Maria 2 of 5 2011

Volume 2 of 5
LOWER GRADE SPANISH PROGRAM
with Maria Montes Clemens
Spanish Schedule.
Bridge K - twice a week for 20 min.
K - twice a week for 30 min.
1st Grade - twice a week for 30 min.
2nd Grade - twice a week for 45 min.
TPRS - The first month of school
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
mini-stories 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,
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volunteers come up front to act out the story,
and for review students get a copy of mini¡Hola Niños!: Unit Five Supplements
Mini-Cuento #6
story illustrations where they practice telling
OVERHEAD #5-7
the mini-story to each other. After each ministory 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 short revisions to
being able to tell new endings and short
revisions.
Highlights
Our play time in the Bridge K class has been
centered on reading books and singing songs
around the classroom piano with Harriet’s help.
Recently we played various “Lotería ”/ bingo
games. I really enjoy my play time with
them.
and death hundreds of years ago. In Aztec
culture it was believed that butterflies served as
messengers from the living to the dead. For
hundreds of years people have celebrated the
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, Buenos Días,
Buenos tardes, Buenas noches, ¿Como
estas?, bien, muy bien, mal, muy mal, así así,
Se llama, el, ella, Hay, el muchacho, la
muchacha, el pez, el gato, grande, mediano,
pequeño.
Words in the first grade TPRS
curriculum: Por la manana, por la tarde, por la
noche, se llama, es, come, pollo, pan, manzana,
maestro, orejas, ojos,boca, nariz, que sorpresa,
cierra, abre, mucho pelo.
New words in the second TPRS
curriculum: va, tiene hambre,, la familia,
la madre, el padre, el hermano(a), el perro,
mascota.
Dia de los Muertos
November 1st & 2nd. For the second half
of October the Spanish curriculum shifted
to “Día de Los Muertos.“ Through books,
video, games, food, arts and crafts children
studied the customs and traditions of “Día
de Los Muertos”. Specifically leaning about
how in Mexico, Aztec Indians celebrated life
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circle of life and death. We made “Paper
Mariposas” (butterflies) and hung pictures of our
loved ones to honor them. Families are invited to
bring in a Photograph of a loved one to add to our
“Día de Los Muertos“ wall. Stop by any time and
pin a photograph to our work in progress.
An offering for our loved ones;
Mariposas
oranges and colves.