Miércoles 28 de Mayo, 2014

    Buenos días,    

          We had some special visitors in class last Wednesday. My oldest (of 5 brothers) was visiting from New Mexico so he joined us in for this lesson. His given name is Tomás, but he was happy to use his new stage name: Viejo Lobo - (Old Wolf). Abuela Loba also attended, as did the star guest of the day: Nuestro cachorito Río. - (Our puppy Río). I had promised to bring him before the end of the year and as I suspected he caused quite a commotion. After getting permission from our host teacher, Ms. Courneen, we placed Río on the table and every student got a chance to give him a treat. He was just as excited as his fans, and loved the attention!

           As Abuela Loba kept an eye on the class we turned to our reading for the day: La Caja de los Botones - (The Box of Buttons),  taking turns to practice pronunciation and translation.

          Meanwhile, Viejo Lobo y Río were busy setting up the fútbol / golf course out in the field. We ended up with four small goals serving as golf holes, one of which ended up in a sand pit!! After a couple of rounds of fútbol / golf,  we split the class in two and set up a sand soccer game. It ended in a tie and, just like in a

World Cup Final, the winner was decided by penalty kicks.

          Next Wednesday is our last class and we are planning to have a little celebration during the last 30 minutes of class along with the other groups. Scholars will also be receiving their certificates of attendance. Please join us if you can. There will be drinks and treats as well as birthday candles to celebrate students who were born during summer.

Hasta pronto,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 21 de Mayo, 2014

Estimadas Familias,

          Last Wednesday began with music to our ears! The class serenaded Abuela Loba with the full repertoire of songs we have learned throughout this term. Truly a treat to hear your children's voices...

          We then moved on to a global subject: Copa Mundial de la FIFA Brasil 2014 (FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014). On a world map, scholars were asked to draw a small soccer ball (what else!?) in each of the 32 countries participating this year. They were also asked to list the Spanish name of the country on the map. They will be receiving a schedule of the tournament today. The tournament kicks off on June 12th at 1 PM pacific time when the host - Brazil - plays vs. Croatia. The games should be available locally, broadcast in  Spanish, through the Univisión network. You can also find the schedule here.

          Fútbol is also on the menu for this Wednesday, at the request of the kids.

Hasta pronto,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 14 de Mayo, 2014

Queridos Padres,

          May arrived with some very hot days! The kids seem to take it in stride and maintain their energetic appreciation for learning.

          We introduced the architectural portion of the course by drawing a simple floor plan of each of our homes, complete with labels of all the rooms in our houses as well as some other architectural features, such as windows and doors, and even the most common fixtures and appliances. Lots of new vocabulary and basic preparation for the possibility of architecture in the future of one or more of our scholars. Some of the students eagerly drew very intricate and accurate floor plans, which they presented to the rest of the class. Ask your child to show you theirs and help them add anything they may have missed. The floor plans should be in their binders.

          Next, it was time to step outside a bit, for a round or two of  Juguemos en el Bosque...(Let's Play in the Forest...), the singing game we had learned at the beginning of the year, while Abuela Loba set up the surprise birthday party inside the classroom for Rafaela and Sara. The cake du jour was a delicious strawberry - blueberry upside down. Mmmmm....As beautiful as it was tasty...

          As we approach the end of the year, we will be doing some review of the lessons we have covered, in hope that the content will remain in the student's memory.

Hasta el próximo Miércoles,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 7 de Mayo, 2014

Estimados Padres,

          We are already in May, the last month of our class. I can't believe how time flies!

          This week  we were lucky to have Abuela Loba as a volunteer again. She even brought her own grocery store with her - Mercadito "La Abuela" ("Grandma" Market) - complete with all sorts of common food items and even a checkout stand, which included a register as well as a mini conveyor belt to move the food to the cashiers. Half the class took a turn at the store, switching between purchasing and selling, while the other half tested their memory with the flash card vocabulary  I introduced last week. Lots of new vocabulary, both food related and other. The groups switched half way trough the period.

          According to an informal  market survey, chocolate and pizza were among the most popular items. Who would have guessed!?

          Next week we will be celebrating birthdays of Rafaela and Sara. Please encourage your scholar to write a simple card in Spanish for the birthday girls.

Hasta el Miércoles,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 30 de Abril, 2014

Buenos Días queridas familias,

          This week we began our class with a short book - El Pez Arco Iris ( The Rainbow Fish). Each scholar took turns reading a page to the rest of the class in order to continue to improve word recognition and pronunciation skills.

          Next we used a set of flash cards. Initially showing the picture of familiar everyday items along with the name of the item. Once that was done, it was time for the memory test. We looked only at the picture, and the students were expected to remember the name of the item. A couple of kids decided to add the "hang man" option to the activity, adding a body part whenever the majority of students could not produce the right answer. A measure of their success was evident by the fact that the last body part was only drawn in when we got to the last of fifty cards.

          After gaining some new vocabulary words, scholars were challenged to construct sentences either in their binders or, by using a collection of magnetic words made available to them. Some of the resulting sentences were rather whimsical. One student insisted on saving her sentence until her father arrived at the end of class. It read: Ella Habla Español - (She Speaks Spanish).

Hasta el próximo Miércoles,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 23 de Abril, 2014

Estimadas familias,

I hope you had a good Easter holiday.

          In Spanish class Los Chicos had reason to celebrate. In retrospect, we staged an Easter egg hunt outside, along with the Intermediate class, to look for eggs made not of chocolate or by chickens, but of glass tumbled smooth by the waves and sand in our beloved Océano Pacífico. Yes, these were seaglass eggs handpicked from north coast beaches by our family and hidden at school by my daughter Elena (a.k.a., Señorita Loba), who acted as my assistant.

As you can see, each student proudly displays their seaglass treasure.

          We did have some time for reading. Great translations of Dr. Seuss's work remain on the favorites list - this time it was ¡Yo Puedo Leer con los Ojos Cerrados! (I Can Read with my Eyes Shut!). Scholars also took turns reading Necesito una Ayudita (I need a Liittle Help).

          Celebrations were not over however. It turns out Tuesday was Cordelia's 9th birthday! We were treated by Abuela Loba's timeless family cake recipe, complete with nine candles. Everyone sang the birthday song (in Spanish, of course) and enjoyed a small piece of cake along with a bit of milk.

          Al in all it was a productive and fun session enjoyed by everyone.

Hasta la semana que viene, (Until the coming week,)

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 16 de Abril, 2014

Felices Páscuas, (Happy Easter)

          Espero que el conejito sea generoso con ustedes. (I hope the bunny will be generous with all of you).

          Last Wednesday we began class with a reading of another Dr. Seuss classic: Hay un Mollillo en mi Bolsillo, loosely translated, if you will, as There is a Wocket in my Pocket. Everyone took turns reading the text, and I must say there were a few bumps along the pronunciation road. Vowel sounds were still a challenge to some scholars, as was the silent h.

          Luckily I had just the right exercise in my bag of tricks...A bingo game of sorts - nothing like a little competition - to practice and identify the vowel sounds. We also differentiated between mayúsculas and minúsculas, (capital and lower case letters). The word for bat - murciélago - has a special characteristic. Can you tell what it is? Your children saw it after a few tries.

Es todo por ahora. (That is all for now).

Hasta el próximo Miércoles

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 9 de Abril, 2014

Bienvenidos nuevamente,

          I hope your families had a fun and relaxing Spring Break. I was great to see Los Chicos together once again.

          We started the class with a song we previously learned before moving to a very popular and complex game which utilizes the Spanish deck we used at the beginning of the year. The game of Truco (Trick) is a widely popular card game with both children and adults in many countries. Besides the Wikipedia link above, the children should have in their binders a double sided page indicating some of the basic components of the game. The funnest version is played with four players in teams of two. Partners can send specific signals to their team mates to communicate information - real, or false, to throw off opponents - about their hand. There is very specific vocabulary involved during play and bluffing is strongly encouraged by the rules.

          I brought three decks and the class split up into groups of two or four players, and most scholars insisted on playing until parents arrived. I was impressed by how quickly the children learned the game.

Hasta el próximo Miércoles,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 26 de Marzo, 2014

¡¡Llegó la Primavera!!

Spring has arrived!!

            

          Yes, although rain was falling outside, we celebrated the arrival of the season. Your young scholars assured me this was a Spring rain, and included la lluvia (the rain) in the vocabulary list of things which announce the transition from Winter. They should have a list of these vocabulary terms in their binders. Please have them read them and, if needed, translate them to you. 

           Students were provided with a set of words from which they constructed sentences ranging from the grammatically correct, to the creatively whimsical. The end result was success and fun for all.

           
           I received an e-mail the day after our class letting me know that five stuffed figures were reportedly missing from classroom # 2 after our class met. They were part of a project Ms. Courneen's class is working on, and therefore very much missed. Since this was announced to the other Spanish teachers, two of the items have been returned. As far as I know, three are still missing. I am hoping the missing items were simply misplaced in the classroom, but if by chance one of our students adopted one by accident, Ms. Courneen and her students would love to have them back.

          We won't meet next Wednesday April 2nd due to Spring Break. I look forward to our next class on Wednesday April 9th. Until then, I wish your families a peaceful and relaxing Spring Break.

          By the way, you may want to have a look at this dictionary site. I find very useful and easy to use. 

Saludos cordiales,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 19 de Marzo, 2014

Estimados Padres,

            This class was led by Fabricio, the instructor for the Los Chicos 2 Intermidiate course. My mother Norma, otherwise known as Abuela Loba, (Grandma Wolf), assisted. There was a review of Empanadas including the vocabulary related to their preparation. The students learned the name of fillings, ingredients and cooking tools and used drawings as identifiers. They also recorded, in detail, the steps necessary to form the tasty treats. Meanwhile I was with Los Chiquitos in room # 14 along with my daughter Elena - Señorita Loba (Miss Wolf), substituting for instructor Lucy and her assistant Rocío. 

           Los Chicos took up birthday celebrations, though unfortunately (again), one of the birthday boys was absent.The class got another chance to practice the birthday song joined by the Los Chicos 2 group. Abuela Loba could not let them end the class without a treat of course - she brought mini flans baked at home, which were served along with Dulce de Leche (Milk Jam) - a caramel like spread. Abuela tells me it was quite a hit...

          Next Wednesday I should be back in room # 2 with Los Chicos.

Hasta entonces (Until then).
         
Señor Lobo

Miércoles 12 de Marzo, 2014

Buenos Días,

            During this class we had the privilege of celebrating the birthdays of two classmates - Ari and Aidan. Unfortunately we will have to hold off celebrating Aidan's birth until next week as he was unable to attend this weeks class. For the occasion we learned a version of the birthday song: Felíz Cumpleaños (Happy Birthday). It was an easy song to learn since it fallows the same melody as the English version. Your child should have the Spanish lyrics, printed in blue paper, in their binder.

           Next came a bit of geografía. Using a printed map of the world (El Mundo) complete with its current political boundaries. Scholars were asked to identify, using a color of their choice, all the countries in the world where Spanish is spoken, including a small dot representing Brooknoll Elementary, Rm. #2. All countries were to be neatly labeled using a sharp pencil for clarity. Not all students were able to finish their map, so please consider doing so at home before next Wednesday.

Until then, les deseo lo mejor (I wish you the best)...
         
Señor Lobo

Miércoles 5 de Marzo, 2014

Queridas Familias,

          To follow up on Krishna's generous treat of Chilean empanadas last week, the kids cooked up a couple of flavors of the Argentine version. For this project, I was lucky enough to have along the very person that taught me to make them. None other than mi Mamá or Abuela (Grandma), as she was introduced to the class. We were also lucky to be joined by the Los Chicos 2 Intermediate group, as well as to receive permission to use the ovens in the lunch room in order to bake the empanadas.

           Though challenging to some, every student was able to make at least one of the tasty treats containing either a corn or beef filling. Most left the classroom with a bag of five to share with their families. Overall the project was successful, fun and, of course, flavorful. Empanadas were delivered to the school office as well as to Ms. Courneen; the teacher hosting our class.

          Our day ended with another quick look at Ojos de Dios projects; some of which were taken home for further progress.

          This week we also had the pleasure of meeting Noah Lorenz, a transfer student from the Chiquitos group who came to get a feel for Los Chicos. Noah settled quickly into the group and participated fully.

Hasta el próximo miércoles,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 26 de Febrero, 2014

Estimadas Familias,

Ojos de Dios again took center stage today. Several students brought back their projects from home to finish them, and others insisted on beginning new ones. some of their amazing creations were delivered as gifts to the principal, our host teacher, Ms. Corneen and, of course, to families at home and to serve magical purposes. I was impressed not only by the great variation of color combination of their pieces, but also by the experimentation with forms and patterns.

            Though difficult to do, I eventually rudely interrupted their creative passion to introduce them to Mafalda; a classic comic strip character highly regarded in Argentina with several published titles to her name. Mafalda is a young and very wise young girl who, with the aid of her band of friends - all about the age of Los Chicos - tackle trials and tribulations ranging from Mamá's soup (Mafalda hates it),  to national and international affairs of state. Each of the students was assigned a character and asked to read their respective part from the comic.

             The class literally ended on a delicious note, thanks to Rafaela and Martín's mom, Krishna, who delivered hot cheese empanadas for the class to share. If everything goes as planned, the students will be making their own empanadas in class next week. We'll get to bake them in the school's lunch room oven. Feel free to join us if you wish.

Ah, sí. ¡Sus hijos son maravillosos! (Oh, yeah. Your children are marvelous!)

Saludos y hasta el próximo Miércoles, 

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 19 de Febrero, 2014

Estimadas Familias,

After a brief rehearsal of De Cuerpo Entero we read Hoy Fué Mi Primer Día De Escuela (Today Was MY First Day Of School.) The students took turns reading to their classmates, but not before everyone agreed to avoid performing the teacher pranks illustrated in the book - specifically when it came to their Spanish teacher! The students read very well and enjoyed the story.

            Next, we crafted  Ojos de Dios (God's Eyes), using two sticks glued in the shape of an X and wrapped with yarn of different colors my wife Nancy kindly donated for the project. The kids loved the craft and several insisted on taking some materials home with them to make a second one. They may need your help to display their work in a window, or above a doorway at home. They also make good Christmas ornaments.

                   

Saludos y hasta el próximo Miércoles, 

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 12 de Febrero, 2014

           ¡¡¡Feliz Día de San Valentín!!! 

           
           We started the class with a brief sing along to go over the new song we learned last week. This sparked an animated philosophical discussion regarding the location of the Spirit in the body. Some students insisted the Spirit resides in the brain while others argued it is in the Heart. In the attempt to define humans, in one of the lines in the song, Violeta Parra refers to the heart:

De un Corá...De un Corazón que palpita, (Of a hea...Of a Heart which palpitates.)

Al Son de...Al Son de los Sentimientos... (To the Bea...To the Beat of the Feelings.)

          We welcomed Ari back to the group, after his worldly travels. He was kind enough to share some of the stories from his trip. Among them were a visit to my old neighborhood in Buenos Aires, exciting new tasty foods he found along the way, and several local animals which he illustrated in his journal.

          Next, came Valentine treats. The Valentine exchange worked out very well - I even ended up with some chocolate! Thank you. There was one student absent but, not to worry, treats will soon be in her hands. I also handed out two printed Valentine images to each student on which they wrote notes to friends or family members. Look for your Spanish Valentine...

          We ended the day with a game of Scrabble (Edición en Español) which contains the extra letters - ch, ll, ñ and rr. The students enjoyed the game and were successful creating vocabulary. Unfortunately, I left the Scrabble game in the classroom. If anyone happens to go by room # 2 please hang on to the game (play at home?) or, at least, let the teacher know I will get it next week. Gracias.

Hasta el próximo Miércoles, les deseo lo mejor.

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 5 de Febrero, 2014

Estimadas familias,

           We began this class learning a new song to add to the student's repertoire. After a quick review of the names of body parts we previously learned. We recognized we left out a very important one: El Espíritu. Luckily, the famous Chilean poet/composer Violeta Parra found a way to include The Spirit in the big picture in her song: De Cuerpo Entero (Of the Body Whole).
            
           As when we learned our previous song - La Mona Jacinta - we translated this one and then sang it together a few times to learn the melody. Please ask your child to practice these songs at home or in the car. They have the lyrics in their binders. 

           Our next class will be on February 12, a couple of days before El Día de San Valentín. The children decided to pick names out of a hat to determine which classmate they would bring a valentine for on Wednesday. They also agreed to include the name of the recipient while leaving the author anonymous. Please remind your child to bring a simple valentine gift.

            We did get to try our likes and dislikes finally. We took turns saying - Me gusta ______, y me gustas tú, ( I like ______, and I like you) to pass it to the next person. Among my favorites were, mi familia and mi Papá. Of course we also looked at a few things we didn't like - No me gusta ______. Several students chose schoolmates they were not particularly fond of. Stand outs were Chocolate and mine: Sandía (Watermelon).

Hasta el Miércoles,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 29 de Enero, 2014

Queridas familias,

           For this class, we took advantage of the (unfortunate) lack of rain and spent some time outside playing the most widely practiced sport in the Spanish speaking world: ¡¡¡FÚTBOL, PASIÓN DE MULTITUDES!!!
            
            I have been a youth soccer coach of all ages for several years and was happy to bring my coaching equipment for a special Spanish session. As it turned out, it was the only time ever that participants insisted, on their own, to run warm-up and warm-down runs around the field. I was very impressed and delighted to see that even the somewhat initially reluctant players really enjoyed themselves.

            We practiced some individual skills as well as a couple of competitive games in which the girls were adamant about splitting into teams according to gender. (Leaving them with a 5 vs. 2 advantage). Meanwhile the boys took it in stride and were happy to show off their skills...

Of course we had to include some crucial vocabulary. After every score the teams were encouraged to celebrate by running around screaming ¡¡¡GOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!

Al final, todos se fueron contentos. (In the end, everyone left happy).

Hasta el Miércoles,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 22 de Enero, 2014

Queridas familias,

           This week los chicos learned a new song by renowned Argentine writer of children's literature, María Elena Walsh. The song is called La Mona Jacinta (Jacinta the Monkey). The students should have a copy of the lyrics in their binders. We spent some time translating the song and than, of course, we practiced singing it.

Below is a link to a version of the song. Please have your child sing along to practice:

La Mona Jacinta

By María Elena Walsh
  I am sure we will be learning more if her fanciful classic compositions...

            During the last part of the class we joined the intermediate group to try the cooperative games we learned last week. As it turned out, adding four more participants made the activities more interesting as well as challenging.

            Me gusta... - No me gusta... (I like... - I don't like...) We ran out of time to look at the theme of likes and dislikes. We will get back to that next week.

Hasta el Miércoles,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 15 de Enero, 2014

Queridas familias,

           After a round of greetings  we began this Wednesday's class with a  game of  Lotería. One of the students was the official card caller and, although the cards are in random order, I ended up with more than my share of luck; filling all the slots on my card prior to anyone else. As a result, and by consensus, the rest of the group insisted the winner should give out the prizes! Short on prizes for everyone we agreed for me to pick a number between 1-50 and for the class to take turns guessing. After a couple of rounds Rafaela won the contests with the number 29 and was awarded the prize - a mini Vincent van Gogh book with Spanish titles to each of the featured paintings. Unfortunately it was left in the classroom by Rafaela but I have it and will return it next time.

            Next we moved outside to put some stored energy to good use. We played several games including:

- Cooperative disentangling: Make a circle, close your eyes and gently reach in to find and hold on to two hands. Open eyes and try to undo the knots without breaking the chain!

- Round-up and sit: Make a circle, keeping the circle intact put hands on the person in front and all together, slowly sit down until everyone is sitting on each other's lap. For the bonus trick, try scooting slowly in a circle.

- Round the forest - One at a time, students ran around our forest of 5 oak trees using a body part to tag each tree. Each run was timed and the students got at least one chance to improve their own time. The body parts they chose were la mano, el pié y la cola - the hand, the foot, and the behind. The use of la nariz - (the nose), was respectfully declined

            Me gusta... - No me gusta... (I like... - I don't like...) We had brief look at the theme of likes and dislikes. We will get back to that this week.

Hasta el Miércoles,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 8 de Enero, 2014

Buenos días padres, 

      During this class we celebrated Día de los Reyes. Having made arrangements with the Kings to visit our school, we agreed to leave some food and water out for their camels to nourish them and get them off to a good return journey. The students left a box of greens and a bowl of water by the oak trees outside the classroom and we returned to class. They were rather skeptical at this point but willing to go along… 

     Once inside the classroom again we turned to our academic pursuits for the day. Following up on our last class, the students took turns reading the book Voy al Dentista, (I Go to the Dentist) learning some new vocabulary while describing the ins and outs of that familiar experience and the folks involved. 
    
      Next, we looked at USBORNE First Thousand Words in Spanish which, apart from great graphics depicting different areas of the home in detail, the book also has a feature the kids enjoyed very much. There is a yellow duck hidden in every page of the book. They took turns finding el patito (the little duck), and if they did, rather than pointing at it on the page, they were asked to verbally describe the duck’s position using both vocabulary we learned prior to the exercise, as well as new words found in the book. 

      With 20 minutes left in class the kids could no longer stand it. We had to check the status of the Kings. We stepped out to the little oak forest and found remains of grass and water spread on the ground, as well as individually labeled bags for each of the kids. In almost every case the contents of the bags was a classic Mexican Lotería game which we have previously played in class. The game introduces new vocabulary and is fun to play. I hope the kids will have a chance to enjoy them with their families. 

 Hasta el próximo Miércoles, 

 Señor Lobo