Volume 2 of 5
LOWER GRADE SPANISH PROGRAM
with Maria Montes Clemens
Spanish Schedule.
K - twice a week for 30 min.
1st Grade - twice a week for 35 min.
2nd Grade - twice a week for 45 min.
Dia de los Muertos -
November 1st & 2nd
Through books, video, games, food, arts and crafts children in the K -2 Spanish
Program study the customs and traditions of “Día de Los Muertos”/Days of the Dead. Specifically leaning about how in Mexico, Aztec Indians celebrated the cycle of life and
death hundreds of years ago. We learn how in Aztec culture it was believed that
butterflies served as messengers from the living to the dead. Kids learn the
importance of why Mexicans and Mexican Americans enjoy making “offrendas”/
offerings as gifts to ancestors. We study the significance of candles, incense,
water,”pan de muertos”/bread of the dead, marigolds, photos of loved ones, and items
that once belonged to loved ones on the “offrenda”. Not only are Marigolds used to
make elaborate arches for display on altars and graves, but in some villages, people
leave a trail of marigolds from their front door to their loved one's grave, so that loved
ones may easily find their way back home again. The attractive scent of the marigold is
said to draw loved ones back to earth for the yearly “Día de los muertos’ reunion. “Pan
de muerto” is one of the staple foods offered and eaten during this time of year; it is a
sweet bread made from egg. The most popular shapes for “pan de muerto” are skulls and
skeletons, which symbolize the soul of the departed. “Titeres” /puppets are made out
of many different kind of materials, such as paper mache, jeso, card board, wood, or
paper. Sugar skull art is a fun tradition too.
During “Dias de los muertos” in Spanish classroom prepare offrendas for our loved
ones. We make “Paper Mariposas” / butterflies and hang pictures of our loved ones to
honor them. Kids make “titeres”/puppets like the traditional ones. Sugar sculls are a
messy project, but a fun one with lots of sugar and icing decorations. 1
TPRS - The first months of school
Highlights
In the k, 1 & 2 grades we have jumped right
into the ¡Hola Niños! curriculum, a TPR
Storytelling Spanish curriculum specifically
created for grades K - 3. This curriculum is
intended to develop listening comprehension
and verbal skills. Gestures, illustrations,
puppets and handouts are used to provide
context for each vocabulary structure in each
unit. TPR Practice (gestures) is often the
most time-intensive step in TPRS, and it is also
the most crucial. Games, activities and songs
are used to practice the new vocabulary until
students have internalized all the words and
vocabulary structures for the chapter. I put
words and expressions into context through
short scenarios and personalized situations.
Several short scenarios are written out for
kids to contextualize the vocabulary. In the
¡Hola Niños! curriculum, one to four ministories are written for each set of vocabulary
words. Each mini-story contains two to four
illustrations that coincide with the narration.
Partners act out the story, volunteers come up
front to act out the story, and for review
students get a copy of mini-story illustrations
where they practice telling the mini-story to
each other. After each mini-story a list of
questions and practice techniques is provided.
Initially students may only be able to answer
yes/no questions, but eventually they will be
able to answer short answer and open-ended
questions. They will also progress from hearing
2
short revisions to being able to tell new
endings and short revisions.
In kindergarden, kids are learning songs
about colors, numbers, animals and Spanish
rhymes. Some songs on our song list; Buenos
días, Yo me llamo, El Chocolate, Dos Manitas,
La Arana, Los Colores, & Cuenta. Our new
rhyme this month was a halloween one “Cinco
calabazas /five pumpkins”. New words in the
kinder grade TPRS curriculum: Hola/
hello, Buenos Días/good morning, Buenos
tardes/good afternoon, Buenas noches/good
night, ¿Cómo estás?/How are you?,Se llama/
her name, el/him, ella/her, Hay/there is, el
muchacho/boy, la muchacha/girl, el pez/fish, el
gato/cat, grande/big, mediano/medium,
pequeño/small.
New words in the first grade TPRS
curriculum: Months, days of the week,
come/eat, bien/well, muy bién/very well, mal/
bad, muy mal/very bad, así así/so so, queso/
cheeze, pollo/chicken, pan/bread, manzana/
apple, naranja/orange.
New words in the second TPRS
curriculum: numbers to 50, viaje/trip,
mexicano - mexicana/mexican, estadounidense/
from the United States, vive/lives, francés francesa/French, inglés - inglesa/English,
alemán - alemana/German, el autobús/bus, el
avión/plane, el coche (el carro)/car. A new
cast of characters were introduces, Pongo,
Spot, Loco, Fifi, and Fritz.