Hola Amigos…
What’s up in Spanish this month?
“¡Dios es Amor; la Biblia lo dice!” (God is Love; the Bible says so)
Señora Luisa, 11/2010
Kindergartners continually review the following action verbs and nouns from last month because they are
foundational to learning Spanish at NCA and are frequent in everyday speech in our communities: SIÉNTATE
(sit down), LEVÁNTATE (stand up), CORRE (run), CAMINA (walk), SALTA (jump), LLORA (cry), GRITA
(scream, shout, yell), CANTA (sing), DUERME (sleep), DESPIERTA (wake up), CASA (house), IGLESIA
(church), and ESCUELA (school). When asked, “¿Cómo estás? (How are you?) they answer: BIEN(well, fine,
good), MUY BIEN ( very well), MÁS O MENOS (so-so, okay), MAL (bad), MUY MAL (very bad), and they
know “¿POR QUÉ?” means “Why?”. New nouns are: EL BEBÉ (the baby), EL GATO (the cat), EL PERRO
(the dog), EL CONEJO (the rabbit), LA TORTUGA (turtle), and your students show me they understand by
doing puppet races as I narrate. GANA (he/she/it wins), RAPIDO (fast), DESPACIO (slow) are also important
to the lessons. We ended the unit with “The Tortoise and the Hare” completely acted out in Spanish.
First Graders are reviewing the basic verbs and place names listed above and are familiarizing themselves
with: NIÑO/A (boy/girl), PROFESOR/A (male teacher/female teacher), LOCO (crazy), BUENO (good),
MALO (bad), GANA (he/she/it wins) and your students demonstrated comprehension of a story using all the
words they’ve learned so far. This month we’re reviewing adjectives from last year and adding a few new ones:
GRANDE (big), CHICO (small), MEDIANO (medium), LARGO (long), CORTO (short in length), ALTO
(tall), BAJO (short in height), GIGANTE (gigantic), MUCHO (a lot), POCO (a little), GORDO (fat), FLACO
(skinny), BUENO (good), MALO (bad), FUERTE (strong), DEBIL (weak). The frequently used phrases: ME
GUSTA (I like it or it pleases me), NO ME GUSTA (I don’t like it or it doesn’t please me) and a new song,
“Dios Es Amor” (God is Love) round out our repertoire. Cultural aspects this month include: FÚTBOL (soccer)
vs FÚTBOL AMERICANO (American football), and the first sentence school age children learn in Spanish
speaking countries: “Mi mama me ama.” (My mom loves me) written entirely in cursive!
Second Grade students have been reviewing all vocabulary above, plus adding to last month’s list of ways to
respond to ¿Cómo estás?”(“How are you?”) with: TRISTE (sad), ABURRIDO (bored), DE BUEN HUMOR (in
a good mood), DE MAL HUMOR (in a bad mood). Our opposites song has extra verses: RICO (rich), POBRE
(poor), INTELIGENTE, TONTO (dumb), SUAVE (soft ), DURO (hard). Lastly, your student is becoming
accustomed to using: Yo me llamo_________. (My name is or I call myself) and ¿Cómo te llamas tú? (What’s
your name? or What do you call yourself?)
ATTENTION PARENTS OF STUDENTS NEW TO NCA: You may want to review with your child by saying
the words pertaining to their grade level and asking them to show you the action we learned for each one in
class. (They might even correct your pronunciation and teach you the corresponding action or sign!) They
need to hear and do the word at least 70 times in order to cement it in the brain. We will continue to use these
words throughout their time here at Northshore.