| Grade | |
| K | This term, students in kindergarten continued creating imaginative class stories. Here, the celebrated pelefante makes the acquaintance of many lively characters (in both dreams and waking life)—from a duck with a magical cape, to a witch casting silly spells, to muttering Chinese and Russian ducks who don’t speak Spanish, and a big, bad shark who doesn’t want to share a buried treasure. Kindergarteners also chose brand new passwords, began logically stringing action commands together (e.g., freeze like ice, melt into a puddle, jump over the puddle, then swim through the water), and heard two books in the target language: The Runaway Tortilla and Cómo el Grinch robó la Navidad/How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Gracias for another fun-filled quarter! |
| 1 | This term, students in first grade continued adding various activity centers. For example, one week, and in order to experience the infinitive ir/to go, first graders gave examples of where they wanted to go (Quiero ir a Chile), and then, quite literally, went places, traveling all around the school and even outside. Another week, students had fun molding various shapes of their own creation with air-dry clay/arcilla, sticking on palos/(Popsicle) sticks and plumas/feathers to add some flair, and later painting their small sculptures with washable paints. In addition to stating what they wanted to do each day, students also learned how to ask what others wanted to do, and practiced writing and recording this information on a chart handout. Finally, first graders began hearing mini short stories in the target language to practice hearing all of their acquired vocabulary in context. Gracias for a fantastic quarter! |
| 2 | This term, students in second grade continued working on their conversational skills via class games and activity days; listened to familiar children’s songs in the target language; and made new password cards for their birthday months. They also illustrated a class book, in which each second grader is mentioned on a different page in the context of a short story. Later, second graders were introduced to the Spanish, world-renowned, literary masterpiece Don Quijote de La Mancha by Cervantes. They learned that the main character, Don Quijote, is an old man who loves to read about knights in shining armor. However, he gets so involved with this fictitious world that he decides to become an actual knight, and right all of the wrongs in the real world, which, naturally, causes some problems. Nine-hundred pages of problems, to be precise… |
| 3 | This term, students in third grade learned more Spanish rhymes, and alternated between conversation days and story days. On conversation days, students explain what they want to do and why, and then must answer follow-up questions with pre-taught, formula responses in the target language as they are playing. Student-made, bilingual flip-cards (with sample questions and answers) further reinforce reading and comprehension. On story days, third graders hear about the great adventures of Pato—the day he jumped in a bucket of water instead of waiting patiently for Señorita to finish her conversation (and subsequently got in a lot of trouble); the time he was accused of robbing the bank and failed to provide a reasonable alibi; and the night his arch-nemesis stole his favorite toy. Gracias for another great quarter. |
| 4 | This term, students in fourth grade chose new animal passwords; reviewed gerunds and incorporated them into el pueblo (e.g., trabajando/working); settled into a routine to determine who works where each week; read and presented dialogues, and then integrated these written dialogues into the pueblo simulation; dived into challenging translation exercises (English to Spanish, which is generally more difficult than Spanish to English); and discussed Spanish accentuation. Fourth graders also composed letters to their pen-pals in Oaxaca, Mexico. After writing rough and final drafts in the target language, students decorated their papers with patterned designs, colorful feathers and ribbons, little pom-poms, and other fun do-dads. Some even attached tiny gifts for their new friends. Gracias for another great quarter. |
| 5 | This term, students in fifth grade heard the second Latin American legend of the year (La casa embrujada/The Haunted House); worked on asking and answering questions with extended responses; learned basic steps to the Salsa and Cha-Cha, or two ballroom dances that originated in Cuba; identified patterns (converting gendered nouns); and continued creating their own class stories and playing soccer in the target language. Students also had their first few free writes in Spanish (stream-of-consciousness writing), and extended their password routine to include entire sentences, versus single nouns. Gracias for such a fun and productive quarter! |
La cueva de español 