Mi cara, by 3rd grade

In the 3rd grade students were learning the different parts of their face. We learned a song that will help us remember terms like face, eyes, nose, mouth and a class favorite: popcorn!

After students mastered the song and terms it was time to do a fun project. Inspired by the art of Picasso, students received a template of a face and different options to create unique faces. We worked on reviewing our colors, numbers and the parts of the face while creating our funny faces. Once finished, students presented their masterpieces to the classroom. We all had a fun time sharing how silly our faces looked.

Have your children sign the song to you or show you their funny face! We had a great time!!!!

**Recreate this activity by visiting patchimals.com**

6th grade Molas

In class, I enjoy linking different topics together. I aim to show my students that everything that we learn relates together and that you cannot simply forget a topic because the test is done!

In December, I introduced them to the Panamanian Molas. Molas are a textile art that is traditional of the Kunas, an indigenous group residing in Panama and Colombia. In their language, Mola means clothing or blouse. Their complete outfit includes the blouse and a skirt, a red or yellow scarf, a gold ring in their nose as well as earrings.

Molas are handmade and unique and are made creating different layers to the final product. We took this technique and started our project.

First students were asked to select an animal of their choice. They learned how to make carbon copies of the printed animals. They traced them and colored them. The second layer involved the background. Traditionally this involves some sort of symmetry and eclectic patterns. Each student traced and colored a background.

Once our inspiration was complete, the third layer asked students to incorporate the topic of verbs with their artwork. The idea was to find verbs that we could use in writting a biography about our animals. They produced wonderful stories and incredible art.

Below please find their final products. I am very proud of their hard work.

Minute to win it

This week my fifth graders were wrapping up the topic of numbers from 21-30. Numbers can be a dry topic, so I brought a couple games to help us practice and prepare for our upcoming quiz. 

Students divided themselves into groups. Then each group came up, wore the "fancy" glasses and competed against the clock to say aloud the numbers their teammates were wearing. It was great to see their competitive spirits and I was impressed by how prepared they were.

After round one, I overheard some students spelling the numbers other teams were using. I was so excited to see this, that I ditched my next game and we did a second round of our minute to win it. However, this time, students had to spell the numbers!!! What a fantastic performance.

Later, while speaking with their teacher, Ms. Bogner, I found out that the student's spelling list for the week included a lot of E I combination words. After finding this out, there was no doubt that practicing their Spanish numbers was also including the E I patter of their English spelling! I love when multiple subjects collide.

Take a look at how cute they all looked wearing the glasses

Los animales de la granja

The farm animals.
Last year, i found out my third graders had a flare for performing songs. You can read and see their show here...  http://boteromoriarty.weebly.com/blog/las-verduras

This year, we started learning about farm animals and when I played this song to them their immediate reaction was ask if they could perform it again.

Their wish is my command. So we worked with the vocabulary, we read the lyrics, we practiced singing, we created posters and they organized their choreography. Then we took our show on the road. What a fun day we had.

Next week we will have a "viewing" party and enjoy some popcorn!

Los niños tejen

Kid Knits
In 5th grade, St. Joseph students' service project is Kid Knits. With the guidance of Ms. Bogner, students learn about "reaching out to others instead of thinking of themselves.  They see that it is possible to make an impact on the other side of the world in Rwanda and across the United States in South Dakota".
Inspired by this activity, our Spanish topic lent itself to be incorporated to their project, even if in a very small way. One of the things they learn while working with Kid Knits, is that poberty can affect everyone in the world. Students are asked to shop on a budget keeping in mind the needs of the particular family they read about. 

Since 5th grade is working with numbers from 21-30 in my class, we took the topic of shopping on a budget and merged a few of our own ideas. It helped us review fruits and vegetables while practicing the spelling of the prices of the items. Students worked individually and then brought those efforts to create a final group poster. 

I love seeing their interactions while deciding what items to purchase from a list. Their math skills were also put to the test, all while working with our Spanish vocabulary! 

I enjoyed being able to integrate the things students are doing in their other classes and add some Spanish. This way we can further contextualize the importance of foreign language education and it aids them see that Spanish is not isolated from the rest of their subjects. 

If you want to see more of what my 5th graders are doing, Ms. Bogner's website will help!
​http://missbogner.weebly.com/kidknits.html

Día de los Santos

All Saints Day

Teaching at a Catholic School often allows me to explore some topics that I would not be able to in a public school setting. All Saints Day is one of them. 

During the month of October, my 8th graders worked very hard at creating verbal and written descriptions and compositions. In order to celebrate this wonderful holiday in the Church, we decided to create prayer cards. 

The idea was inspired by the prayer cards students can earn in one of their previous classes. Our process required great attention to detail and creativity. Students researched their confirmation saints, created biographies in Spanish and designed their cards. 

The picture is a sneak peak to a couple of them. I am so proud of their hard work and dedication. 

The complete collection will be auctioned at our school´s spring event!!! 

Minute to win it

Inspired by the popular game and accommodating to our testing schedule, 6th grade reviewed some of our "old" topics like colors, vegetables and fruits. 

We organized the class into 3 groups and they wore my new, awesome glasses!!!! 

Our topic flashcards were distributed and the timer was set. Students then had to turn around and say the Spanish name for their teammates´ card. Once we did a couple of rounds of just vocabulary, we made the game harder: each student had to create statements with the vocabulary words they saw. The team who could get through all its players in the least amount of time won. 

It was a lot of fun. It also helped students see where they needed to review more in order to be ready for the new school year.