4/5/6: January 15, 2014

In class today, we began talking about the history of chocolate.  We focused on how the Mayas made a beverage from the seeds of the cacao tree.

Ask your student:

• How did the Mayas use cacao beans?  (They ground them up and made them into a drink with corn meal, water, and chilis.)

Today's vocabulary (some words are review from last week's activity):

• las mayas ~ the Mayas
• el árbol ~ the tree
• las vainas ~ the pods
• la semilla ~ the seed
• usa ~ he/she uses
• hacer ~ to make
• la bebida ~ the drink/beverage
• amargo/amarga ~ bitter
• picante ~ spicy
• cacao ~ ground cacao seeds/cocoa
• harina de maíz ~ cornmeal/corn flour
• el chile ~ the chile
• canela ~ cinnamon
• comen ~ they eat
• beben ~ they drink

Homework: 

• Sing along the South America Countries and Capitals Rap!  (Click HERE, if that link doesn't work, here's the LINK to the song on YouTube)  Make it your goal to know all of the countries and capitals by April 16!
• Practice our new vocabulary words with THIS game. 
• Complete THIS assignment on Quia.  (This assignment is worth 2 stickers) 
• Mayan Chocolate Beverage recipe coming soon!  (I have to tweak it a bit yet!)
• Some students were interested in learning more about how cacao seeds are processed into chocolate.  We won't be focusing on that in this unit, but if you are interested in learning more, check out these resources from Chicago's Field Museum. 
• Making Chocolate
• Making Chocolate Interactive Game
• Second semester Bible verse.  Verses 1-3 are due on Feb 19.
• Psalm 23 in Spanish (Text only)
• Audio Version 

2/3: January 15, 2014

Today in class, we continued learning all about Costa Rica!  Today we talked about the weather and typical clothes.

Ask your student:

• Do you remember when kids in Costa Rica have a long vacation?  (Most schools in Costa Rica take vacation from Christmas through February.)
• Do you remember what a chonete is?  (It's a typical hat in Costa Rica.  It has a brim to keep the sun off of your face and neck.)

Today's vocabulary:

• el invierno - the winter
• el verano - the summer
• hace calor - it's hot
• llueve - it rains
• la ropa - the clothes
• el chonete - a typical hat from Costa Rica

Homework:

• Sing along with our new song:  Tengo paz como un río
• This week, we talked about seasons and weather in Costa Rica.  Listen to THIS SONG a few times to practice some of those words.  

1st Grade: January 15, 2014

This week in Spanish class, we continued our new unit:  ¡Qué Rico! (How Delicious!).  During this unit, we'll be learning about some common, traditional foods from the Spanish speaking world.  This week we talked about flan from Spain.

Ask your student:

• What are two ingredients in Flan?  (The two main ingredients are milk and eggs.  Flan sort of tastes like pudding but it feels wiggly, like Jello, in your mouth.) 

Today's vocabulary:

• tengo sed - I'm thirsty
• la leche - the milk
• los huevos - the eggs
• la nata - the cream 
• el flan - custard like dessert that is common in Spain and the rest of the Spanish speaking world.

Homework:

• Sing along with our new song:  Si tu tienes mucha hambre, come un pan (If You're Hungry, Eat Some Bread).
• Watch this video.  It's a Spanish speaking cooking show and they're making flan!  You won't understand every word, but see how many times you hear the words "leche" and "huevos" 
• New Bible verse for January and February: 1 John 14:19  (Click for audio version)
• Nosotros amamos porque Él nos amó primero.  Primero de Juan 14 versículo 19.
• To review calendar/weather vocabulary at home, you can sing along with these songs...
• Days of the week
• Weather, seasons, and months

Kindergarten: January 15, 2014

This week, we kept learning more body parts in Spanish.  We played some games and sang some songs to practice.

Ask your student:

•   What does "Pedro dice (dee-say) mean?  (It means "Pedro says..."  It's a game we play that is just like Simon Says.)

This week's vocabulary:

• la mano - the hand
• los dedos - the fingers
• los brazos - the arms
• el estómago - the stomach
• la espalda - the back 
• el pelo - the hair 
• ¿Cuántos? - How many?

Homework:

• Practice all of our words with THIS VIDEO.  See if you can point to the right part before the picture comes up!
• Fun Songs!
• Head and Shoulders, Legs and Feet (This song uses the word "la cara"= the face instead of "las orejas"=the ears)
• Padre Abraham (Father Abraham)
• Juanito cuando baila (This song uses a few other new words, but it's still fun to sing...and dance...along with!  New words:  la cadera-the hip, la rodilla-the knee, el codo-the elbow, el dedito-the little finger).
• Practice our Bible verse and actions:  Psalm 23:1  (Click verse for Audio). 
• el Señor = the Lord = point up to heaven
• es mi = is my = point to self 
• pastor = shepherd = pretend to hold a staff in one hand, put other hand by forehead as if you're looking out over a field of sheep. 
• nada = nothing = wave hands palms facing down
• me falta = is lacking to me = place hands at side, palms facing upward.

2/3: January/February Bible Memory

1st Grade: January/February Bible Memory

4/5/6: Second Semester Bible Memory

Here's our Bible Memory for the entire second semester.  We'll be learning all of Psalm 23 in Spanish!




Verses 1-3 are due on Feb 19.
Verses 1-4 are due on Mar 12.
Verses 1-6 are due on April 23.

4/5/6: January 8, 2014

In class today, we started a new unit:  La Historia del Chocolate (The History of Chocolate).  We'll be looking at how chocolate was first enjoyed and how it changed to become what we know today.

Ask your student:

• What will your next unit be about?  Were there any words on the worksheet from class that surprised you?  (Our next unit will be about the history of chocolate.  We filled out a worksheet in class that had some "key words" about chocolate.  Some of the "surprising" words were "beverage" and "bitter".)

Today's vocabulary:

• las mayas ~ the Mayas
• las aztecas ~ the Aztecs
• el árbol ~ the tree
• el chile ~ the chile
• la semilla ~ the seed
• la bebida ~ the drink/beverage
• el dinero ~ the money
• amargo ~ bitter
• el chocolate ~ the chocolate

Homework: 

• Sing along the South America Countries and Capitals Rap!  (Click HERE, if that link doesn't work, here's the LINK to the song on YouTube)  Make it your goal to know all of the countries and capitals by April 16!
• Practice our new vocabulary words with THIS game. 
• Complete THIS assignment on Quia.  (This assignment is worth 2 stickers) 
• New Second Semester Bible verse (Psalm 23) coming next week!

2/3: January 8, 2014

Today in class, started a new unit!  Over the next few weeks, we'll be learning all about Costa Rica!  We started today by talking about the capital, the flag, and the money.

Ask your student:

• Do you remember what color the taxis are in Costa Rica?  (In San José, the capital, they have red taxis!)
• What are the 3 colors on Costa Rica's flag?  (Red, white, and blue)
• Do you remember how much 500 colones are worth?  (500 Costa Rican Colones are worth about $1.)

Today's vocabulary:

• la capital - the capital
• el dinero - the money
• la bandera - the flag

Homework:

• Sing along with our new song:  Tengo paz como un río

Kindergarten: January 8, 2014

This week, we started a new unit!  We'll be learning to name body parts in Spanish.  We started off by learning all of the words in the Head and Shoulders song.

Ask your student:

•   In English, we sing the song "Head and shoulders, knees and toes"...what are the words in Spanish?  (Cabeza, hombros, piernas, pies...head, shoulders, legs, and feet!)

This week's vocabulary:

• la cabeza - the head
• los hombros - the shoulders
• las piernas - the legs 
• los pies - the feet
• los ojos - the eyes
• las orejas - the ears
• la boca - the mouth 
• la nariz - the nose
• ¿Cuántos? - How many?

Homework:

• Watch this video to review our vocabulary words!  (It uses the word "la cara"= the face instead of "las orejas"=the ears)
• Practice our Bible verse and actions:  Psalm 23:1  (Click verse for Audio). 
• el Señor = the Lord = point up to heaven
• es mi = is my = point to self 
• pastor = shepherd = pretend to hold a staff in one hand, put other hand by forehead as if you're looking out over a field of sheep. 
• nada = nothing = wave hands palms facing down
• me falta = is lacking to me = place hands at side, palms facing upward.

1st Grade: January 8, 2014

This week in Spanish class, we began a new unit:  ¡Qué Rico! (How Delicious!).  During this unit, we'll be learning about some common, traditional foods from the Spanish speaking world.  This week we talked about empanadas from Chile and Argentina.

Ask your student:

• What were the two kinds of empanadas you talked about in class?  (In Chile and Argentina, meat empanadas and cheese empanadas are very popular.) 

Today's vocabulary:

• tengo hambre - I'm hungry
• el pan - the bread
• la carne - the meat
• el queso - the cheese
• tiene - it has
• comen - they eat

Homework:

• Sing along with our new song:  Si tu tienes mucha hambre, come un pan (If You're Hungry, Eat Some Bread).
• Watch this video of someone making empanadas in Argentina. 
• To review calendar/weather vocabulary at home, you can sing along with these songs...
• Days of the week
• Weather, seasons, and months

Kindergarten: Second Semester Bible Verse