Third Grade Quiz

I'm so proud of the third graders progress in reading and writing in Spanish!
With Lazaro's help and the use of magnetic visual cards, the students have learned the verbs "hablo" I talk, "como" I eat, and "juego" I play. They've learned to use "no" placed before the verb to indicate that they don't perform a particular action.

Example: No hablo. I don't talk.

By adding the preposition "en (in)," they can state the place in which they talk or don't talk.

Example: Hablo en el comedor. I talk in the dining room.
No hablo en el atico. I don't talk in the attic.

The kids have been practicing reading and writing the sentences, which they first made themselves by using the magnetic cards on the board.

I plan on quizing them on the rooms of the house vocabulary on the following days of next week. Please see the update of Sept. 28th. for a list of the vocabulary. They only need to know the meanings, not how to spell the words. Sra. Starr

Hensler: Wednesday, Oct. 7
Wolfrath: Thursday, Oct. 8
LaDuke: Friday, Oct. 9

Hispanic American Heritage Month: 3rd. & 4th.

Established in 1989, Hispanic American Heritage Month is an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the diverse Hispanic Cultures existing within our communities. This celebration is observed each year from September 15 to October 15, when many Latin American countries celebrate their independence.

The Fourth Grade has begun this month's celebrations by discussing the United States as a "melting pot" of cultures and nationalities. The kids kicked off our celebration by sharing some of the nationalities that have gone into making their families uniquely American. Of the nationalities I've heard so far are included: Polish, Spanish, German, African, Chinese, Russian and French.

The Third Grade will start their celebration after they've been quizzed on the rooms of the house. Their celebration will start with learning how to play the Spanish "castanets!"

FOURTH GRADE QUIZ DAYS WK. OF SEPT. 28

¡Hola!

Please scroll down to view the quiz days for this week.

Sra. Starr

The Royal Palace in Madrid

Hey kids!

The Spanish Palace

Did you know that some countries have Kings and Queens? Spain does! This the palace where they meet important people from other countries. So... if our president were to visit King Juan Carlos of Spain, he'd have dinner with him in this beautiful building.

Señora Starr

PS: I'm glad the test worked and you could see this picture!

The Royal Palace in Madrid - Test

THIRD GRADE VOCABULARY WORDS SEPTEMBER 28

¡Hola!

The third graders are now writing sentences using the new verbs they've learned and the following words that describe the rooms of the house. If you'd like to play a game of concentration, charades or make flash cards of the words with your child, that would be a great way to reinforce what she or he is learning in my class!

The Rooms of the House

el cuarto/the room
el dormitorio/the bedroom
la sala/the living room
el comedor/the dining room
el ático/the attic
el sótano/the basement
la cocina/the kitchen

¡Buena suerte!
Señora Starr : )

FOURTH GRADE UPDATE 9/28-QUIZ DAYS THIS WEEK

The fourth grade will be having their quiz on the following days this week.:

Tucker: Thursday, October 1.
Hughes: Thursday, October 1.
Lemon: Monday, October 5. (Due to conflict with other quizes on Oct. 2.)
Lee: Friday, October 2.

I'll be asking the students to bring their Spanish notebooks home with them this week. Please be on the look-out for these, because the kids' study materials for the quiz are in the pockets of their notebooks. Your child will need the mix and match papers that are inside their zip-lock bags and the hand-out on Definite Articles. You can help your child to study by writing one of the following words listed below on a piece of paper and seeing how quickly he or she matches the article (el,la, los, and las) to the word. Have fun playing "¡Palabras locas!(Crazy words!)"

Here are the words that're in the ziplock. I'll only be selecting ten words for the quiz. STUDENTS DON'T NEED TO LEARN THESE WORDS, NOR HOW TO SPELL THEM. THEY ONLY NEED TO KNOW HOW TO MATCH "EL","LA","LOS", AND "LAS" WITH THEM.

techo/roof (el)
techos/roofs (los)
puerta/door (la)
puertas/doors (las)
ventana/window (la)
ventanas/windows (las)
patio/patio (el)
patios/patios (los)
jardín/garden (el)
jardines/gardens (los)
casa/house (la)
casas/houses (las)
canario/canary (el)
canarios/canaries (los)
lagarto/lizard (el)
lagartos/lizards (los)
jaula/cage (la)
jaulas/cages (las)
tortuga/turtle (la)
tortugas/turtles (las)
tenedor/fork (el)
tenedores/forks (los)
tortuga/turtle (la)
tortugas/turtles (las)
cuchara/spoon (la)
cucharas/spoons (las)
cuchillo/knife (el)
cuchillos/knives (los)
mariposa/butterfly (la)
mariposas/butterflies (las)
árbol/tree (el)
árboles/trees (los)
canasta/basket (la)
canastas/baskets (las)
hormiga/ant (la)
hormigas/ants (las)
maestro/male teacher (el)
maestra/female teacher (la)
mapa/map (el) THE BIG EXCEPTION!
mapas/maps (los)ANOTHER EXCEPTION!
lápiz/pencil (el)
lápices/pencils (los)
cuaderno/notebook (el)
cuadernos/notebooks (los)

THIRD GRADE UPDATE SEPTEMBER 23

Our puppet friend Lázaro, has taught the third graders three new phrases for actions.These are "I talk," "I play," and "I eat" (Hablo, juego, como). Using the magnetic Symtalk cards, the students have started to form sentences incorporating the parts of the house which they'v learned. The students have also learned to place the word "no" in front of an action to express negation. Ex. No hablo. I don't talk.

International Peace Day (Monday) was also discussed in our class, and the kids discussed ways in which they could make their communities a more peaceful place. We finished our discussion by shaking maracas North, South, East, and West, as a way of wishing peace throughout the world.

The students have also enjoyed listening to an excerpt from the bilingual book "My Diary from Here to There." Listening to the sounds made in both English and Spanish helped the children to compare and contrast the two languages. Currently I'm teaching the kids about the different rooms of the house, and they'll soon be making new sentences with these words.

FOURTH GRADE UPDATE 9/23

The students have been learning about the Definite Articles el, la, los, and las and when these are used. They've also learned that certain nouns that describe occupations, some animals, and family members, change their endings to masculine(-o) or feminine(-a). Not all the nouns(person, place, or thing) do this, and there are always exceptions to the rule! To learn about the endings, the fourth graders have completed two written assignments, and had a lot of fun competing in the "Palabras Locas" game. In the game, they match el, la, los, and las as quickly as they can to earn a point against another team.
UPCOMING QUIZ: The students will be quizzed on the definite articles next week. I'll have the days posted for you as soon as I hear from their classroom teachers.
NOW: The kids have started learning about the prepositions of location, and will be writing sentences using the magnetic Symtalk cards.

Third Grade Update Wk. of September 7

The Third Grade Update for the week of September 7th, is underneath the Fourth Grade Update.
¡Adiós!
Señora Starr

Fourth Grade Clarification for Song Lyrics

When viewing or downloading the new "Buenos días" song do as follows:
1. Click on the Lingo Tech link.
2. Find the section heading: Lyrics, Lyrics, Lyrics
3. Click on the second link under this heading: Download "Tune in to Español Lyrics."
Enjoy!

Fourth Grade Spanish Update: Wk. of September Seven

Last Week: The students may have found remembering some of last year’s Spanish initially challenging, but by the end of the week they were again counting and using math terms, telling time, and saying the words for pets and good manners.

This Week: The fourth graders will be learning a new class warm-up song. If you’d like to sing the song with your child, you can view the lyrics by going to the links section of the Spanish blog, click on “Lingo Tech,” then on “Lyrics, Lyrics, Lyrics,” and scroll to “Unit 2: Buenos días.” We’ll also be reading about Nobel Laureate Gabriela Mistral and playing the “Palabras Locas” matching game. This game will help the students better understand the use of the definite articles: "el","los","la" and "las."

Spanish Update: Week of September Seven

At the beginning of last week the students were introduced to Lázaro the puppet, who asked them how they were. They enjoyed answering him in Spanish and were amazed by his silly antics! The students then played Simon-Says with some new class requests (show me, draw, turn around, touch your head…) and drew the parts of the house. They concluded the week by playing a relay race to help them learn the parts of the new words.
This week the third graders will play a game with self-made flashcards to further reinforce their knowledge of the parts of the house (see vocabulary below). The students will then be quizzed on these this week (Wolfrath, LaDuke) and next week (Hensler). Please review the new vocabulary with your child and note the quiz dates are below. ¡Gracias!

House Vocabulary:
La casa – The house
El techo – the roof
La puerta – the door
La ventana – the window
El jardín – the garden
El garage –the garage

Quiz Dates:
Sr. Wolfrath – Thursday, September 10
Sra. Hensler – Wednesday, September 16th
Sra. LaDuke – Friday, September 11th

Welcome to Sra. Starr's Blog!

Hola estudiantes,
I hope you've all had a super vacation and are ready to start a new year at Shorecrest. I reminded many of you to keep on using your Spanish over the break and can't wait to hear your stories.

There are many ways to practice Spanish outside of the classroom. You can listen to tapes when on car rides, watch movies in Spanish (Ask your parent to help you with the language "Set Up" feature.), read Spanish books, play games on a web-site, or talk to Spanish-speaking friends, classmates, or relatives.

There are always ways for you to use your Spanish. You've just got to be on the look out for new and cool ways to do this! How did you use your Spanish this Summer?
I can't wait to read your posts to my new blog...