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

Miércoles 18 de Diciembre, 2013

                  

Queridas familias,

            This wednesday was mainly spent preparing for our holiday party. We rehearsed the Los Reyes Magos song, adding a sing-along portion for the audience to participate. Before our party, I passed out more treasures to the students. This time it was sea tumbled shell fossils embeded in stone from the Purissima Formation, which is roughly 3.5 million years old. 

            We did take some time to review the names of body parts, and took turns reading a library book titled Voy al Médico (I Go to the Doctor), which explored the process and vocabulary of a doctor visit, as well as the characteristics of a doctor's career.

Following, came a couple of song rehearsals and, before we knew it, the Chiquitos Group was arriving to join the party. Soon our chorus was lined up ready to begin their performance. I introduced the song by explaining the tradition of El Día de los Reyes (The Day of the Kings), which is when children typically receive gifts. It is celebrated during the first week of January in most Latin American countries. Grass and water are left by children, before going to bed, for the hungry camels, which travelled so far to transport the Three Kings and their gifts.

Again, here is a YouTube link to the song and animated story:

Sung by Los Fronterizos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGMEv0yyeFA

Under the watchful eye of a fellow classmate, the students decided to relax prior to the recital.

Next came the wonderful singing.

Followed by an encore...

And of course...

...the yummy feast!

Thanks to those parents who were able to attend the celebration. I know it meant a lot to the students and helped them perform to the best of their singing abilities. Everyone, including me, also really enjoyed the refreshments, - Thank you Valérie.

I took the liberty of getting a small gift for the children on behalf of the Kings, thinking I could get them to the parents, ahem I mean, Kings on time. Unfortunately, I did not realize we are not meeting for 2 weeks, instead of just one,  leaving the timing a bit off since we won't see eachother again until January 8th.

Thanks to my deep connections, I have managed to cook up a deal with the kind Kings. They will actually swing by the school on the 8th while the kids are in class! I did agree to be sure and leave plenty of grass and water for the camels to get them off to a good start on their return trip, so please send some grass along with your child, we can get the water in the classroom. Come a few minutes before the end of class if you want to see the surprised look in your child's eyes!

As we come near to the Winter Solstice and the return of the light on Saturday Dec. 21st at 9:11am I look forward to the coming year with hope and excitement.

¡Felices Fiestas A Todos!

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 4 de Diciembre, 2013

Estimadas familias,

          I hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday surrounded by family and feasting.

          We began our lesson this week by concluding our reading of Huevos Verdes con Jamón (Green Eggs and Ham) by Dr. Seuss. Everyone had a great time as we pounded the table in unison and declared: ¡No, no me gustan nada los huevos verdes con jamón! ¡No me gustan nada Juan Ramon! ( No, I do not like green eggs and ham! I do not like them Sam-I-am!)

Once again we distributed sea glass treasures as prizes. This time, for the great efforts everyone demonstrated with our word building game during our prior meeting.

Next, we concentrated on learning the names of various parts of the body. Everyone drew and labeled a drawing of a person to keep in their binders. I then introduced Pablo to the class, who has the peculiar habit of getting up in such a hurry, he often forgets to put on a body part. Leaving him, shall we say, feeling a bit incomplete? We used cards, such as the ones that follow below, as the students were asked to say ¡Ay, ay, ay, pobre Pablo. Pablo no tiene ¿¿¿???! (Ay, ay, ay, poor Pablo. Pablo doesn’t have ??????!). The children found it rather amusing. They were asked to recognize the name of the next missing body part and add it to repeat the sentence.

El Cuerpo Humano de Pablo on the board.

A few of Pablo's various bodily states.

          We even included a pop quiz to test their memory at the end of class. Without looking at their drawings, and facing away from the labeled drawing on the board, I would say the name of a body part and they had to silently touch it on themselves. They did very well.

                       Pop quiz time...

Hasta el próximo Miércoles,

Señor Lobo

Miércoles 20 de Noviembre, 2013

Estimadas familias,

          This week we were inspired by the rainy Wednesday to introduce vocabulary which describes the weather. Among others, ¡Hoy está lloviendo! (Today it is raining!) They also learned a song about the rain and we got to take shelter in the classroom next to ours for a few minutes, while room #34 was used by the resident teacher to finish an art project with her class. Hot cocoa was served by one of our kind parents, and we took the opportunity to play a short hand of UNO giving the students a chance to review the names of colors.

  

          Once back in our regular classroom we distributed sea glass treasures as prizes for the Lotería game we played last week.

We went on to a word game found in the text, challenging the students to create both the longest and greatest number of Spanish words in a limited time. The students had a blast and, as we in the prior week, we were joined for this activity by the Los Chicos 2 Intermediate group.

Lastly, looking towards El Día de Acción de Gracias, (Thanksgiving Day) we read a superbly well translated, classic menu suggestion.

Please remember there will be no class on the upcoming Wednesday November 27^th due to the Thanksgiving break. May your cranberry relish be the best ever!

Hasta el Miércoles 4 de Diciembre,

Señor Lobo