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) : _________________________________
As we prepare for dia de los muertos we review what the holiday is all about. It is very different from Halloween and we look forward to celebrating together next week! There is also a new movie that will be coming out to theaters soon called, ¨CoCo¨ we watched the trailer and looked for the most importante objects of dia de los muertos. I am attaching the trailer below for your viewing pleasure as well 🙂
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:
2nd grade is loving the unit on las partes del cuerpo! They drew themselves and labeled the bodies accordingly. I am attaching images for your enjoyment! The projects will be coming home after parent teacher conferences next week.
Here we are already, third week into classes! Time flies when you´re having divertido! Here are images of some of vocabulario we have begun to tackle!
Parents and educators understand the many benefits received by learning multiple languages. By beginning early, the K-5 students of Quest Academy will be prepared for the middle school curriculum, and later for the curriculum of high school.
Some parents have asked why their student is not fluent. This is a marvelous question that I would love to address so that you can reinforce language in your home as well!
Most classes have Spanish class 2x/week for 45 minutes. Once they leave my room they are back into an all English speaking environment. Most students have said they speak English at home so that limits all Spanish exposure to an hour and a half/week. The students here at Quest Academy make tremendous strides in language acquisition, but if it is not reinforced at home the target language time is limited therefore making it hard to become fluent.
I love that so many parents have reached out asking what they can do to reinforce the Spanish language and culture throughout their home. I have compiled a list below that I believe will help tremendously!
Here are some things you should do to bring Spanish into your home:
-Find a tandem partner to have free, regular conversation practice in an informal setting. As a bonus, they’ll probably come away with a new friend!
-Change the language of all electronic devices and social media sites to Spanish and you’ll both pick up new technology-related vocabulary without realizing.
-Make the most of free resources like newspapers and library publications, which are perfect for reading and translation practice.
-Watch Discovery Kids Latino, Disney Latino chances are any show your student likes has a Spanish version!
Spanish Grade Two Curriculum con Señora Oliver
In Grade Two, Spanish instruction is designed to generate interest and enthusiasm for the target language through a wide range of communicative and hands-on activities. The teaching of Spanish at the elementary level is content-based and interdisciplinary. Grade two students will learn and use Spanish vocabulary and simple grammar structures while developing communicative skills and acquiring knowledge in Language Arts, Social Studies, Art, and Music.
The class meets 2 times/week for 45 minutes. Typical activities include vocabulary routines (greetings, date, weather, etc), songs and poetry, Total Physical Response activities (TPR engage children in active, physical activities and interactions in the target language), role playing, games, content-based exercises and applications, fiction and nonfiction read aloud, and introduction to Hispanic cultures and traditions.
Expectations
Exposing your young child to a second language optimizes his or her learning potential, and capitalizes on the brain’s capacity for language acquisition in the early years. Classes are focused on acquisition of vocabulary and the development of lifelong foreign language proficiency, communicative skills and cultural awareness.
At the end of second grade students are able to:
State their name
Say the day of the week, months, seasons
Speak about the weather
Know how to introduce themselves
Demonstrate orally and in written form a mixture of vocabulary words and phrases (i.e., greetings, simple commands, numbers, body parts, family members, shapes, animals, days, months, likes and dislikes) through literature, music, games, illustrations, pictures, and symbols.
Be able to read beginner/pre-intermediate level Spanish
Identify major Hispanic Holidays
Know names of Sports in Spanish
Identify directions in Spanish
Sing a variety of Spanish songs from memory
Understand and identify school vocabulary
Recite the pledge of allegiance by memory
Know basic clothing vocabulary
Extend a conversation using complete sentences to include more simple questions and answers.
Make routine requests, such as: May I go to the bathroom? May I drink water?
Students engage in conversations, obtain and provide simple information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions in Spanish
Use basic vocabulary to create a multimedia rich presentation to be shared with an audience
Understand present tense conjugation of the verbs, TENER, ESTAR, SER
This year I have the great problem of way too many ideas of what to do on the first day of school.
I could not be more excited about beginning another school year of teaching PreK-5th! Spanish is so importante and I am blessed to be able to teach the language and culture.
Allow me to give you a glimpse into the first day of class!
BEFORE CLASS – A Spanish Pandora Station will be playing to acclimate them to the LATINO climate of my classroom
GREET – I greet all students at the door in Spanish with a smile and a seating card. I will ask their name in Spanish, modeling “Me llamo Senora Oliver” “¿Cómo te llamas?”
INTRO MYSELF – I will introduce myself using a PPT in Spanish with a lot of actions, movement and enthusiasm.
¿y tú? – I will ask each student what language is spoken at home
CIERTO O FALSO – We will play a fun game about common misconceptions about the Spanish language and the people who speak it
REFLECT – We will talk about expectations within the classroom and throughout Quest Academy
Next week is Meet the Teacher Night and I will handing out curriculum outlines for each specific grade. If you are unable to attend please email me and I can send it to you!
2nd grade is tackling AR verbs! Of course we are still working on understanding personal pronouns and combining them with present tense conjugation of AR infinitive verbs.
I am attaching some notes below so you can get a glimpse into our classroom.
To conjugate a regular AR verb in the present tense, you first REMOVE the AR ending. Then, you add the new ending that goes with the subject you have chosen. These are the endings for regular AR verbs.
