4-7 de septiembre

¡Feliz Fin de Semana! (Happy Weekend!)

Even though this week was only four days, it was sure jam-packed with lots of learning, adventures, and fun! The students continue to impress me with how quickly they are catching on to language and our daily routines. I've heard from many parents that their kids are singing a lot in Spanish at home!

This week, we had the opportunity to meet our 3rd grade buddies! The children really enjoyed going to the library and reading with these special friends. We will meet together every week or so, and both the 3rd graders and our kindergarteners will enjoy developing this relationship. 

Here is an update on what we've been up to in Spanish Immersion Kindergarten this week.

Our Week

Bible
We finished the creation story this week, and your child took home a book with illustrations for each day. Spend a little time this weekend looking at the book and asking about what each page "says". You can also see and ask about the memory verse we've been learning (on the inside cover). Key words: plantas (plants), aves (birds), peces (fish), animales (animals), personas (people), descansó (he rested).

Reading
We touched on all of the vowels last week, and this week we focused on the letter A. We did some practice writing, dotting, and decorating letter A's with aviones (airplanes). Along with this, we talked about the difference between lugares (places) and personas (people). In our text for the week, we read about a tiburón (shark) named Sammy who went to school! Your child created a book about "Sammy el Tiburón" being in different places in the school and looked for the letter "A" in the story.

Writing
We talked about "functional writing" this week (escritura funcional) and examined how we see writing everywhere. We did a lot of noticing writing--in the classroom, the hallways, and all over the school--and talked about how writing is used. The children did a labeling activity after reading the book "Growing Vegetable Soup". Finally, we talked briefly about how we use writing when sending letters. The kids wrote letters to a "secret friend" in the class with a picture of them in a place in the school. Then, we went outside and put them in the mailbox, where they were then delivered to their friends! This was a fun and exciting activity.


Math 
In math this week, we worked more on counting 1-10 and one-to-one correspondence. We worked on routines of counting to 10, singing songs, and working with manipulative tiles to create combinations of a number in different colors. We also started making Libros de Números (Number Books) in which students put a certain number of items (stamps, stickers, dots, etc.) on each page with a number. 


Science
We have been continuing to see the five senses, or Mis Cinco Sentidos, in science class. We finished talking about the sense of touch by classifying items as duro (hard), suave (soft), caliente (hot), and frío (cold). Next, we talked about how we use our oídos (ears) to listen--escuchar. We played games to identify mystery sounds and went on an outdoor walk where we used our ears and wrote about what we heard. 

Immersion Tip of the Week
One reason we don't use translation in a Spanish Immersion class is because we want the students to make immediate connections between the action, object, or concept to the Spanish word. If we translate into English, they pay less attention to the Spanish word and just wait for the translation. In the coming weeks, we'll be practicing an important skill called circumlocution in which the students learn how to describe unknown words using vocabulary they already know. 

Reading Tip of the Week
When reading a book this week, try to think of words that rhyme with words in the book. For example, "This word says 'house'. What words rhyme with house? Can you think of any?" This kind of activity will increase your child's phonemic awareness, a critical skill for reading in any language!

Important Dates to Remember
I'm looking forward to seeing you this coming Friday, September 14th, at our Preschool & Kindergarten Homecoming Night! The activities are from 5-7pm and the football game begins at 7:00. Come and enjoy games, fellowship, and free dinner! 

Also, our annual Walk-A-Thon is coming up on Wednesday, September 26th! Your child should have received a brown envelope with information about pledges and fundraising. Please return those to me by this Friday, September 14th. 

Thank you!
Thank you for your commitment to our Spanish Immersion program! I have received a few items already from our Amazon Wish List, and I am truly grateful for your investment in our current and future classrooms.

¡Que pasen un lindo fin de semana! (Have a beautiful weekend!)

Enjoy some more photos below: