2022-2023

Español en Young Scholars

2022-2023

Equipo de Español

Sra. Contreras

Srta. Caballero

Sra. Sánchez

October


During this month, we have perfected our beginning of the class routine: Using a proper greeting, expressing how we feel before class, and talking about the weather, and today's date.

Additionally, October is always our Phonetic Month. We put emphasis on mastering the basic sounds of the Spanish language.

Starting with the vowels, we practice and play with the particular sounds of each letter. In Spanish, vowels have ONLY one sound. This simplicity often confuses English speakers so it is worth spending some extra time making sure the foundations of Spanish sounds are solid.

Besides the sounds, we have been working on syllable breakdown of Spanish words as a pre-reading skill to work on before jumping into reading books.

Our two main resources to introduce these topics come from Rockalingua: The "vowels" song and the Alphabet sound. Both videos and additional material are now available for students.

If you are curious about how our vowels sound and how can you practice with your children, please, find below some additional resources:

El abecedario en español

Sílabas ma me mi mo mu - El Mono Sílabo - Videos Infantiles - Educación para Niños #

Learn Spanish alphabet and vowels with BASHO & FRIENDS - El Alfabeto

Chocolate: Uno, dos tres... - Calico Spanish Songs for Kids




Kindergarten and First Grade

September-Skills

What is movie talk?

Movie Talk is a language learning technique developed by Dr. Ashley Hastings. In the most basic sense, teachers play a short, muted video clip while asking questions in comprehensible language for students.


I use this technique at least once per unit. It is always a hit in the class and students are really waiting for it! It is a fun and easy way to engage students in the lesson because I pause the video several times while asking questions (to the point that it becomes a little bit obnoxious!!) and they are really impatient to see what happens at the end.


Short videos are usually 3-5 minutes long without interruptions which can lead to a 10-15 minute discussion held in Spanish. Our aim is to bring the language in a comprehensible way to students. In order to do so, I use cognates (words that sound similar in Spanish and English) like "Elefante=Elephant" or motions that make words comprehensible to all students without translating.


The short of the month is "FOR THE BIRDS" and we have discussed animal names, reviewed numbers, colors, and basic descriptions using expressions such as:


  • ¿Es esto una persona o un animal? Is this a person or an animal?

  • ¿Este animal es un elefante o un pájaro? Is this animal an elephant or a bird (notice that pájaro is not a cognate, but elephant is, so students use critical thinking to deduct that it must be pájaro)

  • ¿Este pájaro es rojo o azul? Is this bird red or blue?

Kindergarten

September

In September, we have been using in class extensively all the greetings and introduction expressions that we learned during the first days of school. Repetition is a key factor in language acquisition, especially when we live in an environment where Spanish is not present.


We also introduced, in context, the grammatical gender with the following words:


  • Señor: Mister

  • Señora: Mrs.

  • Hermano: Brother

  • Hermana: Sister

  • Chico: Boy

  • Chica: Girl


Languages that have grammatical genders such as Spanish, German or French, assign a gender to EVERY SINGLE noun. This abstract concept also has other implications when, for example, describing a noun. The adjective needs to agree with the noun not only in number but also in gender. Obviously, all these grammatical rules are used in context in class, so students can learn organically to use them.

Grammatical genders also have cultural and social implications. I invite you to watch the following TED talk to learn how our language can shape the way we think.

https://www.ted.com/talks/lera_boroditsky_how_language_shapes_the_way_we_think

Gendered nouns can represent a challenge when creating an inclusive learning environment. I am fully committed to justice and equality and this grammatical rule will not detract me from pursuing an inclusive class.


We are also talking about family members, to continue with the assigned gender nouns and the weather. These are some of the expressions that we are learning:


  • Hoy hace sol: Today is sunny

  • Hoy have frío: Today is cold

  • Hoy hace calor: Today is warm

  • Mamá: Mom

  • Papá: Dad

  • Hermano: Brother

  • Hermana: Sister


As always, we are using Rockalingua as a way to engage visual learners and let's be honest, to have some fun as well! New content is available now :)


Finally, we are talking about Hispanic Heritage Month, the different countries that speak Spanish as their first language and discovering new interesting cultural landscapes.


First Grade

September

We are improving our writing routines at the begining of the class. In our journals, we will write senteces like this: Hoy es lunes, 20 de septiembre de 2021. Hoy hace sol. (Today is Monday, September 20th, 2021. Today it´s sunny)

These are some of the weather expressions:


  • Hoy hace sol: Today is sunny

  • Hoy hace calor: Today is hot

  • Hoy hace frío: Today is cold

  • Hoy hace buen tiempo: Today we have good weather

  • Hoy hace mal tiempo: Today we have bad weather

  • Hoy está lloviendo: Today is rainning

  • Hoy hace viento: Today is windy


We also introduced some school supplies. Please, note that we will not have a unit on school supplies. Instead, we will be using these words in class every day and writing meaningful sentences with that vocabulary.


We are talking about our families and our communities. With this unit, we are introducing grammatical genders and discovering, in context, the implications that this abstract concept represents.

Languages that have grammatical gender such as Spanish, German or French, assign a gender to EVERY SINGLE noun. This abstract concept also has other implications when, for example, describing a noun. The adjective needs to agree with the noun not only in number but also in gender. Obviously, all these grammatical rules are used in context in class, so students can learn organically to use them.

Grammatical genders also have cultural and social implications. I invite you to watch the following TED talk to learn how our language can shape the way we think.

https://www.ted.com/talks/lera_boroditsky_how_language_shapes_the_way_we_think

Gendered nouns can represent a challenge when creating an inclusive learning environment. I am fully committed to justice and equality and this grammatical rule will not detract me from pursuing an inclusive class.


Our presentational approach for the next weeks will be talking about ourselves and our families. We will be using expressions such as:


  • Me llamo Pedro: My name is Pedro

  • Esta es mi mamá: This is my mom

  • Se llama María: Her name is María


Finally, we are talking about Hispanic Heritage Month, the different countries that speak Spanish as their first language and discovering new interesting cultural landscapes.


Kindergarten

August 23rd- September 3rd

During the first weeks of school, are working on greetings and introductions as our main communicative strategy:


  • Hola: Hello

  • Me llamo: My name is

  • Adiós: Good bye

  • Buenos días: Good morning

  • Buenas tardes: Good afternoon

  • Buenas noches: Good night


To improve our vocabulary and confidence, we are also learning about the numbers from 1-10 and the colors. We use songs from Rockalingua and interactive games from the platform as well.


Finally, we are practicing our classroom commands:


  • Nos levantamos: We stand up

  • Nos sentamos: we sit down

  • Levanta la mano: Raise your hand

  • ¿Puedo ir al baño?: Can I go to the bathroom?

  • ¿Puedo beber agua? : Can I drink some water?

  • (Vamos ) A la alfombra: (GO) To the carpet

  • (Vamos) A las sillas: (GO) To the chairs


First Grade

August 23rd- September 3rd

During the first weeks of school, we will review our greetings, introductions and classroom commands.


Our main communicative focus will be introducing ourselves and asking how are we feeling:


  • Hola, me llamo Peter. ¿Cómo estás? - Hello, my name is Peter. How are you?

  • Hola, me llamo Mary. Estoy bien, ¿y tú? - Hello, my name is Mary. I'm fine, and you?


We have a journal! All the information that we were practicing orally last year, now we are writing it!

We are starting with the days of the week, using the following structure: Hoy es lunes= today is Monday


  • Lunes: Monday

  • Martes: Tuesday

  • Miércoles: Wednesday

  • Jueves: Thursday

  • Viernes: Friday

  • Sábado: Saturday

  • Domingo: Sunday


As we progress with our writing skills, we will include the full date, the weather, and feelings.