This week we have been talking about reading in Spanish. This is something we work on a lot in 2nd Grade, and we will be learning and practicing strategies we can use in order to develop reading comprehension skills. The first thing we talked about was the fact that when we are reading in a different language, it is okay not to understand every single word. We talked about how comprehension is all about understanding the "big picture" of what the author is trying to communicate, not necessarily every single small detail.
We started practicing reading strategies by looking at a passage in Spanish together. First, students went through and identified all of the words in the passage that they knew, and we shared out some examples. Then, we talked about what it means to be a cognate, and worked together to identify all of the ones we could find in the passage. Next week we will continue develop these strategies by practicing answering questions and using what we know to make inferences. Here are the strategies we are using for reading comprehension in Spanish:
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This week we focused mostly on our goal of using words in Spanish to describe ourselves. We started with an activity where we worked together to match fictional characters with statements that they would say about themselves. Then, students went around the room to different characters and filled in voice bubbles with statements that each character would say using Yo soy (I am) and Yo no soy (I am not). They really enjoyed the activity and came up with some really creative sentences! This week, Brutus was finally able to solve his problem! He ended up traveling to three different places and meeting three characters, all of which did not quite meet the description of what he was looking for. These characters included Ursula, Moana, and a special appearance by Señora Deprez! Have your child tell you the reason that each was not a good match for Brutus.
In the end, a mystery character entered the room, and after learning more about her we realized that she matched all of the descriptions of what Brutus was looking for! Her name is Beatriz Buckeye and she is La Novia Perfecta! This week we continued our story about Brutus and his search for the perfect girlfriend. Because of Field Trips and Late Start, some classes are a little bit behind on the story, but everyone will be finished by next week! Have your child tell you what has happened in the story so far, and if Brutus has been able to find a solution to his problem!
This week we continued to watch and listen as Brutus searches for his "novia perfecta" (perfect girlfriend). He started by making a list of the characteristics he is looking for in a perfect girlfriend. So far he has not been successful in his search, but we are hopeful that his problem will be solved soon!
Below is the description that Brutus created for his perfect girlfriend. Have your child tell you what Brutus is looking for. Any guesses on who might fit the description? This week we spent time reviewing some of the most commonly used question words in Spanish. These are hanging in the front of our classroom and we use them frequently throughout the year during stories and class activities.
We also started working on our Identity Unit, where we will answer the questions; "Who am I?" and "How am I?". Before starting our story, students were introduced to some of the vocabulary we will be learning and we also discussed our goals for the unit:
This week we were introduced to some Spanish expressions that can be used to react during a conversation or situation. The students had fun practicing these new phrases by using them to respond to some wacky comments.
For some fun at-home practice, present your student with a statement or situation and ask them how they would react in Spanish. For example; "What would you say if you saw someone fall down?" or "What would you say if I told you I like brussel sprouts?" The wackier the better!
One of our beginning of the year activities in Spanish class was to read one of Señora's favorite books, called Your Fantastic Elastic Brain. This book is all about how our brains work, and how we can stretch and strengthen them by learning new things. It teaches us how our brains grow and how making mistakes is good because it helps train our brains and help them grow. After reading the book, we made connections to our learning in Spanish class and how we will be stretching our brains this year. We also talked about how we can use what we learned about our brains to help think positively as language learners. We looked at negative thoughts that we might have while learning something new and talked about what kinds of positive statements we could replace them with. Here are some examples:
These statements are hanging in our classroom so that we can remember them as we stretch our brains and learn Spanish together. It's going to be a great year!!
We have had a great start to the year in Spanish class!
First, we answered some questions in Spanish about our Summer adventures. The kids and I enjoyed learning about who did what this Summer, like traveling on an airplane, going to the beach, or riding a bike. We also did a fun activity to practice the question ¿Cómo se dice?. This is the question you would use to find out how to say a word in Spanish, and I want students to feel comfortable answering and asking this question throughout the year. First, students did a group activity where they picked cards with English words and asked each other how to say the words in Spanish. Some of the words were ones we have learned in the past, but some were random words like 'peanuts' and 'balloon'. We also learned the expression No sé so they could respond when they were asked a word they didn't know! At the end, we did an activity where the students tried to 'Stump Señora' by coming up with words to ask me. I did pretty well, but they definitely stumped me a few times! Next week we will do some more vocabulary practice before we start our first unit. I am looking forward to a great year! |
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July 2020
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