Thursday, January 14, 2010

Las Letras en Español

Yesterday the whole school learned about the letters in the Spanish Alphabet. We learned the alphabet song and talked about the similarities and differences in the English and Spanish Alphabets. An easy pronunciation guide and a link to a You Tube video will help your student practice at home!
A: aa 
B: be 
C: ce 
CH: che 
D: de 
E: eh
F: efe 
G: ge 
H: hache 
I: ee 
J: jota 
K: ka
L: ele 
LL: elle 
M: eme 
N: ene 
Ñ: eñe 
O: o
P: pe 
Q: cu 
R: ere
S: ese 
T: te 
U: oo
V: ve 
W: uve doble 
X: equis 
Y: i griega 
Z: szeta


The You Tube website that sings the ABC's to you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvIxn5ZT7AU&feature=PlayList&p=B6EA7532681027D2&index=45

Friday, January 8, 2010

Benefits of Being Bilingual



Learning a second language at an early age
  • Has a positive effect on intellectual growth and enriches and enhances a child's mental development
  • Leaves students with more flexibility in thinking, greater sensitivity to language, and a better ear for listening
  • Improves a child's understanding of his/her native language
  • Gives a child the ability to communicate with people s/he would otherwise not have the chance to know
  • Opens the door to other cultures and helps a child understand and appreciate people from other countries
  • Gives a student a head start in language requirements for college
  • Increases job opportunities in many careers where knowing another language is a real asset.
    (Center for Applied Linguistics)
http://www.cal.org/earlylang/benefits/benefits_of_being_bilingual.html

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Día de los Tres Reyes

Hola!
Yesterday in Spanish class we had a great time familiarizing ourselves with a little more Latin American Culture.  Yesterday was, Día de los Tres Reyes (Day of the Three Kings) that many Spanish-speaking countries celebrate. We also learned some of the traditions that children celebrate during this day. We were able to write, what we would like, in Español, in our un zapato (shoe), in complete sentences. We learned “Yo quiero” which means “I want” and used Spanish dictionaries to translate our list from English to Español. Have your student explain this custom to you!

In Kindergarten we learned a game “Sra. Michaud dice…” which is a version of Simon says. It was very fun for the students and myself!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Tongue Twisters - Trabajenguas

Erre con erre carreta
erre con erre carrill
rapido corren los carros
cargados de azucar del ferrocarril


Erre con erre guitarra
erre con erre barril
que r·pido que ruedan
las ruedas del ferrocarril.

Version of the It's Raining, It's Pouring...


Que llueva, Que llueva
La vieja esta en la cueva
Los pajaritos cantan
Las nubes se levantan.
Que si!
Que no!
Que caiga un chaparrón
Que se rompan los cristales
De la estación
Y los míos
No

Argentina's way of saying the same:


Que llueva, que llueva
la vieja est· en la cueva
los pajaritos cantan
la vieja se levanta.
Que sÌ, que no,
que caiga un chaparrÛn
arriba del colchÛn
con agua y jabÛn.


Or...
Del pelo al codo y del codo al pelo, del codo al pelo y del pelo al codo.




One of my favorites...
Supercalifragilisticoespiralidoso, aunque al oirlo hablar se te hace medio enredoso, si lo dices con humor sera mas fabuloso, supercalifragilisticoespiralidoso

Library

Mrs. Nichols and I have set up a section in the library for students to bring Spanish books home to read over the week. We have a few introduction books as well as some translated books, and some more advanced Spanish books. All are colorful and have helpful pictures and some you might recognize! I hope that the students will start taking them home to share with their families soon!

El Conejito Knuffle
Book Fiesta
Abuelos
Un Amigo de Veras Maravilloso
El Tigre de Tasmania
Señor Felipe's Alphabet Adventure

Additions coming soon!