Mexican Culture Month

The Día de los Muertos festivities at the beginning of the month seem like a long time ago now that Thanksgiving is already behind us! Here are some highlights from November:

Kindergarten (KS): Now that the family holidays are here, the students learned vocabulary related to la familia.  They took some time to read ¿Eres tú mi Mamá? (Are You My Mother?) in Spanish and work on language arts activities related to the story.  They also had time to learn about classroom objects.  Take a look at the Spanish bulletin board where there is a display of a large classroom mochila (backpack) filled with the students' drawings of the objects they have learned.  

First Grade (1E):  Animales have been the focus of the month.  They began with a study of the "everyday" animals like perro (dog) and gato (cat).  Then they read a book about a mouse called Martí ye el Mango (Marti and the Mango) which combines animal and exotic fruit vocabulary.  Of course, they could not learn about mangos and cocos (coconuts) without actually tasting all the fruits! They finished the unit with a study of animals that could be found in a zoo, so that they could create their own zoológico / acuario (zoo/aquarium).  

Second Grade (2E): In preparation for their final presentation of the book Oso pardo, oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí? (Brown bear, Brown bear, What do You See?), the students learned the animal and color vocabulary associated with the book.  Students had the chance to visit differentiated centers to work with the vocabulary.  The centers included working on the Quizlet computer site, using iPads to decode QR codes related to the vocabulary, reading books created by the older students about colors and animals, puzzling over crossword and word search activities and listening to Spanish stories at a listening center.  At the end of the month, the class was fortunate to have Abraham Watt's abuela (grandmother) visit with stories about life in the Dominican Republic! 

Third Grade: Students in third grade continued their study of Mexico by generating a list of 56 questions in response to “What do we want to learn about Mexico?” They then chose one question from the list (or two questions if they had time) to research and answer. The final result was a class book called Libro de México: Preguntas y Respuestas. As a final step, the students had to read their own class book to answer questions about the topics. This impressive book went home in the 12/4 Friday folders, so I hope you have had a chance to take a look at it!

Fourth Grade: Students in fourth grade are continuing their study of Mexico by learning about the different travel destinations in Mexico. They took an imaginary trip to Mexico City to visit many of the popular sites found in this huge city. They then tracked their itinerary on a map to visit sites from Baja California to the resorts and Mayan ruins of the Yucatan. The final project is a travel poster of a selected travel destination. Students are working in pairs to research their destination and write about five "Things to Do" while there.

Fifth Grade: Students in fifth grade continued their study of Mexico by studying its history. They learned about the impressive Aztec Empire that covered much of Central America and their unfortunate demise with the arrival of Cortez and the Spanish soldiers. The final project was a research project poster about one aspect of the Aztec civilization. Topics ranged from Aztec warriors and weapons to Aztec family life. Students then shared their posters to teach each other about they had learned about the Aztecs.