la familia

Hola, parents! It feels like a while since I posted, but since last week was such a short week, I thought I would wait until this week to tell you what we have been up to in Kinder Spanish. This week, we began our study on families. The kids have learned the names for basic family members very well as I think it is something they can really identify with. We have had a fun time naming our family members and learning how nouns in Spanish have either a masculine "o" ending or a feminine "a" ending and how they relate to the words for family members in Spanish. I was so excited to see how quickly the students picked up on this very simple but essential element of the Spanish language.

I chatted briefly this week with Ms. Sitzmann and she let me know that her class was talking about languages one day and when she asked if anyone in the class spoke more than one language, numerous students raised their hand and said they spoke Spanish as well as English! I am so happy to know that they feel they know enough to consider themselves Spanish speakers and more importantly that they are so enthusiastic about the language. If I am able to instill a love for the Spanish language in them this year, I will feel a great sense of accomplishment. Teaching them to speak the language will be much easier if they are already eager to learn it.

I hope you will join me at the Trivium book fair tomorrow at Barnes and Noble as I will be reading a bilingual book as well as a book in English. I am excited about going forward this month with all the festivities and being able to teach the children about the different fiestas that are held in Spanish speaking countries throughout the world during this time.

Adios,
Sra. Hamilton

Froggy!!!!

Hello parents! Wanted to fill you in on our week. We ended our study on the parts of the body and began venturing into our vocabulary on clothes. I started this by reading the book Froggy se viste or Froggy Gets Dressed.  The Froggy books are a great series and I am so happy to have some copies in Spanish to share with the kids. To follow along with this, we have a Froggy activity that we will begin tomorrow. Next week, we will start with our study on family. I would like the children to share some about their own families to solidify this vocabulary. I'll let you know if there is something special we need like a family picture or something or I might just have them draw their own family tree. We'll see what I come up with. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week and we will pick up again the week of November 26th. 
Adios, 
Sra. Hamilton

El cuerpo

Hello parents! Just a quick update for this week. We have continued with our study of the body and its parts. I plan on finishing that today and on Tuesday and begin moving into clothing early next week. Please ask your child about the fun activities we've done this week to help solidify in our minds the body vocabulary. There was the memory game in which the kids had to use their knowledge of numbers as well as body parts and also learn a little about sportsmanship, winning and losing and mostly having fun! Also, ask them about their alien drawings. They really had to use their listening skills to make sure they heard the correct body part, color and number in order to create an alien that looked like what I was instructing them to draw. Such fun activities are what we do in Kindergarten! I hope they have enjoyed them as much as I have. Have a wonderful three day weekend!
Sra. Hamilton

Dia de los Muertos

What a fun week we had! As you may have seen, we made marigolds to celebrate the Day of the Dead. They weren't quite as vibrant as I was hoping, but I think the kids got the idea. I was also able to find some Pan de Muerto or Day of the Dead bread and was able to have the kids taste some. It was nice and sweet and I think the kids really enjoyed it! It was nice to share some of the culture with the kids this week. 

Last Saturday I was able to attend the Dia de los Muertos celebration at the Goodyear Farms Historic Cemetery in Avondale. What a great celebration! There were dancers, music, poetry and lots and lots of painted faces. My kids were able to make their own masks and watch the dances. I was so glad to attend a celebration in our community. I encourage you all to attend next year as it was close by and not too crowded. 

This week we will continue our study of the parts of the body and will begin clothing. Have a great week!
Sra. Hamilton