2015-2016's final post!

Hola padres! It is hard to believe that the end of the school year is here and that this will be my last post until August. I wanted to let you know how much I have enjoyed working with your children and what joy they bring to me. Their enthusiasm for Spanish brightens my day. I hope that this love and enthusiasm for languages and cultures stays with them throughout their lives.

In first and second grade this year, I have had the scholars write themselves a note for next year. I wanted them to tell themselves what they learned this year, what they liked, what they didn't like and what they hope to learn next year. At the beginning of the year next year, I will hand them their letters back and it is so fun to see their reactions. This is a wonderful activity that I am lucky enough to be able to do with them as many of them I will have again next year. I can't wait to hear what they think next year as they start off the school year.

We have been doing other various activities in all grades to close out the school year: bingo; I have, who has; finishing out our country studies and our study on Roberto Clemente. I am so glad to have the privilege of sharing so many aspects of the Spanish language with your children. They absorb so much, have amazing questions and make some great observations. Thank you for sharing your children with me and if you have any suggestions, questions or concerns about this year or next, please email me. Have a wonderful summer.

Sra. Hamilton

sentence writing; yo tengo, quien tiene; tortugas, etc.

Hola padres! Only a week and a half left of school which is so hard to believe! Let me fill you in on our week.

The scholars did an amazing job singing in their concerts this week and I was so proud of them!

In kinder this week we worked on a cute turtle puzzle that helped the scholars recognize the written word of each number (such as "uno" or "siete") and then matching it up with the actual number. This is always a fun activity for them.

In first grade we started a Spanish version of "I have, who has?" that deals with the alphabet. It is so fun to see how fast the scholars catch on when playing this game and how excited they get when it is their turn to play. You should ask them about it! We have also been playing hangman in Spanish to practice our alphabet. They really enjoy this and it is a great way for them to practice.

Second and third grade have been playing their own game of "I have, who has?" but with the theme of greetings. I have also been working with them on writing sentences. It is so interesting to watch them as they are confronted with a worksheet completely in Spanish and as we work on it together as a class they realize how much they do know and can actually do on their own. They have learned so much this year!

We will continue with activities next week that will stretch their memory and knowledge. It will be so great to see them realize the fruits of their labor this year. I have so enjoyed teaching them!

Sra. Hamilton

Concert week, la silla caliente, review games

Hola padres! I wanted to thank you all so much for thinking of me on my birthday and teacher appreciation! The flood of cards, flowers, chocolate, gum and gifts cards was overwhelming and I just want you to know how much I appreciate all of it. Thank you so much; your scholars do really bring me so much joy!

Last week was a fun week for all of the scholars as we worked hard at making our mother's day cards which everyone really enjoyed. I had wanted to do those for a couple of years now, but could never get the timing down right. This year, I was able to be ahead of the game and got the supplies together in time to get them done for Mother's Day. I hope you all enjoyed yours as much as I enjoyed mine. The classes that I had at the end of the week were able to learn about Cinco de Mayo and how it is about an unexpected defeat of the French army by the Mexican army in a battle in Puebla, Mexico. Many people mistake Cinco de Mayo as a celebration of Mexico's independence but the scholars learned that Mexico celebrates its independence in September.

This week, our schedule continues to be a bit out of sync due to concert rehearsals, so second and third grade will continue with la silla caliente or "the hot seat" activity we started a week or so ago where they interview their partner and can present their interview to the class if they so choose. In all grades, we will continue to review with various activities and games as the year closes out.

For third grade studying South America we will finish with a lesson on Bolivia and talk briefly about the other small countries in northern South America that are not Spanish speaking. I look forward to closing this study out with them as we have learned so many fascinating things this year.

Sra. Hamilton

Exciting new lessons, Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day....

Hola padres! I am so sorry for my lack of posting last week as with field day things got a little thrown off kilter. I was so glad to be able to spend field day with the scholars though! The water games were so fun to watch and I had heard so much about the pirate ship game, it was so fun to finally see it in action. And of course, how can you forget the teacher tug of war games? They are always a favorite!

So let me fill you in on what we have been up to. In first and Kinder we have finally finished the alphabet and the scholars are so excited! The last few letters of the alphabet are a bit more difficult to pronounce than the others, so we have been doing lots of review and practice to solidify those for them. This week we have also integrated some color and number bingo to help review those concepts as well.

In all grades next week, we will be doing a special project of a mother's day card so please be on the lookout for those to come home. Toward the end of the week our schedule changes a bit with grade level concert practices happening so with the classes that I do have we will be discussing Cinco de Mayo and its significance to Mexico.

In third grade this month, we have been studying the country of Paraguay. It has been an exciting lesson as we have learned about the Landfill Harmonic from Cateura, Paraguay, a student orchestra from one of the poorest parts of Paraguay that has learned to perform Mozart and Beethoven on instruments built out of recycled materials from the landfill their town sits next to. It is an amazing story of hope and courage. I showed the students two videos and encourage you to see the documentary entitled Landfill Harmonic. I have not seen it myself but would like to soon. Here is the link for the movie:

http://www.landfillharmonicmovie.com/

For those of you who missed it, I wanted to post again the link for the Panama Canal expansion:
http://micanaldepanama.com/expansion/
I have been so impressed with the scholars who have brought information in! I am so glad they have wanted to dig deeper and find out more. We have so enjoyed learning about this together.

Lastly, in second grade the scholars have been learning about segregation. This has tied in beautifully with our study also of Roberto Clemente, the first Hispanic baseball player inducted into the Baseball  Hall of Fame. The scholars brought up the similarities of his struggles of segregation and the struggles of Jackie Robinson's. I am so glad when our lessons integrate like this and am so glad to see the connetions the scholars make.

Until next week,
Sra. Hamilton

the Panama Canal Expansion, el alfabeto sheet and a way to keep up this summer

Hola padres! What a fun week this week as our second and third grade classes have looked at the progress of the Panama Canal expansion project. For those classes this year we have read the book, "What is the Panama Canal?". At the end of the book, we learned that it was decided that the Panama Canal needed to be expanded to accommodate bigger ships that wanted to pass through. The expansion was to have been completed in 2015. Due to unforeseen problems, the expansion has been delayed and is set to open in June of this year. There is a great website dedicated to the entire project with live webcams, a detailed 5 minute video that chronicles the expansion project and also the latest press releases. http://micanaldepanama.com/expansion/ We watched the video in class, took a peek at the webcams and talked about the different challenges that today's expansion might face in comparison to the original construction over 100 years ago. I encourage you to check the website out this summer as the inauguration nears in June. It is so exciting that what we have studied in class this year is so relevant today!

For kinder and first this week, I have passed out a handout on the pronunciation of the Spanish alphabet so that you would have a better idea of what we have been doing this year. It would be great if scholars could review it in the weeks to come as well as over the summer. We continued the study of fruits this week and also learned how to play "I Spy" in Spanish. The scholars really had fun with this!

If you are looking for a way for your scholar to review or continue their learning Spanish through the summer, my recommendation is the free app duolingo. This is a great app that adapts to the level of the student, is fun and practices review as well as introduces new material. Please check it out for your scholar!

Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great weekend!
Sra. Hamilton

the final quarter!

Hola padres! I am again, sorry for the late post; last week got away from me!! So now we have had a couple of weeks with the new curriculum and it is going well! I am discovering new aspects of it daily and the scholars are enjoying it. Much of what we have done so far has been review, but as we continue, we will come upon new material which will challenge them more. For right now, the lessons are good review of our units on la familia, greetings and amigos.

For kinder and first, we have taken a bit of a break from our alphabet this week and have learned about la fruta. Yesterday or today, they should have come home with a booklet about la fruta that I asked them to read to a family member. This is just a fun little way for them to practice and share what they have learned. We will continue with the alphabet next week; we are almost done!!

Have a wonderful weekend!
Sra. Hamilton

a new approach and continuing with kinder and first

Hola padres! I am so sorry for not updating sooner! The end of the quarter is always a challenge but hopefully this post with bring you up to speed! In 2nd and 3rd grade this quarter I am trying something new. I am hoping to get actual Spanish curriculum next year and have the opportunity to pilot it this quarter. This is completely different than what we've been doing but I have tried it out in class already this week and so far, so good! The textbook is online, so I can project it on the board for the scholars and I hit a play button and the lesson is read to the scholars. This is great in two ways as the scholars can hear more Spanish spoken and they can see it also read on the board as each word is highlighted as its read. Thankfully, the lessons start pretty much where we left off with our conversations last quarter so the scholars are familiar with most of the words. We work through the textbook exercises together and there is a workbook that we are hoping to get for every scholar next year, but for now, we are working through those together on the board as well. I'm so excited to have this opportunity to work the kinks out this quarter with a schedule and scholars I am familiar with so that I can be better prepared for next fall. Your children are so kind and understanding as I tinker with my laptop setting it up in each classroom and sit quietly while I make sure everything is in working order. I love them so and am so grateful for their patience and understanding.

In kinder and first, we are continuing, yes still, with the alphabet and reviewing a ton which they love!! This week we will also do some review with the weather and feelings.

Thank you again for your support as we finish out the year!

Sra. Hamilton