Yo puedo...hacer un coqui!

I can make a coqui! If you haven't heard about the coqui's in 2nd and 3rd grade yet, I'm sure you will soon.  We started making origami coquis at Garfield today!  Here are some pictures of how they turned out!  I'll keep adding pictures as we make them :) 

Progress Reports and Conferences

Hola!  
Progress Reports are finished and Parent Teacher conferences are upon us!  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time.   You may also visit with me during Parent teacher conferences. I will be at Garfield Elementary from 4-8 on Tuesday, November 12, and at Kenwood Elementary on Thursday, November 14 from 4-8.  

The last few weeks have been a huge learning experience for myself, and I am already looking forward and thinking about how to make myself a better teacher in the coming weeks. As for the students, we have continued on full speed ahead.  Here is what has been happening!

Kindergarten:
          We started practicing shapes and colors.  The last few days we worked with color baggies and put them in order of our color song!  The students are getting so good at them already.  We have also been practicing shapes and introduced the numbers up to 15.  We continue to practice the question "¿Como te llamas tu?"  Me llamo (name).  

1st Grade:
          "En mi mochila..." We have been learning how to say school supplies in Spanish!  We have an awesome backpack song and the students are really good at the last line!  "Hay lapiz, papel, crayones, pegamento y tijeras, libro y carpeta en mi mochila, en mi mochila."  In English we are singing There is a pencil, paper, crayons, glue and scissors, a book and folder in my backpack, in my backpack.  We will be creating our own paper backpacks this week!  It is going to be a great week! 

2nd and 3rd Grade
          We have been escaping the cold of the Iowa fall and been transported to tropical Puerto Rico.  We have discussed where the island is, what language they speak, what the flag looks like, and most important, the coquí frogs!  If your student didn't come home with a sticker yet, you will have to ask them about what they are learning!  We have learned a song about the coquí and learned the fairy tale of how they got their voice.  Now we will be making origami coquis!  I will try to post some pictures this week! 

Assessment!

I cannot believe it is already time to see how much the students have learned in Spanish this year!  I started assessing students at Kenwood Elementary on Friday.  I am proud of how much the students know!  If you are curious what they should know this trimester, here is exactly what I am asking them!

Kindergarten: 
     I can:  *Say Hola and Adios
                *Count to 10
                * Answer the question Como te llamas?

First Grade:
      I can:  *Identify 6 of 8 body parts
                 *Identify 5 of 7 family members
                 *Count to 20 

2nd and 3rd Grade:
      I can:  *Identify 4 of 6 weather forms
                 *Identify 4 of 6 emotions
                 *Given a clock, answer the question Que hora es?

Crazy Faces!

1st Grade Fun!

We had a blast in the first grade faces practicing body vocabulary by making "Caras Locas" or Crazy Faces!  Can your first grader find the faces their class made?  See if they can point to the vocabulary:  

Pelo (Pay-lo)- Hair

Orejas (Or-ehh-ha-s)- Ears

Ojos (Oh-Ho-s)- Eyes

Nariz (Na-ree-s)- Nose

Boca (Bo-ka)- Mouth

Review, Review, Review!

This week was another week spent on reviewing concepts that we had learned last year in 1st Grade and 2/3 Grade classes.  We had fun reviewing using activities like Numero Magico in 1st Grade (Magic Number), Pepito Sheet in 2/3 (Body Parts), Lata Magica in 1st Grade (Magic Can), and the Me duele la cabeza song in 2/3!  If you want to listen to the Me Duele song, click here! You student should remember the actions :)

Kindergarten classes are off and running, or should I say marching!  We have learned the commands for Stand up, Sit down, and March!  They are doing such a good job at these that we will be adding new ones soon!  They are also working really hard on their numbers 1-10!  They have learned a song to remember!  123 Amigos that goes to the tune of 10 Little Indians.

First Week Reflections

WOW!  I can't believe that the first week is complete!  I had so much fun meeting staff and students this week, not to mention being able to see how much the 1st-3rd Graders remembered over the summer!  Do I have some SMART students :)  This week we did a lot of review.  Here is a look at what we covered!

Grades 2 & 3: 

• We reviewed our numbers 1-30.  (You should ask your student to do the Number Dance: El Baile de los Numeros) 
• We reviewed the colors by singing our colors song, saying a color and if they had that color on their shirt they stood up, and by playing the game tengo tengo (I have). 
• We answered the question ¿ Como estas? (How are you?) and ¿ Como te llamas? (Whats your name)
• We practice our mandatos (commands) and added 4 new ones: abajo, arriba, adelante, atras (down, up, forward, and back)

Grade 1

• We reviewed our numbers 1-20 (You should ask your student to do the Number Dance: El Baile de los Numeros) 
• We reviewed our colors by singing our color song and by saying a color and if they had that color on their shirt they stood up
• We reviewed our mandatos (commands) including: marchen, salten, doblense, anden, densen vuelta, and bailen. (March, Jump, Bow, Walk, Turn around, and Dance)
• We reviewed our body parts by singing Cabeza, Estomago, Pies (Head, Stomach, Feet to the tune of head and shoulders)
• We read the book Clifford Va a La Escuela (Clifford goes to school)

Kindergarten

• We practiced saying "Hola Senorita Schwartz"
• We learned our numbers 1-10 and sang the song 123 Amigos
• We learned the commands: levantense, sientense, and marchen (Stand up, Sit down, march)
• We learned the difference between chico and chica (boy and girl)
• We read the book Margret and Margarita which is about two girls who go to the park.  One speaks English and the other speaks Spanish.  They realize that they play together and become friends, despite not speaking the same language!  

All Grades

• We practiced the rules of Spanish class.  See if your student can remember the rhyme and actions we learned to help us remember the rules.  They are:

1. Hablen en Espanol (Speak in Spanish)
2. Leventan la mano (Raise your hand)
3. No toquen (No touching/keep your hands to yourself)
4. Respeten (Respect-your teacher and your class)
5. Escuchen (Listen)

Can't wait for this week!  

~Senorita Schwartz

Welcome

Bienvenidos!!! 

Welcome to the beginning of yet another new year!  As I am preparing for meeting all my new students I get more and more excited.  As a team of eight FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools) teachers this year, we have some awesome new activities and materials ready to start, and are still developing more and more.  We are adding some new concepts this year as we are building the 2nd grade curriculum including a look at Puerto Rico, telling time, and learning the alphabet.  We will continue to grow our number recognition and start skip counting with numbers this year.  

An Introduction

My name is Joelle Schwartz and I recently graduated from UNI (Go Panthers!!!) and have spent the Spring 2013 semester substitute teaching near my hometown.  I am originally from Hubbard, IA and grew up on a farm; however, I never had much for animals.  I just a dog and my one 4-H bucket calf.  I graduated from South Hamilton High School in Jewell, IA in 2008 and then graduated from UNI in December 2012 with a degree in Spanish Teaching and English as a Second Language Teaching.  I studied abroad for a Semester in 2010 to Oviedo, Spain.  It was a wonderful experience where I was able to learn many things including the language and culture of Spain.  I took 15 credit hours at the local University in their language program and traveled around the country. I moved to Cedar Rapids this summer and am excited to start the new school year!