¡Felices fiestas!

¡Hola familias, felices fiestas!

In Spanish class we have talked about how Christmas and the New Year is celebrated in Spain. You may watch the video below to get a sense of the Spanish traditions during the holiday season:

Ask may ask your student how Santa is called in Spanish, or who else brings regalos to the children on January 6th. What other traditions were discussed? How do people celebrate the New Year?  These logs are from Catalunya, a Northern region in Spain, would you like to borrow this tradition for your family?

Best wishes for a 2015, familias! ¡Feliz Año!

Estudiamos Perú

¡Hola familias de séptimo!

After a busy unit studying clothing and Guatemala, the Spanish class is "travelling" to Perú! Ask your student about what they remember of Perú: who used to live there? What is a famous city in Perú? How about the regions, how many are there? What food do they have that is different from ours? Below is a video of a very famous Peruvian dish... Guess the name! Adivina...

Estudiamos Argentina

¡Hola familias!

8th graders are learning about Argentina in our next unit. Has your family visited Argentina?  Bring a picture to class! Here is a video of one of the most famous glaciares in Argentina, el Perito Moreno,  and two of the most famous jugadores de tenis during their visit. Ask your Spanish student whether they can guess where the glaciar is located?  What can they tell you about this region?  How about the video itself? What words does your student already know about sports, our previous unit?
More to come soon...

¡Hasta pronto!

Los muñecos quitapenas

In our Guatemala unit the 7Th, graders are studying about clothing and presents. Can your student recall the name of a traditional blouse? Or the actual currency in Guatemala? We have also been learning about the muñecos quitapenas, the very tiny little dolls that take your worries away.

Here is a link for some more fun reading about them: muñecos quitapenas

Las profesiones

Hola familias,

8th graders have been exploring jobs and occupations, here is a cute video from our friend Nico about
many professions in the neighborhood. ¿Y tú, qué quieres ser de mayor?

En la tienda hay un alien

¡Hola familias!

7th graders are working on a clothing unit in Guatemala. Aliens just came to the Spanish class to buy some clothes... Will they fit nicely? Ask your student how we say "it fits" or "what size it is?" in español. More to come soon... Stay tuned!

PS: ¡Puntos extra! What verbs are we learning in class that sound like Master Yoda speaking?

A hint:

Los Superhéroes y las Superheroínas

¡Hola familias!

Both 7th and 8th grade students started the year by reviewing some information from last year, and they had to come up with a special superhero character. It was very entertaining to see your students at work, some of them chose to be a supervillain instead, some others joined forces in a superhero alliance! ¡Qué creatividad! Here is a peek at our Pared de la fama - Wall of fame, where the projects are posted. Can you guess which superhero is your student?

¡Buenas! Hoy en clase hemos repasado las conjugaciones. I thought I would attach a couple of videos for you to review the endings, and one of my favorite oldies but goldies!

All the students should know this one by heart by now! Sing along my friends, happy conjugating!

Ms. Moore's great welcome is in display on the 3rd floor. 

Gracias Ms Moore for a fabulous beautifying of the school!

¡Hola de nuevo, familias!

As some of you know already, I have switched to Middle School and this year I'll be teaching Español to 7th and 8th graders. I am very excited about this new challenge (or desafío, as some of the 8th graders will know by now :) 

I will keep news from the classroom in the blog and there will be a page for homework reminders, projects, and other news that I hope you find helpful.

Cheers for a great year! 

By the way, if you are receiving this post and your student is in K-6 (I will miss them!) feel free to unsubscribe.

What a hectic end of the year this has been, but here we are at last on our first day of summer vacation... This was a year filled with learning and fun, a big round of applause to all the students who worked so hard! ¡BRAVO! And I hope that you continue to speak a lot of Spanish during your vacation... Where do you think Profe is going very soon? Here is a hint:

¡Hasta pronto, amigos! More to come in September...

La comunidad

¡Hola, otra vez!

In 3rd grade we watched a video today about our friend Nico and his community. Can your student tell you 10 places in the community? What is the difference between biblioteca and librería? Watch and listen carefully to the video for clues first :)

La casa y Puerto Rico

Hola familias de sexto- 6th,

We are wrapping up the end of the school year with our unit on...

                                       ¡PUERTO RICO!

Has your family travelled to Puerto Rico? Do you have pictures for us with a rana coquí or a oso perezoso? Bring them over! We would love to see them.

In this unit students also study the house, the furniture, the prepostions and adverbs of location,  the present tense conjugations. Sing the prepositions song with your student! Or browse the Español en casa section of the blog for games you and your student can play at home.

Hola familias de quinto-5th,

In 5th grade we have been focusing on travel and Spain lately. We have just finished our transportation unit and we are moving onto food in Spain. I wanted to share a song that has been a huge success all across 5th grade, called A mi me gusta viajar. Ask your student to sing the song and join in!

We are now studying food, and as we study Spanish foods from different regions, I would encourage you to try them at home!

Ask your student about pan con tomate. Where is it from? What ingredients do you need? What type of pan? Clue "¡wonderpan nunca, siempre baguette o chapata"

You may also try a tortilla española or tortilla de patatas 
                   

                         Adult supervision required!

Un restaurante de 3o y las profesiones

Hola familias de tercero - 3rd,

We have been busy in 3rd grade finishing our food unit with a spectacular performance. It was a treat to see the 4rd graders perform with a friend pretending they were at a restaurant.

Ask your student whether they were the chef or the cliente, the name of the restaurant, or how much the leche con chocolate would cost. A big bravo to all 3rd graders that volunteered to do the play,  and to those who rehearsed tirelessly!

We are now studying profesiones, here Flashcards to study profesiones and a song Canción de profesiones

El huerto de la escuela Devo

Hola familias de primero-1st,

Felicidades for a fabulous concert last Friday! Your little performers will bring home a souvenir from the Spring Sing for you very soon... On another note altogether, the first grade students have been studying the Devotion garden. We have been having so much fun, planting lechuga, doing a scavenger hunt, and spotting gusanos y hormigas! Ask your student what their favorite part of the huerto visit was.

La oruga muy hambrienta, y una tierra muy linda

¡Hola familias de primero (1st)!

We have been busy studying spring, which is almost here consistently, and to stay! La oruga muy hambrienta has been a delightful book to read and explore about primavera. Does your student remember any of the words below? Do they have a gesture to go with it? Can your student find with their little eye: mariposa, capullo, hoja, ciruelas, manzana, naranjas,  sandía, fresas, peras, oruga pequeña, salchicha, oruga grande-muy grande-enorme.

Also, do not forget to rehearse the concierto de primavera song with your little singer! We have been very excited about the upcoming concert and cannot wait to show you our graceful choreography, stage presence, and very fine español. Below are the lyrics:

En nuestra tierra tan linda   

En nuestra tierra tan linda                          Here on our beautiful planet

Pronto va a salir el sol (2x)                         Soon the sun will shine

En nuestra tierra tan linda                          Here on our beautiful planet

En nuestra tierra tan linda                          Here on our beautiful planet

Pronto va a salir la luna(2x)                         Soon the moon will shine

En nuestra tierra tan linda                          Here on our beautiful planet

        

En nuestra tierra tan linda                          Here on our beautiful planet

Pronto va a soplar el viento (2x)                   Soon the wind will blow   

En nuestra tierra tan linda                          Here on our beautiful planet

En nuestra tierra tan linda                          Here on our beautiful planet

Pronto va a brillar una estrella (2x)              Soon a star will shine

     

Una actuación de flamenco

¡Hola familias de 5o!


We had a very special day last Wednesday, since The Flamenco Dance Project came to visit the 5th graders at Devo and performed for us! ¡Gracias PTO! In Spanish this year we are learning about Spain, and one of the most popular dances is flamenco. Some lucky students got the dance with the bailaoras as well!

Ask your student what they remember where this dance is from, about the performance, the dance itself, the castañuelas and the palmas:

Devo's very own Jorge Pérez joined in as well! What a surprise!

¡Campeones!

¡Hola familias de 6o!

We have the campeones of the immersion competition, trrrrrrrum... Emoción, intriga, dolor de barriga... Un aplauso para los finalistas: last but not least 6KL with 119 minutes spoken, bravo! Then 6K takes the bronze medal home with 191 minutes, estupendo! Silver medal for 6H and their 239 minutes, súper bien! And the campeones, and gold medal winners of a fiesta is 6D with 266 minutes spoken. A big round of applause for 6D, and for all the 6th graders, who worked really hard at using their Spanish in class. ¡Olé!

¡Hola familias de primero (1st)!

Last week we had a very special guest come to our class, and his mom! Ask your student if he can recall the name of our guest, or whether she remembers the story. What did Pepe say in the end? Riquísimo....

¡Hola familias!

Today we have played a very silly game in Español, it was called elefante! Ask your student what happens when you say trompa... How about cola...? Elefante? Can your student label this lovely elefante from El Principito?

¿Quién ganará la competición de 6o sexto? Ánimos clases, there is still time... ¡Buena suerte!

6 conjuga

6th graders are getting ready to conjugate, here is a video to get you going and singing a ritmo puertorriqueño! ¡Vámonos!

Las frutas y verduras del arco iris

¡Hola familias de tercero!

We have been learning all sorts of fruits and vegetables: here our friend Nico tells us all about the colors of the futas y verduras:

¡Hola familias de 1 primero!

We have been studying the primavera: I am so emocionada that it is finally coming! Some questions you may ask your first grader: ¿Qué tiempo hace en primavera? ¿Qué animales hay en primavera? We watched a silly video of our friend Pocoyó and la mariposa:

               PUERTO RICO: LA ISLA DEL ENCANTO

6th graders are getting ready to explore our new unit: Puerto Rico! Has your family been to Puerto Rico? Does your student have a picture with a coquí? On a bus? In the Yunque? Please send those memories along! We would love to hear from your experiences in la isla del encanto...

¡Hola familias de 5 curso!

This week the "can do" statements are coming home. This is a great time to ask your student about what he can do in Spanish, and also quiz her about it! As 5th grade does not receive a grade, you may want to ask your student what he can do to review "necesito ayuda" statements. Is there a dictionary we have at school? Have we played an online game? If your 5th grader forgets the homework, below is a copy:

¡Sí puedo! At the end of this unit, you write one of the following in each box:

Sí – I can do it consistently

Más o menos – I can do it sometimes

Necesito ayuda – I can do it only if I’m being helped   

I can tell 10 items of clothing	I can add details to the clothing: size	I can add details to the clothing: pattern	I can add details to the clothing: fabric	I can tell you what I wear using llevo
I can tell you what you should pack given a certain climate	I can tell you what I wear in different seasons	I can tell 10 community places	I can use “está” to describe a location	I can ask where some place is and follow directions on a map
I can say up and down	I can tell you about left and right	I can do a little the dance for ¡a volar!	I remember most of the vocabulary in my Paco Guanaco story	I can…

Firma de los padres:

México en tus sentidos

Coming soon... ¡Paco Guanaco!

Paco Guanaco es joven y muy guapo...

¡Hola! 

5th graders have been busy with their Paco Guanaco performances: ask your student what the story is all about!

Who is this animal? What is his name? / ¿Cómo se llama? Does he snore? How do you say 'snore' en español?

¡Hola familias!

3rd graders are studying foods and meals. Bellow is a picture of a very traditional Spanish dessert, can you ask your 3rd graders if they recall the name?

¡Hola familias!

We had a very special visit in our 1st grade classroom today, Pepe! Pepe is a first grader,  he is 6 years old, and he only speaks español.  Pepe told us he did not like school today, because his backpack was really heavy, uf! What did Pepe have on his backpack? Ask your first grader if he or she can recall any of the items....

                             ¡Feliz día de San Valentín!

All the students across the school were busy thinking of a word in Spanish they loved...did you see them all? Most popular words are chocolate, perro y calcetines.

Tarea de sexto

Tarea de sexto 

La Quinceañera WebQuest: Record answers to questions 1-10 in your journal

The transition from adolescence into adulthood is celebrated in different ways and through different customs around the world.  In Mexico, this transition has a deeply rooted tradition for young women.  

1. When is the quinceañera celebrated?

http://www.quinceanera-boutique.com/quinceaneratradition.html 

http://www.nyfolklore.org/pubs/voic28-3-4/onair.html

2. What does the quinceañera tradition typically begin with?

http://www.quinceanera-boutique.com/quinceaneratradition.htm

http://www.quinceaneralocations.com/historyofthequinceanera/index.html 

3. What are the honor courts young girls called? What are the young men called?

http://www.quinceanera-boutique.com/quinceaneratradition.htm

4. As part of the ceremony what does the quinceañera change? What does this symbolize?

http://www.quinceanera-boutique.com/quinceaneratradition.htm

5. What is the toast at the reception called?

http://www.quinceanera-boutique.com/quinceaneratradition.htm

6. What are 5 typical gifts that are given to the quinceañera?

http://www.quinceanera-boutique.com/quinceaneratradition.htm

7. What traditions or ceremonies in the United States that we celebrate are like that of the quinceañera?

http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/3192-la-quincea%C3%B1era-%E2%80%93-an-hispanic-celebration-of-budding-womanhood

8. Who are the padrinos?

http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/3192-la-quincea%C3%B1era-%E2%80%93-an-hispanic-celebration-of-budding-womanhood

9. What are bolos?

http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/3192-la-quincea%C3%B1era-%E2%80%93-an-hispanic-celebration-of-budding-womanhood

10.  What ancient civilization did the quinceañera originate from?

http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/3192-la-quincea%C3%B1era-%E2%80%93-an-hispanic-celebration-of-budding-womanhood

On your own, answer the following questions:

Imagine that you have been asked to plan a quinceañera for your cousin.

Make a list of several things that you need to do to prepare for the party:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

List three things that will happen during the church ceremony:

1.

2.

3.

            List three important things that will happen during the party:

            1.

            2.

            3.

Connections: 

    1.     Explain what a “Rite of Passage” is.  What are some important Rites of Passage in our culture that you have witnessed or experienced?

       2.  Explain a tradition that you have in your family.  How does your family celebrate important events?