Hola padres! I decided to continue this week in first grade with body part vocabulary review as there were a couple of activities that I thought would be helpful and fun for the scholars that we didn't get to last week. We started the off with another round of "around the world" or "en todo el mundo" but this time with body part vocabulary. This is always a fun way to warm up for class. After that, I put up pictures of various masks on the board that each had facial features in different colors. I split the class up into two teams and asked one person from each team to come to the board. I would then say "nariz azul" or "pelo verde" and the scholar that pointed to the appropriate feature in the correct color would win a point for their team. The teams did well as they usually ended up neck and neck point wise.
Today, we started an activity called Monster Art. It proved to be challenging for both kinder and first, but I have learned in each class how to better demonstrate how it is done and each class goes a little more smoothly. I start out by having a blank piece of paper on each desk. I tell the scholars that I will be giving them a body part to draw and that they can only draw that body part. Once they are done, I tell them to pass their paper to their neighbor who will then on my say draw a different body part. At the end, they should have a mostly complete body drawn by different members of their class. Despite its challenges, I think the scholars have enjoyed this activity and I find it a good way for the scholars to practice their vocabulary.
In P.E. this week, we have been working on relays. Each time the scholars go to the cone and back, they are to do it in a different manner. I have done my best to use our Spanish vocabulary to relay these directions to them.
In Kinder this week, we began talking about animals and their needs as this is a concept they cover in their core class. We will continue that to the end of this week.
Next week, we will delve into adjectives in Spanish class and continue practicing our colors with the use of bean bags in P.E.
On a side note, my daughters and I did a little exploring last night in terms of dinner and tried Taqueria La Jacky located on Western Ave. in Avondale just west of Dysart. I was so excited as my daughters ordered their dinners in Spanish and were able to watch Univision while we ate. If you get a chance, check it out! Giving the scholars the opportunity to put their Spanish into practice will make it all the more real and relevant to them.
Sinceramente,
Sra. Hamilton
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Thursday, September 19, 2013
parts of the body and Hispanic Heritage Month
Hola padres! We have had such fun this week as both P.E. and Spanish have meshed together so well as we've studied and learned the parts of the body. We started out in P.E. this week by learning the song "head and shoulders, knees and toes" in Spanish! See if your scholar can sing "cabeza, hombros, piernas, pies" for you and then have them sing it más rapido! We continued P.E. with playing body part tag where the scholars walked around the room and when I rang the bell, they were to find a partner and touch the body parts together that I called out. For instance, I would say, "foot to hand" or "head to elbow". They had a great time doing this. Today we began playing the same game, but in Spanish. I used the flash cards that I used in Spanish class to teach them body part names in and had the scholars touch the body parts together that I called out. For instance, I would say "cabeza a mano" or "dedo a nariz". Again, we had a great time with this new twist to the game.
In Spanish, we started class out by playing "around the world" or "en todo el mundo" to review the classroom, color and number vocabulary that we have learned so far this year. After that, I introduced the new body part vocabulary and helped the scholars solidify this vocabulary with a song called "Tengo comezón" which means, "I have an itch". The song is about someone having an itch on different parts of their body and not knowing what to do about it. Due to the silliness of the song, it is really enjoyed by everyone and a good way for the class to practice their body part vocabulary. To follow up with the song, we did a body part wheel from their workbook that will help them with practicing this vocab at home. We will do some more review with body parts next week and delve into adjectives as well.
Monday marked an important day in Mexico as the students have learned or will learn during their Wednesday Spanish lesson. Mexico celebrated the beginning of their fight for independence from Spain which began on September 16, 1810. After three attempts, they were finally successful and earned their independence in 1821. Due to this significant date, September 16th marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage month as not only Mexico, but many other Spanish speaking countries celebrate their independence. There are various celebrations and events going on this month to commemorate these days of independence. Here are a couple of links with details. http://phoenix.about.com/od/events/a/HispanicHeritage.htm
http://news.estrellamountain.edu/2013/09/13/emcc-celebrates-10th-annual-hispanic-heritage-month
We live in a great city that offers many opportunites for us to connect with the Spanish speaking community
and make Spanish come alive for our children. Enjoy!
In Spanish, we started class out by playing "around the world" or "en todo el mundo" to review the classroom, color and number vocabulary that we have learned so far this year. After that, I introduced the new body part vocabulary and helped the scholars solidify this vocabulary with a song called "Tengo comezón" which means, "I have an itch". The song is about someone having an itch on different parts of their body and not knowing what to do about it. Due to the silliness of the song, it is really enjoyed by everyone and a good way for the class to practice their body part vocabulary. To follow up with the song, we did a body part wheel from their workbook that will help them with practicing this vocab at home. We will do some more review with body parts next week and delve into adjectives as well.
Monday marked an important day in Mexico as the students have learned or will learn during their Wednesday Spanish lesson. Mexico celebrated the beginning of their fight for independence from Spain which began on September 16, 1810. After three attempts, they were finally successful and earned their independence in 1821. Due to this significant date, September 16th marks the beginning of Hispanic Heritage month as not only Mexico, but many other Spanish speaking countries celebrate their independence. There are various celebrations and events going on this month to commemorate these days of independence. Here are a couple of links with details. http://phoenix.about.com/od/events/a/HispanicHeritage.htm
http://news.estrellamountain.edu/2013/09/13/emcc-celebrates-10th-annual-hispanic-heritage-month
We live in a great city that offers many opportunites for us to connect with the Spanish speaking community
and make Spanish come alive for our children. Enjoy!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Putting our knowledge into practice and Instructions Not Included
¡Hola padres! This week has been mostly review, but in some fun and applicable ways for the scholars. In first grade, we have been going over our colors during P.E. (colored dots on the floor, colored balls for tossing and catching and during our parachute lessons on Wednesdays) since the beginning of the year, but this week, we addressed the colors specifically in Spanish class with a coloring sheet in the Sing 'N Speak workbook.
In terms of numbers, we have also been practicing those during P.E. Last week, we tossed a ball with partners and counted in Spanish how many times we could do this without dropping the ball. As I handed the balls out and as the scholars returned them at the end of class, they had to tell me the color of their ball in Spanish. This week in Spanish, we played a few games to help the scholars be able to better identify numbers using their Spanish vocabulary. The first was through a tapping game, where I would tap on a desk with a marker and when I stopped, the scholars would have to tell me en enspañol how many times I had tapped. For the second game, I passed out pipe cleaners or limpiadores de pipa, and when I called out a number in Spanish, the scholars then had to form that number with their pipe cleaner. They really had fun with this one. Our final way of practicing our números was with number bonds! I gave the students a number and we created as many number bonds we could for that number. This was all done in Spanish and the scholars learned that they could say 4+5=9 or they could say cuatro más cinco son nueve. It was really fun to be able to show them that math in English is the same as math in Spanish.
For Kindergarten, we are wrapping up our number packet this week. I also played the number games with them this week to give them a little break. The packet has taken us a little longer than I expected but I think the scholars will be excited to move on to studying verano or summer which is a subject they have already covered. In P.E. we have also continued working on our numbers and colors in various ways.
As an added note, I had the fortunate opportunity of going to the movies this past weekend with Ms. Keating. We saw Instructions Not Included. This was a beautifully sweet bilingual film. Although I wouldn't recommend it as a family movie, it was a movie with a heartlfelt message that was really well done. It was directed by Eugenio Derbez, a well known actor throughout Mexcio, who also played the lead role. This movie has been a surprise hit since it released Labor Day Weekend as was evidenced by the fact that it was sold out on two screens at the first theater we went to. If you get the chance, check it out! Its great to see a movie that isn't your typical everyday movie and we left the theater with smiles on our faces. Let me know what you think.
Sinceremente,
Sra. Hamilton
In terms of numbers, we have also been practicing those during P.E. Last week, we tossed a ball with partners and counted in Spanish how many times we could do this without dropping the ball. As I handed the balls out and as the scholars returned them at the end of class, they had to tell me the color of their ball in Spanish. This week in Spanish, we played a few games to help the scholars be able to better identify numbers using their Spanish vocabulary. The first was through a tapping game, where I would tap on a desk with a marker and when I stopped, the scholars would have to tell me en enspañol how many times I had tapped. For the second game, I passed out pipe cleaners or limpiadores de pipa, and when I called out a number in Spanish, the scholars then had to form that number with their pipe cleaner. They really had fun with this one. Our final way of practicing our números was with number bonds! I gave the students a number and we created as many number bonds we could for that number. This was all done in Spanish and the scholars learned that they could say 4+5=9 or they could say cuatro más cinco son nueve. It was really fun to be able to show them that math in English is the same as math in Spanish.
For Kindergarten, we are wrapping up our number packet this week. I also played the number games with them this week to give them a little break. The packet has taken us a little longer than I expected but I think the scholars will be excited to move on to studying verano or summer which is a subject they have already covered. In P.E. we have also continued working on our numbers and colors in various ways.
As an added note, I had the fortunate opportunity of going to the movies this past weekend with Ms. Keating. We saw Instructions Not Included. This was a beautifully sweet bilingual film. Although I wouldn't recommend it as a family movie, it was a movie with a heartlfelt message that was really well done. It was directed by Eugenio Derbez, a well known actor throughout Mexcio, who also played the lead role. This movie has been a surprise hit since it released Labor Day Weekend as was evidenced by the fact that it was sold out on two screens at the first theater we went to. If you get the chance, check it out! Its great to see a movie that isn't your typical everyday movie and we left the theater with smiles on our faces. Let me know what you think.
Sinceremente,
Sra. Hamilton
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Más números, lotería y México!
Hola padres! This short week started out with us playing a fun game of bingo o lotería to help us review our numbers. This was fun as I was able to use colored buttons as our bingo markers and we made sure to review our colors along with our numbers as we played.
On Wednesday, first grade started its study on Mexico. We pinpointed six points on the map of Mexico using the first grader's newly learned map skills and also colored and discussed Mexico's flag. More importantly, we talked about how after several attempts, Mexico finally won its independence from Spain in 1821. We talked about their perseverance o perserverancia and how because of this, Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16, the anniversary of the start of the revolt against Spain which began in 1810.
In the latter part of this week, first grade has been working on their workbook. I had them tear out page 4A to take home. It is a page of number flashcards that they can make at home if they would like extra pratice with their números. This is not homework, but just something fun they can work on at home if they'd like.
In P.E. this week, we have started doing our warm up in español. The scholars all of a sudden get very attentive when they hear all the instructions in Spanish and need to follow along with what I am doing to know what to do themselves. Its a fun way to start class off!
Kindergarten is doing an amazing job with their number packet as we continue our way to cinco. I plan to mix in some number games with them as well this week.
Lastly, I wanted to mention a bit of motivation I am using with the scholars. I have Spanish reward stickers that I will be passing out during class to those students who show that they are paying extra close attention, make specific connections between lessons or who are showing that they are putting that extra effort forth. The same concept will hold true for P.E. The scholars understand that not everyone will get a sticker every time, but that it is their hard work that will earn them one. I did this last year with kindergarten and they enjoyed showing me that they were paying attention. I was pleased to see one scholar congratulate another this morning when he received one. We work on congratulating each other when we see those around us do well. I hope this helps them in learning the concepts of citizenship and friendship.
Sinceramente,
Sra. Hamilton
On Wednesday, first grade started its study on Mexico. We pinpointed six points on the map of Mexico using the first grader's newly learned map skills and also colored and discussed Mexico's flag. More importantly, we talked about how after several attempts, Mexico finally won its independence from Spain in 1821. We talked about their perseverance o perserverancia and how because of this, Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16, the anniversary of the start of the revolt against Spain which began in 1810.
In the latter part of this week, first grade has been working on their workbook. I had them tear out page 4A to take home. It is a page of number flashcards that they can make at home if they would like extra pratice with their números. This is not homework, but just something fun they can work on at home if they'd like.
In P.E. this week, we have started doing our warm up in español. The scholars all of a sudden get very attentive when they hear all the instructions in Spanish and need to follow along with what I am doing to know what to do themselves. Its a fun way to start class off!
Kindergarten is doing an amazing job with their number packet as we continue our way to cinco. I plan to mix in some number games with them as well this week.
Lastly, I wanted to mention a bit of motivation I am using with the scholars. I have Spanish reward stickers that I will be passing out during class to those students who show that they are paying extra close attention, make specific connections between lessons or who are showing that they are putting that extra effort forth. The same concept will hold true for P.E. The scholars understand that not everyone will get a sticker every time, but that it is their hard work that will earn them one. I did this last year with kindergarten and they enjoyed showing me that they were paying attention. I was pleased to see one scholar congratulate another this morning when he received one. We work on congratulating each other when we see those around us do well. I hope this helps them in learning the concepts of citizenship and friendship.
Sinceramente,
Sra. Hamilton
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