This page is for parents and families who would like to learn more about my teaching philosophy and curriculum. There are also Welcome Back Letters and Spanish Summer Packets here, for your convenience. For fun narrative posts about my classroom, see the Teacher Blog. Thanks for stopping by!
More Resources
Summer Packets
Summer Packet 2026
My Dear Friends, Fellow Linguists, and Citizens of the World: This summer, find one or more activities to complete on the Spanish Summer Choice Board…
Summer Packet 2024
PREVIOUS YEARS: Link to ALL SUMMER PACKETS! My Dear Friends, Fellow Linguists, and Citizens of the World: Much like the image above, there can be an…
Summer Packet 2023
Short Version – Summer Packet Click on your child’s grade level page below for song links, cartoons in Spanish, and much more. Click HERE for…
Summer Packet 2022
My Dear Friends, Fellow Linguists, and Citizens of the World: Summer is a great time to get out of the routine — to refresh and…
Summer Packet 2021
My Dear Friends, Fellow Linguists, and Citizens of the World: This summer, students are encouraged to continue their Spanish study by living the language, through…
Holiday Packet
My Dear Friends, Fellow Linguists, and Citizens of the World: The holidays are a time for family, friends, and much merriment. Hopefully, amidst the frantic…
Summer Packet 2020
My Dear Friends, Fellow Linguists, and Citizens of the World: This year’s summer packet for Spanish is a list of 50 ideas–both online and offline–that you are welcome…
Summer Packet 2019
My Dear Friends, Fellow Linguists, and Citizens of the World: WE LIVE in a World of Words, where every conversation, every interaction, everything we read…
Summer Packet 2017
My Dearest Friends: As most of you know, I will not be returning next year. I have loved teaching here, but I also love learning…
Summer Packet 2016
To My Fellow Linguists and Citizens of the World: Learning a language is a beast of a project to undertake. In addition to reading, writing,…
Welcome Back Letters
Welcome Back 2024-25!
My Dear Friends, Fellow Linguists, and Citizens of the World: Welcome back! For any new families, I am the Spanish teacher for students in PK3…
Welcome Back 2022-23!
My Dear Friends, Fellow Linguists, and Citizens of the World: Welcome back! As we look forward to the start of another school year, I thought…
Welcome Back 2019-20!
My Dear Friends, Fellow Linguists, and Citizens of the World: Welcome back! I hope you are having (and have had) a wonderfully adventurous summer. As…
Newsletters
Newsletter, 25-26 (4)
AUGUST 22: ¡Hola! This week, students in fourth grade began learning class rituals and routines. They started with a password to enter the Spanish room (dime…
Semester Update, 23-24 (4)
SEMESTER 2 Week 00: Students worked on memorizing lines for their class play. It is not only about being able to pronounce and read words…
Semester Update, 23-24 (3)
SEMESTER 1 This semester, students reviewed some basic Spanish language trivia (e.g., how many languages are there in the world?), and had a more advanced…
Semester Update, 23-24 (2)
SEMESTER 1 This semester, students started with a few basic facts: What is Spanish? A LANGUAGE. How do you say Spanish in Spanish? “¡Espa-ÑOL!” How…
Semester Update, 23-24 (1)
SEMESTER 1 This semester, students first differentiated between España (Spain- the place) and “¡Espa-ÑOL! (Spanish- the language), and then took an interactive flight to Spain.…
Semester Update, 23-24 (K)
SEMESTER 1 This semester, students started with the basics: What is Spanish? A LANGUAGE. How do you say Spanish in Spanish? “¡Espa-ÑOL!” Why are we…
Semester Update, 23-24 (PK)
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…
Quarter Update, 22-23 (4)
Term 1 This term, students in fourth grade began with Daily Language Trivia outside of my classroom. (This is the official “English/ Spanish/ Spanglish” zone,…
Quarter Update, 22-23 (3)
Term 1 This term, students in third grade began with Daily Language Trivia outside of my classroom. (This is the official “English/ Spanish/ Spanglish” zone,…
Quarter Update, 22-23 (2)
Term 1 This term, students in second grade began with Daily Language Trivia outside of my classroom. (This is the official “English/ Spanish/ Spanglish” zone,…
Quarter Update, 22-23 (1)
Term 1 This term, students in first grade began with daily language warm-ups outside of my classroom. (This is the official “English/ Spanish/ Spanglish” zone,…
Quarter Update, 22-23 (K)
Term 1 This term, students in kindergarten began with daily language warm-ups outside of my classroom. (This is the official “English/ Spanish/ Spanglish” zone, as…
Quarter Update, 22-23 (PK)
Term 1 This term, students in PK3 & PK4 began with daily language warm-ups outside of my classroom. (This is the official “English/ Spanish/ Spanglish”…
Resumen, 21-22 (Grade 4)
Term 1 This term, students in fourth grade began with a fútbol/ soccer unit. Here, the focus is on creating a Spanish-only environment and immediate application…
Resumen, 21-22 (Grade 3)
Term 1 This term, students in third grade began with a fútbol/ soccer unit. Here, the focus is on creating a Spanish-only environment and immediate…
Resumen, 21-22 (Grade 2)
Term 1 This term, second graders began the year with a town simulation. Here, students pretend to live in a Spanish-speaking country, and proceed to…
Resumen, 21-22 (Grade 1)
Term 1 This term, students in first grade learned about El Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile hike across Spain that their teacher completed a few…
Resumen, 21-22 (Grade K)
Term 1 This term, students in kindergarten began with the same stop/go color game as PK3 & PK4. Here, students whispered “[luz] verde-verde-verde” (green light) and…
Resumen, 21-22 (Grade PK)
Term 1 This term, students in PK began with the same stop/go color game as kindergarten. Here, students whispered “[luz] verde-verde-verde” (green light) and simultaneously tip-toed…
Resumen, 20-21 (All Grades)
This year, I changed schools and began writing blog posts about lessons, as opposed to quarter summaries. Our school also did a mix of hybrid…
Remote 19-20, T3 (5)
Continued Learning Assignments below. SPANISH ACTIVITY, 5/19/20 Watch the VIDEO!!! Do one of the optional activities on the Summer Packet. Come to the Specialist Zoom…
Remote 19-20, T3 (4)
Continued Learning Assignments below. SPANISH ACTIVITY, 5/19/20 HAVE AN AMAZING SUMMER!!!!!!! <3 SPANISH ACTIVITY, 5/12/20 EXTRA CREDIT- SPANISH ACTIVITY, 5/5/20 OBJECTIVE: This is a CULTURE…
Remote 19-20, T3 (1-3)
Continued Learning Assignments below. Spanish Activity, 5/21/20- 1,2,3 HAVE AN AMAZING SUMMER!!! <3 Spanish Activity, 5/14/20- 1,2,3 EXTRA CREDIT– Spanish Activity, 5/7/20- 1,2,3 OBJECTIVE: This…
Remote 19-20, T3 (PK, K)
Continued Learning Assignments below. SPANISH ACTIVITY, 5/19/20- JK, K SPANISH ACTIVITY, 5/12/20- JK, K EXTRA CREDIT- SPANISH ACTIVITY, 5/5/20- JK, K REQUIRED– EXTRA CREDIT– Join…
Remote 19-20, T3 (Fluent)
LINKS: La Roja Baila, Summer Language Camps, Teen Speaks Over 20 Languages- Video, Hyperpolyglot- Article, LingYourLanguage, BrainPopEspañol, THE PATO SHOW, Summer Packet 2020 Continued Learning…
Continued Learning (Remote)
Radio Broadcast- Summary CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN! NOTE: It is in both Spanish and English! This week, I will give a variety of options for…
Resumen 19-20, T1-T2 (5)
Trimester Summary Fifth Grade- This trimester, Summit students began with a “News Show” in Spanish–“En vivo, desde México” (Live, from Mexico)–where they took turns being reporters,…
Resumen 19-20, T1-T2 (4)
Trimester Summary Fourth Grade- This trimester, Summit students began with a “News Show” in Spanish–“En vivo, desde México” (Live, from Mexico)–where they took turns being reporters,…
Resumen 19-20, T1-T2 (3)
Year Recap CULTURE: Spain- Gazpacho & La Tomatina; cathedrals/stained glass windows Chile- Easter Island Mexico- eating fried crickets Paraguay- Landfill Harmonic (recycled instruments) Argentina- Train…
Resumen 19-20, T1-T2 (2)
Year Recap READING & WRITING: ¡Hola! ¡Buenos días! Yo me llamo ______. Yo quiero _____ y _____ [jugar y colorear] con mis amigos. Yo necesito…
Resumen 19-20, T1-T2 (1)
Year Recap READING & WRITING: ¡Hola! ¡Buenos días! Yo me llamo ____. Quiero ____ y ____ [jugar y colorear] con mis amigos. Necesito ____ [marcadores,…
Resumen 19-20, T1-T2 (K)
Year Recap PROJECTS: floating and sinking objects; volcanoes with baking soda and food coloring; building Popsicle stick boats with flags; watching Pocoyo; paper airplanes flying to…
Resumen 19-20, T1-T2 (PK)
Trimester Summary Junior Knights- Many of these cultural projects you have already read about on Seesaw: folding abanicos/ fans out of regular and then very large paper…
Resumen, 18-19 (Grade 5)
Term AUG This month, students in fifth grade worked to create an epic saga in the target language. These class stories are teacher-asked and student-led…
Resumen, 18-19 (Grade 4)
Term AUG This month, students in fourth grade learned about Spain’s famous tomato-throwing festival, La Tomatina, held the last Wednesday of August every year. To celebrate…
Resumen, 18-19 (Grade 3)
Term AUG This month, students learned that they have been selected to join the world-renowned Spanish Acting Company. As participants, third graders will perform in…
Resumen, 18-19 (Grade 2)
Term AUG This month, students in second grade chose individualized password cards, and then practiced thinking up ways to physically act out each one as…
Resumen, 18-19 (Grade 1)
Term AUG This month, students in first grade chose individualized password cards, and then practiced thinking up ways to physically act out each one as…
Resumen, 18-19 (Grade K)
Term AUG This month, kindergarteners met “Pato”, a very lovable and silly stuffed animal who speaks Spanish but forgets how to say a lot of…
Resumen, 18-19 (PK)
Term AUG This month, students in PreK learned that “Señorita” speaks Spanish, which sounds a little different than English. They were not sure at first…
Resumen, 16-17 (PK-5, Q2)
Grade PK This month, students in PK met several of the most beloved stuffed animals from the Spanish room, including Pato/Duck, Oso/Bear, and Tiburón/Shark. Getting…
Resumen, 16-17 (PK-5, Q1)
Grade PK This term, students in prekindergarten learned several songs in the target language (Buenos días; Tengo hambre; La araña pequeñita; Sí me gusta/No me…
Resumen, 15-16 (Grade 5)
Term 1 This term, students in fifth grade spent the bulk of their time immersed in the target language and ‘The Art of Storytelling’. Accordingly,…
Resumen, 15-16 (Grade 4)
Term 1 This term, students in fourth grade excitedly delved into the task of creating their own pueblo/ town. A typical day consists of students striving…
Resumen, 15-16 (Grade 3)
Term 1 This term, students in third grade discussed how ‘language is a sport for your mouth’, as phonetics is a major part of the…
Resumen, 15-16 (Grade 2)
Term 1 This term, students in second grade read and translated the daily letter from Pato; responded to the stuffed-animal duck in their class notebooks; rehearsed…
Resumen, 15-16 (Grade 1)
Term 1 This term, students in first grade read and translated the daily letter from Pato, learning which ‘islas/islands’—[read: activity centers]—were open that day. First graders…
Resumen, 15-16 (Grade K)
Term 1 This term, students in kindergarten met several of the most popular stuffed animals in the Spanish room, including Pato/Duck, Oso/Bear, and Changuito/Monkey. Over time, kindergarteners began…
Resumen, 15-16 (PK)
Term 1 This term, students in prekindergarten learned several songs in the target language (Buenos días; Tengo hambre; Queremos bailar; Te amo; Adiós, amigos); were introduced to numerous stuffed…
Resumen, 14-15 (Grade 5)
Term 1 This term, students in fifth grade spent the bulk of their time on creative storytelling in preparation for the student-written Spanish plays performed…
Resumen, 14-15 (Grade 4)
Term 1 This term, students in fourth grade excitedly delved into the task of creating their own pueblo/ town. After hailing a taxi to the airport,…
Resumen, 14-15 (Grade 3)
Term 1 This term, students in third grade discussed how ‘language is a sport for your mouth’, as phonetics is a major part of the…
Resumen, 14-15 (Grade 2)
Term 1 This term, students in second grade had fun learning about The Adventures of Pato—one of the most mischievous stuffed animals in the Spanish Cave. When…
Resumen, 14-15 (Grade 1)
Term 1 This term, students in first grade alternated between Story Days and Activity Days, although the two oftentimes overlapped and blended into one. …
Resumen, 14-15 (K)
Term 1 This term, students in kindergarten let their imaginations run wild. Straightforward, one-dimensional stories evolved into highly complex sagas, growing longer and more complicated…
Resumen, 13-14 (Grade 5)
Term 1 This term, students in fifth grade chose a class mascot to be the main character in their class stories. From this point, creativity…
Resumen, 13-14 (Grade 4)
Term 1 This term, students in fourth grade excitedly delved into the task of creating their own pueblo/ town. After establishing bank accounts and buying their…
Resumen, 13-14 (Grade 3)
Term 1 This term, students in third grade practiced a new routine to begin class (Luces, cámara, acción, redoble por favor/Lights, camera, action, drum roll…
Resumen, 13-14 (Grade 2)
Term 1 This term, students in second grade had fun learning about The Adventures of Pato — one of the most mischievous stuffed animals in the Spanish…
Resumen, 13-14 (Grade 1)
Term 1 This term, students in first grade alternated between Story Days and Activity Days. On the former, students tended to ask Pato was he was doing,…
Resumen, 13-14 (K)
Term 1 This term, students in kindergarten let their imaginations run wild. Straightforward, one-dimensional stories evolved into highly complex sagas, growing longer and more complicated…
Resumen, 12-13 (Grade 5)
Term 1 This term, students in fifth grade recited their passwords, listened to songs from various Spanish-speaking countries, and practiced reading contextualized language every class…
Resumen, 12-13 (Grade 4)
Term 1 This term, students in fourth grade excitedly delved into the task of creating their own town (pueblo). After establishing and building their own…
Resumen, 12-13 (Grade 3)
Term 1 This term, students in third grade sat wherever their password card appeared each day. Third graders also memorized the equivalent of “Eeney, Meeney,…
Resumen, 12-13 (Grade 2)
Term 1 This term, students in second grade sat wherever their password card appeared each day. For review purposes, they began the year earning money…
Resumen, 12-13 (Grade 1)
Term 1 This term, students in first grade sat wherever their password card appeared each day. First graders also stated what they wanted to do…
Resumen, 12-13 (K)
Term 1 This term, students in kindergarten let their imaginations run wild. Straightforward, one-dimensional stories evolved into highly complex sagas, growing ever longer and more…
Resumen Q4, 11-12 (K-5)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten let their imaginations run wild. Straightforward, one-dimensional stories evolved into highly complex sagas, growing ever longer and more…
Resumen Q3, 11-12 (K-5)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten began stringing their action word commands together to create miniature role-plays and to continue creating class stories. Previously,…
Resumen Q2, 11-12 (K-5)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten spent the bulk of the quarter creating imaginative class stories. From the infamous bad duck winding up in…
Resumen Q1, 11-12 (K-5)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten had their own animal password to enter and exit the Spanish room. Students sat wherever their password appeared…
Resumen Q4, 10-11 (K-5)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten reviewed numbers, family members, and days of the week with their long-term substitute (while I was in China). …
Resumen Q3, 10-11 (K-5)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten began to use the target language with their peers. Previously, kindergarteners were accustomed to answering ¿Cómo estás? with…
Resumen Q2, 10-11 (K-5)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten increased their Spanish vocabularies through a variety of songs, books, and games. First, they learned and/or reviewed the…
Resumen Q1, 10-11 (K-5, 6)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten reviewed and expanded upon their large base of knowledge from last year. At this point, they are working…
Resumen Q4, 09-10 (K-5, 7)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten first learned a new password: la contraseña, or password. While the bulk of the quarter was spent increasing…
Resumen Q3, 09-10 (K-5, 7)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten continued learning through play, but several new ideas were introduced as their linguistic confidence began to increase. First,…
Resumen Q2, 09-10 (K-5, 7)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten adjusted to a more informal style of teaching via, well, play. There is an enormous toy shelf in…
Resumen Q1, 09-10 (K-5, 7)
Grade K This term, students in kindergarten began their Spanish study with an animal unit. Their very first word was “duck” because I have a…
Putting Things Into Perspective
FYI: Mathematically speaking and to put things into perspective, a student who takes Spanish 2-3x/ week (30-minute classes) over the course of seven years (say, from PK3-4th grade) will have been exposed to 13 days (24 hour days) of the target language. How much would you ask a two-week-old infant to say in their native tongue? Let’s be sure to celebrate any and all linguistic output!
| Minutes | Days | Weeks | Total Minutes | |
| PK3 | 30 | 2 | 35 | 2100 |
| PK4 | 30 | 2 | 35 | 2100 |
| K | 30 | 2 | 35 | 2100 |
| 1 | 30 | 3 | 35 | 3150 |
| 2 | 30 | 3 | 35 | 3150 |
| 3 | 30 | 3 | 35 | 3150 |
| 4 | 30 | 3 | 35 | 3150 |
| Total Class Minutes | 18900 |
| Minutes per 24 hour day = 24×60 | 1440 |
| CLASS DAYS (not including snow days or holidays) | 13.125 |