Gracias por...

Thanksgiving was an exciting time for the whole school. It was a time to count our blessings, stop and think how fortunate we are to have friends, family, etc. The children were thankful for so many reasons! Familia, amigos, maestros, la vida, la naturaleza and even Nico, our stuffed bull! They wrote on paper leaves what they were thankful for, and each grade formed a beautiful, big, strong tree. All the trees formed a "forest" in our lunch room. Even the teachers wrote in Spanish! Come, check it out!! For pictures (until you get there) look at the slide show on the right side of this blog. Gracias por compartir sus hijos conmigo. Thank you for sharing your children with me and a big thank you to all of you who helped cutting leaves!

Some reflections...

I have been thinking about how I try to address the multiple intelligences that I see in all of the students at Beye. The special area teachers get to know all the children in the school, that is about 400 kids!
The verbal-linguistic intelligence: Spanish has different sounds than English. In addition to that there is a wide variety of dialects of Spanish in the vast territories of Spain and the Americas. Children notice right away when somebody doesn't speak like the teacher; "it sounds funny", they say. I smile because this is proof of this intelligence. The teaching of sounds and the rhythm of words is reinforced in my classes with songs. The verbal ability to speak a languages is key when we tell and act out stories using TPRS.
Mathematical-logical intelligence: I encourage this in different ways: the obvious one is when we learn about numbers. When the children learn to write numbers and count they look for a pattern: how does Spanish construct the numbers? They reflect about "how we do it in English" and how are they different/the same. They use the numbers in authentic situations, I joke with them: "If you can do this I know I can send you on a field trip to Mexico" Another way is when we learn about verb conjugation: it takes a logical mind to search for a pattern and apply it when writing and speaking. I also like to label everything in the classroom: masculine nouns have a blue background, feminine nouns have a pink one. The first week of school a KINDEGARTENER came to me and said, and I quote: "I know what you are doing, the blue words end in -O and the pink end in -A. I don't know what it is yet, but it has a meaning and I will find it". Isn't that something?
Musical intelligence: I remember when I was learning French in elementary school, I looooved singing in French, I pretended I was a French child and tried to imitate the pitch, timber, the accent... We love doing that in class: el baile the los colores, los dias de la semana, arriba-abajo, etc If you listen carefully you won't hear an accent either!
Visual-spatial intelligence: When we act out a story the children draw a cartoon of what takes place where. When the third graders build a school or design a city, or even work with the big model of the city of Chicago that we have upstairs they are using their visual-spatial intelligence to learn a language.
Kinesthetic intelligence: Music come accompanied by body movement. When Kindergarten, first and second graders practice the date they use their bodies to say that "hoy es mier-co-les, 19 de no-viem-bre, dos mil ocho". Ask your child to show you. When we learn the time we use our arms, when we learn seasons and clothes that we need for our trip we'll use our bodies to pretend we are getting dressed, etc. There is something to be said about muscle memory, whether it is writing in a foreign language or speaking. At the beginning it is like driving: you need to focus on every step, then it becomes automatic.
Interpersonal intelligence: Some of the work we do is individual, but a lot of it is interpersonal. Language, by nature, is interpersonal; it is bridge out to people and cultures. There is constant work in collaborative groups within the classroom and collaboration between me and the classroom teachers and other special area teachers. There are dialogs in Spanish, presentations and games where you also have to focus and be fast!
Intrapersonal intelligence: Students also have the option of working on their own. Sometimes they will ask for a place where they can work on their own. I got to see how your children use this intelligence during the celebration of the Day of the Dead. Their self awareness regarding this topic was amazing . I was humbled by how genuinely they shared with me their feelings and values.
Naturalist intelligence: There is a big tree out side our window, and because it is high on the wall, we see the sky. When we learn about the weather it is right in front of our eyes. We learn about farm animals, pets, even take polls on what is their favorite insect... The favorite topic in second grade is dinosaurios. We dedicate 2 weeks to learn about them in Spanish (but they already know everything!!) Third grades are absolutely fascinated about El sistema solar. Even children who do not like to read will do so in Spanish: a package on information on every planet and questions about them. Space is fascinating, I agree, in my next life I want to be an astronaut...

Dia de los Muertos

For the past week we have been learning about the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead. I adapted the content according to age and the result has been amazing. The children understand that for the people who celebrate El Dia de los Muertos, death is not bad, it is a part of life, and that this celebration is not scary: it is like a family reunion, we are happy to be together again with people who have passed away. The upper grades are busy constructing "altares" for famous people who have died (Elvis Presley, anyone?). Third graders got to bring home beautiful sugar-skulls masks. Second, First graders and Kindergarten worked very hard at coloring smaller skulls (practicing colors at the same time) and "altares". Ask your child about the Day of the Dead. For a delicious recipe of Pan de Muerto (Bread of the Dead) click here.

Herencia Hispana Scavenger Hunt

On October 20 5th graders turned in their Herencia Hispana Scavenger Hunt project. For a description of the project and how are being graded click here. Look on the right side of this blog to see some pictures! During conferences these displays got a lot of compliments from parents and teachers who came to the Spanish room. I am soooo proud of them!!

Good reasons

There are many good reasons to learn a foreign language and for a family to maintain or encourage speaking more than one language. For more interesting information check out the links I provide on the right side of this blog. For Quino's humorous perspective, click here.

Hispanic Heritage Month

From September 15 to October 15 we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. We celebrate the accomplishments of Hispanics in the United States. Everyday two 5th graders read an announcement about one person of Hispanic origin who has done something relevant in his or her field (sports, science, etc.) At the same time, in class, we learn about which are the countries where Spanish is at least one of the official languages. We also reflect on the words that we use in English that have a Spanish origin: patio, mesa, and even names like Los Angeles, Florida and Puerto Rico. Mrs. Lynn Allen, the Director of the Multicultural Resource Center located at Julian Middle School visited us and brought with her artifacts and books related to many cultures of Spanish speaking countries. The children had A LOT of fun learning and manipulating many of the objects. This week we are reinforcing the concepts learned during that presentation.

¡Bienvenidos! Welcome!

I am so excited to teach Spanish to my students at Beye. I love the fact that this year I get to teach Kindergarten to 5th grade. We are already having a great time learning by drawing, singing, dancing, playing games, performing plays, reading and writing. I will keep you posted regularly on the work we do.