1st grade is diving into geography this week! We reviewed the sports, body parts, day of the week, seasons, emotions, colors, numbers or the classes at school (Just to name a few 🙂 )
I am attaching the fun songs we use to learn all the countries and capitals of Central and South America! As we continue to explore the Hispanic world and its many cultures I expect a lot of enthusiasm and I am sure carry over into your home.
We are back from break and ready to hit the ground running!
1st is moving rapidly into a new unit. Yesterday was a bit of repaso (review). We did a fun worksheet on the calendario. It included vocabulary on the weather, days of the week, months, seasons and even colores!
After the brain warm up, a lot can be forgotten after a week off, we drew ourselves and labeled as many body parts that we could remember. You could see the wheels turning as they sparked their brains trying to remember the extensive words!
Today we dive right into reading comprehension! Since our Spanish brains read different than our English brains it is important to realize the sounds and accents. We are going to be reading beginner level Spanish books together. We begin class by reading together then move into individual placement. This allows me to gain insight into the students reading capacities and find areas for improvement. As we move into the second trimester class focuses on applying all learned vocabulary to real world situations.
I am attaching a playlist from youtube that is helpful for students to read along with beginner level Spanish stories.
Coming off of such a crazy week we dove right into translation! First we read the ever popular book “Where the Wild Things Are” in Spanish! Then we read it in English. We looked for similarities between the two languages! Enjoy the videos below 🙂
Day of the Dead was a raging success! I am thrilled with how the days went. Between the cultural foods, face painting, arts and crafts and movie watching the celebration was phenomenal!
I am attaching only several of the fotos I was able to capture. If you have any fotos please share them with me 🙂
I am excited about tomorrows celebration of dia de los muertos! I have received most permission slips, however if you cannot find yours I will attach the doc below for you to print and send in ASAP.
Any food you bring in needs to have a list of ALL INGREDIENTS and MUST be approved at the front desk. If it is not approved, it cannot be served.
Dress your best and come ready to celebrate our families and loved ones who have died. I am excited to celebrate as a community!
Face Paint Permission Form
Dear Parent/Guardian,
As part of DÃa de los Muertos, Señora Oliver is requesting permission to paint the face with non-toxic face paint, if the child wants. Please sign and return the permission slip at the bottom of this form by Monday, 10/30/16, even if you would like to opt out.
Date: Wednesday or Thursday (depending on their class period), 11/01/17 and 11/02/17 for DÃa de los Muertos
Purpose: To immerse ourselves in the Mexican culture of DÃa de los Muertos and celebrate our families/heritage
Volunteer: If you would like to come in and help paint faces during class we would love to have you join us!
Special Instructions: PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM, EVEN IF YOU DO NOT GIVE US PERMISSION TO PAINT THEIR FACE!
Save this part of the form for future reference.
Cut here——————————————————————————————————————Cut here
Sign this part of the form and return it to your child’s teacher.
_____________________________________________________ , my child,
Does Does Not (circle one) have permission get his/her face painted with washable, non-toxic face paints (if he/she wants) by the volunteers or Señora Oliver.
Parent/Guardian Signature: ___________________________________
Date: _____________________
Would you like to volunteer during your student’s class: ___________________________
What favorite family dish will you be sending (each student will have their food displayed with a small card explaining the dish) : _________________________________
1st grade used their Spanish brains to their fullest extent! We cut up all of the letters for dia de los muertos and made as many SPANISH words as we could think of! It was definitely a brain stretching activity, but it was worth it!
It was exciting to see their faces light up as they remembered more and more Spanish vocabulario and sound out the words!
Muy feliz lunes 🙂
We are off to the races first thing this week! We are reviewing animales, las frutas and diving into classroom materials!
We are watching “La Mochila” song about why our backpacks are so heavy! It is a great song that uses humor and repetition to instill everyday Spanish vocabulary. I am attaching the link below for your enjoyment.
More vocabulary lists heading home this week, so be on the lookout! Also, last Friday you should have received a permission slip for face painting. Please send that in as soon as possible.
Muy feliz lunes
We have kicked off 1st grade classes this week by learning all about our 5 sentidos, 5 senses. I am attaching an image of a worksheet we did to solidify our learning. We talked about our different body parts and how they help us identify what we see, hear, smell, touch and taste. It was another great expansion on las partes del cuerpo.
In addition I am attaching an image of the poema we did last week about fall. Your student should have read to you this poem since it was ¨tarea.¨
As always, it is a pleasure to teach your students!
dia de los muertos : day of the dead
If your student has had me before you know what a HUGE deal dia de los muertos is! It is a day full of face painting, eating, dancing and celebrating life! It has been fun to talk about the many differences between day of the dead and Halloween. This year we are going to have a very LARGE dia de los muertos celebration! On top of face painting, students are invited to bring their favorite foods to class. I am also inviting students to bring in pictures of loved ones who have passed to place on our classroom ofrenda. Permission slips will be sent home next week!
I am attaching more information on dia de los muertos below so you can gain a better understanding of the cultural importance for dia de los muertos.
dia de los muertos:
Nov. 1 & 2
Day of the Dead is a holiday (or festival) when family members who have died are remembered. In Mexico, this festival is considered to be the most important holiday of the year.
It is a period full of life, happiness, color, food, family, and fun.
Outdoor markets sell many symbolic goods, such as special breads, flowers, pottery, baskets, candles, paper puppets, candy skulls, etc. The main symbols of this holiday are skulls and skeletons.
Sugar skulls represent a departed soul and honor the deceased.
Here is an educational video to help you gain a better understanding of the history and cultural significance of dia de los muertos:
Spanish has a wealth of traditional finger plays, rhymes and songs for children. Kids love games with actions, and these are perfect language learning tools. Music, movement, and rhyme combine to enhance a child’s understanding and retention of Spanish.
This past week we read Spanish color descriptions and had to match them with the corresponding picture. It was delightful to see how the students read the Spanish letters and flipped off their ¨English brains.¨
I am attaching several fotos of the activity below and I have videos coming as well!
