8-12 de octubre

¡Feliz Fin de Semana! (Happy Weekend!)

Wow, it sure feels like fall now! It's hard to believe that the kids were wearing shorts at the beginning of the week. We had a great week in kindergarten, learning more and more Spanish and practicing using it in different contexts. Here is a synopsis of what we've been up to.

Our Week

Bible
In Bible, we've been learning about Jacob and Esau and how God used them despite the bad things they did. We continued the story of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob and Jacob tricking his father Isaac. We read the story of Jacob sleeping on the rock and dreaming of the stairway to heaven, imagining what it would be like to have this dream. Finally, we were able to be thankful that God gives us forgiveness (perdón) even when we sin--just like Esau forgave Jacob.

Reading

This week we moved from vowels to syllables--an exciting step towards reading! The syllables ma, me, mi, mo, mu were the focus this week. The students practiced blending sounds, identifying how many syllables in words, and reading simple words and sentences. Here is a fun video that gives an example of blending and reading syllables in Spanish. We also sorted words containing the Spanish diminutive form, -ito or -ita, which is added to the end of some words when referring to a small size or as an affectionate term.

Writing
In writing, we've been working on telling about our own experiences through illustrations and words. Our focus this week was ¿Dónde? (Where?) and ¿Quién? (Who?). Students practiced telling about something they did to each other, and I'm impressed to see them gain more and more confidence sharing this in Spanish.

Math
We've been enjoying different math centers and games this week, while starting to learn to count by 10s (de diez en diez) and telling number stories of sumas and restas. Kids have been getting very good at identifying numbers in different forms (i.e. ten frames, tally marks, dots, numbers), putting them in order, and associating them with the correct quantity. 

Science
Since we have studied all of the five senses, this week we conducted an experiment to review them. We examined a bowl of salt and a bowl of sugar, both unmarked, and practiced using our five senses to figure out which was which. What sense do you think helped us the most? La lengua--the tongue, para saborear (to taste)!

Friends to All
This week, we had the pleasure of combining with another kindergarten class to hear a story read by a mom of a student with Down's syndrome. It was a special time for everyone and a great opportunity to be reminded that we are ALL God's creation with special gifts and talents. Please, reinforce this with your child at home. Since we're well into school now and students are more comfortable with each other, occasionally I will hear some less than kind words. Help your child remember that everyone has an important part in our classroom and that we can all work together to be friends and help each other.

Immersion Tip of the Week
One of my favorite parts about teaching immersion is finding creative ways to incorporate language into our everyday activities. For example, when we're having lunch, I like to ask the kids to identify colores, formas (shapes), and other adjectives like caliente/frío (hot/cold), suave/duro (soft/hard), and dulce/salado (sweet/salty). The kids really enjoy showing me things they bring for lunch that fall into different categories! Try this at home and ask your kids what words in Spanish they'd use to describe their food.

Reading Tip of the Week
When reading a book this week, see if your child can identify a syllable with "m" (ma, me, mi, mo, mu). Even if the book is in English, he/she can still look for the syllables. Or, ask your child for an example of a word with each syllable. (Make sure you watch the video for correct pronunciation!)

Upcoming Dates to Remember:

*Wednesday, October 17: Field trip to DeGraaf Nature Center to learn about the 5 senses. Please return library books by today!

*Thursday, October 18: Pajama Day! We're studying syllables with "P" next week, so kids can come in their pijamas!

*Friday, October 19: Book orders due! Please order any Scholastic books before this date so I can submit the order. 

*Monday, October 22 and Tuesday, October 23 are Parent-Teacher conferences. Please make sure you sign up for a 15-minute slot!

*Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26: NO SCHOOL: CEA Conference.

Thank you for reading! Enjoy some pictures of our week below.