Happy fall!  We have gotten off to a great start!  I have been focusing on greetings with all my classes.
 In Kindergarten
"¿Cómo te llamas?" (What's your name).  
"Hola" (hello)
"Buenos días" (good morning) 
"Buenas tardes" (good afternoon)
"Buenas noches" (good night).

 I try to use a lot of gestures and hand motions to help them learn Spanish vocabulary.  I taught them "the secret motions" to use when they see me in the hall to say hello.  It is so cute when I walk down the hall and they are saying hello to me with the "secret hand signal".  It makes my day!  

I used these words to help with classroom expectations.  
Ojos (eyes on me)
Boca (our mouths are quiet)
Manos (our hands are in our lap)
"Stinky" pies (we are sitting correctly with our feet on the rug)

If you want to make your child laugh just say "Stinky Pies"  (pronounced like stinky pee ace).  They crack up when I say it.

In first grade
"¿Cómo te llamas?" (What's your name?)
"Me llamo..."(My name is...) 
"¿Cómo estás?" (How are you?)
"Muy bien" (Very well)
"Bien" (Well)
"Más o menos" (Ok)
"Mal" (bad) 
"Muy mal" (really bad)
¿Y tú? (and you?)
 We used Señor Sosa to help us practice expressing how someone feels (Muy bien, más o menos , and muy mal).  There are some pictures I posted of that activity that you can check out under the "What's Happening" tab.  

In second grade
"¿Cómo te llamas?"(what's your name?) and "Me llamo" (My name is) with the Rosie and Andy song.  They did a great job singing that song.  I took some video of my classes singing. Those videos are also under the "What's Happening" tab.  
 "Buenos días" (good morning)
"Buenas tardes" (good afternoon)
"buenas noches" (good night).  

I read a little story called "Buenos Días" and students acted out the story.  

​In third and fourth grades

All the ways to say hello  and answer the questions "¿Cómo te llamas?" and  "¿Cómo estás?"

We talked about where we went during summer vacation.  Students answered the question "¿Adónde fuiste tú?"  (Where did you go?).  It was great hearing about all the places my students got to visit this summer.  We reviewed all of our greetings and now we are practicing how to say when something hurts.  Encourage your students to sign up for the Spanish Super Challenge.  If you have any problems logging in, please email me at joellejones@madisoncity.k12.al.us  

Have a great September or as they say in Costa Rica "Pura Vida" (Pure Life)! 

Joelle Jones

Welcome back!  My name is Joelle Jones.  I have been teaching elementary Spanish for Madison City since January of 2014.  I have also taught middle school and high school French and Spanish in Michigan and Missouri.  My family and I have lived in Madison since 2010.  We are originally from Michigan but spent five years in Missouri before we moved here for my husband's job at SAIC.    My husband and I have four sons.  The oldest is 22 and is now working, my second youngest is 19 and is starting his second year at UAB, my third son is a junior at Bob Jones, and my youngest is a fifth grader at Horizon.  

I love teaching elementary Spanish.  I am very passionate about what I do.  I am constantly thinking about what I could do to improve.  I am always looking for ideas of things to try with my classes. I try to attend professional development conferences to learn and to gain insight from teachers that are way smarter and more creative than I am.   

I  love elementary aged students.  They are so funny and sweet!  They make my day  They give me hugs, they act like I am a super star when they see me in the halls, and they always encourage me!  I feel so lucky to be in this job.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me.
Joelle Jones
joellejones@madisoncity.k12.al.us

February has been all about family!  We learned a new song in Spanish that has been a huge hit with the kiddos.  Many students already knew the song in English but luckily for us there is a Spanish version of "Baby Shark" (Bebé Tiburón).  Besides "Bebé Tiburón" we sang a traditional song called "Familia Dedo".  We then acted out the song with finger puppets.  That was a big hit as well with the students.  They love puppets!  Mrs. Sims' first grade class did a really good job.  We also played several games to practice the family vocabulary.  

Looking ahead in March... First grade we will talk about the migration of "Las Golondrinas" from Africa over Spain as they head north for the summer.  In second and third grades we will be talking about Cuba.  We will talk about the location, the flag, the capital, common foods, vintage cars, and common sights.  

We will also be reviewing weather, talking about seasons, months, days of the week, clothing, and body parts.  

When I get discouraged your students always brighten my day.  They love greeting me in Spanish.  They love telling me about their loose teeth or that they lost a tooth.  They give me hugs!  They use words and phrases in Spanish that we have been practicing in class.  I am so glad to be their Spanish teacher.

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¡Feliz año nuevo!  Happy New Year!  I hope that everyone had a great break and that everyone is staying warm!  ¡Qué frío!  It's so cold!  That's one of the vocabulary words we are going to be practicing in January.  

In January Kindergarteners will be practicing weather vocabulary (hace frío (it's cold), hace calor (it's hot), hace sol (it's sunny), and está lloviendo (it's raining).  We will also practice shapes which are really easy since they are almost all cognates (words that look very similar to their English equivalents).  We will continue to review colors and numbers which we practiced a lot the first semester.

We are comparing and contrasting the tooth fairy and Ratoncito Pérez.  Children in Spanish speaking countries put their teeth under their pillows and Ratoncito Pérez takes the teeth and replaces them with a coin.  First graders will also be practicing weather vocabulary.  We will include (hace frío (it's cold), hace calor (it's hot), hace sol (it's sunny),está lloviendo (it's raining), hace buen tiempo (it's good weather), and hace mal tiempo (it's bad weather).  We are going to continue to practice answering the question ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?).  

Second and third graders will be reviewing weather vocabulary.  They will review (hace frío (it's hot), hace calor (it's hot), hace sol (it's sunny), está lloviendo (it's raining, )hace buen tiempo (it's good weather), hace mal tiempo (it's bad weather), hace viento (It's windy), está nublado (It's cloudy), está tormentoso (it's stormy), and está nevando (it's snowing).  

I am so glad to be back!  I am amazed at what my students can do!  They love greeting me in Spanish.  I love hearing them speak Spanish.  It's amazing with only 30 minutes once a week what they can do.  ¡Qué fantástico!

It's the end of September!  Time for my monthly newsletter!  Unfortunately the platform I used in the past to send you my newsletter is now defunct.  I have been searching for an alternative.  I am going to give Padlet a try.  

Kindergarten  Words introduced in the Intro:  Hola(hello), adiós(goodbye), buenos días(good morning), buenas tardes(good afternoon), buenas noches (good night), Yo soy un niño/una niña (I am a boy/girl), Yo me llamo...(My name is...), mira(look), escucha(listen), levanta la mano(raise your hand), no hablen(no talking), piensa(think), tiene(has), lleva(wear), salta(jump), marcha(march), baila(dance), camina(walk), corre(run), alto/para(stop), habla(talk), canta(sing), grita(yell), duerme(sleep), aplaude(clap), señala(point), and  saluda(say hello), 
    We have been practicing counting 1-10.   We have been singing the colors and numbers song.
      Kindergarten's cultural focus for the year is Mexico.  During the week of September 16th we talked about Mexican Independence day and how Mexicans celebrate.  We watched a short video about the pyramid of Chichen Itza built by the Mayan people over 1,000 years ago.  Chichen Itza is located in the Yucatan Peninsula not far from Cancún.    

First Grade   We review all our vocabulary at the beginning of every class when we do the "Intro".  

We have been practicing numbers 1-20.  We have been singing the Colors and Numbers Song and the Basho and friends number song.

We talked about the tradition in Catalonia, Spain of building human towers.  We watched a short video.  At the end of August we also talked about the tradition of the Tomatina festival in Buñol, Spain.  It's the biggest tomato fight in the world.  

Second and Third Grades

We review all our vocabulary at the beginning of every class when we do the "Intro".

We have been focusing on using the word Tengo (I have) to talk about pets.  I asked students if they had a pet and the name of their pets.  

Our cultural focus for August, September, and into October has been Costa Rica.  We talked about a toucan called Grecia that was injured.  It was rescued by Zoo Ave in Costa Rica.  Zoo Ave worked to get Grecia a prosthetic beak.  Grecia now lives a normal and happy life  at Zoo Ave.  

The Birmingham Zoo hosted a Celebración on September 23rd.  They asked area teachers for artwork to decorate the zoo.  Students colored and created pictures of Grecia that we sent to the  zoo.   I went to the Celebración  and got to see their pictures hanging up around the zoo.  I took pictures of the artwork and shared the pictures with the people at Zoo Ave in Costa Rica.  They were really impressed by the pictures and posted the pictures on Facebook.  

.¡Hola!  My name is Joelle Jones a.k.a. Señora Jones.  I currently teach all the Kindergarten classes at Heritage and Columbia elementary.  I also teach Mrs. Mullins' and Mrs. Adams' first grade classes, Mrs. White's, Mrs. Porter's, and Mrs. Wilson's second grade classes at Columbia elementary.  I teach all the K-3rd grade classes at Heritage elementary.

I have been teaching elementary Spanish at Columbia and Heritage since the program began in January of 2014.  I live in Madison with my husband and our four sons.  Our oldest son is working to get his Siemens certification.  Our second oldest son will be leaving this weekend to move into the dorms at UAB.  He plans on studying biology.  Our third oldest son is a sophomore at Bob Jones.  He plays in the Bob Jones Marching Band.  Our youngest is a fourth grader at Horizon.  We have lived in Madison for 7 years.  We love living here!  What I love best about living here is the people, the barbecue, sweet tea, college football, the warmer weather, and the schools!!!

It has been great to be back at school.  We have had an awesome start to our year.  In Kindergarten we have been practicing how to sit on the carpet (criss cross apple sauce), to keep our hands in our laps (so we don't get our fingers stepped on), and that only one person can talk at a time.  We have also been learning to say "hola" (hello), "adiós" (bye), "Yo me llamo" (My name is...), and "Buenos días" (good morning).  We will continue working on greetings in September.  We will also talk about Mexican Independence day, the colors of the Mexican flag, and a pyramid in Mexico.  We will begin practicing counting 1-10 in Spanish.  We will be busy in September!

In first grade we have also been practicing our classroom expectations for Spanish class.  We have talked about how important it is to have our "ojos" (eyes) on me so they can fully understand what I am saying in Spanish.  I try to speak a majority of the time in Spanish.  To make it comprehensible for students I have to use my hands a lot.  I remind students that if their "ojos" are not on me then they could miss the meaning of what I am saying.  We have been reviewing our greetings.  In September we will be talking about Spain, the Tomatina festival (when a city in Spanish has a huge tomato fight), ) and the colors of the Spanish flag.  

In second and third grade we have been reviewing classroom expectations and our greetings.  We picked out silly Spanish names to help review vocabulary.  In September we will be talking about Costa Rica.  We will be talking about the animals of Costa Rica.  In particular, we will be talking about a toucan named Grecia.  Grecia was believed to be attacked by a group of kids when Grecia was still a baby.  Grecia's top beak was broken off and he was unable to eat.  A group of people came together to make a prosthetic beak for Grecia using a 3D printer.  We are coloring art work of Grecia. The art work will be displayed at the Birmingham Zoo for their annual Celebración on September 23rd.

It is so great to be back and to be teaching 3rd grade again.  I am so excited about the future of this program.  I cannot wait to see the growth and progress of my students.  It is so exciting!  I am blessed!

20, 19, 18,... we are counting down to summer vacation (in Spanish), of course!  If it would only feel like summer now.  Right now, as I type this, it is 51 degrees!  I am ready for it to feel like summer!
In Kindergarten we have been practicing how to say "Me gusta"(I like) and "No me gusta" (I do not like).  We watched a  video that helped us practice these expressions.  The week of Cinco de Mayo we learned about Cinco de Mayo. To celebrate we danced the Mexican Hat Dance.  I managed to get some video of some of the classes.  Look below and click on the button to see those videos.
In first grade we finished our special days of the week caterpillar projects.  They turned out really cute.  I was excited about how well they turned out.  The kids worked really hard on them.  We sang the days of the week song(over and over again because they really liked this song).    Mrs. Gammon's class did a great job of singing the song.  Look below and click on the button to see the video of her class singing the song.
In second grade we practiced the months by singing a song to the tune of the "Macarena".  Mrs. Wells' class did a great job singing that song.  Look below and click on the button to see the video of her class.  
We just finished Teacher Appreciation week and I felt so appreciated!  Our PTA, parents, and community went out of their way to encourage us this week.  Wow!!!  It has been great!!!!
Have a great May.  If you have any concerns please feel free to contact me.
Joelle Jones

Happy April! Spring is finally here! Take a deep breath and hold on! The end of the year madness is almost upon us! It's a good thing we have summer vacation to look forward to with everything there is to do at the end of the school year!
In Kindergarten we have learned almost all of the "Intro" vocabulary! The "Intro" is a group of commonly used nouns, verbs, and expressions that we review and practice at the beginning of every class of every grade. Every word has an action and is shown with a picture. The "Intro" is like a song or a chant, it is geared towards all types of learners, and it is fun and engaging. Since we only see students once a week for 30 minutes repetition is really important. The "Intro" is the foundation that is used to enable students to begin communicating with each other. It is about 90 words and expressions in total! It's quite an accomplishment. Good job, Kindergarteners! 
In April we are going to work on expressing preferences (Me gusta/No me gusta), feelings, food, and weather.
In first grade we are learning and practicing the days of the week. Lunes (Monday), martes (Tuesday), miércoles (Wednesday), jueves (Thursday), viernes (Friday), sábado (Saturday), and domingo (Sunday). A couple of trivia facts are...in Spanish speaking countries their calendars start the week with Mondays and finish with Sundays. Also they do not capitalize their days of the week or months. 
We watched a funny video by Señor Jordan about the days of the week. We have also been singing a days of the week song by Rockalingua. We are just beginning the story of "La Oruga Muy Hambrienta" (The Very Hungry Caterpillar). In April we are going to focus on vocabulary from "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", on preferences (me gusta/no me gusta), and on weather vocabulary.
In the beginning of March second grade worked on some alphabet skits to celebrate the visit by author, Jerry Pallotta. Due to timing the students didn't have a lot of practice with the alphabet before they did the skits. They did a fantastic job. I am so proud of their videos (see below). A couple of trivia facts about the Spanish alphabet are... the letter "e" is the most common letter in both English and Spanish, the letter "w" is the least used letter in Spanish, and the Spanish alphabet has 27 letters. The extra letter is "ñ". In the past "ch" and "ll" were considered letters but were officially removed by the Royal Spanish Academy in 2010. 
We have been continuing to practice the alphabet. We have been singing an alphabet song to review and we have been playing hangman to reinforce our practice of the alphabet. In April we are going to work on weather vocabulary, days of the week, months, preferences (me gusta/no me gusta), and food. 
I plan every lesson with the goals of comprehensible input and communication. Comprehensible input means that when I am speaking in Spanish I use pauses, hand gestures, props, and pictures so that students are able to understand what I am communicating to them.  They may not understand every word but they understand the overall idea of what I am trying to communicate. In every lesson I ask myself am I keeping students active and engaged, am I staying in the target language 90% of the time, and am I giving students an opportunity to communicate in Spanish? I don't always reach those goals with as much success as I would like but I am always getting better (mostly because I am learning as much from my students as they are learning from me). I am so excited to see what students can do even with only 30 minutes once a week. It amazes me! I am so glad to have the opportunity to witness their growth. It is so rewarding! Have a good spring and happy April!

lowers are starting to bloom, the birds are singing, and soon it will be time for shorts and flip flops. I can't wait! 
Even though it's spring time, the students at Heritage Elementary are not stopping to smell the flowers. They are more like busy bees, working hard!
In Kindergarten we finished our "Hombre de Nieve" (Snowman) unit. We practiced and reviewed "el sombrero"(hat), "la cabeza"(head), "los ojos" (eyes), "la nariz"(nose), "la boca" (mouth), "la bufanda"(scarf), "los botones"(buttons), and "los guantes"(gloves). We continued our review and practice with a visit from "Señor Cabeza de Papa"(Mr. Potato Head) and "Señora Cabeza de Papa" (Mrs. Potato Head). In March we will be starting our spring unit and focusing on weather, some clothing vocabulary, and food. 
In first grade and second grades we read about the "Biblioburro". Luis Soriano Bohorquez operates a traveling library in rural Colombia with his two donkeys, Alfa and Beto.  In first and second grades we also practiced expressing how we feel "estoy contento" (I am happy), "estoy triste" (I am sad), "Tengo frío"(I am cold), "Tengo calor"(I am hot), "Tengo hambre"(I am hungry), "Tengo sed" (I am thirsty), "Tengo miedo"(I am afraid), and "Tengo sueño"(I am sleepy). We practiced speaking about something that hurts as well "Me duele la cabeza, el pie, la rodilla, el estómago, (my head hurts, my foot hurts, my knee hurts, my stomach hurts). In second grade we have started practicing the alphabet in Spanish. We have been singing the alphabet song. In March we are going to focus on our spring time unit vocabulary (weather, months, days of the week, clothing, food, and some leisure activities). 
At the beginning of February the Spanish teachers attended the Alabama World Language Association's annual conference in Auburn, AL . I have spent the last week trying to think of what I want to tell you about the conference and what I have been learning. There is just too much to say! I will try to keep it short and simple. Not too long ago I was listening to a podcast about second language acquisition and I had an "aha moment". What I heard was that if I make communication my goal then acquisition will follow. That's my new goal for 2017. Get students communicating in Spanish!!!! I will not teach about Spanish or teach the language of Spanish. I will teach in Spanish. It's more difficult goal but much more worthwhile.
Happy Spring! Contact me at joellejones@madisoncityschools.k12.al.us if you have any questions or concerns.

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a great break. We started our semester with a snowy theme. My friends, Olaf and Frosty, came to class with me. (Alabama is no place for a snowman! Olaf and Frosty are feeling the heat!) In class we sang "Mi Hombre de Nieve" which is a song about a snowman and set to the tune of Frosty the Snowman. We practiced some vocabulary associated with the snowman song. Students dressed me up like a snowman. After they had practiced putting a "sombrero" on my head, "una bufanda" around my neck, and "los guantes" on my hands they dressed Olaf. Olaf was "triste" because he didn't have "un sombrero", "los guantes", or "una bufanda". They found it very funny because the hat, scarf, and gloves were way too big for little Olaf.  During another class Olaf was sad because he didn't have a hat, scarf, or gloves.  He asked his friends for a hat,  a scarf and some gloves and they shared, of course!  Olaf was very happy!  We did all of this in Spanish which was very exciting for Señora Jones.
Looking ahead we will be continuing our snowman unit with the Kindergarten, First graders and second graders will be learning body parts and reading the book "Fuera de Aquí, Horrible Monstruo Verde" by Ed Emberly.
I would like to thank the Madison Street Festival Committee for awarding Heritage a grant of $200 to buy Spanish books for the school library.  We were able to order 13 books for the school library.  Awesome!  
Stay warm! No, wait it's in the 60s right now...stay cool! Or it could be cold again by the time you read this...who knows? Whatever the weather...your students are awesome and I am blessed to be their teacher! Gracias.