News from the Spanish Teachers -- May 2017

Kaitlin Robinson

Kindergarten students are learning about farm animals and products! We have continued practicing singing the song "De colores", and have read the books Ahora, ¿qué va a pasar? and No hace falta la voz. We have also been playing games to practice animal names. Your child recently should have brought home three animal cards that we used to play a guessing game with a partner, with each child having three different cards. You can encourage your child to teach you the names and play it with you!

Brigitte Valerio 

In first grade, the students are learning about farms. We have been singing an animated song that teaches about farm animals and the sounds they make. The children have had multiple opportunities to learn animals names and to identify them when listening to physical descriptions. Children also talked about their favorite farm animals. In the next days, the children will continue to learn about animals and products that come from the farms. We will be singing the new song 'Los Pollitos' and draw our favorite animal. 

Second graders are learning about farm animals and products. Last week, we started learning about fruits and vegetables that come from the garden (huerto) and now we are talking about animals, and products that come from them. In addition, students are learning that farm products go to the food factory, and finally to the market. We have been playing games to practice the vocabulary and to describe some products. A game the students enjoyed very much is 'the game of silence' in which a product or animal is described and it the description is incorrect, the students remain silent and they have to say the correct name at the end for a point. The children also had the opportunity of seeing farms from Colombia and talk about popular Andean animals: cuy, llama, and alpaca.

Third graders have been learning about places and people of the community. Students can tell the name of a place and what member of the community works there. They have been describing the clothing and uniforms people wear in the workplace. In addition, last week students learned a salsa song by the 'Latin Brothers' about people, places, and things of the community. They also learned cultural aspects of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Colombia and they had the opportunity of watching famous people of those countries singing and dancing salsa. The students learned the basic steps of Salsa and enjoyed the class very much!  In the following weeks, we are going to study 'geographical features' of the community in the USA and Mexico. 

Leslie Prime

4th grade Spanish students have been learning about places (los lugares) in a community. In small groups and with a partner, students have been focusing upon prepositions of location in order to help give one another directions! Students have been singing Spanish songs, playing games and using a wide variety of classroom manipulatives which help reinforce their learning. In the coming weeks, we will revisit our study of South America and some of the traditional foods in the Paraguay and Uruguay. Students will learn to make comparisons from foods to geography between these two Spanish speaking countries! 

5th grade Spanish students have been learning about places (los lugares) in a community. In small groups and with a partner, students have been focusing upon prepositions of location in order to help give one another directions! Students have been singing Spanish songs, playing games and using a wide variety of classroom manipulatives which help reinforce their learning. In the coming weeks, we will revisit our study of Spain and some of their traditional foods, shopping in the market place and ordering food at a restaurant! 

6th grade Spanish students have been learning about the importance of having a favorite or special place! As part of their studies, they have completed reading articles as well as interpretive listening activities, which have provided rich vocabulary students are now incorporating into their conversations. In the coming weeks, students will learn about Puerto Rico and Mexico. We will focus upon some of the holidays, traditions, foods and geography while making comparisons between these two culturally rich and diverse Spanish speaking locations!


News from the Spanish Teachers -- April 2017

Kaitlin Robinson

Kindergarten students have recently brought home their culminating performance task for our unit on family. I hope that you had a chance to read the letter that provided information about the project and to talk about it with your child. Students did a great job of presenting their families to me and to several different classmates!
This week, we begin to talk about spring. We will read the book La primavera and listen to and sing the traditional song "De colores". By talking about flowers and animals, we will be incorporating review of shapes, colors, and numbers in Spanish.

Brigitte Valerio 

On April, first graders learned about spring weather and colors. The students enjoyed the book 'La Oruga Muy Hambrienta' by Eric Carle and while reading the book, the students identified the colors and some fruits they saw. We followed up with a craft activity to learn about butterflies and the students used their own hands to draw the butterflies. Recently, we started the family and pets unit. By playing the game 'Pasa la Bola' each student had the opportunity to talk about their family members. This week, we are reading the book 'Mí Mamá es una Llama' -a story from South American; in addition, the students are drawing and describing their favorite pet.  We will close the topic on pets by playing the game 'bingo'.  

Second graders completed the 'all about spring season' worksheet after learning about the weather, colors, harvest, and clothing of spring. Last week, we started studying the topics of family and pets. The students are completing their family trees and they will learn about their favorite family activities. The students will share their preferences by verbalizing what activities they enjoy doing with their family. The following week, second graders will be learning about the farm and farm pets. 

Third graders did a few verbal and writing activities to learn about spring clothing and matched the clothing to the weather. We also studied the physical appearance and the students played the game '¿Cómo tú eres?' to describe themselves. Last week, we started studying the 'Community Unit' and we looked at a presentation of famous Mexicans such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Chicharito, and Talia. The students described the physical appearance of those Mexicans, and had the opportunity to see famous paintings of Frida Kahlo and talked about the things they noticed. This week,  we are learning about places in the community and the people who work in those places. In addition, the students will see the presentation  'Cinco de Mayo' to learn about and celebrate this Mexican holiday.

Leslie Prime

4th grade Spanish students have been learning about the places (los lugares) in the community. Students created neighborhood maps to practice asking and answering for directions in their "imaginary" towns! While learning new vocabulary, students frequently work in pairs or small groups to create reasons why we visit places in the community. In the coming weeks, students will learn modes of transportation and create skits as part of their performance task for this unit.

5th grade Spanish students have been learning about the places (los lugares) in the community. Students created neighborhood maps to practice asking and answering for directions in their "imaginary" towns! While learning new vocabulary, students frequently work in pairs or small groups to create reasons why we visit places in the community. In the coming weeks, students will learn modes of transportation and create skits as part of their performance task for this unit.

6th grade Spanish students have been learning about the importance of having a favorite or special place! As part of their studies, they have completed reading articles as well as interpretive listening activities, which have provided rich vocabulary students are now incorporating into their conversations. In the coming weeks, students will continue their interpersonal speaking skills involving about their favorite places, activities and descriptions. Students and I have enjoyed learning these new things about one another!

News from the Spanish Teachers -- March 2017

From Kaitlin Robinson:

Kindergarten students are talking about family and pets! We have played Bingo, guessing games, and matching games to practice listening to and saying various family members. Students also drew pictures of their own families and then told several classmates who the members of their family are in Spanish. In this unit, we have read the books En familia,Leopoldo y Casilda, and Un abuelo, sí. We made a graph to represent the different pets that students have and don't have, and also listened to and jumped around to "La familia de ranas", a song about a frog family. In the coming weeks, students will be making a tree to represent their family, which they will take home, along with a letter containing more detailed information about what we have learned in this unit.

From Brigitte Valerio:

In first grade, students learned to describe themselves by stating their size and hair color.  We used a variety of resources such as picture books, posters, pictures of disney characters, and reference worksheets. We played the game 'Pasa la Bola'  and chanted '¿Cómo tú eres? and the student who kept the ball had to describe himself/herself. The students loved to play that game as well as 'matamoscas' in which they identified the picture of the disney character that matched the description. Last week, we started studying the spring season and we have sang the song of the season, talked about the weather, and read the book 'La Fruta' by Lada Josefa Kratky. The next topic we are going to study is the 'Family and Pets'. 

In second grade, students learned about the physical descriptions. They learned to describe themselves and other by recognizing hair color, stating what color of eyes they 'have', and whether they are tall, medium, or short size. The students had a lot of fun playing 'Persona Secreta', a game in which students have to guess who matches the physical descriptions. To support our learning, we read the books 'Pelitos' by Sandra Cisneros, and 'Tamaños' by Altea. In addition, the students completed a worksheet on which they matched themselves to the visual provided. This week, we started to learn about the spring season and the students will take home a spring season worksheet which is about the colors, weather, harvest, and clothing. Next, the students will learn about 'Family and Pets'. 

Third graders have been learning about food from Mexico and USA. The last topics on this extensive unit was the 'food pyramid' and the 'healthy plate' which contains the different groups of food. The students have been exposed to a variety of resources including the books 'Cuadros de Familia' by Carmen Lomas Garza (Mexican), and ¡ A Comer! by Pat Mora which illustrates Mexican traditions. Also,  the students enjoyed creating their 'healthy food plate'; for this, we used paper plates and the students chose their own food ingredients. We have watched several authentic Mexican videos by ZuperKids and discussed 'healthy eating habits'. We played a game with the ball while chanting "Tengo, tengo, tengo hambre', ¿Tú qué quieres comer?" and the students had to say what they wanted to eat or drink. Third graders have been talking about their food preferences. To conclude our 'Food Unit', we are doing an assessment to compare Mexican food and American food. Next week, students will learn new vocabulary about 'spring clothing', and then, we will start the 'Community Unit'. 


From Leslie Prime:

4th grade students have been learning about the country of Chile. As a review of colors and shapes, classmates worked together to brainstorm vocabulary to make comparisons between the flags of Chile and The United States. They have been practicing conversations which include fun vacation and leisure time activities. As they ask and answer about enjoyable activities, they are also incorporating reasons they enjoy these activities, when and where! In the coming weeks, students will learn about communities, making comparisons between our capital city of Boston and the capital city of Santiago.

5th grade students are continuing their studies of six regions in Spain. Most recently, we have been learning about Castilla y León. As we discover the traditions and landmarks that make this region a popular tourist destination, students are now incorporating vacation activities and places into their conversations! Classmates are working together adding to a variety of sentence formations in order to help make their conversations more personal and deepen their understanding. In the coming weeks, students will work toward creating an advertisement displaying one of our regions of study which includes activities to attract tourists!

6th grade students have been continuing to explore ways to express Las Opiniones. While we are still making our learning concrete by expressing our opinions from school related topics to current events, we have now incorporated favorite places! Students have been developing their interpretive listening skills by listening to video clips, writing the main ideas, having discussions and making comparisons to their personal preferences. In addition, their interpretive reading skills have improved by reading and sharing their opinions of places tin which to do a variety of activities. In the coming weeks students will create a visual of a favorite place and share detailed information why this place is special!


News from the Spanish Teachers -- December 2016

Before the winter break, students in kindergarten were working with shapes. They saw and named the shapes and colors in the flags of Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Using a large floor map, students saw where these countries are, along with their corresponding flag. Students also played pirinola, a game popular in many Spanish-speaking countries. In the coming weeks, students will be participating in a variety of activities to practice more with colors in Spanish!
 
In first grade the kids learned about the geometrical shapes and two new colors: 'plateado y dorado' and they identified and talked about the shapes, colors, and sizes of the flags of the Andean countries. This culminated with the children coloring the flags. Prior to the holidays, the children learned a very popular Spanish song 'Mi Burrito Sabanero' and they danced to the rythm of 'Merengue' from la República Dominicana.  On January, the first graders will be learning about the physical descriptions.
 
Second graders finished their 'All About Fall' project with the weather, colors, products including 'papas y maíz' from the Andean countries of South America, and the fall clothing. They were introduced to new geometrical shapes 'hexágono and octágono'. As a cultural piece of the season, the students  learned the song 'Mi Burrito Sabanero' and other seasonal songs from the Hispanic culture.After our winter break, the children will do the project 'Passport to South America' to identify, draw, and color the Andean countries' flags.  In addition, we will start our lessons on Body Parts.
 
In third grade, the children learned about the schools and subjects in Mexico. They identify similarities and differences from the school systems in USA and Mexico. Also, they learned new vocabulary for fall clothing. Before the winter break, the students learned about the season's celebrations in Mexico with 'Las Posadas, Piñatas, Nochebuena, and food -tamales, buñuelos, rosca de reyes, and champurrado-. The children watched a video-clip of these traditions from BBC -Mundo, and they colored 'La Flor de Nochebuena, and a Piñata. We ended the year listening and dancing to the salsa rythnm of 'Cascabel', and to the 'merengue' rythm of 'Mí Burrito Sabanero'. On January, the students will continue to learn about food.  
 
4th Grade Spanish-
Before break students learned their first set of personal characteristics. They have been practicing their listening skills in Spanish by writing new and familiar words while hearing music which reinforces their vocabulary words. Students will continue to reinforce their learning in conversations with classmates about themselves, friends and family members. In the coming weeks, we will continue our personal characteristics unit while incorporating some of the customs and culture of Argentina.
 
5th Grade Spanish-
Before break students began their studies of 6 of the regions in Spain. In our studies, we are focusing on the cultural similarities and differences between the regions including, traditional foods, music, dance and annual festivals. Students were able to have fun practicing "las palmas" (clapping) and "el baile" (dancing) basics of El Flamenco, a traditional dance from Andalucia, Spain. In the coming weeks, we will continue our Spain unit while incorporating traditional and contemporary clothing in Spain and the United States.
 
6th Grade Spanish-
Before break students had the experience to video record themselves during spontaneous conversations in Spanish. As part of our identity unit, students were able to share information about themselves and personal preferences. As part of our learning, students participated in a survey to identify their learning styles based upon the multiple intelligences. Students thoroughly enjoyed developing an awareness of their learning preferences for Spanish class and other subjects. In the coming weeks, we will continue our identity unit while incorporating some of the customs and culture of Puerto Rico.

News from the Spanish Teachers -- November 2016

Kindergarten Spanish classes are learning words related to fall. Through activities, games, and music related to apples and pumpkins, your child has been practicing colors, sizes, and counting in Spanish. Kindergarten students have done a wonderful job adapting to class conducted in Spanish, and to the routines and songs that are part of each lesson!

In 1st Grade, students have been learning all about themselves and last week, they completed their 'All About Me' books. Through songs, chantings, and games such as 'Matamoscas' they practiced responding to the questions: What is your name?  Where do you live? and How old are you?  The students enjoyed the games and drawing themselves.  1st graders love singing the song '7 día tiene la semana' and 'La Gallina Turuleca'. This week, 1st graders will learn about apples and pumpkins, sizes, and shapes.

Second graders have been learning about Andean countries and their location in South America. They completed the posters 'All About Me' in which they tell how they look like, where they live, and how old they are. The students enjoyed learning about themselves and they practiced asking and answering questions through games such as 'Pasa la Bola'. During the next weeks, students will learn about products of the Andean countries (corn and potatoes), apples and pumpkins, colors, and fall weather, and they learn numbers up to 50 with a song.

In 3rd Grade, students have been learning about map features of Mexico, physical appearance, and the numbers from 1-100. The students love to sing the song 'Que tiempo hace hoy' related to the weather and the rap song 'Los Números del 1 al 100'. They also love to dance to the 'Macarena' while singing the numbers song. This week, the students will learn about the cultural tradition of the Mexican holiday 'Day of the Dead' and they will also be learning about academic subjects and daily schedule.

4th Grade Spanish classes are continuing the share information and ask questions to their classmates about their feelings. They are expressing several different types of emotions. They have been engaged in fun ways to express themselves in songs, games and playing charades! In the coming weeks, 4th graders will learn about community members and places.

In 5th grade Spanish, students are continuing the practice conversations about activities at school and at home. Students have been learning songs to reinforce the curriculum and enjoy the "Basho" Spanish music videos on You Tube. Many students have reported listening and practicing the songs at home! In the coming weeks, 5th graders will learn about Spain as their country of focus.

In 6th grade Spanish, students are continuing to develop their awareness of "oral proficiency vs. fluency" in Spanish. Students have been developing their language interpretation skills in listening activities. While listening, students take notes on their interpretation of the main idea and writing familiar words in Spanish. Students have been progressing well and are able to discuss their interpretations with fellow classmates in Spanish. In the coming weeks, Students will continue developing their interpretive skills as we transition into interpretive writing in Spanish.

News from the Spanish Teachers -- October 2016

Kindergarten Spanish classes have recently practiced saying how they are feeling in response to the question ¿Cómo estás? We have been singing the song “Hola, hola”, and you also may have noticed a paper device that your child made, with flaps to lift and put down and practice the words bien and mal. We recently read the book El monstruo de colores by Anna Llenas, which provided opportunities to listen to language surrounding emotions and colors. In the coming weeks, we will begin to talk about fall and fall colors!

The first graders have been practicing the greetings and the emotions and singing and moving along with the songs. They can ask '¿Cómo estás? and answer the question using different emotions. They are now learning how to introduce themselves to someone and ask ¿Cómo te llamas? During the next weeks, the first graders will be learning how to say how old they are and where they live.

In second grade, the kids have been learning new ways to greet someone and to say good bye. They have also been practicing the emotions to tell how they feel and ask someone how they feel and they have been learning new vocabulary to add to the emotions they know. In class, we have been singing and chanting to different greeting songs in Spanish. They are learning about 'los países andinos'. In the next weeks, the students will learn how to say things about themselves and they will do the book 'all about me'.

The third graders are learning about Mexico. They learned the limits of Mexico and wrote them on maps and they are able to say what they are. The students enjoyed saying ''Viva México" when they saw video-clips about the independence of this country and they can tell you the colors of the Mexican flag and the 'símbolos patrios '. In the next weeks, the students will learn about the Mexican states and compare that country to the United States. Along with this interesting cultural learning, the the third graders are expanding their knowledge of greetings, weather, clothing, food, and other topics during the school year.

In 4th grade Spanish, students have been reviewing and learning words that describe their classes, favorite seasons and asking information about birthdays. We have been singing songs and having conversations which reinforce and solidify 3rd grade Spanish while transitioning into 4th grade Spanish. In the coming weeks, students will expand their knowledge beyond school vocabulary into the community. Our focus will be community members and places.

In 5th grade Spanish, students are engaged in conversations and activities about their hobbies. They are sharing when they participate, where as well as the activities. In addition, 5th graders are sharing & learning about various emotions and preferences at home or in school. In the coming weeks, students will strengthen their knowledge about the community, learn various modes of transportation and how to ask & express their needs and where to go.

In 6th grade Spanish, students have been having conversations, readings and small group discussions about the importance and benefits of learning Spanish. Students have developed their awareness of "proficiency vs. fluency" in Spanish. Finally, 6th graders are enhancing their language interpretation skills in their readings about internet safety and some of the opinions adults have regarding youth and technology today. In the coming weeks, Students will continue developing their knowledge of cultural phrases, telling time and the extended family & traditions.

News from the Spanish Teachers -- September 2016

Kindergarten: ¡Hola! My name is Kaitlin Robinson, or Maestra as your child will call me, and I am teaching the kindergarten Spanish classes this year! I am looking forward to meeting all of the kindergarteners this week, and to getting to know your child throughout the year!  Spanish class will be conducted in Spanish, with lots of visuals and manipulatives to help children understand what they are hearing. We will play games, sing songs, and listen to stories while learning about the themes of community, family, and climate. I am looking forward to lots of fun, and a great school year!

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