4/5/6: November 27, 2013

In class today, we continued our unit:  Mi Tiempo Libre/My Free Time.  We learned how to talk about some popular sports in Spanish.  For more information about our new unit, click here:  Mi Tiempo Libre.

Ask your student:

• What is the difference between fútbol and fútbol americano ?  (Fútbol is soccer.  Fútbol americano is what we call football.  American style football is not very common in the rest of the world.)

Today's vocabulary:

• el baloncesto ~ basketball
• el béisbol ~ baseball
• el futbeis ~ kickball
• el fútbol ~ soccer
• el fútbol americano ~ football
• el sófbol ~ softball
• el tenis ~ tennis
• el voleibol ~ volleyball

Homework:

• Sing along with our Thanksgiving song:  Demos Gracias (Let's Give Thanks) 
• Finish our Búsqueda de Personas report that we started in class.  If you misplaced your worksheet, you can print off another copy HERE.  (Just interview family members to help give you answers!)
• If you haven't said it yet, practice our Bible Verse:  Joshua 1:9.  (Click HERE for slide show!  You will earn 1 pegatina/stickers for memorizing this verse.)
• Christmas Bible Verse Coming Soon!!  Based on Isaiah 9.

2/3: November 27, 2013

Today in class, we continued our unit:  Feliz Cumpleaños/Happy Birthday.  Today we learned about some interesting differences between birthday celebrations in Michigan and Mexico.  For more information about our new unit, click:  Feliz Cumpleaños.

Ask your student:

• If you went to a birthday party in Mexico, what would you eat?  (In Mexico, they eat cake too!  They also have traditional tacos at a lot of parties.)
• If you went to a birthday party in Mexico, what would the piñata be like?  (It would be in the shape of a star.  It would contain hard candy, chocolate, mandarin oranges, and coins!)
• If there is a piñata at a party in Mexico, how do they know how long your turn is to hit the piñata?  (They sing a song!  Listen to it HERE.)

Today's vocabulary:

• el pastel - the cake
• los tacos - the tacos
• el pizza - the pizza
• la piñata - the piñata
• los caramelos - the hard candies
• el chocolate - the chocolate
• las mandarinas - mandarin oranges
• las monedas - the coins
• la estrella - the star

Homework:

• Sing along with our new song, a traditional birthday song from Spain:  Feliz, feliz en tu día.
• Today in class, we talked about piñatas!  If you want to make a simple piñata using a paper bag, follow these directions:  Click here!  
• Practice our Bible verse:  Genesis 1:1.  Be ready to say the verse by November 20.  CLICK HERE.

1st Grade: November 27, 2013

This week in Spanish class, we continued our unit:  Ayudo a mi familia (I help my family).  This week we talked about the living room and yard!  For more information about this unit, click here: ¡Ayudo a mi familia!/I help my family!

Ask your student:

• What room of the house did you learn about in class this week?  (Our new words were "la sala" - the living room, and "el jardín" - the yard.) 

Today's vocabulary:

• la sala - the living room 
• recoge - he/she picks up
• ve la tele - he/she watches TV
• el jardín - the yard
• ayuda - he/she helps

Homework:

• Sing along with our new song:  Si en verdad eres salvo (If You're Happy and You Know It)
• Practice our new Bible memory verse:  Psalm 119:105 
• Tu palabra es una lámpara a mis pies, y una luz en mi camino.
• Salmos ciento diecinueve, versículo ciento cinco
• To review calendar/weather vocabulary at home, you can sing along with these songs...
• Days of the week
• Weather, seasons, and months

Kindergarten: November 27, 2013

This week, we continued talking about our families in Spanish.   Everyone drew a picture of their family and labeled it in Spanish.  Click HERE for more information about our "Family" unit.

Ask your student:

• Do you remember what "el abuelo" and "la abuela" mean in Spanish?  (the grandpa and grandma)
• Let's look at the picture you drew of our family!  

This week's vocabulary:

• el abuelo ~ the grandpa
• la abuela ~ the grandma
• el gato ~ the cat
• el perro ~ the dog

Homework:

• Watch this video.  It reviews many of our vocabulary words. 
• Listen and sing along with our new song:  Soy Yo (Spanish version of "Standing in the Need of Prayer")
• Practice our Bible verse and actions:  Proverbs 3:5  (Click verse for Audio). 
• Confía = trust = take open hands, and clasp them shut, as if you're grabbing on to something.
• en el Señor = in the Lord = point up to heaven
• de todo = with all = hold arms out wide
• corazón = heart = bring your arms in, and make a heart with your hands

4/5/6: November 20, 2013

In class today, we continued our new unit:  Mi Tiempo Libre/My Free Time.  We learned how to talk about more common free time activities.  For more information about our new unit, click here:  Mi Tiempo Libre.

Ask your student:

• What is one thing you like to do?  Can you say that in Spanish?  (Me gusta... = I like..., see vocabulary list below.)

Today's vocabulary:

• Me gusta... - I like...
• montar a caballo - to ride a horse
• cantar - sing
• pasear al perro - to walk the dog
• escuchar música - to listen to music 
• jugar deportes - to play sports (more on this next week!)

We took some time for students to add their own favorite activities to the list...

• Me gusta... - I like...
• silbar - to whistle 
• jugar con Lego - to play with legos
• jugar con animales - to play with animales
• cocinar - to cook 
• cazar - to hunt
• ir de pesca - to go fishing

Homework:

• Sing along with our Thanksgiving song:  Demos Gracias (Let's Give Thanks) 
• Practice our vocabulary words with THIS Quia game.
• Complete THIS Quia assignment (worth 2 pegatinas)
• Practice our Bible Verse:  Joshua 1:9.  (Click HERE for slide show!  You will earn 2 pegatinas/stickers for memorizing this verse by November 20.)
• Christmas Bible Verse Coming Soon!!  Based on Luke 2

2/3: November 20, 2013

Today in class, we continued a new unit:  Feliz Cumpleaños/Happy Birthday.  Today we learned about some interesting differences between birthday celebrations in Michigan and Mexico.  For more information about our new unit, click:  Feliz Cumpleaños.

Ask your student:

• If you went to a birthday party in Mexico, who would be there?  (In Mexico, if you invite a friend to a birthday party, the friend's parents also come to the party and stay for the whole time.)

Today's vocabulary:

• viene - he/she comes
• la familia - the family 
• los amigos - the friends
• los globos - balloons
• abre los regalos - he/she opens the gifts
• durante - during
• miran - they watch/look

Homework:

• Sing along with our new song, a traditional birthday song from Spain:  Feliz, feliz en tu día.
• Practice our vocabulary words with THIS Quia game!
• Today in class, we talked about a common decoration at Mexican birthday parties:  Papel Picado! If you enjoy crafts, you can learn more about papel picado and even make your own!  Click here!  
• Practice our Bible verse:  Genesis 1:1.  Be ready to say the verse by November 20.  CLICK HERE.

1st Grade: November 20, 2013

This week in Spanish class, we continued our new unit:  Ayudo a mi familia (I help my family).  This week we talked about the kitchen!  For more information about this unit, click here: ¡Ayudo a mi familia!/I help my family!

Ask your student:

• What room of the house did you learn about in class this week?  (Our new word was "la cocina" - the kitchen.  We also reviewed the words from last week:  el baño - the bathroom, el dormitorio - the bedroom) 

Today's vocabulary:

• la cocina - the kitchen
• prepara la comida - he/she prepares the food
• come - he/she eats
• pone la mesa - he/she sets the table

Homework:

• Sing along with our new song:  Si en verdad eres salvo (If You're Happy and You Know It)
• Practice our new Bible memory verse:  Psalm 119:105 
• Tu palabra es una lámpara a mis pies, y una luz en mi camino.
• Salmos ciento diecinueve, versículo ciento cinco
• To review calendar/weather vocabulary at home, you can sing along with these songs...
• Days of the week
• Weather, seasons, and months

Kindergarten: November 20, 2013

This week, we continued talking about our families in Spanish.   We also spent a little time reviewing our Bible verse in Spanish (and, everyone is doing a GREAT JOB memorizing it!)  Click HERE for more information about our "Family" unit.

Ask your student:

• Do you remember what "YO" means in Spanish?  (I or me.  It's also in our song, "Soy Yo"!)
• How many people are in our family?  Can you name everyone in Spanish?  (Example:  la mamá, el papá, el hermano, yo...the mom, the dad, the brother, and me.)

This week's vocabulary:

• yo - I/me
• la bebé - the (girl) baby
• el bebé - the (boy) baby
• ¿Cuántas personas hay en tu familia? - How many people are in your family?

Homework:

• Watch the first half of this video.  It reviews our 4 vocabulary words from last week.  We'll be learning the rest of the words next week in class! 
• Listen and sing along with our new song:  Soy Yo (Spanish version of "Standing in the Need of Prayer")
• Practice our Bible verse and actions:  Proverbs 3:5  (Click verse for Audio). 
• Confía = trust = take open hands, and clasp them shut, as if you're grabbing on to something.
• en el Señor = in the Lord = point up to heaven
• de todo = with all = hold arms out wide
• corazón = heart = bring your arms in, and make a heart with your hands

4/5/6: November 13, 2013

In class today, we began our next new unit:  Mi Tiempo Libre/My Free Time.  Over the next few weeks, students will be learning how to talk about their favorite free time activities.  For more information about our new unit, click here:  Mi Tiempo Libre.

Ask your student:

• What is one thing you like to do?  Can you say that in Spanish?  (Me gusta... = I like..., see vocabulary list below.)

Today's vocabulary:

• me gusta - I like
• te gusta - you like
• le gusta - he/she likes
• montar en bicicleta - to ride a bike
• estar con amigos - to be with friends
• tocar un instrumento - to play an instrument
• leer - to read

Homework:

• Sing along with our Thanksgiving song:  Demos Gracias (Let's Give Thanks) 
• Practice our vocabulary words with THIS Quia game.
• Complete THIS Quia assignment (worth 2 pegatinas)
• Practice our Bible Verse:  Joshua 1:9.  (Click HERE for slide show!  You will earn 2 pegatinas/stickers for memorizing this verse by November 20.)

2/3 Grade: November 13, 2013

Today in class, we started a new unit:  Feliz Cumpleaños/Happy Birthday.  During this unit, we'll be learning some birthday related vocabulary.  We'll also be learning about the similarities and differences between birthday celebrations in Michigan and Mexico.  For more information about our new unit, click:  Feliz Cumpleaños.

Ask your student:

• If you went to a birthday party in Mexico, how would you greet everyone?  (In Mexico, you greet people with two kisses on the cheeks.  In Michigan, you shake hands, or you give a hug.)

Today's vocabulary:

• el cumple/el cumpleaños - the birthday
• celebra - he/she celebrates
• la fiesta - the party
• dan besos - they give kisses

Homework:

• Sing along with our new song, a traditional birthday song from Spain:  Feliz, feliz en tu día.
• Practice our Bible verse:  Genesis 1:1.  Be ready to say the verse by November 20.  CLICK HERE.

1st Grade: November 13, 2013

This week in Spanish class, we began a new unit:  Ayudo a mi familia (I help my family).  During this unit, we'll be learning about rooms in the house and actions we do around the house that help our families.  For more information about this unit, click here: ¡Ayudo a mi familia!/I help my family!

Ask your student:

• What were the two rooms of the house that you learned about today?  (el baño - the bathroom, el dormitorio - the bedroom) 
• Have you said your Bible verse in class?  (Almost half of the first grade students have said the Bible verse on their own!  Everyone has been practicing together as a class!)

Today's vocabulary:

• el baño - the bathroom
• limpia - he/she cleans
• lava las manos - he/she washes his/her hands
• el dormitorio - the bedroom
• duerme - he/she sleeps

Homework:

• Sing along with our new song:  Si en verdad eres salvo (If You're Happy and You Know It)
• Practice our Bible memory verse:  Psalm 24:1  (We will start learning a new verse on Nov 16!)
• To review calendar/weather vocabulary at home, you can sing along with these songs...
• Days of the week
• Weather, seasons, and months

Kindergarten: November 13, 2013

This week, started a new unit:  Mi Familia/My Family.  During this unit, we'll be learning how to describe our families in Spanish.  Click HERE for more information about our new unit.

Ask your student:

• Do you remember how to say "mom" and "dad" in Spanish?  (la mamá-mom; el papá-dad)

This week's vocabulary:

• la mamá - the mom 
• el papá - the dad
• el hermano - the brother
• la hermana - the sister

Homework:

• Watch the first half of this video.  It reviews our 4 new vocabulary words. 
• Listen and sing along with our new song:  Soy Yo (Spanish version of "Standing in the Need of Prayer")
• Practice our Bible verse and actions:  Proverbs 3:5  (Click verse for Audio)
• Confía = trust = take open hands, and clasp them shut, as if you're grabbing on to something.
• en el Señor = in the Lord = point up to heaven
• de todo = with all = hold arms out wide
• corazón = heart = bring your arms in, and make a heart with your hands

1st: November 6, 2013

This week in Spanish class, we finished our unit all about farm animals.  We made a little booklet that students brought home to share with you.  (For an audio version of the book, click HERE).

Ask your student:

• Of the 10 farm animals you learned about in Spanish, which one is your favorite?

Today's vocabulary:

• Review, no new vocabulary

Homework:

• Listen our our song ¿Quién es el rey de la selva? 
• Read along with our booklet!  Click HERE for an audio version!
• Practice our Bible memory verse:  Psalm 24:1  (We will start learning a new verse on Nov 16!)
• To review calendar/weather vocabulary at home, you can sing along with these songs...
• Days of the week
• Weather, seasons, and months

2/3: November 6, 2013

Today in class, we finished our new unit:  Los 5 Sentidos.  We focused on smell for a short time, and then we played a guessing game using our 5 senses.

Ask your student:

• What guessing game did you play in class?  Did you describe anything in Spanish?  (We played in which students took turns describing an object in Spanish.  They would describe the object by using their senses...what it looks like, smells like, feels like, etc...)

Today's vocabulary:

• Review, no new vocabulary

Homework:

• Sing along with our song:  5 Sentidos Rap
• Optional Final Assignment:  Use your senses to describe common objects around your house!  A hard copy of the assignment was handed out in class, but if you misplaced it, you can print a new copy HERE.  (You will earn 1 sticker for every 2 objects you describe!)
• Are you feeling stuck with your assignment?  Here's Sra. Brouwer's example!

• Practice our Bible verse:  Genesis 1:1.  Be ready to say the verse by November 13.  CLICK HERE.

4/5/6: November 6, 2013

In class today, we finished our unit about Daniel in the Lions' Den!  We took some time to review our vocabulary words and then we acted out the story as a class.

Ask your student:

• Did you play a role in acting out the story today?  Who were you?  (We have some very talented actors and actresses!)

Today's vocabulary:

• Review~No new vocabulary

Homework:

• We learned a new song this week!  It's a common song in Spanish speaking countries that talks about giving thanks to God.  Sing along here:  Demos Gracias (Let's Give Thanks) 
• Daniel in the Lion's Den Final Assignment:  A hard copy was handed out in class, but if you misplaced it, you can print a new copy HERE.
• Practice our Bible Verse:  Joshua 1:9.  (Click HERE for slide show!  You will earn 2 pegatinas/stickers for memorizing this verse by November 13.)

Kindergarten: November 6, 2013

This week, we finished our unit all about zoo animals!  We made a small booklet that students have brought home to share with you!  (Click HERE to listen to an audio version of the book!)  We had some extra time at the end of class for practicing our Bible verse, and some students already have it memorized!

Ask your student:

• Out of the 10 animals we talked about in Spanish, which one is your favorite?

This week's vocabulary:

• Review, no new words

Homework:

• Read along with our booklet!  Click HERE for an audio version.  There is an English translation on the back page.  
• Listen and sing along with our new songs:  ¿Quién es el rey de la selva?  
• Practice our Bible verse and actions:  Proverbs 3:5  (Click verse for Audio)
• Confía = trust = take open hands, and clasp them shut, as if you're grabbing on to something.
• en el Señor = in the Lord = point up to heaven
• de todo = with all = hold arms out wide
• corazón = heart = bring your arms in, and make a heart with your hands