Dear East school families,
I hope everyone had a great break. As March approaches, I wanted to send you an update of what your children have been working on in Spanish class. Our Kindergartners have continued learning colors and practiced writing them using different worksheets with the colors of the week. We have played different color games (ask your child about the hiding unicorn game) and also read a number of color books like “Los Colores” edited by Timunmas, “Cocodrilo” by Antonio Rubio and “Colores” from Editorial Juventud. Children continued practicing how to say what their names are by telling Ramona the frog. Kindergarteners also learned about the country of Puerto Rico and the mascot of the island, a little tree frog named the coquí (ask your child why it is called coquí). We read the book Everywhere coquis! by Nancy Hooper. The book explains the legend of how the little frogs ended up all over the island of Puerto Rico. During the first few weeks of January, first graders continued reviewing colors. We made a colors chart showing everyone in the class’ favorite colors. We moved on to review the days of the week and children learned how the Spanish week starts on Monday (we even explored a real Spanish calendar and children had all sorts of interesting questions to ask!). Children worked on a number of activities including a wheel to help them remember what day today is, yesterday and tomorrow. In February, we reviewed the months using a fictional story of a girl named Matilda who had to wait all year to celebrate her birthday. Second Graders started January by reviewing face and body parts. Children designed and labeled their own Mr. or Mrs. Potato Heads, and using the app Chatterpix, children made their drawings talk. Second graders had a great time watching everyone’s Potato Heads telling the class what their names were. In February we moved on to review colors. We did this through a fictional story of a boy named Billy who was the best hockey player in the world but would only play for an NHL team who had a purple uniform (ask your child about the story). We also played a number of games like finding Billy hiding behind a color, and children completed a color by number worksheet. We finished the month by learning about the family. To review the family vocabulary, children had to guess who the mystery teacher was. I made a presentation with a childhood picture of myself, and my family and at the end children had to guess “who is Cristina?” Some children figured it out right away and others were very surprised. My favorite comment was from a little boy who said to me “it was you all along?” Third graders started the year reviewing face and body parts. Children designed their own monsters and wrote five sentences about their monster stating the monster’s name and four other things the monster had or did not have. Using the app Chatterpix, children made their monsters talk. Third graders had a great time watching everyone’s monster telling us about himself/herself. In February, we reviewed the seasons and the weather. To introduce the vocabulary, I created a fictional story about two girls, Andrea and Cristina who wanted to travel to different places and kept checking the weather. At the end of the story children got to vote where the girls should travel to. Third graders also learned about the country of Ecuador, the languages spoken there, the food and about some of the main cities. Fourth graders continued practicing using cognates as a strategy for learning languages. We read a Que Tal? article about Camila Cabello and by identifying cognates children were able to read and understand the article. We finished the cognate unit with a game of Kahoot! where children had to say if two words were cognates or not. They had a great time! In February we learned about the outside of the house. To do this, children became fictional vacation property experts, and had to advise me on what vacation home to buy in Puerto Rico (ask your child about the story). Children also practiced writing complete sentences with differences they saw in two different pictures. Fourth grades finished February with a mid year Jeopardy game review. Fifth graders started the year learning what definite and indefinite articles are and when to use the different forms. By showing children a few cues, they were able to figure out the grammar rules in small groups. We finished the unit by playing different games practicing articles (ask your child about Kahoot!). In February we worked on a connection to Social Studies and we talked about the influence of Spain in the Southwest of the United States. Using cognates and visuals children were able to translate into English different names of geographical locations in the US. 5th graders finished February with a mid year Jeopardy game review. On the pen pal front, we just received the letters from our Spanish friends! We will be reading them next week and replying during the month of March. Everyone is so excited! I hope your child has fun learning Spanish! Sra. Jáuregui PS if you want your child to continue to practice Spanish at home, the Hingham Elementary Spanish website is full of great resources. Here is the link: https://hpselementaryspanish.weebly.com/ Another way for your child to practice at home is through Rockalingua, a website dedicated to learning Spanish through songs and games. To login, go to the website is: https://rockalingua.com/ On the upper right hand corner click on “login”. The username is “east student account” and the password is: 123456
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We're so proud of our students! Check out these samples of work that show what they can do!
Our third grade students created monsters and described them entirely in Spanish - check out some examples below. Dear East school families, It is hard to believe that it is already December. As 2019 ends, I wanted to send you another update of what your child has been working on in Spanish class. Our Kindergartners started November learning colors and shapes, and practiced writing them using different worksheets and games (I hope the worksheets are making their way home). Children continued practicing how to say what their names are by telling Ramona the frog. For Thanksgiving children created a little book listing a few things they were thankful for. Kindergarteners ended December by learning about Las Posadas, a traditional Christmas Mexican customs. After reviewing numbers to 10, in November, first graders have continued learning numbers to 20. For Thanksgiving we read the book Gracias the Thanksgiving Turkey by Joy Cowley and discussed some things that the children were thankful for. We finished the class with a color and number review activity. In December, we reviewed colors. We did this using a story in which we helped little Paco and his friend Lola (two fictional chihuahuas) find a home (each house was a different color). We also played different games like finding Paco and Lola hiding behind different colors. Second Graders continued learning numbers to 40. They have started to learn the different parts of the body. To do this, children became engineers for a day and helped build a fictional robot that would help me with the household chores (ask your child to tell you the story). I hope you got to see the labeled robot that went home. We have also played a number of games and have done a few worksheets to practice naming the body parts. For Thanksgiving, we read the book Gracias Thanks by Pat Mora and discussed some things that the children were thankful for. We finished the class with a color and number review activity. 2nd graders finished December by learning about the Three Kings (a traditional Christmas Spanish customs) and making crowns. Third graders have continued to learn numbers through 60. They have enjoyed playing a series of different games like bingo or a bean bag toss game where I said a number in English and they had to say it back in Spanish. For Thanksgiving, children made a little book in which they wrote three things that they were thankful for in Spanish. To emphasize the school theme of kindness, we started December writing holiday cards to children in orphanages in Latin America through an organization called NPH (Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos). I was very proud of the children, they produced some amazing and very thoughtful cards! During December, 3rd graders reviewed the different parts of the body. We reviewed the vocabulary through a fictional story where, for the lesson, children became scientists working in Area 51, who had to catalog aliens found in a UFO (ask your child about the story). Fourth graders have continued to learn numbers to 80. They really enjoyed playing number games like bingo, or las carreras where different teams had to race each other to be the first to write numbers correctly on the board. For Thanksgiving, children worked on a project where they had to make a wheel expressing four things they were thankful for. During December, in line with the school theme of kindness, fourth graders wrote holiday cards to children in orphanages in Latin America through an organization called NPH (Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos). It was very inspiring to see children put all that work, effort and thought into these cards! We ended the month of December learning what cognates are, exploring different types of cognates, and discussing why they are important when learning a different language. We finally put all this theory to practice by identifying and cataloguing cognates in written texts. Fifth graders started November reviewing numbers to 80 and continued learning numbers to 100 during December. We used a combination of songs and games (ask your child about some of these games like las carreras, the fish game or kahoot!). We then moved on to writing letters to our new friends in Spain. I am delighted to say that 37 children (over half of our fifth graders) have signed up for the pen pal program. The letters were finished in December and mailed to Spain. Now we are waiting eagerly for their replies in the new year. For Thanksgiving we learned Thanksgiving related vocabulary, and the children worked on a connection to math by comparing prices of Thanksgiving food. I would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a safe, warm and happy holiday season! I look forward to continuing to work with your child in the new year! Sra. Jáuregui PS if you want your child to continue to practice Spanish at home, the Hingham Elementary Spanish website is full of great resources. Here is the link: https://hpselementaryspanish.weebly.com/ Dear East school families, Thank you for the warm welcome to East! It is hard to believe that I have been here for two months already! As we transition into the Fall I wanted to update you on what your child has been doing in Spanish class. Our Kindergartners have been busy learning their routines in Spanish class. Children are now able to say what their name is as well as greet others in Spanish (ask them who Ramona is and what they say to her). For Hispanic Heritage month, we talked about the celebration and we read the book Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neil, and discussed the significance of names. Children have also practiced pronouncing and writing the five phonetic Spanish vowels. For the Day of the Dead, we watched the short silent video: Dia de los Muertos: Film school Shorts and discussed the celebration. We also read the book: The Day of the Dead/El día de los Muertos by Bob Barner. First graders have been reviewing how to say hello and greeting others in Spanish (ask them to sing you the song “Buenos dias”). Children learned what a cognate is, which is a very useful concept when learning languages. For Hispanic Heritage month, we talked about Luis Soriano and the importance of his Biblioburro project and read the book Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown. Children have also reviewed counting to ten (they will be bringing home a little counting spider book shortly). We will continue with numbers to twenty during November. For the Day of the Dead, we discussed the celebration and read the book Day of the Dead by Tony Johnston. We also made Venetian style Day of the Dead masks (I hope it made it home!). Second Graders have practiced saying their name and greeting others in Spanish. For Hispanic Heritage month, we read the book Mango, Abuela, and Me and discussed the importance of learning languages. We have reviewed numbers to twenty and continued to learn numbers to thirty using songs and playing a variety of games (ask your child to explain the “Chihuahua” game). For the Day of the Dead, we discussed the celebration and read the book Día de los Muertos by Roseanne Greenfield Thong. We also made masks that I hope made it home! Third graders have reviewed saying their name and greeting others in Spanish. For Hispanic Heritage month, we talked about Mexican-American painter Carmen Loma Garza and analyzed her painting Camas Para Sueños. We have reviewed numbers to forty and continued to learn numbers to fifty through a variety of games and songs (ask your child about the fish game). For the Day of the Dead we learned about the celebration by watching a movie called Dia de Los Muertos. While children watched the video, they had to find the meaning of certain words related to the celebration. Fourth graders have also practiced greeting people and answering the question ¿Cómo te llamas? (what is your name?). Children practiced using bilingual dictionaries to fill out a worksheet about themselves. For Hispanic Heritage month, we talked about Cuban-American artist Celia Cruz and her contributions to salsa music. We read the book Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa by Veronica Chambers and ended the class with a little bit of salsa dancing (we have a lot of talent in 4th grade!). 4th graders have also reviewed numbers to sixty through a mixture of songs and games. They have thoroughly enjoyed playing bingo! For the Day of the Dead we discussed the celebration and children made candle jar decorations. Fifth graders started the year reviewing greetings, other polite expressions, and commonly used introduction questions (I hope the chatterbox and introduction Todo sobre mi (all about me) wheel made it home). For Hispanic Heritage month, children researched some famous Hispanic and Latin@ people, some of whom they will be learning about in social studies later this year. Children have also reviewed numbers to sixty, and will continue counting to a hundred during the month of November. The Pen Pal project was launched, and so far we have over 30 participating children. We will be writing our letters next month. For the Day of the Dead children practiced reading strategies when reading a different language while they read a comic strip about the celebration. Children really enjoyed answering true or false questions while playing a game on Kahoot. |
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