     Mrs Linda 🎓🎓🎓📚📚 📚 

Dear Parents, 
       Since we are using a new system to notify parents, I will not be posting a blog in addition to posting information on the new electronic  roll book,   If you would like me to continue  posting using this blogger form, please let me know.  I really like it, but will be using the new system very soon.  I don't mind posting here as well, however,  I need to hear from you. 


Grade 5 has a comic strip homework assignment due next Monday, October 17th.  They need to create characters, draw them, and write their lines inside of comic strip balloons.  They can copy the lines from our dialogues.  It doesn't matter which  printed dialogue they use. They only need to make six or eight boxes.

Grade 6 Students will continue to be tested on the questions I handed out two weeks ago.  Some children were not tested two weeks ago due to limited class time.  They will only be tested on questions 7-12.  All answers are located in their autobiographies.

Please call me about any questions you have about  your child's grade.  I am still missing assignments from some students, and therefore, their grade may have been lowered because of the missing assignments.  The sixth grade students are hard workers and I have high expectations for all of them.

                               Mrs Linda

Note:  Grades 3 and 4 will be completing their comic strip in class due to the holiday on Monday.  If students already began the project, they should bring it to class on Monday.
                              Thank you!

Tuesday 

K-4 classes were evaluated on their oral language skills.  I am happy to say that the children all did very well.  They were asked to provide five weather expressions in Spanish after observing a gesture I've chosen to associate with each term. They children also learned a song about autumn leaves. 

Monday, September 26      


K-5  Students reviewed the terms for fork, spoon and knife in Spanish. They had remembered the song we learned last week!  I like to make learning fun for  children by using chants, poems, and songs to help reinforce new concepts and vocabulary.  We also reviewed favorite foods and how to express likes and dislikes.


Grade 1   The children reviewed the names of utensils in Spanish and played a singing game to identify each utensil. 🍴


Grade 2  Grade 2 did not meet due to a Student Council Assembly in the gym.

Grade 3  Students did not bring their dialog to class due to confusion about where to keep Spanish handouts.  All third graders need a Spanish notebook.  The children must keep all Spanish handouts in their SPANISH NOTEBOOK, a spiral type composition book.  The homework sheet should be left in the spiral notebook.  The Spanish notebook should go home on Monday and come back on the following Monday. Please make sure your child has a spiral notebook for Spanish only.

I will supply another copy of the dialog about weather to the children tomorrow, Tuesday.  They need to keep it in their spiral notebook and study it for our next class. The students who did not bring their notebook on Monday because of the confusion about handouts will receive a "Prepared." NOTE:  Handouts and homework should always be kept in the spiral notebook.  The notebook may be included in the homework folder, but any handouts should be retained inside the notebook and not discarded.  We often use handouts as our textbook.

Grade 4  Students worked in pairs to present the weather dialogue.  They received an oral language grade on this presentation.

The homework  is to change the name of the city to another city where it is cold in winter; such as New York, Boston, Detroit, or Milwaukee.  They may also change the name of the winter month. Students will present their new dialogue next week. I have some very talented second language-learners in Grade 4.🌨



Grade 5  Students presented their weather dialogues.  They need to change the name of the city and month to another city and month that is cold in winter.  They will present the new dialogue next week.  It is homework. Our fifth graders have excellent Spanish oral language skills!


Grade 6  Students received their prizes for Most Creative Book.  They also received a list of questions to answer in Spanish based on their autobiographies. Preparing  their answers is homework.   They will be test orally next Monday.  Questions 1- 7 only. Individual students answered specific questions in class to demonstrate the proper form necessary for a correct answer.  I encourage students  to answer in complete sentences in Spanish. Both classes are doing very well.  Homework  is an important part of our study of Spanish.


                                                                 

                                                  🏈    Happy Monday Night Football!

                                                                    Mrs. Linda




     

Week of September 19th.

K-4  The K-4 classes learned the terms for three utensils in Spanish.  We sang a song to help the children learn the words, tenedor- fork, cuchillo- knife and cucharita- teaspoon. It was so much fun!  We also played a guessing game, Adivina cual es,  Guess what it is.  I put plastic utensils in a little sack and grabbed one without showing the children what it was.  Individual children had to try to guess which one I was touching.  This was a very successful game.  We will continue learning common useful expressions next week.

K- 5  K-5 also played the guessing game and learned a song about utensils in Spanish.  K-5 loves to sing! I can conduct the entire class in Spanish using a method called TPR, which uses gestures and Spanish commands.

Grade 1  Our first graders learned the names for utensils in Spanish and also learned a song which will help them remember the terms.  The children did an excellent job identifying each utensil.  We also expressed which foods are eaten with each utensil.

Grade 2  The children received a short dialogue about two students meeting and planning their activities.  Each child paired up with a partner to read the dialogue.  They took the sheet home to continue studying for next week.  I am so pleased with the second graders' progress in Spanish.

Grade 3  Students paired up with a partner to recite a new dialogue about the weather in Chicago and in a city in Mexico.  They took the sheet home to study.

Grade 4  Students paired up to recite a new dialogue about weather.  I would like the students to practice at home.  It is very important for them to study new dialogues at home.

Grade 5  Students  heard a presentation from a new student about Costa Rica.  It was very well done.
They then paired up with a partner to recite a dialogue about weather in winter in Chicago and a city in Mexico.  The dialogue is homework.   Students need to practice at home.  Several students came to class without their Spanish notebook.  They must bring the notebook every Monday along with previously distributed handouts.

Grade 6  Students  had a chance to read one another's books about emotions in Spanish.  They then voted on which  book deserved to be considered the best. Two students, one from each class, won the contest and will receive a prize. I am also going to give a third student a prize since there was a tie.  Another student will receive  a prize since I judged her book to be the best. It was difficult to judge since many books were very creative.  The use of Spanish expressions correctly was important in choosing the winning books as well as the illustrations.  I am very aware of emojis and their meanings after reading the students' books!  So many of the students used them in their illustrations.

A new dialogue about weather needs to be studied for next week. Each student received a copy.  If your child was absent, please ask him or her to get a copy from another student and have it copied  in the main office.   If not, they will receive the copy next week in class.  All students must maintain a Spanish notebook and bring it EVERY MONDAY.  Their grade will be affected if they do not come to class prepared.

Week of September 12th.

K-4  We had so much fun learning Spanish today.  Using one of our puppets, students expressed likes and dislikes concerning foods.  We also learned several terms of endearment in Spanish.  I can conduct most of the class in Spanish since the children understand our routine in class.  This is going to be a very productive year!

K-5  Students made leaf rubbings.  All of the instructions were given in Spanish and a model leaf rubbing was available.  After the students completed the project and produced their product, they described their leaves in Spanish to the class.

Grade 1  Grade 1 also made leaf rubbings.  The activity was very successful!  Students described their leaf rubbings in Spanish for their classmates.

Grade 2  Students received a new dialogue about weekend activities.   We recited the  conversation several times in class. There are new vocabulary  words in the dialogue. All students took the copy of the dialogue home to practice.  Our second graders are doing very well in developing literacy skills in Spanish.  New students do NOT have to practice the dialogue.  I will work with them next week.

Grade 3  Students practiced a new dialogue in class and worked with a partner reciting it.  Students took the copy home to practice. I would like the students to recite the lines at home to develop fluency.

Grade 4  We did not meet due to a presentation at the library, however;  students saw me when they were having lunch and asked what the homework was,  I told them that since we had not met, there was no homework, but since they were so interested, I brought a copy of the dialogue to their classroom for them to take home.  They were so happy!  I am so proud of our fourth graders. So, there homework is to practice the new dialogue and present it (reading their lines) next week.

Grade 5 students continued with their presentations about South American countries and cultures.  They received a copy of a new dialogue.  They will need to practice the dialogue as homework.  Note:  NEW STUDENTS do not have to study the dialogue.  I will work with them next week.  Please call me if you have any questions about what is expected of your child. 601-428-1704.

Grade 6  I collected the student's books which was a homework assignment.  Students received a dialogue to practice at home.  Students who did not complete the first homework assignment, the autobiography, must turn their work in before the next marking period.  Note:  Students will NOT be given extra time to complete future assignments.  Several students did not submit their second homework assignment and will be graded accordingly for the missing work.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mrs. Linda

Tuesday, September 6th, K-4 Classes

I am so pleased with our K-4 children's participation in Spanish class!  The children sang five songs in Spanish.  The songs are designed to reinforce skills presented previously; such as weather or greetings.  Please ask your child to sing" Happy Birthday" in Spanish.  Many of the songs we learn have English counterparts, so the children can easily relate the concepts to the songs in English.  I love teaching your children.  They are so eager to learn and participate. Four-year-olds certainly are experiencing The Magical Years and I am so happy to be a part of their educational journey.

 Mrs. Linda

Monday and Tuesday, August 29 and August 30.

Grade K-4  The K-4 children learned a new song, a mi me gusta bailer. This song is accompanied  by movement which I use often with younger children.  We also reviewed the names of our puppets and basic responses about age, name, feelings, and the weather.

K-5  Our K-5 children are so receptive to learning Spanish!  I can conduct the entire session in Spanish.  We learned how to say the names of shapes in Spanish and reviewed expressions with tener, to have.  I am very proud of our little second language learners.

Grade 1  Grade 1 learned the names of shapes and how to express their responses in complete sentences.  We reviewed responses to basic questions about family, weather, days, months, birthday, name, and animals.

Grade 2  Grade 2 learned the names of basic shapes and responding in complete sentences to questions about themselves.

Grade 3  Students individually demonstrated their mastery of the use of ordinal numbers.  They did an excellent job!  I am very proud of them

Grade 4  Students discussed the projects made by our new students about the countries of Spain and Cuba  Individual students then demonstrated mastery of the use of ordinal numbers.  Ordinal numbers are not quite as easy as they are in English!  I am so proud of our fourth graders.

Grade 5  Fifth graders presented their projects:  South American Countries.  We emphasized foods landmarks, system of government and the flag of each country.  Several students did not complete the project successfully.  The product they presented was incomplete and/ or not done carefully. I  asked those students to redo their project for our next session, September 12, due to the Labor Day holiday next Monday.  I will be sending home some information about grading policies and my rubric for grades on written work and oral presentations. I will be calling parents  to notify them or will send a note home as soon as soon as possible if their child's work was not completed. I also notified their classroom teacher personally and returned the work to the students.

Grade 6  Our two sixth grade classes are awesome!  Students turned in their autobiographies.  Several students did not turn in their composition.  They had two weeks to complete an assignment which actually was based on last year's written work.  I really want to prepare our sixth graders for next year and being responsible for the completion of homework  is a very important part of being a successful student. I explained the assignment that is due on September 12.  Students have two weeks to complete this assignment, as they had for the first one.   The new project is to create a book based on their feelings.  I showed an example of a completed illustrated book.  Each page should show a different emotion in the from of a photographs, drawings, computer imagesa, magazine photos, collage, etc.  Under the image, the students need to write ONE sentence in Spanish or Spanish and English describing what the image shows,  for example; A veces me siento feliz.  Sometimes I feel happy.  (A picture of a boy smiling will accompany this sentence.  A veces me siento asustado.  Sometimes I feel scared.  ALL STUDENTS COPIED THESE MODEL SENTENCES IN THEIR NOTEBOOK.  The book should be at least sixteen pages long.  I encourage students to include more than sixteen pages.  Several students said they were excited about this creative project and wanted to begin as soon as possible.  Since there is NO CLASS ON MONDAY, students have plenty of time to complete their book even if they go away for the three day weekend.

Have a great holiday.

                           Mrs. Linda

Monday and Tuesday Classes  Week of August 15, 2016.

K- 4  Children reviewed our songs and met new puppets.  The new animal puppets introduced new vocabulary terms to the children. We have a new little doll named, "Susana"  who helped children review parts of the body. Children learned three new songs today, as well.  They are: Happy Birthday in Spanish,  This is the Way We Wash, and Fray Felipe.

K- 5  K-5  The children learned three new songs, (See K-4).  They also answered some questions about themselves in order to review responses learned last year.  They heard a story in Spanish about the wind.  We reviewed other weather expressions as well.

Grade 1  Children answered questions about themselves in Spanish.  They were able to correctly respond to two questions about themselves in complete sentences!  Children also learned three new songs.

Grade 2  The children were given a short dialogue in Spanish to recite.  They took the dialogue home and may practice at home.  Please ask your child about the dialogue.  The purpose of the dialogue is to review last year's vocabulary.  Everything was explained in English so that they children know the meaning of the conversation.

Grade 3  Children were introduced to ordinal numbers.  They copied the numbers to review at home.  We will be working with ordinal numbers next week.  All children need to bring a notebook and pen or pencil to Spanish class every Monday. Unless otherwise noted, worksheets students receive in class should be practiced at home. If homework requires any written work, I will state this on the blog.  Also, students will always complete five or six sentences in class before I ask them to create more sentences or a paragraph at home.

Grade 4  The students copied ordinal numbers in their notebooks.  We will be working with ordinals more next week.

Grade 5  Students read an article from their Scholastic Magazine in Spanish.  They need to prepare a poster about a South American country which is due August 29th.  All students were given a country.  I included Brazil since we are talking about the Olympic Games as part of our culture strand.  If your child forgot his/her country, he/she may prepare the poster about, Argentina. Peru, Brazil,  or Venezuela.  These countries were mentioned in our newsletter.  The poster should include the country's flag,  typical foods, form of government, and monuments or points of interest.  Since the students prepared posters about selected Spanish cities last year, they are very aware of what is expected from them.  New students were shown examples of work prepared last year so they have an idea of what to do.

Sixth Grade  Students were introduced to ordinal numbers.  They also were given a worksheet about professions to complete in Spanish.  The homework is to complete their autobiography using the worksheet to help them with the last paragraph.  This activity is a review and students may use their autobiography from last year to complete the new autobiography.  The responses should be in Spanish only. The autobiography is due August 29th. If the students already completed the assignment, there is no homework for them. I explained everything they were being asked in class, but nearly everyone understood the paragraphs without any help from me!


  Have a wonderful weekend.


Mrs. Linda

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, May 9th, 10, and 11th.

K-4 classes continued learning how to talk about different kinds of Mexican foods.  The children love learning with the colorful felt tacos and tortillas I brought to class!  Next year I hope we can actually create some Mexican pastries to take home.  I will present the directions in Spanish and know the results will be amazing!  (I may do the measuring at first).


K-5  We reviewed ordering tacos in a restaurant entirely in Spanish.  Then we practiced our song for graduation.  I can't wait for you to hear your children singing De Colores, a traditional Spanish folk song.

Grade 1  Grade 1 read a dialogue about a Spanish teacher and one of her students.  I am so pleased with our first graders ability to recognize words in Spanish.  I allowed the students to take the dialogue home so they can share it with you.

Grade 2 Students also read a dialogue and presented it in groups of two.

Grade 3  Students read the dialogue and translated all of the lines into English.  The third graders have excellent oral language skills!

Grade 4 presented the book projects they completed.  I am so pleased with the students' work!

                                    Next week is our last class meeting until the new school year!

                          Thank you for your support and interest in our foreign language program.

                                              Have a wonderful summer vacation!


                                                        Mrs. Linda

Wednesday, May 4

Grades 5 and 6 had contests based on their knowledge of Spanish expressions, vocabulary and grammatical structures.  The groups were divided into teams of four or five.  Students could collaborate with other members of their groups to answer the questions I asked them in Spanish.  We had a lot of fun!  The winning group members received a prize.
There is no homework. Next week we will continue reviewing language structures.  There will be more prizes!

NOTE:  Grade 4 has a project due on Monday, May 9.  Please read the post from two weeks ago about this project.  Students need to create a book based on vocabulary learned this year.  This is NOT an optional project.  I will collect and grade the books next week.  Your child may not receive his/her book back this year since I want to share them with Miss Stone and Staff.

                                   May Day was magical!  Have a wonderful weekend.

                                                       Miss Linda

April 25,  26,and 27th 

K-4  The classes continued learning how to express food preferences in Spanish.  They also can talk about their preferences for Mexican food. I think they will be fluent enough to order their own food in Spanish the next time they visit a Mexican restaurant!  We reviewed parts of the body, and weather, as well.

K- 5  Students continued learning how to talk about their preferences for certain foods in Spanish.  They learned about ten new vocabulary words, including corn, flour, tortilla, meat, chicken, tomato, lettuce, cheese, and beans.  We practices De Colores for graduation. 

2nd Grade  The children made a new book about insects and spiders in Spanish.  They learned the names of insects including, dragonfly, firefly, and beetle in Spanish.  

3rd grade  Students also made a book about insects and spiders. I encourage students to converse in Spanish with other students during the class.  I am so pleased that they are able to do so!  They ask for colors, materials, and use the commands and important expressions of courtesy entirely in 

5th and 6th grade continued learning how to conjugate verbs in Spanish.  I asked the sixth graders to correct the papers they did last week with the verbs ser and estar.  There is no homework. 

Note:  4th grade was given an assignment last week which is due May 9th.  The due date means they did NOT have any homework in Spanish during the weeks of testing.  They need to create a book in S;panish based on concepts and vocabulary they learned this year. The book should have a cover and illustrations as well as text in Spanish or both Spanish and English.  

Wednesday,April 21

Grade 6  I completed the oral testing of individual students. The students created sentences using from of the verb, "estar."  I collected their work.  We will discuss these papers next week.  There is NO homework.

Grade 5  Miss Lisa's class only had about twenty minutes of instruction due to a gardening workshop they needed to attend at two o'clock.   I asked the students to finish their sentences with the verb "estar."  They only need to complete the work they began in class, so most students should only need to compose about ten sentences. These sentences should be quite easy for them since they have numerous examples to assist them. They should NOT do the work they did not finish during testing next week.  All sentences need to be completed before testing begins on Monday.

Miss Tucker's Class  Students created sentences with the verb, "estar."   They finished their work in class.  Some students wanted to continue creating sentences outside of class.  This makes me so happy, but there is no homeowork assigned due to testing next week.  


                                               

Monday, April 18, 2016

 

K-4  The children expressed food  preferences in Spanish.  They learned how to express corn or flour tortillas, meat or chicken tacos and other ingredients that make a taco so delicious!  It was so much fun listening to the children "ordering" their meal in Spanish.  

K- 5   The children also talked about the ingredients found in a taco in Spanish. We then practiced our song in Spanish which will be presented at the K-5 graduation. 

Grade 1  Children made a bilingual book called, "What's for supper?" in Spanish.  They will take the book home next week. 

Grade  2  Children made a book about transportation. They took the books home.  Please ask your child to share it with you.  

Grade 3  The class described the location of objects in the classroom using the prepositions they previously learned.  There is no homework. 

Grade 4 The class described the location of objects in the classroom in relation to other fixtures and furniture.  They received a homework assignment which  is due May 9.  The children should not begin this assignment during testing next week.  This is why I am giving them extra time to complete the project.  They may begin this week or next Thursday after all testing has been completed.  Each child received a detailed description of the assignment on a handout I prepared.  They need to create a book in Spanish using the skills they learned this year.  They may choose the topic of their book.  Some possible themes are:  classroom objects and their locations, clothing,  adjectives to describe their friends, their family members, weather, seasons of the year, holidays, such as Christmas, or their likes and dislikes.    The book should be at least ten pages, but it may be more than ten.  It should have illustrations, created by the students or cut from a magazine or printed on the computer.  Please call me if you have any questions.  Include a cover, book title, and  the author's name--the name of the student.  

                                               Have a great weekend. 

                                                          Mrs. Linda 

Wednesday, April 13

The sixth grade class took an oral exam today.  They responded to a series of questions about themselves.  I am so proud of the students who took the test today. Some students will take the test next week since I did not have time to test all students.  All students should review the list of questions since I may need to do some retesting next week.  Students also read their Spanish language magazine and took copies home


Grade 5 Students read their Spanish language magazines and did the activity pages.  I also informally tested students on questions from their autobiographies.  They did an excellent job.  The students also took home copies of a magazine I ordered for them entitled, Que Tal? There is no homework, but I would like the students to continue reading their magazines and completing the activity pages.

Monday and Tuesday, April 11 and 12. 

K-3  Students heard part of the story about trucks since so many of them went to Touch-A-Truck on Saturday.  I read the story in Spanish pointing to the various trucks and equipment and reading the passage that identifies them . The children also reviewed numbers and descriptions of our animals.  They played a game to identify body parts in Spanish using a small colorful ball. 

K-4  The children counted to forty today in Spanish and heard a story about trucks and equipment in Spanish.  They do an excellent job answering basic questions about themselves. 

K-5  We reviewed numbers and described animals entirely in Spanish.  The children also answered questions about themselves, their age, their names, favorite animals, etc. We ended the class by practicing our song for graduation. 

Grade 1  Students made a new book about professions. They also reviewed numbers to fifty and answered questions about themselves. 

Grade 2  The children started learning how to talk about the location of common classroom objects. They received a paper listing vocabulary that can help them create sentences using the terms for twelve classroom objects.  

Grade 3  Students were asked to create an oral sentence about selected objects in the classroom using their list of prepositions.  They did an excellent job with this activity.  I asked them to try to describe things at home and bring their work next week. It is an optional homework assignment since some students need more assistance.

Grade 4  Students read sentences from their homework assignment.  I asked them to try to create descriptions using prepositions and rooms in their house.  We will talk about their work next week. Some students need my assistance to do this assignment.  I would like them to at least try to create a few sentences by themselves.  It is an optional homework assignment, but I would love to have students try to give some descriptions of their rooms, the kitchen at their house, etc. 

Wednesday, April 6. 5th and 6th graders created group murals of their likes and dislikes in Spanish. There is no  homework for grade 5. All sixth graders need to study a.list of twelve questions for an oral exam on April 13. The answers they need to respond correctly to the questions are in their individual autobiographies. All students have their autobiographies. They were corrected, graded, and distributed in class to the students.

April 4th and 5th.

K-3  The children are learning so many new structures in Spanish.  We reviewed questions and responses in Spanish about preferences using our collection of stuffed animals.  The children learned a song about dancing (as they danced) which teaches the words fast and slow.  We reviewed days of the weeks and numbers to twenty.  The class ended with Old MacDonald in Spanish.  As the last K-3 class left,  one of the children asked me, "Are you going to work now, Miss Linda?"

K-4  Children were "teachers" today.  Individual children asked the questions to other classmates.  The game was called, "Quien es?"  Each child had to answer in a complete description which animal the teacher was holding.  We counted to forty and reviewed days and weather terms.

K-5  Today we began practicing our song in Spanish which the children will sing for graduation.  There is a lot of new vocabulary in the song, including farm animals in Spanish and several new verbs.

Grade 1  Children created a book about plants with eight new vocabulary words.  I always point out similarities between so many terms in Spanish and English.   We had a coloring contest as well.  It was difficult  to choose a winner since children take pride in their finished product!  Nearly all of the books were so beautiful!

Grade 2 Children illustrated the meaning of sixteen new vocabulary words related to classroom objects.  I asked the students to study their papers for an oral quiz next week in class.

Grade 3  The children composed sentences describing items in the classroom using the prepositions they learned in the past two weeks and the Spanish words for selected classroom objects.  I asked them to complete at least sixteen sentences as homework  Most students completed the sentences in class so they just need to study their work for a quiz next week.  I distributed the work of one of the students for others to use as a guide in case they did not understand.  Our third graders are very hard-working!  They also loved moving about the classroom to find the objects and their labels in Spanish.

Grade 4  I collected the autobiographies.  The students also composed sentences using prepositions and the names of classroom objects in Spanish.  They will have an oral quiz next week using the sentences they created. Our fourth  graders work so well in collaborative learning groups. The homework is to create more sentences using the prepositions and classroom vocabulary.  I asked them to create at least sixteen sentences--one with each vocabulary word.  Most students finished in class.

                                       Have a wonderful rest of the week and a great weekend.

                                                        Miss Linda

Tuesday and Wednesday, March 29 and 30.

The K-3 children are so interested in learning Spanish!  they begin to sing the songs in Spanish that they learned as they walk into the class.  We reviewed greetings, numbers, and colors as well as body parts and questions about the location of objects in the classroom.  I added several colors to the basic colors that the children know.  They are also becoming aware of grammatical structures through the use of the Natural Language Approach that I use with my preschool and kindergarten classes.  This approach is similar to the way children learn their first language.

Grade 6  Class did not meet due to an assembly.  We will rewrite the autobiographies the students wrote several weeks ago  I am missing several autobiographies so students  who did not hand in theirs should have the worksheet completed for next Wednesday.  If your child lost the worksheet, please contact me so I can provide him/ her with another one on Monday.  There is another assignment due as well from two weeks ago--A list of things the student likes and doesn't like.*  This is in Spanish, of course.  There should be at least thirty of each.  Thirty things liked and thirty things not liked.  Me gustan  is I like.  No me gustan is I don't like.

Grade 5  Students who had handed in their autobiography received a corrected copy to rewrite.  I am so proud of the students who did their homework.  Next week, the students who completed both assignments will share their likes and dislikes on a huge mural they will prepare in class. I will work with those students who did not complete the autobiography while the other group work on the mural.  Homework is a very important part of learning. Please contact me if you have any questions about the homework.  There is no new assignment for next week.  You can reach me at 601-428-1704.  I welcome calls from you about your child's progress in Spanish.

                                                  Have a great weekend.


                                                      Miss Linda

* All assignments were due last week on Wednesday.  There was NO homework over the Easter holiday.

Monday, March 21, Tuesday, March 22, and Wednesday, March 23.

K-3  Children learned a song and dance about the days of the week, reviewed body parts, colors, opposites, and several questions about themselves.


K-4  Students made weather books which I will collate and distribute to teachers as a class book.  We added new vocabulary to our lessons on weather in Spanish.  I love when the students can actually see the kind of day we are having through the windows in the Easy Reading Room!  Sometimes they can apply three or four different expressions in one class period! The children  reviewed parts of the body, numbers, and days of the week.

K-5  Students also made weather books and reviewed basic questions about themselves and the stuffed animals I use to motivate students and make our activities fun.

Grade 1  Students recited a dialogue between a teacher and a student.  The dialogue included days of the week and months of the year as well as several new common expressions used in Spanish  conversations.  Some of the children  wanted  to take a copy of the dialogue home to read.

Grade 2 Grade 2 also read the dialogue about a conversation between a teacher and her student.  All children took the dialogue home.  It is not homework,

Grade 3  The students presented their homework sentences using prepositions and parts of the body.   Students who did not complete the homework  worked on a dialogue.  I will inform parents next week of the students who did not complete their homework.  We began describing our classroom using prepositions and the names of classroom objects.  I was so pleased that some students can look around the room and describe the locations of the windows, posters, chairs, books, etc. entirely in Spanish.  There is no homework.

Grade 4  Students s wrote their autobiographies using their worksheets as a guide. They each  read their  paragraph to the class.  Grade 4 does a fantastic job with homework assignments!  Without the completed worksheet, we would not have been able to finish this assignment in class.  I am very proud of them.

Grades 5 and 6 read or sang their likes and dislikes.  The melody was, "These Are a Few of my Favorite Things,"  from The Sound of Music. The students who were in class also copied their responses from the homework  worksheet to create a paragraph about themselves.  Most of the students wrote the paragraph at home since the worksheet was partially completed in class last week. There is no homework.




                                    I wish all of you a very Happy Easter.

                                                        Miss Linda

Wednesday, March 16

Grades 5 and 6 have a homework assignment which will be due on Wednesday, March 23.
The first part of the assignment is to prepare a T-graph listing things the student likes on one side, and things they do not like on the other side.  ALL STUDENTS MADE THE T-GRAPH IN CLASS AND WROTE AT LEAST TEN ITEMS. Students need to have at least thirty likes and dislikes. The second part of the homework is to complete one sheet of an autobiography  This is a review.  Every part of the autobiography was discussed in class. If your child needs help with the assignment, please call me at 601-428-1704.  Students were asked if they wished to do an additional page providing more information about themselves.  About seven students from each class asked to do the second page.  Only one page is required, however.  Both assignments are to be completed entirely  in Spanish for 5th and 6th graders.

   Have a great weekend.  Looks like spring is not quite here, but it is on its way!

Monday, March 14

Grade K-4  Students were very happy to be back in school today!  We played the language  game with our stuffed animals.  All of the children did a great job understanding which animal I was asking them to find.  I can conduct our lessons almost entirely in Spanish with our K-4 students.  They have learned so much.  We discussed opposites in Spanish using some colorful visuals. The children heard the story, Buenas Noches, Cuaquito about a family of ducklings and the night sounds and sights they experience while trying to fall asleep.

Grade K-5  Students answered some questions about themselves in Spanish.  The children learned ten pairs of opposites in Spanish.  They heard the story, Buenas Noches, Cuaquito, which  they really enjoyed.  The story is about ducklings trying to fall asleep and noticing night sounds and sights which have to be investigated by Mama Pata.  I am thinking some of the children also might have some issues falling asleep and really enjoyed hearing about the ducklings nighttime experiences. Ask your child to share the story with you.

Grade 1  Children recited a short story about March weather.  They also learned opposites in Spanish and heard the story about Cuaquito, a little duckling and his family.  We reviewed basic questions in Spanish.

Grade 2  Grade 2 recited the story about March weather.  They have a copy to take home.  Please ask your child about it.  Grade 2 students also learned opposites in Spanish and answered questions about themselves.

Grade 3  Using the students work with prepositions in Spanish and a copy of a fox with parts of the body labelled in Spanish, students created sentences telling where each part is located.  For example,  La boca esta debajo de la nariz.  The mouth is under the nose.  I asked students to finish writing the descriptions for homework and bring their work next week, March 21.  Most students wrote at least ten sentences in class.  There are sixteen parts of the body on the handout.    Please contact me if you have any questions about the assignment and I will be happy to explain it if you need further clarification.  If your child has at least ten sentences written, we can finish the rest in class.  I do encourage students to try to compose the rest of the sentences as homework  since they were given four or five examples in class to copy.  Completing homework is important.

Grade 4  Students worked on completing the first part of their autobiography in Spanish. I asked  them to practice reading  what they have already written for next week, March 21. I assisted students with their responses if they did not know the word they needed.    I also encouraged students to try to complete the rest of the page with their responses.  One student said he wanted to complete the page and share it with me on Wednesday of this week!  It makes me so happy that he is so  interested in learning Spanish that he can't wait to share  his work with me.  Several other fourth graders wanted to work independently during class since they did not need any assistance.  That really pleases me.

Grades 5 and 6 worked on some review sheets based on our study of Spanish cities.  The students were able to use their handouts to help them find the answers to the descriptions of the cities.  I was very pleased to see that most of the students came to class prepared with their handouts in their Spanish notebook.

There is no homework.  Have a wonderful spring break.

Air Jam was awesome.  I loved all of the performances and really really enjoyed the closing performance presented by the sixth graders.  It was great!  What a surprise it was!  It was also great seeing my students' parents and siblings. Being part of the SJDS Family is a wonderful experience.

                                                     Miss Linda

Grade K-3 had a fun time today responding to descriptions in Spanish about twelve  stuffed animals and their locations about the room.  I am so pleased at how well the children in all three K-3 classes understand Spanish!  Listening is a very important part of learning a language, including a child's first language.  I am going to continue this activity using other vocabulary including common classroom objects, food, family members, toys, and community workers.

The children also sang songs and reviewed numbers to ten and twenty.

It is my pleasure to teach our K-3 children.  They are so receptive to learning Spanish.  Thank you for your cooperations and interest in our program at SJDS.

                              Have a great spring break next week.

                                                    Miss Linda

                                   

Monday, February 29

Grades K-4  played a game using the names of animals and their descriptions.  The game was entirely in Spanish. I am so proud of the children!  I asked several students to be "Teacher" in order to allow them to give the verbal description to other children.  They  did an outstanding job and everyone wanted to have a chance to be the teacher!  We reviewed numbers to twenty and I am hoping to teach the numbers to fifty before the end of the school year.

K-5  K- 5 also played the animal description game in Spanish and selected students we the teacher giving the descriptions.  We are also reviewing numbers to fifty in Spanish.

Grade 1  Children learned a short story in Spanish about February and March.  We discussed Spring arriving in March and flowers popping up to welcome this beautiful season in Spanish.  

Grade 2  Children also learned the story about the beginning of Spring in Spanish.

Grade 3  Children discussed the arrival of Spring.  They also completed five sentences about themselves.  They have the sheet to read with you at home.  Please ask them to see it.  Children shared their homework using prepositions in Spanish.  New students were given a booklet with Spanish expressions and useful vocabulary.

Grade 4  Grade 4 shared their sentences using the verb "vivir." I gave our new students a booklet with some of the vocabulary other students have already learned  in Spanish.  They DO NOT have to learn everything on the pages.  It is more of a resource for them.

There is NO HOMEWORK during the spring break although many students asked if they could study what we are learning in class during their vacation.  Be all means they may do so.  I love St. John's students' desire to learn Spanish.

                                                       Have a wonderful spring break.


                                                                      Miss Linda

                   

Wednesday, February 24.

Grades 5 and 6 presented their reports on Toledo.  The students who did not complete the assignment were asked to bring it next Wednesday, March 2.  The rest of the class do not have homework.  Students who were absent  last week were given the new city, Valencia, Spain to use for their report.

After the reports were given, we read about Valencia, Spain, Home of Valencia Oranges!  Students completed the questions about the reading.  I also gave them a word search to complete.  It is not, however, homework.

Please call me if you have a question about homework.

      Have a great weekend.  Enjoy the sunshine this weekend!

         Miss Linda

Grades 5 and 6

Students have a report due On Wednesday, February 24.  on Toledo.  We have done about ten reports on Spanish cities since August so students are very aware  of what is required.  The city of Toledo, Spain was introduced last week. The assignment  was explained to the students by my substitute teacher last week, since I was not in school on Wednesday.  If you have any questions, please call me at 601-428-1704.  This assignment is very important, as are all homework assignments.  Due to Air Jam, I do not want to give a homework assignment next week.    Grade 6 does their reports in Spanish and Grade 5 may do the assignment in English  Spanish, or bilingually.

     See you at Air Jam next week!

Monday, February 22

 

Grade K-4  Classes continued expressing their preferences for the animal "puppets" I use in class to teach vocabualry.  We talked about the weather (in Spanish), seasons of the year, rewiewed parts of the body, basic commands, and heard a story about a woman who swallowed a frog--the Spanish version of the story.  

K-5  Children answered questions in Spanish about which puppet they like the best, talked about the seasons, reviewed weather, months, days, and heard a story in Spanish about the woman who swallowed a frog, a classic story which teaches sequencing, among other important  language  skills  

Grade 1  The children played a game to identify the four seasons.  We discussed the months of the year associated with each season.  They listened to the story about the woman who swallowed a frog. 

Grade 2  Students played a game in which individual children had to recite a complete sentence describing different animals using adjectives in Spanish.  They did a wonderful job!  They also learned right and left, next to, and several prepositions.  We will be working on using  more words to designate the location of classroom objects next week. 

Grade 3  Students completed a sheet to reinforce their knowledge of prepositions in Spanish.  They have a homework assignment due next week:  Draw and label objects and furniture in their room or any room in the house.  They have a worksheet with the terms they need.  If you need additional information about this assignment, please call me at: 601-428-1704.  

Grade 4  Students wrote sentences using the verb "vivir."  Vivir means to live.  They wrote a group of sentences in class and need to write twenty more using the names of different cities around the world or the state of Mississippi.  Model is in their notebook.  Yo vivo en Laurel.  Tu vives en Ellisville,  Ella vive en Madrid.  Nosotros vivimos en Barcelona.  Ellos viven en Chicago.  

                                       Have a wonderful week! 

                                                    Linda Axton 

Wednesday

5th and 6th graders created original Valentine's day cards or Friendship Day cards.  Valentine's Day is also know as Dia de la Amistad in Spanish.  They used previously learned vocabulary to write a greeting to their friend or other important people in their lives.  I really enjoyed watching the students tap into their knowledge of Spanish to create the cards.

There is no homework.  Both classes will be working on a project in the coming weeks which will be based on our study of important Spanish cities.

      Have a wonderful weekend!  Thank you for your support and interest in our foreign language program.


                                 Miss Linda

Week of February 8.

K-3 really enjoyed class yesterday!  I introduced several new stuffed animals to them.  It is amazing how well children acquire a second language at an early age.  The animals are used to introduced new vocabulary and grammatical structures to the children using The Natural Language Approach developed by Dr. Stephen Krashen.  I introduced parts of the body using a colorful ball. 

K-4  Children reviewed weather, greetings, months of the year, animals and numbers.  We also discussed Chinese New Year, The Year of the Monkey. 

K-5  Children sang all of their songs and reviewed weather, months, family members, and animals.  We discussed Chinese New Year. 

Grade 1  Children finished their small bilingual book about the color red.  We discussed Chinese New Year. 

Grade 2 The students colored a picture of a monkey for Chinese New Year.  I identified the twelve animals (in Spanish)  for the children.  We discussed some traditions and compared them to other cultural new year celebrations.  

Grade 3  Students presented their record of foods eaten for the week.  The children who were not prepared with their homework worked with me on the lesson they did not complete as homework.  Note: New students to our class are NOT responsible for the homework assignments. I gave a previous assignment from last year to the new members of our class.  

The students who were prepared with their homework worked on  a holiday project  in Spanish.  

No homework for third grade. 

Grade 4  Grade 4 has a holiday project which is due on February 23.  Please have you child bring their hearts to school even though it will be too late for Valentine's Day.  Valentine's Day is often called Friendship Day in Spanish.  with this in mind, they can present their work even though the holiday will have passed.  The project involves adjectives to describe people written on the heart they were given in class.  It is a surprise! 

    Have a great weekend! 

Wednesday, February 3.

Grade 5 presented their homework assignment.  They did an excellent job with their presentations.  Students were given a small heart to use as a Valentine's Day card.  They were asked to write a message in Spanish to the friend who would receive the card.  I suggested they write three adjectives in the center of the heart which describe their friend.  They could also prepare a card for a teacher or parent.  I will return the hearts to the students next week so they may send them to their recipients.    THE STUDENTS DO NOT HAVE HOMEWORK.

Grade 6  Students presented their homework.  They prepared Valentine's cards in Spanish for friends, teachers, or parents.  I will return the card to the students next week.

NO HOMEWORK WAS ASSIGNED.

                                                Have a great weekend!


         

K-3  I really enjoy working with the K-3 children and their teachers.  The children love participating in classroom activities. I use songs, poems, finger games, and dance to familiarize young children with Spanish.  Today, we played a game to identify colors.  children had to say, 'Si" or "No"  when asked questions in Spanish about the color of objects.  We also discussed weather expressions and the names of some animals.  They are so receptive!  Of course, we sang all of our songs!  I asked children to share some of the vocabulary they learned.  Please let me know if they do so.  I appreciate it!

Monday, February 1

K-4 Children  learned to say the date in Spanish.  They learned how to express things they like.  We started out with favorite animals. We will work on expressing dislikes with foods and activities next week.  I love working with our K-4 children!  They love singing songs and participating in oral language activities.  We talked about Valentine's Day, which  is also called, El Dia de la Amistad, Friendship Day, in Spanish. We concluded our class with a story in Spanish,  Buenas noches, Luna.

K-5  K- 5 has a group of very talented singers!  There are about six or seven children who have beautiful soprano voices which I hear when the children sing songs.  All of the children sing very well, but I can't help noticing the six or seven children who truly have angelic voices!  I think we will form a Spanish choir in the near future!  K-5 also talked about Valentine's Day and named things that are red.  We have a new stuffed animal in class who is red.  The children actually offered lyrics in Spanish since I do not  yet have a song about our new red baby gorilla stuffed animal. ( I compose the lyrics to the songs children sing based on the target vocabulary.  I was so pleased with their song about our new animal. * Here is the children's song about her:  Gorila, roja, gorila roja, muy muy suave, muy muy suave.  Dos orejas chicas, una nariz roja, no le tengo miedo, No le tengo miedo.  The melody is Are You Sleeping?     Red Gorila, Red Gorila, you are very very soft, very very soft.  Two small ears a red nose, I am not afraid of you. I am not afraid of you.  Children also heard a story about a hungry  little mouse.

Grade 1  Students learned how to talk about things that are red.  They made a book which they will take home next week.  They also learned how to express the date in Spanish.  Our first graders are very eager to learn Spanish and know so much!

Grade 2  Grade 2 completed a bilingual book in Spanish about things that are red.  They took the books home and I hope they will share them with you.  Our second graders are very interested in learning Spanish and pronounce words quite well in Spanish.  I am proud of them.

Grade 3.  Grade 3 presented their sentences about themselves using adjectives in Spanish.  Their homework assignment is to record the meals they eat everyday for one week in Spanish.  EX: El lunes me comi pan, huevos, pollo, ensalada, un bistec y papas.  On Monday, I ate bread, eggs, chicken, salad, steak and potatoes.  The foods they mention should be actual food they have eaten. It is such a pleasure working with our third graders.  They are a very creative group of youngsters!

Grade 4  Students presented their homework from last week.  Their  new assignment is to  describe  ten friends using adjectives from the list I provided or other adjectives in Spanish.  Most students wrote five descriptions in class, so they will only have to write five more.  Fourth graders have shown so much progress in Spanish.  It is a pleasure working with these students.  The sentences should say, ___________(Name of friend) es amable, respetuoso, y paciente.  (Students may use four or five adjectives per description if they wish).

I love using stuffed animals in our songs.  I worked at The Chicago Zoological Society for a number of years before I  became a teacher.  I often share that information with the children.  They always look very surprised when I tell them I worked with real lions and tigers and bears, and elephants!

Wednesday, January 27th.

Grades 5 and 6 presented their homework assignment.  They all did an excellent job with the assignment.  I am so pleased that students are reading in Spanish.

The home work due February 3rd is as follows:

Students need to write a description of what they see in a photograph from a magazine or other source.  They may use a photo from a camera, for example.  Sixth grade was given a photo from a magazine to use.  Students were provided with an example in class of a photo of a young woman.  The example was:

   Ella tiene los ojos cafes y el pelo negro.  Lleva una camisa rosada.  Es muy joven.

She has brown eyes and black hair.  She is wearing a pink shirt.  She is very young. (This is only an example).  I expect students to write more than one sentence.

I encouraged students to write as much as they can in Spanish and even create a "story."  I gave examples in class of telling which college the woman attended, how many sisters she has, what she is studying, etc.  Ella va a la Universidad de Mississippi.  Estudia el espanol.  Of course unless the students use an actual photograph of family members or themselves, the information they write will be made-up.

Monday, January 25, 2016

K-4  Students reviewed all basic questions and answers.  They can answer about fifteen questions in complete sentences.  The children also respond well to tag questions on a variety of subjects.  The classes sang all of their songs including two new songs, including one naming family members. 

K-5  The children reviewed greetings, weather terms, numbers, days of the week, months of the year and basic questions about themselves.  We will be discussing likes and dislikes in Spanish next week. 

Grade 1  Students completed their books about cold weather. The book is entitled Rosa tiene frio.  I gave the books to the classroom teachers to distribute to each child.  Please ask your child to share the book with you.  

Grade 2  Students made a bilingual book about winter.  They finished the books in one class period.  I am very proud of them.   Each child took their book home with them.  Please ask your child to present their book to you. 

Grade 3  Children have a homework assignment which is due on February 1, our next class. 
They will use their posters or computer-generated assignment from last week to write complete sentences about themselves.  The homework last week was to write adjectives in Spanish which describe themselves--inteligente, generoso, respetuoso, etc.  They copy the adjectives from their poster or laptop and insert them in the model sentence:  Yo soy inteligente, respetuoso, y generoso.  Yo soy timido, activo y amable. etc.  They should write at least five sentences using three adjectives in each sentence.  They do NOT need to make a poster of their sentences.  the sentences should be written on notebook paper or in their Spanish notebooks.  

Grade 4  Students presented their personality projects.  They also have a homework assignment which is to record in Spanish the meals they eat for one week.  All students  copied a model sentence and the names of the days of the week.  EX:   El lunes, me comi pan con cereal, una ensalada, carne con papa, y pastel de fresa. 

El martes, me comi yogur, huevos, fruta, sopa de pollo, pescado frito y papas.   

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Grade 5
  Students presented their information about the Spanish city of Segovia. I am very proud of our 5th graders. I encourage the students to use technology as much as they can to prepare their work.  I am pleased that so many students are making their presentations electronically.

Homework was assigned.  It is due on Wednesday, January 27th.  Unless otherwise stated, the homework is due the following class session.

The new assignment is to keep a record in Spanish of all meals beginning on Wednesday, January 20th.  Students will write down in the form of a sentence what they ate each day.  EX:

 El miercoles para el desayuno, me comi, pan y cereal.  Para el almuerzo, me comi pescado y ensalada. Para la cena, me comi carne con papa y espinaca.


For breakfast on Wednesday, I ate bread and cereal. For lunch, I ate fish and salad.  For dinner, I ate stew and spinach.

Students were given two sheets listing foods in Spanish with pictures.  They also copied a model sentence in class as well as the days of the week.  They will have this information in their Spanish notebook.

6th Grade  Students presented their information about the beautiful city of Segovia, Spain.

Their homework is the same as the assignment listed above for Grade 5.  It is due on January  27, 2016, Wednesday.

NOTE:  It is not necessary to write the meals in English.  The work may be written down as simple sentences or in the form of a paragraph.  Example of paragraph form:

         El miercoles para el desayuno, me comi pan y cereal.  Para el almuerzo, me comi una hamburguesa.  Para la cena, me comi carne con papa y ensalada.  El jueves para el desayuno me comi
cereal y yogur.  Para el almuerzo, me comi pescado y arroz.  Para la cena, me comi papas, pollo frito, y ensalada.

Students do NOT have to list EVERY FOOD they eat!

            Please contact me if you have any questions.

                                                   Miss Linda

Thank you for your support and interest in our foreign language program.  I appreciate it!

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, January 11, 12, and 13.

K-3  Children sang several songs to learn the words for family members.  They also learned weather expressions, especially, Hace frio--It's cold!  They heard the story about The Sun in Spanish. 

Monday:  K-4 discussed weather in Spanish.  They reviewed two new songs, Papa Dedo and Habia una vez una mano.  The first song teaches the words for family members.  The second teaches several verbs and adjectives.  The children love singing songs!  They heard the story about El sol, The Sun. 

K-5  K-5 also discussed weather, sang two new songs, and heard the story about El sol, The Sun.  The children understand so much in Spanish.  

Grade 1 Children made a new bilingual book about winter.  It is so rewarding to hear them speaking to one another in Spanish while they color the pages of their book.  They ask one another for colors or other materials in Spanish!  They will complete the book next week and take it home to show parents. 

Grade 2  We reviewed the four seasons by making posters about each season.  Then, children had toi identify the season by the picture. Children will take home a new mini-book next week. 

Grade 3  and 4  Students received a list of adjectives to use in the making of a poster about their personalities.  They need to choose 15 or more adjectives to describe themselves and arrange the adjectives on colorful poster.  They may also make a Power Point for this project.  This is the same project the 5th and 6th graders presented this week.  It is due on January 25, since there are no classes next Monday.  Please contact me if you need more information, but the students received a detailed informational sheet in class with a list of adjectives to assist them.  They may use Spanish only or prepare a bilingual poster with the English translations.  

Grades 5 and 6  Students presented their personality posters and Power Points.  They did an amazing job with this project. Since there are so many cognates in Spanish, the students are also improving their vocabulary skills in English.  I am very proud of our fifth and sixth graders.  The homework for Wednesday, January20th,  is a report or poster about Segovia, Spain.  We have done this assignment with about ten cities already.  Fifth grade may use English.  Sixth grade needs to complete the project in Spanish only.  Most students actually make bilingual posters or reports.  

                           Have a great weekend. 

                                   Miss Linda

Tuesday, January 5

K-3 met for the first time to receive instruction in the Spanish language.  We had so much fun.  The children sang several songs and we began to count in Spanish.  The class concluded with a story in Spanish about animals that live in the Arctic.  I read the story in both languages at this point unless the picture clues help children to understand the Spanish vocabulary.  

Wednesday, Grade 6  Students received a new assignment/project which  is due next week.  The sheet gives specific step by step directions as well as listing words students need to complete the assignment.  Students need to create a poster (I distributed small cardboard to students) showing adjectives in Spanish to describe their personalities. I also gave students an additional list of adjectives they may wish to use.  The vocabulary has the English translations as well so students understand which adjectives they will be using.  Students may use a larger poster if they wish.  They may also create their project on the computer.  Unfortunately, I do not have a computer in my classroom to use so students will have to bring their own laptop if they are using PowerPoint. They may use fin markers, glitter pens, colored pencils, etc. to create the poster.  They do not have to write complete sentences.  They willuse complete sentences in class when they present their poster.   Sixth graders also received a sheet about Segovia, our next Spanish city,  as we travel through Spain in class! They only need to read the information.  We will discuss it next week in class. 

Grade 5:  Students also received detailed instructions about our next project.  Please read information above.  They did not receive the sheet about Segovia.  They will receive it next week.  Most fifth graders said they wished to create a large poster, which is fine.  They did, however, receive a small poster board to use if they wish.  Project is due next week, January 13.   

Note:  Copies of the project for students who were absent were placed in Miss Lisa's  and Miss Tucker's mailboxes.  If you child was absent, please make sure they received a copy of the project, or contact me at 601-428-1704. 

*  There is a picture of what the project will look like on the sheet students received.  The picture shows only three or four adjectives for lack of space.  Children need to use at least 25 adjectives from the list.  They may, of course, use more!  I always have students who go above and beyond the requirements.  I love that!