Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Mi color favorito es...

The 1st graders reviewed their colores and voted for their favorite color. Here are the results of the 1st grade vote. Mi color favorito es:
Rojo: 16 dieciséis personas
Anaranjado: 6 seis personas
Amarillo: 5 cinco personas
Verde: 7 siete personas
Azul: 11 once personas
Morado: 3 tres personas
Rosado: 9 nueve personas
Café: 2 dos personas
Blanco: 1 Una persona
Negro: 0 cero personas

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Las Calaveras

1st and 2nd graders have been busy making calaveras! We are learning about an important holiday celebrated in Mexico called Dia de los Muertos. We are making calaveras to help us decorate for the upcoming holiday which begins 31 de octubre through 2 de noviembre. We are also working on learning all the parts of the face in Spanish. Ask a 1st grader what a cabeza is, and ask a 2nd grader what a barbilla is!
Here are examples of our calaveras:

2nd Grade Calavera



1st Grade Calavera

Calabazas

Kindergartners are having fun with calabazas! We are learning the parts of the face and practiced drawing ojos, nariz, y boca on our calabazas. Kindergartners know 2 songs in Spanish about calabazas, here are the words so you can sing along:      


Calabazas
(to the tune of "Are You Sleeping")
Calabazas, calabazas
Very funny, muy chistoso
Dos ojos brillantes
Dos ojos brillantes
I'm not afraid
No lo tengo miedo
(repeat with una nariz brillante, una boca grande)

The Number Song
Uno, dos, y tres calabazas
Cuatro, cinco, seis calabazas
Siete, ocho, nueve calabazas
Diez calabazas en todo.

Here is a calabaza we made:

La Oruga

All grade levels are working together to make our oruga as long as possible! What is an oruga you might ask? It is a caterpillar! The oruga's body is made of Spanish words, and continues to grow as our knowledge of Spanish grows! Each grade level has a certain color, kindergarten rojo, 1st grade anaranjado, 2nd grade amarillo, 3rd grade verde, and 4th grade azul. Students can add Spanish words by following the pattern, whatever letter the word ends with the next word must begin with that letter. For example, abril ends with the letter l so the next word must start with letter l, lunes. If students think of the word, they get to illustrate it! Classes look forward to seeing how much the oruga "grew" when they come in.





Thursday, October 8, 2009

A Trickster Tale and Counting Book

All grade levels are enjoying the story Just A Minute by Yuyi Morales. They help out reading by counting in Spanish throughout the book. Ask your child who the trickster was Grandma Beetle or Señor Calavera?

Kindergarten

We read Diez Pequeñas Mariquitas by Melanie Gerth in Spanish. We used the Spanish numbers we have been learning to count along with the story. Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez! Kindergartners made their very own Spanish Numbers Book, practice counting along with your child at home.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Cesar Chavez

4th Graders are learning about Cesar Chavez. We read Harvesting Hope The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Yuyi Morales. We learned about Cesar's nonviolent movement for equal rights and treatment for farmworkers. We were impressed with his compassion, patience, and march of 300 miles!

Check out the beautiful illustrations and true story of Cesar's amazing life!


The American Farmworkers Association flag
Ask a 4th grader what the eagle in center is when the flag is turned upside down.

Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15th to October 15th is Hispanic Heritage Month. We have been celebrating several different ways!


Kindergartners celebrated Mexican Independence Day on September 15th. The students made their own Mexican flag, and colored their flag rojo, blanco, y verde. Kindergartners can tell you what kind of animals are in the center of the Mexican flag.



La Bandera de Mexico