| SEMESTER 2: PK3 Week 00: Students learned about and then made their own Worry Dolls in class with string, cloth, and Popsicle sticks. For more info and a video, see THIS LINK. Week 0: Students made a house and tiled roof (ripping paper is a fine motor skill) for the Worry Dolls they had made the previous lesson. For more info, see HERE. Week 1: Students watched cartoons in the target language (a great listening activity), and played a variation of duck-duck-goose (or, arroz-arroz-pollo/ rice-rice- chicken), when I was out sick. Week 2: Students voted on a song to listen to (THIS or THIS); played another variation of duck-duck-goose (or, manzana, manzana, piña/ apple, apple, pineapple); and talked about how they were feeling* (very dramatically!). There is a set daily routine, which involves a Q&A*, nap, ‘eating’ plastic food and ordering Chick-fil-A or pizza, and playing a game. Class ends with tesoro/ treasure (or sprinkles of glitter, if they line up nicely!). Week 3: Students played another variation of duck-duck-goose, or leche-leche-jugo (milk, milk, juice) with the sub and watched Pocoyo and Perro y Gato in Spanish. They reviewed new and old vocabulary on Thursday. Week 4: Students began a storytelling unit. They co-created a plot with yours truly, working to include a common pool of vocabulary. In one class, there was a gato/ cat who was so hungry that his tummy hurt! In the other, a hungry lobo/ wolf traveled to Jupiter to find food. Both classes sang and acted out the plot together. Week 5: Students retold the same story plot from last week, but added more details. The main character’s tummy hurt, so they went to three different places to solve the problem. They also listened to THIS song and watched a few Pocoyo fairytales in Spanish HERE. Week 6: Students continued retelling the same story from last week, adding even more details. As part of the plot, they pretended to be trees in a “forest”, or bosque, on a windy day, and then built a house/ cave for the main character. They also worked on answering,Tengo sed (I’m thirsty), while dramatically drinking as much pretend jugo/ juice, leche/ milk, and agua/ water as possible: gluglú (glug, glug). Week 7: Students practiced answering, “¿Cómo estás?” (how are you) with a variety of responses. They also listened to THIS and THIS, and built a casa/ house to shelter in from the tormenta/ storm (an extension of their class story). On Thursday, they took the “train” (my table on wheels) to a few places. They cleaned up to their favorite song of all time, “Ven a la carrera”, and earned tesoro/ treasure for a job well done! Week 8: This week, the focus was aural comprehension. Students listened to THIS and THIS to start class. Next, they sat at the tables and had a conversation (in Spanish) about which animals lived in a house I had drawn on the board. They had fun drawing their own houses with whiteboard markers on my tables. Later, the class worked together to build a 3D house out of cardboard and blankets that would protect everyone from the storm. Kaboom! They did a great job tidying up the room at the end of class. Bravo! Week 9: Students only had one class this week due to the Easter break. They listened to THIS and THIS, and then extended their silly conversation from last week about animals (gato/cat; perro/dog; vaca/cow; pato/duck) living together in a very large casa/ house. Later, students drew their own houses with whiteboard markers on the tables again. Some even practiced tracing círculos/ circles to add more details. As PK3 eases into more conversation-based lessons, the goal is to decrease the reliance on visual cues. Week 10: Students participated in “Backwards Day”, where they did our regular routine in reverse. They went to bed (mantas/ blankets), ate breakfast (jugo o leche/ juice or milk), took the “train” to school, painted (azul, rojo, amarillo/ blue, red, yellow) and requested materials in Spanish, and then either colored or played with the toy frogs. THIS and THIS were the good night and good morning songs. Week 11: Students continued with their “Backwards Day” routine. They went to bed (song1, song2), ate breakfast (panqueques/ pancakes), took the “train” to school (song3), painted [color practice] and requested materials in Spanish, and then played with the toy frogs. On Thursday, they learned about the fourth graders’ Spanish Play they will see next week. The play is an annual school event, with a new plot each year. Read more HERE! Week 12: Students watched the Spanish Play (an annual event put on by fourth graders–and all about Pato). They also continued painting and requesting materials in Spanish (color focus), and learned that Pato (my stuffed animal duck) has an evil twin! Oh no! Week 13: Students were very concerned that “good Pato” was in jail (he was framed by his identical but evil twin), and on Thursday, set off around campus on a mission to solve two problems: save “good Pato” and catch “bad Pato”! They found clues and a map, but so far, no actual sighting of either one. Hmm… Watch THIS for more context!!! 🙂 Week 14: Students drew mapas/ maps and made a plan to save their friend “Pato” (the duck). On Thursday, they climbed a REAL ladder in the office and rescued their dear friend. Phew! Thanks to everyone who helped! Week 15: Students were relieved to learn that “Evil Pato” has been caught by police! Phew! They celebrated by painting, coloring, and playing with the toy frogs (~coquí frogs). On Thursday, students created their own class movie theater (with chairs, blankets, and stuffed animals or food), and watched Pocoyó: Más Ruido. For your reference, HERE is the Spanish Songs Playlist again. Week 16: Students painted, danced to their favorite songs, played with the cars, and had a great time! They have grown a lot this year in terms of Spanish comprehension. Be sure to watch a few Spanish cartoons and listen to the Songs Playlist over the summer! | |
| SEMESTER 2: PK4 Week 1: Students watched two episodes of Pocoyo in the target language, and played a variation of duck-duck-goose (or, arroz-arroz-pollo/ rice-rice-chicken), since I was out sick. If there was time, they may also have played manzana-manzana-piña (apple-apple-pineapple), to build vocabulary. Week 2: Students voted on a song to listen to (THIS or THIS); played another variation of duck-duck-goose (or, manzana, manzana, piña/ apple, apple, pineapple); and talked about how they were feeling*. There is a set daily routine, which involves a Q&A* (conversation and comprehension), ordering Chick-fil-A or pizza (entrega/ delivery), and a class activity (e.g., playing ‘restaurant’ with the plastic food). Class ends with tesoro/ treasure (or sprinkles of glitter, if they line up nicely!). Week 3: students voted on the order of which song they would hear first (THIS or THIS)–the bigger number goes first (majority rule), but sometimes determining which number is bigger in Spanish is tricky for them, so they’re working on this! They also played another variation of duck-duck-goose (leche, leche, jugo [“WHO-go”]/ milk, milk, juice) with the sub, watched Perro y Gato in Spanish, and discussed on Wednesday–if they were an octopus or pulpo [there is an octopus in the Pocoyo cartoon], what would they draw with their ink? Students took a few minutes in class to draw tiny pictures with their ‘ink’ (markers). The overarching objective here is to build these seemingly random facts into an imaginative and memorable class story. Perhaps an octopus who draws something with his ink that scares him? And he needs a Worry Doll! We shall see! ASIDE: Because I’ve been sick, this process of getting to the actual story has taken longer than anticipated. Week 4: Students helped co-create and tell a story in Spanish, using a common pool of vocabulary. In one class, Pato (duck) lives in a castle in the forest, but can’t find his friend, Fluffy. He searches all through the forest, finds Fluffy stuck in a tree, and uses a ladder (and helicopter) to help her down! In the other class, a kangaroo named José lives in a cave in the forest, but can’t find his other shoe. He searches all through the forest, finds his shoe stuck in a tree, and uses a ladder (and slide) to get it down! Students got to draw out their version of the ending of the story during the last few minutes of class. On Wednesday, the plot shifted: the ladder broke, so Pato learned to fly on a miniature zip-line, and helped “save” both Fluffy and the shoe, respectively. Week 5: Students listened to a new song (HERE), and continued co-creating an interactive class story in the target language. To emphasize key vocabulary, students participate in other games and activities for a few minutes, and then return to the story… ad infinitum (the ping-pong nature of said class rhythm tends to match students’ energy levels and attention spans). On Tuesday, they played a, “Look for Fluffy/ look for the shoe” (busca a Fluffy/ busca el zapato) hot-cold type of game, hiding and finding objects with their classmates. On Wednesday, they started adding more details to the plot. For example, is it raining or snowing in the forest (¿está lloviendo o está nevando en el bosque?)? Week 6: Students continued telling their interactive class story, emphasizing the castillo/ castle in the bosque/ forest (“kah-STEE-yoh in the BOH-skay”). They colored castles on Tuesday and then exercised some excellent teamwork on Wednesday to build a huge castillo out of cardboard, blankets, and chairs. Upon completion, the lights were turned off and they ‘huddled together’ with mantas/ blankets and stuffed animals inside, as a huge tormenta/ storm was heard outside (HERE are the rain, thunder, and wind sound effects). You can’t merely repeat vocabulary; you have to live and experience the depth of meaning behind the words! Week 7: Students reviewed the question, “¿Cómo estás?” (how are you) along with a variety of possible responses from last year. They also danced, colored, and continued talking about the castillo/ castle and tormenta/ storm. One class even took a “train” (my table on wheels) to a few places: “Where are we going?” Student responses: “New Jersey, Paris, Arizona, the beach”. Obviously. Week 8: This week, the focus was aural comprehension. PK4 students listened to THIS and THIS to start class. Next, they sat at the tables and had a conversation (in Spanish) about which animals lived in a house I had drawn on the board. What else is in the house? Both classes decided that there was definitely a waterslide from the roof into a pool! They had fun drawing their own houses with whiteboard markers on my tables. Later, the class worked together to build a 3D house of cardboard and blankets that would protect everyone from the storm. Kaboom! They did a great job tidying up the room at the end of class. Week 9: Students listened to THIS and THIS. As for the latter, some of them really like the number “veinte” (“bane-tay”/ twenty)! After dancing for a few minutes, they sat at the tables again and extended their Spanish conversation from last week. Here, I ask them what I should draw, and am constantly adding follow-up questions (a big or small door? For the cat or the dog? Is the castle in Spain? etcetera). When the class can’t agree on some detail, it becomes their turn to show me their ideas on the whiteboard tables. They request markers and/or paper (papel, por favor) and start drawing! They love explaining their ideas to me and what they are drawing, which gives me more opportunities to ask for more details in the target language. Many will say things like, “Well, the gato lives in the casa over here…” (gato/cat; casa/house), which is music to my ears! Week 10: Students participated in “Backwards Day”, where they did our regular routine in reverse. They went to bed (mantas/ blankets), ate breakfast (jugo o leche/ juice or milk), took the “train” to school, painted (azul, rojo, amarillo/ blue, red, yellow) and requested materials in Spanish, and then either colored or played with the toy frogs. THIS and THIS were the good night and good morning songs. Week 11: Students continued with their “Backwards Day” routine. They went to bed (song1, song2), ate breakfast (panqueques/ pancakes), took the “train” to school (song3), painted [color practice] and requested materials in Spanish, and then played with the toy frogs. Next class, they will learn about the fourth graders’ Spanish Play they will see next week. The play is an annual school event, with a new plot each year. Read more HERE! Week 12: Students watched the Spanish Play (an annual event put on by fourth graders–and all about Pato). They shared their favorite parts with me the next day; continued painting and requesting materials in Spanish (color focus); and learned that Pato (my stuffed animal duck) has an evil twin! Oh no! Week 13: Students did an amazing job following whole-group class conversations in the target language with minimal visual cues. They talked about the activities they wanted to pursue (paint, color, or sleep), counted how many per group (one student even added a sum for me!), and then practiced requesting materials again in Spanish. Their comfort level, confidence with speaking, and ability to comprehend more abstract ideas in conversation has increased exponentially in the past few weeks, which is wonderful to see. Week 14: Students continued with their whole-group class conversations in Spanish, reviewing their plans for the day. While one class was more interested in coloring and painting again (color practice), the other became fixated on watching and re-watching “The Pato Show” video (I made during virtual learning a few years ago). Many would even quote and repeat the lines with the characters, which was absolutely precious! Both classes have seen the show more than once; one class just wanted to see it again… and again… and again… (otra vez/ again). Week 15: Students continue to do a great job following whole group class conversations. Many offer multiple words in Spanish during class time, either in commenting, responding to questions, or requesting materials. For example, one class latched onto the phrase “Me encanta” (I love it!), referencing the new party decorations hanging in my classroom (shoutout to Miss Carla in PK3 for surprising me with this!). On Wednesday, students took a “night flight” to Mexico (using the chairs to build an airplane). My hunch is that they want to track down “Evil Pato”, but for all I know, we are simply sightseeing… Week 16: Students did an amazing job following whole-group class conversations in the target language with minimal visual cues. They talked about the activities they wanted to pursue (paint, color, or sleep), counted how many per group (one student even added a sum for me!), and then practiced requesting materials again in Spanish. Their comfort level, confidence with speaking, and ability to comprehend more abstract ideas in conversation has increased exponentially in the past few weeks, which is wonderful to see. |
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