November has been an exciting month for our program. Bethany Powell, the elementary Spanish teacher at Mill Creek and Rainbow, and I attended the American Council on Teaching Foreign Language in November. There were 8,500 world language teachers from all over the world there. We got to network with early educators just like us! We ate dinner with the president of the Alabama World Language Association! We attended many sessions with ideas and techniques that will help us grow our students' proficiency! It was all very exciting!
I read a teacher's tweet about the conference and she described it as an "information overload". I have to agree with her. I am really looking forward to implementing what I learned. I just have to sift through it first!
This year the three elementary Spanish teachers paid to have a Christmas tree displayed in downtown Madison. The Kindergarteners colored. "burros", "sombreros", and "maracas". I had some people pick the best three of each class and I laminated those to hang on the tree. The first graders made "estrellas" (stars) out of beads and pipe cleaners. The second graders made "ojos de dos" out of yarn and popsicle sticks. There is a contest and we are hoping to win the "People's Choice" award since we have so many students. The public can vote for the People’s Choice Award by visiting the Christmas Magic in Downtown Madison Facebook page or by stopping in at any of the businesses in Downtown Madison (Main Street) December 5 – December 9, 2016. Please vote for our tree! Better yet, stop by and see our tree! Our students worked hard to decorate it.
In Kindergarten we have learned Hola "hi", adiós "bye", buenos días "good morning", buenas tardes "good afternoon", buenas noches "good night", yo me llamo "my name is.."), yo soy "I am", mira "look", escucha "listen", levanta la mano "raise your hand", no hablen "no talking", piensa "think", tiene "has", salta "jump", marcha "march", carmina "walk", corre "run", alto/para "stop", habla "talk", canta "sing", grita "shout", duerme "sleep", applaude "clap", saluda "say hi", señala "point", muerde "bite", llora "cry", basta ya "that's enough", juega "play", "agarra "grab", tira "throw", patea la pelota "kick the ball", batea la pelota "bat the ball", rebota la pelota "bounce the ball", busca "look for", pega "hit", monta en bicicleta "ride your bike", "monta a caballo" (ride your horse), "nada"(swim), "flota"(float), "toca la puerta"(knock on the door), "toca el tambor"(play the drums), "toca la guitarra" (play the guitar), "va"(go), "salud" (bless you), "gracias"(thank you), and "de nada" (you're welcome). . We continue to practice numbers one to ten (uno 1, dos 2, tres 3, cuatro 4, cinco 5, seis 6, siete 7, ocho 8, nueve 9, diez 10.
In first grade we reviewed all our verbs, our vocabulary, and we continue to work on numbers 1-20. We will be talking about the holiday traditions of Spain and singing "Cascabel" or Jingle Bells.
In second grade we reviewed all our verbs, our vocabulary, and we are continuing to practice 1-50. We will be talking about Puerto Rico and some of the cultural aspects of Puerto Rico including the holiday traditions. We will be singing "Feliz Navidad" sung by José Feliciano, a Puerto Rican.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me at [email protected]
Happy holidays!
Joelle Jones