¡Bienvenidos familia, amigas, y amigos!

¡Bienvenidos familia, amigas, y amigos! Welcome family and friends! Our Spanish Program for the 2016-17 school year got off to a great start!

As an introduction to the Spanish program that is new to most of our youngest members,  los Catbirds enjoyed listening and practicing our traditional morning song, Buenos días amigos, buenos días (Good morning friends, good morning).  They also got a tremendous kick at meeting one of our beloved puppets, Perrito (Puppy). This little guy loves to sing the Adios (Good-bye) song along with us but often interrupts because tiene hambre (he’s hungry). Make sure to ask your little one what happened when he interrupted.

An activity at the start of class is, ¿Dónde vamos hoy? (Where are we going today?). This is a favorite among los Cardenales. During each class, one student gets to choose a Spanish speaking country where we “pretend” to visit.  Modes of transportation are introduced with the selection of a plane as our choice to travel to our destination.  This is a great way to introduce students to the many countries, other than México, where Spanish is the official language as well as some ways in which we can travel there.

To connect with their class theme study of Five Senses, in el Jardín de Infancia (kindergarten) the students have been learning the facial components. One fun way to reinforce the vocabulary was by playing el Juego de los Matamoscas (The Fly Swatter Game). In this game, the flashcards are placed on the floor and the object is for the students to swat the matching flashcard to the oral command. ¡Divertido!

In Primer (1º) Grado the students are also learning the facial components as they prepare to make their autorretrato (self-portrait) soon. They too enjoyed a fun game of Los Matamoscas but instead of matching the oral command to the photograph, they matched it to the written word.  

In Segundo (2º) Grado the students have begun to make their autorretratos after learning the Spanish words for features of our face. One very amusing game they enjoyed playing to help reinforce the vocabulary was Pulgar Arriba (Thumbs-Up). To start this game, students are selected and invited to the front of the classroom. The students seated at the tables are encouraged to place their heads down with eyes shut, extend their arm and put their pulgar arriba. The chosen students are given a flashcard and then circulate the area, secretly pressing one thumb each and then returning to the front of the room. On cue, the students raise their heads and each takes a turn at guessing who pressed their thumb. But, instead of using the student’s name, she or he states the item on the flashcard that the individual is holding up. The second graders couldn’t get enough of this game!

In Tercer (3º) Grado the students joyfully engaged in many saludos (greetings) activities. They had an absolute fun time practicing a dialogue in Spanish for greeting each other. What made the experience even more amusing was that they used a puppet.

And, in Cuarto (4º) Grado the students have begun stating El Reporte (The Report) at the start of class.  During every class, a student takes a turn at providing the group with the day's date, weather, season and time - great way to practice their Spanish reading skills!

We have definitely gotten off to a wonderful start. I look forward to the many, many adventures and experiences ahead. Hasta nuestra próxima noticias (until our next news), ¡Adiós! 

Con mucho cariños,

Alicia