Monday, December 30, 2013

Pioneer Elem Beginners Spanish: December 9-12, 2013

Hola parents,

Just a quick overview of what we did in class the last week in December before going to break of the T.A.L.K. program at Pioneer Elementary!

We had a lot of fun learning about the opposites and then incorporating the Christmas theme in it by having them distinguish from a big (grande) present to a small ( pequeño) present, coming in and out of the classroom to establish that outside was cold (frío) and inside was hot (caliente), etc.

The kids learned about Christmas terms in Spanish like Santa Clause (Santa Claus), snow man (hombre de nieve), gingerbread man (hombre jengibre),  Christmas Tree (árbol de Navidad) and candy cane (bastón de caramelo). I had them then draw a picture of that term and then converted the picture into an "Aguinaldo Navideño" with treats for them to take home. They even helped me decorate a small Christmas tree in the classroom and got to earn extra stars by pointing out details in the decorations themselves that they had previously learned in class. For instance, there were decorations that were different colors, shapes, quantities, and had the Christmas terms in them. Their job was to point out what they remembered learning in the past that the tree ornament contained. I was impressed in how much they were able to point out!!! I am very proud of the class and am excited to see them again on Monday January 6, 2014!

Maestra Auri


Thursday, December 12, 2013

End of the year. ¡Felices Fiestas!

Hola a todo/as!

Well, we've come to the end of another great year. This year was different due to a greater group size, but every student contributed in a different way. With respect, we helped each other, and learned from each other. We had lots of great activities at TALK, and here are some of the latest pictures:



FOOD Lesson - COMIDA 



In pairs, the students asked each other which vegetables they prefered in Spanish by saying:
¿Te gusta .... o ... ? Then, they wrote down the answers. Here are some sample worksheets:

*Note ambos means both & ninguno means none of them.





Numeros Lesson + Me gusta-Mi favorito (I like- My favorite) + Animals & days of the week review

Some of the children's responses I most enjoyed reading about their preferences:











 I was very impressed with the creative book covers the students designed for their story book of preferences:







Viernes de Pachanga



Every Friday, we either learned about a new Latin American/Spanish musical rhythm or we learned about some Spanish instruments. Here are some pictures from our lesson about Colombian instruments. 
The students created: Guacharacas, Acordeones & Cajas. 


Guacharacas -   tubes with ridges

Acordeones - Accordions

Cajas - Drum-like instruments

We used these
 instruments to play vallenato

Some of the features of this particular Colombian rhythm, which we discussed in class. 



Vamos al Restaurante - Ordering at a restaurant in Spanish



Each child, randomly picked one of these roles: cocinero/a (chef), mesero/a (waiter), or cliente (customer)


Los cocineros "prepared" the food orders using homemade clay


Los meseros  took orders in Spanish, and los clientes ordered food in Spanish.



We took turns to make sure everyone had a chance to participate in a different role




Happy Holidays everyone! We'll see you next year! 2014 

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Pioneer Elementary- Beginners Spanish December 2-5

Hola Parents,

Feliz Domingo! Happy Sunday! I just wanted to update you all on the enjoyable week we had. On Monday, the kids began putting together a yearly calendar. Each student had the opportunity to pick a month of their choice, preferably the month of their birthday, to decorate. This was a three-day project and was amusing to see how focused they can get when it came to decorating their favorite month!

On Thursday, we had the opportunity to incorporate the birthday theme into our lesson plan by actually celebrating two December birthdays. This worked out very well because the kids had the opportunity to practice their Spanish birthday terms during the birthday celebration. We had balloons and a "piñata" which was filled with small toys instead of candy. We even sang the birthday song in Spanish! Even Maestra Auri had a blast!

Please be on the look out next weekend for another blog on this weeks events. Christmas will be one of our themes!

Thank you parents once again and remember that there will be no class next week December 16, 2013-January 2, 2014. Class will resume January 6, 2014.

Maestra Auri

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Korematsu Intermediate Spanish

Good afternoon Korematsu parents,
   Happy Thanksgiving! I'm hoping everyone enjoyed the delicious turkey dinners. Well it's been a long break, now its time to get back on track with classes and learning new Spanish words. This week coming up, we will be going over FOOD. I have spilt the vocabulary into three different categories: VEGETABLES, FRUITS, & LIQUIDS. At the end of the week feel free to quiz your children around the house, perhaps ask them how do you say this in Spanish. If you have any questions, comments, concerns- feel free to email me or post on this blog. As always, it's a pleasure to have your children as my students.
-Juan