SKILLS WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON . . .

Weeks 10/29-11/2, 11/5-11/9, 11/12-11/16, 11/19-11/30

First-For some Halloween fun, some classes played a game with jack-o-lanterns and needed to figure out if their jack-o-lantern had the special characteristic called after a chant. Students also learned how to tell time to the hour. We used the book Chumba la cachumba, to introduce us to the hours in Spanish. This book had skeletons doing different things at different hours. Since Day(s) of the Dead or Día de los Muertos is celebrated 10/31-11/2, I used the “symbol” of the skeleton to help introduce the basic concept of this holiday- a memorial day to remember family members who have died and learn about your family history.

Students learned a song called, “Tic-toc” that has us move our arms like the hands of a clock and describe different activities we do at different hours of the day.

We have tried to remember some strategies for remembering numbers in Spanish. Counting on fingers, using the number line and counting on a analog clock are three strategies the students have tried. These strategies helped students play ”¿Qué hora es?” Bingo.

Calabaza means pumpkin.

Linterna means lantern.

Linterna de calabaza,

Means jack-o-lantern.

¿ Qué hora es ? What time is it?

hora hour

minuto minute

Es la una. It is one o’clock.
Son las dos. It is two o’clock.
Son las tres. It is three o’clock.
Son las cuatro. It is four o’clock.
Son las cinco. It is five o’clock.
Son las seis. It is six o’clock.
Son las siete. It is seven o’clock.
Son las ocho. It is eight o’clock.
Son las nueve. It is nine o’clock.
Son las diez. It is ten o’clock.
Son las once. It is eleven o’clock.
Son las doce. It is twelve o’clock.

Second-We have learned the four seasons and matched the months to each season. We also matched numbers 1-12 to their corresponding months. Currently we are discussing articles of clothing typically used for each season. We dressed “Froggy” when reading the book, Froggy Se Viste/Froggy Gets Dressed by J. London in order to review clothing items used for winter.

To review all vocabulary for clothing, students are working in teams to pack suitcases/maletas with the correct article of clothing said.

estaciones seasons

otoño fall/autumn

invierno winter

primavera spring

verano summer

ropa clothing

abrigo coat

botas boots

bufanda scarf

calcetines socks

camisa long sleeve shirt

camiseta t-shirt/short sleeve shirt/tank top

chaqueta jacket

gorro winter hat

gorra de beísbol baseball cap

impermeable raincoat

jeans jeans

lentes de sol sunglasses

mitones mittens

pantalones pants

pantalones cortos short pants/shorts

paraguas umbrella

sandalias sandals

sombrero hat

suéter sweater

tenis gym shoes

Third- We have been making libritos (mini-books) called, En mi casa (In My House). Students are writing down in Spanish the people and pets that live in their house. Books will soon be illustrated and read to the class.

Yo tengo mi papá en mi casa. I have my dad in my house.

papí daddy

padre father

padrastro stepfather

Yo tengo mi mamá en mi casa. I have my mom in my house.

mamí mommy

madre mother

madrastra stepmother

Yo tengo cero hermanos en mi casa. I have zero brothers in my house.

un/uno hermanito/hermano one little brother/brother

dos hermanos two brothers

tres hermanastros three stepbrothers/half-brothers

Yo tengo cero hermanas en mi casa. I have zero sisters in my house.

una hermanita/hermana one little sister/sister

dos hermanas two sisters

tres hermanastras three stepsisters/half-sisters

Yo tengo mis abuelos en mi casa. I have my grandparents in my house.

Yo tengo cero mascotas en mi casa. I have zero pets in my house.

una mascota one pet

cinco mascotas five pets

Y aqui soy yo. And here I am.

Fourth-Students are learning  new ways to express feelings- called “Tengo Expressions.”  These new expressions will be practiced through a skit called “Un dia en la granja (A Day at the Farm).” Each students picked two parts they would be interested in performing. They will soon find out which part they will be and the others students that will form their skit group.  Eventually these skits will be performed in front of the class.

Un día en la granja: carácteres. . . Perro, Gato, Conejo, Vaca/Toro, Cerdo, Gallina/Gallo

A day at the farm: characters . . . Dog, Cat, Rabbit, Cow/Bull, Pig, Hen/Rooster

Perro: Hola, Conejo. Hello, Rabbit.

Gato: ¡Silencio, por favor! ¡Conejo está muy mal! Quiet, please! Rabbit is feeling very bad!

Perro: ¿Por qué? ¿Qué pasa, Conejo? Why? What’s the matter, Rabbit?

Conejo: ¡Ay, ay, ay! Tengo dolor de muelas. Oh, oh, oh! I have a toothache.

Perro: ¡Lo siento! Buenas tardes, Vaca/Toro. I’m sorry! Good afternoon, Cow/Bull.

Gato: ¡Silencio, por favor! ¡Vaca/Toro está muy mal también! Quiet, please! Cow/Bull is feeling very bad also!

Perro: ¿Por qué? ¿Qué pasa, Vaca/Toro? Why? What’s the matter, Cow/Bull?

Vaca: ¡Ay, ay, ay! Tengo mucho sed y tengo mucho calor. Oh, oh, oh! I am really thirsty and really hot.

Perro: ¡Lo siento! Hola, Cerdo. I’m sorry! Hi, Pig.

Gato: ¡Silencio, por favor! ¡Cerdo está muy mal también! Quiet, please! Pig is feeling very bad also!

Perro: ¿Por qué? ¿Qué pasa, Cerdo? Why? What’s the matter, Pig?

Cerdo: ¡Ay, ay, ay! Tengo miedo de las arañas. Oh, oh, oh! I am afraid of spiders.

Perro: ¡Lo siento! Buenas tardes, Gallina/Gallo. I’m sorry! Good afternoon, Hen/Rooster.

Gato: ¡Silencio, por favor! ¡Gallina/Gallo está muy mal también! Quiet, please! Hen/Rooster is feeling very bad also!

Perro: ¿Por qué? ¿Qué pasa, Gallina/Gallo? Why? What’s the matter, Hen/Rooster?

Gallina/Gallo:  ¡Ay, ay, ay! Tengo mucho sueño. Oh, oh, oh! I am really sleepy.

Gato: Estoy mal porque tengo frío. ¿Y tú, Perro? I am feeling bad because I am cold. And you, Dog?

Perro: ¡Estoy fantástico! Hoy es mi cumpleaños. Tengo once años. I am fantastic! Today is my birthday. I am 11 years old.

Otros: ¡Feliz cumpleaños, Perro! ¡Tienes suerte! Happy birthday Dog! You are lucky!

Alex Rodriguez es atleta. Dominican-American professional baseball player

Pablo Picasso es artista.Spanish painter and sculptor

Gary Soto es autor. Mexican-American author and poet

Shakira es música. Columbian singer

Cesar Chavez es activista. Mexican-American labor leader and activist

Frida Kahlo es artista. Mexican painter best known for her self-portraits

Lorena Ochoa es atleta. Mexican professional golfer

Ralph Alvarez es negociante. Cuban-American businessman and former President/CEO of McDonald’s Corporation

Cecilia Alvear es reportera. Ecuadorian-American news reporter/journalist

Jaime Escalante es maestro. Bolivian high school math teacher

Luis Walter Alvarez es ingeniero. Spanish-American experimental physicist, inventor (engineer) and Nobel Prize winner

Ritchie Valens es músico. Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist famous for hit “La Bamba“

Antonia Novello es médica. Puerto-Rican medical doctor, first female and Hispanic to serve as US Surgeon General

Maria Elena Lagomasino es negociante. Cuban-American businesswoman and former CEO/Director of Coca-Cola and JP Morgan Chase

Ellen Ochoa es astronauta y ingeniera. Mexican-American former astronaut and engineer of spacecraft technology, first Hispanic woman in space

SKILLS WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON . . .

Week of 10/1

First- We continue to learn about various fruits and vegetables and have begun to discuss fruits and vegetables native to Mexico (tomato, hot peppers, mango, avocado, corn.)  Many of the words for produce items are cognates or words that look and sound like the English word. We also continue playing a game called “Mesas y Colores/Tables and Colors” to review color words along with the fruits and vegetables we are learning.

aguacate avocado

brócoli broccoli

chile hot pepper

coco coconut

col cabbage

coliflor cauliflower

espárrago asparagus

espinaca spinach

limón lemon (lime in Mexico)

mango mango

melón melon

papa potatoe

papaya papaya

pepino cucumber

pera pear

rábano radish

tomate tomato

amarillo yellow

anaranjado orange

azul blue

blanco white

café brown

gris gray

morado purple

negro black

rojo red

rosado pink

verde green

Weeks of 10/8 and 10/15

Our study of frutas y vegetales continues. We have learned a total of 22 different produce items. Students are working hard as a class to recall all the words we have learned, by playing “Charades.”  We are also playing “Bingo” with this vocabulary to get practice finding words by beginning letter sounds.

Weeks of 10/1 and 10/8

Second-  We continue to discuss the months of the year. Students are recalling the Spanish vowels sounds to help them properly pronounce the months in Spanish. Groups of two put the months of the year in order in English, then matched the Spanish word to the English word. We have also been singing a song to recall the months using the tune “Pop Goes the Weasel” and used the book, Cuando esta caja esté llena (When This Box Is Full) by P. Lillie to figure out what special item is put in the keepsake box for each month.

enero, febrero, January,February,

marzo, abril, March, April,

mayo, junio, julio. May, June, July.

Los meses del año. The months of the year.

agosto, septiembre, August, September,

octubre, noviembre, October, November,

El fin es diciembre. The last is December.

Los meses del año. The months of the year.

enero-bufanda January- scarf

febrero-corazón February-heart

marzo-pluma March-feather

abril-huevo April-egg

mayo-flor May-flower

junio-helicópteros del arce June-helicopter seeds from Maple tree

julio-concha July-shell

agosto-cinta del la feria August-ribbon from the fair

septiembre-hoja roja September-red leaf

octubre-pepitas de calabaza October-pumpkin seeds

noviembre-hueso de la suerte November-wish bone

diciembre-estrella December-star

Week of 10/22

Third- We are learning vocabulary for immediate family, extended family, and pets using a silly song called “La familia grande/The Big Family” by B. MacArthur.

Tengo una familia grande, I have a big family,

en una casa muy pequeña. in a very small house.

Tengo un papá. I have a dad.

Tengo una mamá. I have a mom.

Tengo dos hermanas, I have two sisters,

tres hermanos, cuatro perros, cinco gatos. three brothers, four dogs, five cats.

¡Que familia grande! What a big family!

¡Que familia tan grande! Such a big family!

Tengo seis tíos. I have six uncles.

Tengo siete tías. I have seven aunts.

Tengo ocho primas, I have eight female cousins,

nueve primos, diez peces, once conejos. nine male cousins, ten fish, eleven rabbits.

Tengo un abuelito. I have a grandpa.

Tengo una abuelita. I have a grandma.

Tengo un baño. I have one bathroom.

Oh no!

Weeks of 10/1 and 10/15

Fourth- Students are reviewing greetings, introductions, feelings, partings and terms of politeness in a skit between two students. Skit groups have begun presenting in front of the class. After all groups have presented, I will ask students to recall all the different answers used during the skits for “¿Cómo estás?/How are you?”

¡Hola! Hi/Hello

¿Cómo te llamas? How do you say your name?

Me llamo ____. My name is ____.

¿ Y tú? And you?

¿Cómo estás? How are you feeling?

Estoy ____ ,gracias. I am ____, thank you.

¿Cómo se llama la muchacha? How do you say the girl’s name?

¿Cómo se llama el muchacho? How do you say the boy’s name?

Se llama ____. Her(His) name is _____.

Con mucho gusto. Pleasure to meet you.

Ya me voy. I have to go.

Hasta la vista. See you later.

Adiós,amigo. Good bye, friend (male).

Adiós,amiga. Good bye, friend (female).

Week of 10/8

Students continue to review greetings, introductions, feelings, partings and terms of politeness. We will soon learn new ways to express feelings and perform group skits.

Estoy feliz. I am happy.

Esta triste. He/she is sad.

muy bien very well

bien fine, well, ok

así así so so

mal bad

muy mal very bad

terrible terrible

horrible horrible

excelente excellent

fantástico/fantástica fantastic

fabuloso/fabulosa fabulous

magnífico/magnífica magnificent

tremendo/tremenda terrific

Week of 10/8

Fifth-  Students continue to review Spanish-speaking countries by playing the game, “Cuatro Rincones/Four Corners.” Another skill reviewed during this game is counting by tens up to 100.

Weeks 10/15 and 10/22

We are working on learning vocabulary for profesiones (trabajos)/ professions (jobs). Students acted out a profession/job of their choice and classmates had to guess the correct profession by answering in a complete sentence. Students will also act out a profession with their table group. Some of the professions change the ending to “a” for  a female but we also learned that there are several exceptions that do not follow this rule.

Sra. Pease es maestra. Mrs. Pease is a teacher.

Sr. Paynter es maestro. Mr. Paynter is a teacher.

Srta. Tramontin y Sra. Lee son maestras. Miss Tramontin and Mrs. Lee are teachers.

Sr. Paynter, Srta. Tramontin, Sra. Lee y Sra. Kondos son maestros. Mr. Paynter, Miss Tramontin, Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Kondos are teachers.

activista activist

artista artist

atleta athlete

astronauta astronaut

dentista dentist

negociante business person

piloto pilot

policía police officer

abogado(a) lawyer/attorney

arquitecto(a) architect

autor(a) author

bombero(a) firefighter

carpintero(a) carpenter

contador(a) accountant

enfermero(a) nurse

ingeniero(a) engineer

maestro(a) teacher

mecánico(a) mechanic

médico(a) medical doctor

músico(a) musician

reportero(a) reporter

veterinario(a) veterianarian

SKILLS WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON . . .

Week of 9/3

First- La oruga muy hambrienta/ The Very Hungry Caterpillar by E. Carle: story to review numbers (1-10), days of the week and introduce fruits/vegetables.

Ask your child to sing you the “Days of the Week Song.”

lunes Monday

martes Tuesday

miércoles Wednesday

jueves Thursday

viernes Friday

sábado Saturday

domingo Sunday

Week of 9/17

In the story of  The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the caterpillar eats so many foods on Saturday that he gets a stomach ache. Students needed to change the story for Saturday and have the caterpillar eat a fruit or vegetable that was not already mentioned in the story. We first worked together to recall the fruits and vegetables that were mentioned in the story, then we drew our own ideas and shared them with the class. These drawing made by students will help us as we learn new fruits and vegetables as well as help us review colors. We also discussed that fruits have visible seeds on the inside or outside and vegetables do not. Your child should be bringing home these drawings in the next two weeks.

frutas fruits

manzana apple

pera pear

ciruela plum

fresa strawberry

naranja orange

pepino cucumber

sandia watermelon

vegetales vegetables

lechuga lettuce

Week of 9/24

We have been playing a game at the tables using vocabulary for fruits and vegetables. If the fruit or vegetable matched the table color, any student sitting at that table is out. If the color of the fruit or vegetable is not a color of any of the tables, then those students who are out get to come back in. Students have been enjoying this game because they get to move around and some produce like pera come in various colors like rojo, verde, amarillo and café.

 Week of 9/3

Second-”¿Qué tiempo hace?/What weather is it?”: Song to introduce weather expressions. We also played Bingo to review weather terms. The song is below.

¿Qué tiempo hace? Hace sol. What weather is it? It is sunny.

¿Qué tiempo hace? Hace calor. What weather is it? It is hot.

¿Qué tiempo hace? Hace fresco. What weather is it? It is cool.

Hace buen tiempo. It is good weather.

¿Qué tiempo hace? Hace frío. What weather is it? It is cold.

¿Qué tiempo hace? Hace viento. What weather is it? It is windy.

¿Qué tiempo hace? Está lloviendo. What weather is it? It is raining.

Hace mal tiempo. It is bad weather.

Hay niebla. Está nublado. There is fog. It is cloudy.

Hay tormenta. Está nevando. There is a storm. It is snowing.

Está parcialmente nublado. It is partly cloudy.

¿Qué tiempo hace? What weather is it?

Week of 9/24

We have also learned Meses del año. Months of the year in Spanish are not capitalized.

enero January

febrero February

marzo March

abril April

mayo May

junio June

julio July

agosto August

septiembre September

octubre October

noviembre November

diciembre December

Third- Review of numbers in the tens and pattern work with other two-digit numbers on hundreds charts.

Writing numbers on white boards in the tens, hundreds, and thousands using students’ addresses.

diez 10

veinte 20

treinta 30

cuarenta 40

cincuenta 50

sesenta 60

setenta 70

ochenta 80

noventa 90

cien 100

ciento veinte y cinco 125

doscientos ochenta y siete 287

un mil 1000

tres mil cuatrocientos quince 3,415

Week of 9/24

We read the book, Playing Lotería by R. Colato Laínez and are playing the game, “La lotería/The Lottery” to review numbers on the hundreds chart.  Students have a range of numbers to pick for each game on their game board. They can choose nine numbers that fall in the specified ranges.  If all nine of their lucky numbers have been called, then they can call out “¡LOTERÍA!“

Week of 9/3

Fourth- Choosing Spanish names and “La marcha de alfabeto/Alphabet March”; Song to teach Spanish alphabet and unique letter sounds.

Week of 9/17

Writing practice on white boards to review letter sounds and simple words. See my page “El alfabeto español” for specific letter names/sounds.

Week of 9/24

Students worked in table groups to figure out the missing parts in a skit between Pedro and Felipe. The completed skit was then acted out with a partner and we discussed other ways to answer- ¿Cómo estás? (How are you feeling?) instead of “muy bien (very well)”, which was used in the skit. Students will soon perform a new skit with a partner to review greetings, introductions, feelings, partings and terms of politeness.

¡Hola! Hi/Hello

¿Cómo te llamas? How do you say your name?

Me llamo Pedro. My name is Pedro.

¿ Y tú? And you?

¿Cómo estás? How are you feeling?

Estoy muy bien, gracias. I am very well, thank you.

¿Cómo se llama la muchacha? How do you say the girl’s name?

¿Cómo se llama el muchacho? How do you say the boy’s name?

Se llama Elena. Her(His) name is Elena.

Adiós. Good bye.

Hasta luego. See you later.

Week of 9/3

Fifth- Choosing Spanish names and group work to discuss “¿Por qué aprendemos español en Avoca West?/ Why do we learn Spanish at Avoca West?”

Week of 9/10

We learned how to write the date in Spanish – day, month and year and discussed note taking and using resources for information. On September 16, 1810, México declared independence from Spain. A brief video was shown of last year’s Independence Day celebration in Mexico City. Some cognates we have learned are below.

lenguage language

inglés English

chino madarín Madarin Chinese

hindi-urdu hindi-urdu

árabe arabic

común common

vocabulario vocabulary

comprensión comprehension

memoria memory

creatividad creativity

oportunidades opportunities

vacaciones vacation

Week of 9/17

Students had their first graded assessment, a quiz, to check if they are taking good notes and able to find information from class resources. Quizes and tests are just part of a fifth grade student’s Spanish grade. Group work, effort and participation are also taken into consideration.

Week of 9/24

They have learned that Spanish is an official language on four different continents. We used maps and globes to determine Spanish-speaking countries for each continent.

países hispanohablantes Spanish-speaking countries

América del Norte North America

México,Cuba, República Dominicana, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panamá

América del Sur South America

Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay

Europa Europe

España

África Africa

Guinea Ecuatorial

All teams have rules/responsibilities. In order to work effectively as a team, students need to understand “trabajo de equipo or teamwork.” We discussed Responsabilidades del EQUIPO which are listed below.

1) Cooperación= Cooperation

2) Respeto= Respect

3) Comunicación= Comunication

4) Participación= Participation

5) Resolución de problemas= Problem solving

To practice our team skills we played “Messi dice (Messi Says)” a game similar to “Simon Says.” Student were given mini soccer balls and needed to listen closely to “Messi dice” in order to do a specific action.

Classes that demonstrate great teamwork while working towards our language goals, will earn letters in the word “E-Q-U-I-P-O (TEAM)”. If a first-third grade class earns all the letters in the word, EQUIPO before the end of class, a student will be chosen to color in a spot/line on the class’ “Fútbol/Soccer Chart.” When all ten spots have been colored in, the class will get to see a portion of a Spanish movie during class time. Fourth and fifth graders will be working in table groups to earn one letter in the word, EQUIPO. Each table group is guaranteed their letter as long as they don’t receive a “tarjeta roja” or “red card” due to too many reminders on how to help the “team.” Each table group will then get to color one space on their “Fútbol Chart.” There are 36 spaces to fill in. The better the teamwork, the quicker students earn watching a portion of a Spanish movie during class time.

5th grade is learning 10 Reasons Why We Learn Spanish.

4th grade is learning Nombres en español/Spanish Names.

3rd grade is learning how to find and say Números con dos dígitos/ 2-digit Numbers on a Hundreds Chart.

2nd grade is learning ¿Qué tiempo hace?/ What Weather is it?

1st grade read E. Carle’s La oruga muy hambrienta/The Very Hungry Caterpillar and will learn Días de la semana/Day of the Week.

Welcome to a new school year of fun learning Spanish! Each Spanish class, grades 1-5, met at least once during our first week back at school. Students sang our “Tiempo para español/Time for Spanish” song and played “Papa caliente/Hot Potato” to introduce themselves in Spanish.  Classes quickly noticed a fútbol or soccer theme this year in my classroom. I am comparing my classes to a soccer team or equipo de fútbol, since fútbol is the most popular sport worldwide, especially in Spanish speaking countries and because I want TEAMWORK to be the focus. My goal is to help my students learn lots of Spanish and the goal for my students is to learn Spanish. In order to achieve this goal, we need to work as an EQUIPO or TEAM. We will discuss more about the responsibilities of our team next week.

1.  Spanish is an official language on four continents and the second most commonly spoken language in the world.

Mandarin Chinese

Spanish

English

Hindi/Urdu

Arabic

2.  Out of the top five most commonly spoken languages, Spanish is the easiest language to learn. English is considered a very difficult language to learn.

3. When you learn to speak a foreign language, such as Spanish, it will be easier to learn other languages, regardless of the origin.

4. Learning Spanish improves your understanding of English.

5. Learning Spanish improves your cultural understanding and promotes global awareness.

6. Learning another language such as Spanish can improve your memory and creativity.

7. Research shows that learning another language such as Spanish improves skills in vocabulary, listening and problem solving.  Students studying a foreign language score higher on standardized tests and assessments than students who only know one language.

8. Knowledge of more than one language provides more educational and professional opportunities.

9. Knowledge of more than one language provides more opportunities when traveling.

10. Learning Spanish is DIVERTIDO!

http://www.vistawide.com/spanish/why_spanish2.htm

http://spanish.about.com/cs/forbeginners/a/whylearnspanish_2.htm

http://www.learn-spanish-smart.com/benefits-of-learning-a-second-language.html

http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/Curriculum/Curriculum_Root_Web_Folder/BenefitsofSecondLanguage.pdf