I hope you have enjoyed a couple of extra days to your weekend! I really enjoyed spending time with you all on Monday and Tuesday evenings during conferences to talk about your child. At the end of the week, I spent Thursday and Friday at a training with the Center for Cultural Intelligence. Boy, it was exhausting being a student again. :) It feels like it's been a while since our last school day, but here is an update from our busy short week!
Our Week
Bible
We spent Bible time this past week continuing to learn about Joseph (José). We reviewed parts of the story we'd learned last week and then talked about how he was sold by his brothers to the Egyptian traders, taken to Egypt, and soon after, thrown in jail (la cárcel). Even after he interpreted the cupbearer's dream (el sueño del copero), Joseph still felt like his life was at a standstill. Even though he felt alone, we remembered that Dios se acordó de José--God remembered Joseph. Next week we'll learn how he interpreted Pharaoh's dreams and became an important man in Egypt!
Reading
This week we did not learn a new syllable; instead, we reviewed ma, me, mi, mo, mu and pa, pe, pi, po, pu. We did this by working with words, reading books, writing the syllables on white boards, and quizzing each other with flash cards (see picture at right). We always use lots of variation--physical movement, song, dance, writing, reading, etc.--to practice words, reading, and language learning in general!
Writing
In writing this week, we shared about some foods we like to eat (la comida). We've also been practicing describing types of food using adjectives like color, shape, size, taste, and other words we know. Here is a fun song the kids love watching that talks about interesting combinations of food, using the common phrases te gusta...? (do you like...?) and me gusta (I like).
Math
In math class, we have had fun incorporating lots of new vocabulary in our "number stories" (historias de números). This week we practiced telling stories and solving math problems based on the idea of eating around a table. We learned the words plato (plate), vaso (cup), tenedor (fork), cuchara (spoon), cuchillo (knife), and servilleta (napkin). In centers, the students were able to practice these words while creating number stories.
Science
In science this week, we had the chance to explore una calabaza--a pumpkin! We first examined how it looked, sounded, and felt on the outside. Then, much to the class's excitement, we cut it open and got to look, feel, and smell the inside! (We did not taste it, although some kids would have liked to!) It was a fun activity, a great way to review lots of vocabulary, and a learning experience for everyone.Reading Tip of the Week
Your child brought home books from the library--one in English and one in Spanish (or bilingual). Try to read the Spanish one to your child (or read in both languages, if it is bilingual), and ask your child to tell you about the story. This will give him/her great practice in comprehension, and he/she will probably be excited to tell you what the story is about! If your child has trouble, make sure to look at the pictures and talk about them too!
Immersion Tip of the Week
Make sure you expose your child to a lot of rich vocabulary in English (and in Spanish, too, if you speak the language!). You can do this by reading, talking about what you see in books, describing pictures, talking about what you see in the supermarket--pretty much any activity you do! This will help your child continue to make connections between languages, as well as strengthen verbal skills.
Announcements
*Lunch Duty Signup: If you have not been able to sign up for lunch duty on Wednesdays, please consider doing so. I have a Kindergarten team meeting that day and use the time to touch base with the other K teachers. We need more volunteers in the upcoming weeks. Thank you for your help!
*Library Books: Please return your library books by Wednesday.
Here are some pictures from our week (mostly of the pumpkin carving!):
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