Hola padres! This year is going by so quickly! I can't believe that we are at the end of October already! In Spanish this week we have been working hard on some Day of the Dead projects. For first grade, we had masks that we colored, cut out and put on sticks. This is one of my favorite projects of the year as no matter how the mask is colored, they all look so beautiful! I hope your scholars enjoyed them as much as I did. We also had a Day of the Dead word search that we worked on. The scholars are very persistent and really enjoyed finding all the words related to this special holiday. At the bottom of the word search, there were a few paragraphs giving the details of the Day of the Dead.
Next week for Spanish, we will review our feelings vocabulary and move on to talk about the weather. We have also wrapped up our study of Peru and will move on to Bolivia in November.
For PE, we continue on with cooperative games. I find that this is the best way to do PE for the little ones. My time with them is short and because they sit for so much of the day, I find it best that I get them moving as quickly as I can with a fun, fast game. They seem to enjoy this and it is a great way to give them the essential play skills they will need for when they move on to the higher grades: following directions, listening, being a good winner as well as a good loser, etc. It is always fun to see them squealing as they run around.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sra. Hamilton
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Spanish ideas, zookeeper game, and el dia de los muertos
Hola padres! I have had fun with the scholars this week with a new game called zookeepers. They pretended they were different animals that had escaped from their cages. I had five zookeepers whose job it was to tag the escaped animals and get them back in their cages. This was a great activity for them now that they have mastered their warm up and they love running around. It is fun to see them enjoying themselves so much.
In terms of Spanish for first grade, we began our study of the Day of the Dead or el dia de los muertos. I read to them a short article and a book on the holiday and then we completed a Venn diagram that compared el dia de los muertos and Halloween and it was interesting to see how they compared the two celebrations. More than anything, I wanted them to see how the holidays differed and that even though they happen around the same time, they aren't celebrating the same things or in the same way. We will continue learning about this holiday into next week.
I have not been very good so far in giving you ways to incorporate Spanish into your own lives. So, today I have two very accessible ways to encourage your scholars in their learning of Spanish. One way is through an app called duolingo. Like so many things in life, there is no magic pill that will have you speaking Spanish in a week. However, this app is intuitive, fun, and such an easy way for anyone, child or adult to take a few minutes each day to study not only Spanish, but any other language. You can even compete with friends! My husband has been using it and I am so amazed at how much he has learned and been able to apply in just a short couple of weeks. Give it a try (its free!) and let me know what you think.
I also wanted to let you know about the movie, The Book of Life. This movie is based on the celebration of el dia de los muertos or Day of the Dead. There's a little bit of Spanish in it, but mostly is is colorful, fun and full of great music. It is a great story that incorporates so many great elements of the holiday and is not scary at all. If you would like to give your scholars something out of school that will supplement what we have been doing, this is a great way to do it. I'm sure they will enjoy it and be eager to share with me the connections this movie will help them make with what we have learned in class. Have a great weekend!
Sra. Hamilton
In terms of Spanish for first grade, we began our study of the Day of the Dead or el dia de los muertos. I read to them a short article and a book on the holiday and then we completed a Venn diagram that compared el dia de los muertos and Halloween and it was interesting to see how they compared the two celebrations. More than anything, I wanted them to see how the holidays differed and that even though they happen around the same time, they aren't celebrating the same things or in the same way. We will continue learning about this holiday into next week.
I have not been very good so far in giving you ways to incorporate Spanish into your own lives. So, today I have two very accessible ways to encourage your scholars in their learning of Spanish. One way is through an app called duolingo. Like so many things in life, there is no magic pill that will have you speaking Spanish in a week. However, this app is intuitive, fun, and such an easy way for anyone, child or adult to take a few minutes each day to study not only Spanish, but any other language. You can even compete with friends! My husband has been using it and I am so amazed at how much he has learned and been able to apply in just a short couple of weeks. Give it a try (its free!) and let me know what you think.
I also wanted to let you know about the movie, The Book of Life. This movie is based on the celebration of el dia de los muertos or Day of the Dead. There's a little bit of Spanish in it, but mostly is is colorful, fun and full of great music. It is a great story that incorporates so many great elements of the holiday and is not scary at all. If you would like to give your scholars something out of school that will supplement what we have been doing, this is a great way to do it. I'm sure they will enjoy it and be eager to share with me the connections this movie will help them make with what we have learned in class. Have a great weekend!
Sra. Hamilton
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Our first week back!
Hola padres! We have had a great week back after break! In Spanish this week for first grade, we have started learning our feeling phrases. I let the scholars know that they should be using these phrases as much as possible in PE and true to form, they reminded ME this morning in PE: "tengo sed!" They were thirsty and needed a water break. I'm so glad to see them so eager to apply what they have learned!
We tried something new in class as well for the first graders this week which went really well and helped me see where each scholar was in terms of knowing their vocabulary. The game was a team play game where we took the new phrase we learned, "tengo dolor" (I hurt or I am in pain) and adding a body part to it to complete a sentence. The scholars were able to pick from 4 body parts that were written in English on the board. So I would point to "tengo dolor" and they would repeat, then I would point to a body part in English and they have to translate it into Spanish to complete the sentence. They had to do this will all 4 body parts and I timed them. Whichever scholar from each team that did it the fastest would earn a point for their team. It was very exciting to see them learn how to put the different words and phrases together that we had learned. Today we will continue our study of adjectives and feelings with games of charades and team plays. The scholars have done well with learning how to be good winners and losers and knowing that we play games to learn and have fun and that winning is just an added bonus. I am so proud of them!
In PE, we will continue for both Kinder and first with different cooperation games. We started this week with doing our warm ups in relays now that we have more room outside and it has been glorious! With these cooperation games I am trying my best to teach them teamwork, taking turns, and following directions. They get better with this every class. The weather is still a bit on the warm side, but we manage and tough it out. Please be sure your scholar brings water to school so that they are well prepared. When we are out on the back field, I cannot let them into the building for water or a potty break as it is too far for them to go without my supervision. So far, they have done well with this adjustment. Thank you for all of your support.
Sra. Hamilton
We tried something new in class as well for the first graders this week which went really well and helped me see where each scholar was in terms of knowing their vocabulary. The game was a team play game where we took the new phrase we learned, "tengo dolor" (I hurt or I am in pain) and adding a body part to it to complete a sentence. The scholars were able to pick from 4 body parts that were written in English on the board. So I would point to "tengo dolor" and they would repeat, then I would point to a body part in English and they have to translate it into Spanish to complete the sentence. They had to do this will all 4 body parts and I timed them. Whichever scholar from each team that did it the fastest would earn a point for their team. It was very exciting to see them learn how to put the different words and phrases together that we had learned. Today we will continue our study of adjectives and feelings with games of charades and team plays. The scholars have done well with learning how to be good winners and losers and knowing that we play games to learn and have fun and that winning is just an added bonus. I am so proud of them!
In PE, we will continue for both Kinder and first with different cooperation games. We started this week with doing our warm ups in relays now that we have more room outside and it has been glorious! With these cooperation games I am trying my best to teach them teamwork, taking turns, and following directions. They get better with this every class. The weather is still a bit on the warm side, but we manage and tough it out. Please be sure your scholar brings water to school so that they are well prepared. When we are out on the back field, I cannot let them into the building for water or a potty break as it is too far for them to go without my supervision. So far, they have done well with this adjustment. Thank you for all of your support.
Sra. Hamilton
Thursday, October 2, 2014
the end of first quarter!
Hola padres! It is so hard to believe that this quarter is almost at an end. How I have enjoyed working with your children and getting to know them or getting reacquainted with them. I hope they have had as much fun as I have.
In PE this week, we continued our unit on throwing and I can tell that we are really itching to get outside. I am thankful for a useable indoor space that shelters us from the Arizona heat, but am so glad that the weather has cooled down and will allow us to be outdoors at the start of 2nd quarter. We will be out on the back field in the driving range and will be able to play more games and be more active than our indoor classroom space has allowed. I know this is what the scholars need and enjoy most for PE, so I look forward to expanding their game and skill knowledge after fall break!
This week in Spanish for first grade, we have continued our study of adjectives. We completed a worksheet that we had done in class a couple of weeks ago during our body part unit. This worksheet was a little more detailed however as in drawing our alien, we not only had to pay attention to color, number and body part, but also adjective! The scholars had fun deciphering what needed to be drawn and we had quite a bit of discussion as to how to translate "dos brazos largos y rosados". The scholars would typically say "two arms long and pink" and I asked them if that was said in a way that they would normally talk in English. After a bit of debate I let them know that in English, adjectives are put in front of a noun, whereas in Spanish, they come after. So, we concluded that a better translation would be "two long, pink arms." Not sure how well they understood this, but I like to make them aware of these nuances within a language so that when they really have to learn it, they have a base knowledge. We'll keep at it!
When we get back from fall break, we will start with feelings: hunger, thirst, hot, cold, etc. This will be fun as now in PE and being outside, we can talk about how the weather change makes us feel and these phrases really come alive for the scholars when they realize they can't just tell me they are thirsty to get a drink. They have to really think and say "tengo sed". I look forward to the application of this unit with them.
Thank you again for all of your support and encouragement this quarter. I hope you all have a wonderful break!
Sra. Hamilton
In PE this week, we continued our unit on throwing and I can tell that we are really itching to get outside. I am thankful for a useable indoor space that shelters us from the Arizona heat, but am so glad that the weather has cooled down and will allow us to be outdoors at the start of 2nd quarter. We will be out on the back field in the driving range and will be able to play more games and be more active than our indoor classroom space has allowed. I know this is what the scholars need and enjoy most for PE, so I look forward to expanding their game and skill knowledge after fall break!
This week in Spanish for first grade, we have continued our study of adjectives. We completed a worksheet that we had done in class a couple of weeks ago during our body part unit. This worksheet was a little more detailed however as in drawing our alien, we not only had to pay attention to color, number and body part, but also adjective! The scholars had fun deciphering what needed to be drawn and we had quite a bit of discussion as to how to translate "dos brazos largos y rosados". The scholars would typically say "two arms long and pink" and I asked them if that was said in a way that they would normally talk in English. After a bit of debate I let them know that in English, adjectives are put in front of a noun, whereas in Spanish, they come after. So, we concluded that a better translation would be "two long, pink arms." Not sure how well they understood this, but I like to make them aware of these nuances within a language so that when they really have to learn it, they have a base knowledge. We'll keep at it!
When we get back from fall break, we will start with feelings: hunger, thirst, hot, cold, etc. This will be fun as now in PE and being outside, we can talk about how the weather change makes us feel and these phrases really come alive for the scholars when they realize they can't just tell me they are thirsty to get a drink. They have to really think and say "tengo sed". I look forward to the application of this unit with them.
Thank you again for all of your support and encouragement this quarter. I hope you all have a wonderful break!
Sra. Hamilton
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