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