This month, students in kindergarten and first grade continued reinforcing their high-frequency words in context. We read the story “Tengo frío.” Students worked very hard to learn the key vocabulary from the story by using gestures and movements to support comprehension. They also had fun creating patterns with the vocabulary words.

Students felt very proud of themselves because they were able to understand the story in Spanish! As we read, we paused to ask personalized questions, such as whether they have seen birds or have birds at home. We also discussed the weather in the United States and compared it to the weather in Mexico. Students shared their weather preferences and talked about where they would like to go for warm or cold weather. It was a wonderful learning experience for everyone.

The structures we reinforced through this story were:

• vive (lives)

• va a (goes to)

• dice (says)

• hace frío (it is cold)

• hace calor (it is hot/warm)

Next, students participated in a Read & Draw activity. We read parts of the story and then drew pictures to demonstrate understanding. Students worked with partners to support one another and did a fabulous job! Soon, they will bring home their mini books to share with their families.

In celebration of Black History Month, students learned about Eva Ayllón, an Afro-Peruvian singer. We took a virtual visit to Peru using Google Maps and explored her musical contributions. Students also learned basic steps from a traditional Afro-Peruvian dance, along with key vocabulary and phrases from the song “Saca las manos”:

• Saca las manos (Take out your hands)

• Saca los pies (Take out your feet)

• Saca la cabeza (Shake your head)

Finally, we learned a new greeting song, click here to enjoy this song at home. 

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

We started 2026 by talking about New Year traditions in Spanish-speaking countries. Students learned about the tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight to make wishes for the new year. Each class wrote their wishes on a large paper grape, which was later placed on a display for the whole school to see. We focused on making wishes connected to our Lincoln expectations and our goals as World Language scholars. We have also continued reinforcing our routines and expectations for Spanish class.

We reviewed family member vocabulary along with our frequency words “TENGO” (I have), “QUIERO” (I want), and “HAY” (there is/there are) to share information about our families in Spanish. Students enjoyed singing and dancing to the song “La familia grande” , click  here to listen to it. Students also had the opportunity to draw their families and share them with the class if they chose to.

During this month, we also read two short stories in Spanish about un muñeco de nieve (a snowman). We reviewed our frequency words “ES” (is) and “TIENE” (has) and learned additional vocabulary related to body parts and winter clothing, such as: ojos (eyes), cabeza (head), nariz (nose), manos (hands), bufanda (scarf), guantes (gloves), grande (big), mediano (medium), pequeño (small), and more. This vocabulary helped students understand the main idea of the stories.

Finally, we listened to and sang the song “Soy un muñeco de nieve” (I am a snowman). Please click here to watch the video of this song.

During the month of December, we talked about family celebrations. We like to celebrate and embrace ALL celebrations. It is wonderful to continue building community while learning from each others' cultures during this time of the year. Students were able to share what they celebrate with their families and friends during this time of the yer. It was a great opportunity to learn from each other while showing respect and empathy.  We used the structures: "Yo (no) celebro" (I (don't) celebrate), Yo también (Me too) and more. Kindergarten and First grade students learned about "La noche de las Velitas" (The night of the candles). This is a Colombian 🇨🇴 celebration on December 7 that marks the beginning of Christmas. We read and listened a short story from Aventuras in Learning about this celebration while learning and reinforcing our family, color, and other vocabulary. Students were able to color their candles and placed them on a display outside of our classroom. 

We started reviewing our family vocabulary by using our frequency words: "TENGO" (I have) and family members, "QUIERO" (I want) and HAY (there is/There are). We learned the song "La familia grande", click here to listen to it. We watched different families portraits, we counted the members of each family and noticed there are familias GRANDES (big) , MEDIANAS (medians) and, PEQUEÑAS (small). All families are unique and special. We will continue with our family unit in January and students will have the opportunity to draw a picture of their families and share it with the class if they would like.  

We concluded our month by learning and playing a traditional Hispanic game. This game is called "La Pirinola". This is a spinning top game and it is played in some Hispanic countries such as, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Mexico. People play this game during the holidays. Students enjoyed playing it and finding similarities and differences with a dreidel.  Through the game, students were encouraged to keep up with their Spanish.

At the beginning of the month, we learned about Día de Muertos, a Mexican holiday celebrated from on November 1 and November 2 to honor and remember our loved ones. We learned about the elements that are placed on an ofrenda (offering). 

Later, we talked about "Mascotas (pets) and shared what pets we have at home and what pets we want to have by using our frequency words: TENGO (I have) and QUIERO (I want). We learned this cute song: "Tengo una mascota". Students really liked talking about animals. 

Students also enjoyed the story "La oruga muy hambrienta" (The very hungry caterpillar), which allowed us to review days of the week, colors, and fruit vocabulary while also learning the cycle of the butterfly. Students really like singing: "La canción de las frutas" (The fruit song). While telling the story we reinforced our Spanish frequency words: HAY (there is/there are), VE (sees), COME (eats), LE GUSTA (likes), NO LE GUSTA (doesn't like), ES (is). LE ENCANTA (loves). They were able to understand the main idea of the story while acquiring Spanish in a fun way. During this lesson, students with higher level Spanish had the opportunity to continue increasing their conversational skills by making predictions, adding more details of the story telling, making personal connections about their likes and dislikes. Students showed comprehension of the story by acting out and answering yes-no questions about the story. 

Finally, we ended this month by saying what we are grateful for by using the expression: "Yo doy gracias por..." (I am thankful for...) and using a vocabulary bank. 

This month, students have really been enjoying our greeting songs — ¡Hola! and Hola amigos— as well as our  days of the week song and Yo tengo una casita (I have a little house). Feel free to play these songs at home and sing along with your children!

Students continued learning about Frida Kahlo, a famous Mexican artist. They drew their homes and compared them with Frida’s house, which allowed us to reinforce our color vocabulary and more. We used our “magic words”: soy (I am), es (is), vivía (lived), and vivo (I live).

First-grade students reviewed what they learned about Frida last year and reinforced our frequency words such as soy (I am), vivo (I live), me gusta (I like), tengo (I have), and quiero (I want), while sharing information about themselves and comparing their statements with what we know about Frida.

Students also enjoyed making an origami blue house — click here  if you’d like to try this at home! They are currently working on a small book to take home and share with their families. We’re now learning about Frida’s animals and talking about whether we have (tengo) pets or want (quiero) pets.

We’ve also started discussing Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) and will continue exploring this celebration next month.

All of our class vocabulary is introduced and reinforced throughout our lessons. Students are gradually acquiring the language and expanding their vocabulary little by little.

We read the book "David va al colegio" in order to reinforce our class norms and expectations. Students showed understanding of what is  expected during our class through a simple game named: "Está bien o está mal." (It is good or It is bad.)

Students have been enjoying singing our Spanish greeting song and turned it into a fun conversation. Enjoy the song here. 

We have been acquiring, practicing, reinforcing, and using our feelings vocabulary during our self check in time at the beginning of class: FELIZ (happy), TRISTE (sad), ENOJAD@ (mad), TENGO MIEDO (I am scared), CANSAD@ (tired) and more by singing our feeling song. Click here to listen to the song.

It was fun acquiring our classroom objects vocabulary through Total Physical Response (TPR) activities and the game: "¿Quién tiene la mochila?" (Who has the backpack?) and the Buzz game in where we list the classroom objects until we find the Buzz word. We used the structure: "Necesito" (I need).

We started learning about two famous Mexican artists "Frida Khalo y Diego Rivera", which is helping us reinforce our feelings vocabulary and at the same time learn more about these famous artists. Students enjoyed going on a virtual field trip to "La casa azul de Frida Khalo". Click here to take this virtual field trip. 

We have started with CALENDAR TALK to acquire, reinforce, and practice the days of the week (click here to listen to days of the week song), months of the year, numbers 1-30 weather, birthday celebrations, weather, and more.

All of the class vocabulary happens simultaneously during our lessons. Students will be acquiring the language and leveling up their language vocabulary little by little.