10-14 de septiembre

¡Hola Familias de Inmersión!

We had a very eventful first whole week of school! From trying interesting foods to performing a traditional dance, it was a week full of fun learning experiences. Read below for lots of information on what we've been learning in class. Please make sure you read the whole blog post to get some important updates for next week too!  




Our Week

Bible

In Bible this week, we learned about Adam (Adán) and Eve (Eva) and how they sinned by eating the fruit given to them by the snake (serpiente). We then talked about how Jesus loved us so much that he took our sins and died for us on the cross. The students made wooden crosses out of popsicle sticks that decorate our world map in the classroom as a reminder that Jesus died for us all. We have also started talking about Noah (Noé). We've made puppets of Noé and the ark (el arca) and are starting to learn a simple story that the kids can help narrate. 

Reading
The letter "O" was our focus this week. The students really enjoyed this fun video about "las vocales" and how they "laugh". We learned some vocabulary words that begin with O and compared it with the letter A. Your child made a book with some O words; see how many he/she can "read" to you! We also learned about the Spanish articles "el" and "la", which mean "the" depending on whether the word is masculine or feminine. The kids had fun looking through their books for the words "el" and "la". 

Writing
In writing, we continued talking about labeling this week using a familiar topic: la familia (family). Kids drew pictures of their families and labeled their mamá, papá, hermanos (brothers), and hermanas (sisters). They are practicing finishing simple sentences about topics they know and adding a period (punto) at the end. **Could you please send in a family photo next week so we can use it during writing class?**

Math 
In matemáticas, we have practiced counting, identifying numbers, creating and continuing patterns (patrones), and have introduced the concept of adding (sumar) and subtracting (restar) with manipulatives. We also learned about el círculo (the circle) and sorted buttons by color, size, and shape. 

Science 
In our continued study of the five senses (los cinco sentidos), we talked about la lengua (the tongue) which is used to taste (saborear). The kids enjoyed taste-testing foods and classifying them as sweet (dulce), sour (agrio), salty (salado), or bitter (amargo). Some fun ones were lemon wedges, kale, pretzels, and Smarties! You can try to guess what they are tasting in the pictures (one to the right and the rest below). 

Mexican Independence Day

On Friday, we gave a small performance to some parents and other classes to celebrate el día de Independencia in Mexico. The children wore typical costumes and learned a dance from the state of Nuevo León. It was a lot of fun, and we were even featured on TV in Mexico on Televisa Monterrey! 

Immersion Tip of the Week
Singing is a powerful way to learn a language! I'm sure you have probably heard your child singing songs in Spanish at home (we do a lot of that!). Ask your child if he/she remembers the song for "can you open this please?", the song for getting in line ("silencio"), or the song for washing their hands ("el agua y el jabón"). 

*I will also add some more links on our Spanish Language Resources page with info about songs that I use a lot in class, in case you're interested in downloading them and playing them at home...on repeat...over...and...over. :)

Reading Tip of the Week
Play a game with your child by segmenting words. Try something like this: "Base - ball. What does that say?" (baseball) Continue with compound words, such as snowman, football, bookcase, etc. Then, break down words into syllables, for example: "ta - ble". Finally, you can do sounds in the words, like "c - a - t". You can do this while running errands together, while driving somewhere in the car, while getting ready for bed, or really anytime!

Important Dates to Remember

*PICTURE DAY is on Wednesday, September 19th in the morning. Please plan accordingly!

*In the afternoon on the same day, September 19th, we will take a short field trip with the other kindergarten classes to Holland State Park. There, we will live out our Discipleship Practice of Creation Keeping (Cuidar la Creación) by cleaning up the beach. Please have your child wear (or bring) comfortable shoes for this trip. 

*Our annual Walk-a-Thon is coming up the following Wednesday, on September 26th. We will walk from 1-2:45. If you have not turned in your child's pledge forms, you may still do that on Monday. Gracias!


Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Here are some more photos from our busy week: