Spanish in September

Welcome, once again, to Saint Joseph School’s Spanish program blog! 

To begin, I hope that everyone has had a wonderful week.  To all those I had a chance to meet last week at Saint Joseph, hello again!   To all readers, best wishes for a wonderful school year!

I will be updating this blog periodically with information about what is happening in Spanish classes.  I will also soon be uploading more information about what I’m hoping to teach of the course of the year in classes at each grade level. 

For my blog entry today, I’d like to provide a brief update on what we were learning about up until last week at each grade level.  I will not usually provide such detailed updates, but in this entry, which I wrote last week and took some time to edit, I’d like to catch you up on everything that’s happened so far this year:

 Kindergarten

In Kindergarten classes, we started out the year with an introduction to some basic greetings and goodbyes in Spanish.  For the past few lessons, we’ve moved on to color words, and have been creating our own color books.  If you’d like to do so, ask your student to share his or her color book with you.

o   Key vocabulary/expressions:

§  Hola (Hello)

§  Adiós (Goodbye)

§  ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)

·      Muy bien (Very well)

§  Gracias (Thank you)

§  Rojo, anaranjado, amarillo, verde, azul, morado, rosado, café/marrón, negro (The colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, and black, respectively)

§  ¿Cómo se dice ____________? (How does one say ____________?)

1^st Grade

      In 1^st grade classes, we also started out the year with an introduction to some basic greetings and goodbyes in Spanish.  We then moved on to color words, and created our own color books.  Now, we are transitioning to classroom-related vocabulary with the goal of teaching Spanish class using as much Spanish as possible.  If you’d like to do so, ask your student to share his or her color book with you.

o   Key vocabulary/expressions:

§  Hola (Hello)

§  Adiós (Goodbye)

§  ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)

·      Muy bien (Very well)

§  Gracias (Thank you)

§  Yo me llamo ____________________.  (My name is ____________________.)

§  Rojo, anaranjado, amarillo, verde, azul, morado, rosado, café/marrón, negro (The colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, and black, respectively)

§  ¿Cómo se dice ____________? (How does one say ____________?)

§  Mesa (Table)

§  Lápiz (Pencil)

2^nd Grade

      In 2^nd grade, we also started out the year with an introduction to some basic greetings and goodbyes in Spanish.  We then moved on to numbers in Spanish, and will be moving on to learning about saying ages and building classroom-related vocabulary in Spanish next week.  If you’d like to do so, practice counting in Spanish with your student.

o   Key vocabulary/expressions:

§  Hola (Hello)

§  Adiós (Goodbye)

§  Gracias (Thank you)

§  Yo me llamo ____________________.  (My name is ____________________.)

§  Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once, doce, trece, catorce, quince, dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte, veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, veinticuatro, veinticinco, veintiséis, veintisiete, veintiocho, veintinueve, treinta (Numbers in order from 1 to 30)

3^rd and 4^th Grade

      In 3^rd and 4^th grade, we also started out the year with an introduction to some basic greetings and goodbyes in Spanish.  We moved on to do a “word hunt” in the classroom, building vocabulary while searching for bright green Spanish labels that I posted on various items in the classroom (such as the calendar).  From there, we shifted towards numbers and dates in Spanish.   We looked at numbers from various angles, trying out some math problems written out in Spanish and some writing practice.  We finished this week with a review of dates in the context of a discussion about students’ birthdays.  If you’d like to do so, practice counting and saying dates in Spanish with your student.

o   Key vocabulary/expressions:

§  Hola (Hello)

§  ¿Qué pasa? (What’s up?)

§  Buenos días/Buenas tardes/Buenas noches (Good morning/Good afternoon/Goodnight)

§  Adiós (Goodbye)

§  Hasta luego (See you later)

§  Chao/Chau (A form of goodbye used in some Spanish-speaking countries, such as Argentina)

§  ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)

·      Muy bien (Very well)

·      Bien (Well)

·      Regular/Más o menos (Okay, alright, normal)

·      Mal (Not well, bad)

§  Gracias (Thank you)

§  Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once, doce, trece, catorce, quince, dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte, veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, veinticuatro, veinticinco, veintiséis, veintisiete, veintiocho, veintinueve, treinta (Numbers in order from 1 to 30)

§  Más/menos (Plus/minus)

§  Enero, febrero, marzo, abril, mayo, junio, julio, agosto, septiembre, octubre, noviembre, diciembre (Months in order from January to December)

§  ¿Cuál es la fecha (de hoy)?  (What is the date (today)?)

·      El diecinueve de septiembre (September 19^th—Note that the day comes first and month second when saying the date in Spanish and the month is not capitalized in writing)

§  ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? (When is your birthday?)

5^th Grade 

      In 5^th grade, we also started out the year with an introduction to some basic greetings and goodbyes in Spanish.  We moved on to do a “word hunt” in the classroom, building vocabulary while searching for bright green Spanish labels that I posted on various items in the classroom (such as the calendar).  From there, we moved on to numbers in Spanish.  Students in Miss Pongracz’s class took a quiz on the numbers 1 through 30 in Spanish, and students in Mrs. Alkema’s class will be taking a quiz on the numbers 1 through 30 on Wednesday, September 25^th.  Students are now applying their knowledge of numbers to talk about dates (e.g.: September 19^th) and birthdays.  If you’d like to do so, practice counting and saying dates in Spanish with your student.

o   Key vocabulary/expressions:

§  Hola (Hello)

§  ¿Qué pasa? (What’s up?)

§  Buenos días/Buenas tardes/Buenas noches (Good morning/Good afternoon/Goodnight)

§  Adiós (Goodbye)

§  Hasta luego (See you later)

§  Chao/Chau (A form of goodbye used in some Spanish-speaking countries, such as Argentina)

§  ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)

·      Muy bien (Very well)

·      Bien (Well)

·      Regular/Más o menos (Okay, alright, normal)

·      Mal (Not well, bad)

§  Gracias (Thank you)

§  Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once, doce, trece, catorce, quince, dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte, veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, veinticuatro, veinticinco, veintiséis, veintisiete, veintiocho, veintinueve, treinta (Numbers in order from 1 to 30)

§  Más/menos (Plus/minus)

§  Enero, febrero, marzo, abril, mayo, junio, julio, agosto, septiembre, octubre, noviembre, diciembre (Months in order from January to December)

§  ¿Cuál es la fecha (de hoy)?  (What is the date (today)?)

·      El diecinueve de septiembre (September 19^th—Note that the day comes first and month second when saying the date in Spanish and the month is not capitalized in writing)

§  ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? (When is your birthday?)

6^th Grade

      In 6^th grade, we also started out the year with an introduction to some basic greetings and goodbyes in Spanish.  We moved on to do a “word hunt” in the classroom, building vocabulary while searching for bright green Spanish labels that I posted on various items in the classroom (such as the calendar).  From there, we moved on to numbers in Spanish.  We’ve looked at numbers in different ways, and activities have incorporated topics such as math and phone numbers.  Students took a quiz on the numbers 1-30 today.  We are now shifting towards learning the alphabet in Spanish, and students will have a verbal quiz on September 26^th. (Note: The alphabet quiz for 6th grade has been moved to October 3rd to give students some additional time to practice.)   If you’d like to do so, practice counting and reciting the alphabet with your student (Your student should have information about the alphabet that was provided in class!).

o   Key vocabulary/expressions:

§  Hola (Hello)

§  ¿Qué pasa? (What’s up?)

§  Buenos días/Buenas tardes/Buenas noches (Good morning/Good afternoon/Goodnight)

§  Adiós (Goodbye)

§  Hasta luego (See you later)

§  Chao/Chau (A form of goodbye used in some Spanish-speaking countries, such as Argentina)

§  ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?)

·      Muy bien (Very well)

·      Bien (Well)

·      Regular/Más o menos (Okay, alright, normal)

·      Mal (Not well, bad)

§  Gracias (Thank you)

§  Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once, doce, trece, catorce, quince, dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte, veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, veinticuatro, veinticinco, veintiséis, veintisiete, veintiocho, veintinueve, treinta (Numbers in order from 1 to 30)

§  ¿Cuál es el número de teléfono de tu amigo en ________________? (What is the phone number of your friend in ________________?—Students were provided with a list of country names and randomly-created phone numbers and completed a pair activity that required conversation to obtain a partner’s information.)

§  Más/menos (Plus/minus)

7^th and 8^th Grade

      In 7^th and 8^th grade, we also started out the year with an introduction to some basic greetings and goodbyes in Spanish.  We then spent some time considering the differences between the tú and usted forms in Spanish (formal and informal forms of the word “you”).  We moved on to do a “word hunt” in the classroom, building vocabulary while searching for bright green Spanish “labels” that I posted on various items in the classroom (such as the calendar).  From there, we moved on to numbers in Spanish. Students took quizzes on numbers this week.  We are now shifting towards learning the alphabet in Spanish.  7^th graders had a verbal quiz on the alphabet today, and 8^th graders will have a verbal quiz on September 27^th.   If you’d like to do so, practice counting and reciting the alphabet with your student (Your student should have information about the alphabet that was provided in class!).

o   Key vocabulary/expressions:

§  Hola (Hello)

§  ¿Qué pasa? (What’s up?)

§  Buenos días/Buenas tardes/Buenas noches (Good morning/Good afternoon/Goodnight)

§  Adiós (Goodbye)

§  Hasta luego (See you later)

§  Chao/Chau (A form of goodbye used in some Spanish-speaking countries, such as Argentina)

§  ¿Cómo estás (tú)? (How are you?—Informal)/ ¿Cómo está (usted)? (How are you?—Formal)

·      Muy bien (Very well)

·      Bien (Well)

·      Regular/Más o menos (Okay, alright, normal)

·      Mal (Not well, bad)

§  Gracias (Thank you)

§  Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once, doce, trece, catorce, quince, dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte, veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, veinticuatro, veinticinco, veintiséis, veintisiete, veintiocho, veintinueve, treinta (Numbers in order from 1 to 30)

§  ¿Cuál es el número de teléfono de tu amigo en ________________? (What is the phone number of your friend in ________________?—Students were provided with a list of country names and randomly-created phone numbers and completed a pair activity that required conversation to obtain a partner’s information.)