Good evening New Tradition parents,

              It definitely feels good to be back and practicing our Spanish again! This week is a short week so I wanted to use it as a transition point in moving towards FULL immersion with the students. Thus far, they have done very well in communicating with me in the target language but we’ve occasionally had to speak in English to give directions for a game/activity and address some behavioral issues. Thankfully, the class is doing very well in terms of class conduct and have really been on their best behavior as of late. Improved behavior combined with the knowledge the class has acquired will now allow us to practice our conversational skills.

              On Wednesday, the class made flashcards that can be used at home to help them review what they have learned in class along with some artwork; I was SO impressed with how much the class has improved in describing their artwork. By the end of the semester, I bet that the class will even be able to tell me the stories behind their artwork in Spanish! We also spent a lot of time on Wednesday playing a new game called Leon (lion) in which we use the colored ”safety zone rings”, la carce (jail), and the leon (Ms.Joanna the lion) to put a twist on traditional “Simon Dice.” I (the leon) say either directional commands for the children to respond to (caminar=walk, rapido=fast, despacio=slow, saltar=jump, brincar=hop, corer=run, manos ariba=hands up, manos abajo=hands down, a la esquierda=to the left, a la derecha=to the right, bailar=dance, para=stop, adelante=foward, atras= back) or I say different types of animals for the children to imitate (gato=cat, perro=dog, pajaro=bird, vaca=cow, rana=frog, tigre=tiger, oso=bear, pato=duck, pez=fish, mariposa=butterfly, caballo=horse, conejo=rabbit) but as soon as I say Leon, I turn into a lion and they must run to the safety rings before I catch them or go to la carce (they can also be heroes and tag their friends out of jail). This game really helped the children review a lot and also have a lot of fun, perhaps a little too much fun!

                  On Friday we are going to listen to some music, dance a little, and play some more games so we can review what we’ve learned in a fun, expressive way.  The class will also make a few more flashcards to take home along with their homework. The flashcards are a great tool and can be implemented with the word list that I handed out last Wednesday, but if you’ve misplaced the word list, just let me know and I’ll be more than happy to bring some additional copies. As for next week, we will also be incorporating music and art to make our transition of 75%  to 100% Spanish smooth and enjoyable. Again, thanks for reading and have a great week. Adios!

Ms.Joanna