¡La familia, el avión, y caliente!

I was recently reading an article on foreign language acquisition and read this: "Students who participated in a foreign language program prior to secondary school were more likely to continue their world language study." My hope is that your students continue to study Spanish into their high school years!

Here's what your students have been doing in Spanish class:

Kindergarten:

Kindergarten just finished learning or reviewing numbers 1-10. Some highlights from our min-unit were the number song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6ojH4UU_qk) and the sidewalk chalk jumping activity. In this activity, students wrote the numbers on the sidewalk. Then I said a number and they had to jump on that number. It was a beautiful day outside and a perfect practice activity!

The Kindergarteners are now starting a more thematic unit on La oruga muy hambrienta (The Very Hungry Caterpillar). We are learning the days of the week, via a chant (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAyHyF_mDG8) - though the Kindergarteners do it MUCH better than the girls in the video. :D We are also learning the names of the various foods that the hungry caterpillar eats, while continuing to practice colors and numbers!

First and Second Grades

These classes are now on Episode 2 of the Salsa videos. Here's episode 2 if you'd like to watch it: http://www.gpb.org/salsa/making-soup. In this episode, Goldilocks goes back to the three bears' house to apologize to bebé oso and ends up making the bear family a new batch of soup.  

Here's the target vocabulary (with the actions we are learning). See previous blog for more vocabulary we are reviewing.

• caliente - hot (fan your mouth)
• frío - cold (hug yourself and shiver)
• papá - dad (hands high over your head like a papa bear)
• mamá - mom (hands midway up by your ears like a mama bear)
• bebé - baby (hands by your shoulders like a baby bear)
• ¡Hasta luego! - start in a salute and fling your hand up and to the side of your body like your waving goodbye)
• cuatro - four (show on fingers)
• cinco - five (show on fingers)

We will be doing activities to help us solidify the vocabulary for the next week and then move to the next episode.

Third and Fourth Grades

This unit is called "Fiestas de Yucatán." The past week, they received fake plane tickets and took the plane to the Yucatán, and they started the trip by reviewing colors and describing some of the things they saw at the start of their trip. In the coming weeks, we will be learning or reviewing numbers 1-100, writing sentences to describe a graph, comparing and contrasting the weather in the Yucatán with the weather in Minnesota, and describe how houses look in the Yucatán.

Fifth and Sixth Grades
Their unit is called "Cuadros de familia" ("Portraits of the Family"). They began the unit by learning the names of family members:

• papá - dad
• mamá - mom
• hermano - brother
• hermana - sister
• abuelo - grandpa
• abuela - grandma
• bebé - baby
• perro - dog
• gato - cat

In the coming weeks, they will be learning and practicing prepositions (particularly a la dereche de, a la izquierda de, and detrás de - to the right of, to the left of, and behind). Here's the chant we are using to remember prepositions: https://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=eYeqUetm6fY. They will then use the new vocabulary to read a short paragraph describing a family portrait. They will use the information they read to label the family members in the picture. The 5th and 6th graders will have a quiz on the vocabulary the week of November 17th.

Fiesta, Familia, y Salsa

¡Hola!

The past few weeks, I've been busy as a bee creating the best Spanish program I can for your students! All grades (except Kindergarten) are just finishing up the unit on greetings and introductions. It's something they've likely learned every year, but so important for beginning a conversation!  Now, we are ready to move on to new topics.

Kindergarten:
Kindergarteners began the year by learning colors (they finished the unit today, though we will continue to incorporate colors in our daily learning). During the unit, they sang a song (which I hope they sang at home for you!), sequenced colors according to directions, became the "teacher" to quiz their partner, colored while saying the colors they were using, and many other activities. Today, we began learning about numbers.  Stay tuned for a future blog post of ideas to practice numbers with your child. For the time being, here's the song we are singing to remember the numbers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6ojH4UU_qk.

1st-2nd Grades:
The 1st and 2nd grade students will be following the many of the same learning targets for part of the year. The primary learning resource we will be using is the "Salsa" series, created by Georgia Public Broadcasting. You can find the link to the episodes here: http://beta.gpb.org/salsa/term/episode. The students really enjoyed the first episode, as well as the kinesthetic activities we've done to learn and practice the vocabulary. Each episode focuses on particular vocabulary and repeats them over and over again to stick them in the students' memories. In the first episode, students learned uno, dos, tres; grande (big), pequeño (small); oso (bear); hasta luego (see you later); cama (bed), silla (chair), and plato de sopa (bowl of soup). We will not solely be using this curriculum, but it will be the base of the 1st and 2nd grade program.  Something your child can do this week to practice is to show you the actions we've learned with each vocabulary word.

• grande - arms stretched overhead
• pequeño - make a small ball shape with your hands
• oso - make hands into claws and say rawr
• hasta luego - start like you were going to salute, move your hand into a wave over your head
• cama - make your right arm perpendicular to your left arm, with your hand at the elbow
• silla - tap the chair closest to you
• plato de sopa - make a circle with your hands (like a bowl), tip it to your lips and say SOPA!

3rd-4th Grades:
In the next units, the 3rd and 4th grade students will be learning about the same topic.  The unit is called "Fiestas de Yucatán." In the unit, they will embark on a imaginary trip to the Yucatán peninsula in Mexico. On their "trip," they will learn about various elements of Mexican culture.  The best part is that they will learn about all of this in Spanish, becoming masters at being language detectives (figuring out how to understand a language using context clues). Some learning targets for this unit are:

In Spanish, I can...

1. ...locate Yucatán on a map and name four different places in Yucatán. 
2. ...tell you and demonstrate the steps to making an authentic tortilla.
3. ...sing most of the Mexican song De colores.
4. ...name the colors of the rainbow.
5. ...show how the ancient numbers Chichén Itzá were written.
6. ...compare the weather of the Yucatán and Minnesota.

5th-6th Grades:
Over the next few months, 5th and 6th grade students will be doing a unit called Cuadros de familia. The unit is based off a book illustrated (with anecdotal stories) by Carmen Lomas Garza. You can read about the book and see example pictures here: http://www.amazon.com/Pictures-Anniversary-Edition-Cuadros-Quincea%C3%B1era/dp/089239207X.   In a nutshell, the book is a collection of paintings that illustrate the author's childhood. By using this book as a basis for our unit, we are able to learn a bit about a Mexican-American's experience growing up in Texas as well as learn important Spanish language skills. Some learning targets for this unit are:

In Spanish, I can...

1. ...talk about my family using tengo... (I have...).
2. ...explain the differences between our family structures versus those of Latino families.
3. ...count to 100.
4. ...describe my home.
5. ...say and demonstrate the steps of make tamales. 
6. ...listen to and understand an excerpt about the importance of the piñata.
7. ...know basic food vocabulary.

Thanks for being involved in your child's language education! Your support and interest at home definitely accelerate their learning!

Spanish Pronunciation Guide

Hey parents!
One of my goals for my students is that they learn how to correctly pronounce and sound out words in Spanish.  To assist them in their learning, you can learn basic pronunciation of Spanish so that when practicing, you can say the word correctly. (Or your student may correct you because I'm a stickler for pronunciation!)

Spanish letters consistently are pronounced the same. For example, the letter a is always pronounced 'ah' as in father. In contrast, an English a can be pronounced as 'ah', but also as æ as in apple, and 'ay', as in face. English as a whole is complicated, but it certainly doesn't help that some letters have multiple sounds.  

In Spanish, letters (almost) always sound the same.  Even when a letter does have two or more different sounds, the sounds are predictable and follow a pattern. Below are the sounds in Spanish that are different than English. If they are not below, then pronounce them as you already know (i.e. L in Spanish sounds like L in English).

A - ah (as in father) - adiós, azul, papas 
B - beh - Hard "b" sound - bien, bueno
             - Soft "b" sound between vowels; lips barely touch - bebé, bebida, abuela 
C - say - Before e & i like "s" - cinco, cerdo, cebolla 
             - Otherwise, like "k" without puff of air - cuatro, caliente, ¿cómo? 
E - a (sounds like when you say the letter a) - el, estás, empanadas 
H - silent (do not pronounce) - hola, hambre, hasta, ahora
I - ee (as in feet) - iglesia, indio, igual 
J - like the English 'h' jiraffa, ojos, orejas, anaranjado, junio, julio
K - same as English, but without puff of air: put your hand in front of your mouth and try the 'k" sound) - kilo, kilogramo 
Ll - makes the 'y' sound*** - llamo, llamas, silla 
Ñ - sounds like an 'n' and 'y' put together (español would be eh-span-yol) - cumpleaños, niños, años 
O - long o sound: do not pronounce like a Minnesotan: keep it short - oso, ocho, octubre 
P - same as English, but without puff of air - pequeño, pan, pies, policía, sopa 
Q - like "k" as in kit, even when followed by a u - ¿qué?, ¿quién?, queso, quiero, quieres
R - similar to English, but keep it soft - amarillo, color, caramelos, flores, oro 
Rr - roll/trill "r's" like a motor - some say that saying the word butter over and over again kind of sounds like the rr sound in Spanish - perro, perrito, correr, barriga 
T - same a English, but without puff of air - tengo, tomates, piñata, bate 
U - like oo as in boot - uno, usted, tú, uvas 
V - Hard "b" sound like boy when at the beginning of the word - vamos, vámonos, verde, vengan 
   - Soft "b" sound between vowels; lips barely touch - favor 
X x ehkeess - 
    - "ks" like box máximo, expresar 
    - "gs" eggs examen 
    - when between vowels, often English "h" sound; 
Z - "s" as in sun - zapato, manzana, lápiz, azúcar, cabeza 

*** the pronunciation of ll can vary depending on region. In Argentina, for example, it makes a soft 'j' sound, so llamo would be pronounced 'jamo.'

That's it! Let me know if you have questions!

El 16 de septiembre - el 23 de septiembre

¡Hola padres y estudiantes!
Students in grades 1-6 are learning and reviewing greetings, introductions, and farewells. Find your child's grade below to read more about what he/she is learning.  Also, stayed tuned to the bottom of the post to find resources and practice websites your child can use to practice his/her new vocabulary!

Kindergarteners will be learning greetings, introductions, and farewells throughout the year during circle time at the beginning of class, as well as through interspersed singing. This week, kindergarten started learning the colors.  We learned through a song, which we will continue to practice over the next few class periods.  Here's a Youtube video of the song (not made by me, but the same one!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMFzytjFTRA. Practice with your child at home! You can also tell them to "Busca el color..." and they have to touch whatever color you say. Here are the colors (with the pronunciations in parenthesis):

rojo (ro-ho)

verde (vayr-thay)

azul (asool)

negro (nay-gro)

amarillo (ah-mah-ree-yo)

morado (mo-ra-tho)

gris (grease)

café (ca-fay)

anaranjado (a-na-ran-ha-tho)

1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders are currently following the same lesson plans. After this first unit, they will study different topics.  This week, 1st and 2nd graders are learning the following vocabulary.

Buenos días - Good morning

Buenas tardes - Good afternoon

Buenas noches - Good night

¿cómo estás? - How are you?

muy bien - very good

bien - good

muy mal - very bad

mal - bad

más o menos - ok

¿Cómo te llamas? - What's your name?

Me llamo... - My name is...

¡Mucho gusto! - Nice to meet you!

Hola - Hello

Adiós - Goodbye

¡Hasta luego! - See you later!

To teach vocabulary, I use actions to accompany my words. Students began the unit by learning these actions and learning how to ask for someone's name and say their own name in Spanish. This week, students will review the words and actions, learn a new song (http://www.rockalingua.com/songs/greetings-and-daily-routines), practice with a few games, and use the phrases to have dialogues with one another.

4th, 5th, and 6th graders are also following the same lessons during the first unit. The vocabulary they are learning is all of the above greeting and farewell words, in addition to the following:

¿Cómo está usted? - How are you? 

(This is used formally and used when you want to show respect to someone)

¿Qué pasa? ¿Qué tal? - What's up (very informal, slang)

¡Hasta mañana! - See you tomorrow!

Students in these grades learn vocabulary through actions as well, but are also expected to be proficient in writing them. They will practice through quick conversations, writing their own dialogue with a partner and presenting it, fun games, and song. We will also continue to practice these words and phrases throughout the year.

And now the part you've all been waiting for. :)

How to practice? Here are some good resources from the internet I found. Some of them do use vocabulary we aren't necessarily using in class, but it's good to learn more too!

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27PqTadLJx0 - Good video to learn and review what we've talked about in class.
• http://www.purposegames.com/game/ea69181208 - click on the circle of the corresponding phrase.
• http://www.quia.com/ba/246897.html - Battleship. Sink your opponent's ships before he sinks yours. Upon finding a ship, you must answer a question to successfully hit it.

That's all for now! Check back soon to read more!

Welcome to the 2014-15 School Ye

Dear parents and students,
¡Hola! Me llamo Amie Chamberlain y soy la nueva maestra de español de Parkview Center. Hello! My name is Amie Chamberlain and I am the new Spanish teacher at Parkview Center. I am excited to work with all of you as your student learns Spanish!

First, I wanted to tell you a little about me. This is my 5th year teaching. I taught one year at a charter school, one year in White Bear Lake and two years in Richfield, and am hoping to finally make Parkview my permanent home as we’ve finally settled into a new home in the Como Park area. I studied at St. Olaf College, majored in Spanish, and have both a Spanish and ESL (English as a Second Language) teaching licenses. During college, I spent a semester living and taking classes in Seville, Spain, and have also traveled to Mexico and Costa Rica. Some of my hobbies are running, pole vaulting, reading, spending time with my family, writing and, of course, speaking Spanish! I am married to a wonderful husband and have a great son, Samuel, who was born this past January.

Second, I wanted to write about how students learn language the best. They will learn Spanish most efficiently when they hear it often and have many opportunities to practice it at their level. Because of this, I use a communicative approach to language learning – students use what they know and apply it to communicate in authentic and active classroom activities.

Studies show that it takes 3-5 years, immersed fully in the language, to become conversationally proficient. This year, your child will have Spanish for forty-five minutes per week. The goals of Parkview elementary Spanish classes are for students to become interested in learning another language and to prepare them for more intense study in middle school and high school. Because we meet for such a short time, that they will need to study and use their Spanish outside of the classroom to work toward Spanish proficiency. I will offer many extra learning activities throughout the year, which you can follow on this blog. I will also keep you updated on what your child is learning in class.

If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to email or call me. Email is the most efficient way to contact me as I check it often: amie.chamberlain@isd623.org. You can also call me via the office at 651-487-4360.

I’m looking forward to this year! Here we go!