Our first weeks!

Hola padres! It is hard to believe that we are at the end of the second week of school! These few days have been filled with excitement, learning, and lots of patience by all of us as we got to know our surroundings and routines. It is so good to be with the scholars again, many of whom I have had in years past and some since Kindergarten. It is such a comfort to walk in to class and see so many familiar and eager faces. The scholars new to Trivium have added so much to each class and have kept me on my toes in terms of remembering names, etc. Thank you for all the support you have given the scholars and teachers these last couple of weeks. This is draining for all of us and knowing that you are behind us spurs us on. So thank you!

I have decided to divide the curriculum in two to start off the year. I will be keeping the Kindergarteners and first graders about on the same lessons and doing the same for the second and third graders. There will be a slight variation between grades, but not a whole lot. 

For the kinders and first graders, we are going to concentrate mainly on getting the basics down: greetings, numbers, colors, the alphabet, days of the week, months of the year, etc. I will also be reading to them quite a bit as this is an activity they truly enjoy and look forward to. It is also a wonderful way to become familiar with a language. I have been concentrating these last two weeks mainly on getting our beginning routine of class going. This is where we sing songs, work on our counting, colors and shapes. Just yesterday, we used pipe cleaners to form the shape of different numbers that were said in Spanish. It was a fun was to practice our numbers. 

For second and third, I have the same sort of routine as I want to solidify those basics of the days of the week, greetings and we will always do some sort of counting: by 5s, 10s, 2s, or all the way to 100. For these grades though, I have a thematic unit on the tropical forest that we will be following. Many of the scholars last year said they wanted to learn more about animals in Spanish and this unit that I have is a great way for them to do that. Since I only have them every other day, I think it will take us a while to work through, but really think it is a unit they will enjoy. 

To add to all that we are doing, when I see your scholar's class on a Wednesday, we will be studying a Spanish speaking country. I will be working my way through Central America with Kinder, second and first and through South America with thrid grade. I really enjoy these lessons as the scholars learn how big the Spanish speaking world is and what interesting facts each country holds. 

Lastly, I have a Who Was book on Frida Kahlo and a What Is book on the Panama Canal that I will be reading to the scholars from time to time. Frida Kahlo was a well known Mexican artist who was  very infulential in art and the Panama Canal was a tremendous undertaking that impacted our world in so many ways. I believe these two subjects to be important for the scholars to have some knowledge of as we study Spanish speaking countries. 

I am sorry for the length of this post, but wanted to give you a thorough overview of what we would be studying. Please let me know if you have any questions. I can always be reached by email at ahamilton@archwaytrivium.org or I will also be available on Thursday, August 27th at curriculum night. Hope to see you there! 

Sra. Hamilton  

¡bienvenidos!

Hola padres!! Welcome to our first year on our new campus! I am so excited and honored to be a part of this historic event for Archway Trivium West. For those of you who don't know me, I am Sra. Hamilton. This is my 5th year here at Trivium. My first two years at Trivium I was an assistant teacher and the last two years I taught Spanish and PE for both Kinder and first grade. I so enjoyed the little ones, but decided to teach only Spanish for K-3 this year. I am so excited to be able to specialize in just this subject as it is dear to my heart and really where I want to be.

For this year, we are trying something new in that Spanish will be taught in an immersion style which means that the majority of class will be taught in Spanish. For those scholars that have been here in years past, this shouldn't be too much of an issue. For new students who haven't had any Spanish this could be a bit intimidating. Please reassure your scholar in letting them know that my instructions and teaching will be very simple and easy to follow if they just look around them and observe what the other scholars are doing. I will make sure everyone understands and that no one feels like they have no idea what is going on.  I have given the scholars a few key phrases that will help them along in class and we will be doing quite a bit of repetition so that they phrases become familiar to them. I also let them know that asking for help is always ok. We learn best from each other, so I am hoping that they will feel comfortable looking to their classmates when they need to.

Along with this, it may seem at times that we are going at a very slow pace, but in order for us to get used to this new format, going slowly will be the best way to acclimate ourselves. This is all new for me as well, so we are all learning together.

Our curriculum this year will not only include the Spanish language but also quite a bit about the Spanish speaking culture and Spanish speaking countries. Please be sure to ask your scholar what they are learning so that you will understand the scope of our studies. I hope that you will grow in your knowledge just like I hope the scholars do.

I will post to my blog weekly on Fridays and hope that you will check here often for what we are doing each week. I will add the widget that allows you to have my posts emailed to you each week. Until then, please bookmark this page. Thank you so much! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at ahamilton@archwaytrivium.org

Sra. Hamilton