PK Cubismo

In conjunction with our shape and color studies, PK students have been learning about Pablo Picasso and his cubist style, CUBISMO. Here are some examples we looked at on a power point. Be sure to also watch the video that can be found in the PK links and participate in the interactive, Mr. Picasso Head game we played on the Smartboard. Original cubist works to come!

PK: Formas

Prek Spanish classes have begun to work with learning the shapes in Spanish. In this activity students are looking at cards of everyday items to determine their shape. Here are the shapes we will be working to identify

círculo: circle
triángulo:triangle
cuadrado:square
rectángulo:rectangle
semi-círculo: semicircle
óvalo:oval

¡Somos piratas! - We are pirates!

¿Qué necesita una pirata? (What does every pirate need?) When I asked second graders, they decided that in addition to ships, swords, and funny hats, every pirate needs a treasure map! This was one of our contexts for learning about geographical features, cardinal directions, and describing how to get somewhere on a map. Students designed their own maps, hid their tesoro (treasure), and then had to describe to a fellow pirata how to get around obstacles and get to the loot. Student communicated with instructions such as ve al norte, or ve al sur (go to the north, go to the south). We eventually moved into learning the specific geography of Mexico, and making pop-up maps. Students utilized the verb "estar" (to be located) and cardinal direction vocabulary to describe the layout of Mexico. They are able to understand and answer the following questions in Spanish: Where are the mountains? Where is the capital? Where is the desert?

La escuela: dentro y afuera: The school: inside and out

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First graders in 1A and 1C have started a new thematic unit: La escuela. We are learning how to identify people in our school, call them by the appropriate title (Señor, Señorita, Señora), and describe who they are and what they teach. Also, in celebration of outdoor week, we completed a nature scavenger hunt. Students found many hojas, palitos, y piedras (leaves, sticks, and stones) and even the elusive marquita (ladybug)! Sadly, no one could find any gusanos, but everyone had fun tallying how many objects they had, what they needed, and then describing those amounts to other groups in the class utilizing the verbs "tener" and "necesitar".

¡Vamos Afuera!

First graders had OUTDOOR week in their home classrooms so Spanish decided to go outdoors as well and participate in "Una Búsqueda de Naturaleza", a nature hunt. Students reviewed the list and tried to find all items all the while being introduced to new vocabulary related to nature. After teams found what they could, the next day we graphed the items we had found and reported things we still needed. Again using the new vocabulary and applying them to the verbs we have been working with more recently in our community unit, 'tener' and 'necesitar', to have and to need.

Todo sobre nosotros - All about us

¡Hola! I am Caitlin Cummings, the new Lower School Spanish teacher. I am so glad to be joining the Columbus Academy community and feel very fortunate that in my position, I get to interact with so many students in the Lower School.

We've had a lot of fun so far. Just as I have spent these first weeks introducing myself to the students, the 1st-4th graders in all my classes have been working on presenting themselves and their interests to me and fellow classmates in Spanish. We have also moved into our first thematic units. First grade has been working on presenting the calendar, learning classroom vocabulary, and being able to express what they have (yo tengo...) and what they need (yo necesito...) Second and Third grade have focused on discussing clothing preferences, what to pack for a trip according to weather (yo llevo una chaqueta cuando hace viento...), and how to describe to someone the location of things on a map. Third and Fourth grade have also learned about countries in Las américas: describing what is on their flags, as well as famous athletes from each country and what sports they like to play. Stay tuned for more updates as we move into our second full month here at Academy!

En las fotos: 1st graders practice presenting the calendar, 2nd grade arranges all of their personal information and portrait in a "Yo" design ("yo" = me in English), and 3rd graders learn how to describe different flags from Latin American countries.

¡Pregútame! Ask me!

Kindergarten Spanish students continue to work within the theme of 'Yo', all about me. Ask me these questions we have been answering everyday in class during our circle greeting

¿Cómo estás? How are you?
¿Cuántos años tienes tú? How old are you?
¿Qué te gusta comer? What do you like to eat?
¿ Te gusta nadar? Do you like to swim?
¿Te gusta leer? Do you like to read?
* ¿Cómo te sientes hoy? How are you feeling today? * this is fairly new so... a good response would include any of the following responses, alegre ( happy) , triste ( sad), enojado (mad).