Greetings New Tradition parents,

           As many of you already know, this week is our parent-teacher conference week and we have been discussing the individual and collective progress of each of the children in the class. I’ve been pleased to report that everyone in class is doing fantastic and that every single child in class has made tremendous improvements in learning Spanish. This week we continued to immerse ourselves in Spanish through some music, games, and LOTS of crafts! Since Mothers’ Day and Cinco de Mayo are coming right up, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to learn about these special days and further expand our knowledge through art and music.

           On Monday, the class played an exciting game of Twister so we could practice some vocabulary and colors (mano=hand, pie= foot, izquierdo=left, derecho=right  example: el pie esquierdo en amarillo = the left foot on yellow). I recommend this game at home because it proved to be quite tricky but fun for both mind and body! We concluded Monday’s class by making some silly puppets and describing the features we were putting on the puppets (great reveiw of body parts … pelo=hair, boca=mouth, ojos=eyes, nariz=nose, orejas= ears …. also …. pelo largo= long hair, corto= short, pelo chino= curly hair, pelo lasio= straight hair, que color tu/su pelo = what color is your hair). 

                Today, we made some banderas (flags) to celebrate tomorrow being cinco de mayo and also did a small review of the different months. We also listened to “Jarabe de Tapatio” which is a famous Mexican folkloric song and the class loved it, as they do most music! We also got started on some Metapec suns which are usually made as ceramic suns/moons but not everyone in class was able to finish because some were still adding finishing touches to their other projects. As for Friday, Mom will receive an early Mothers’ Day surprise!

               Next week we will continue to make several crafts that will help us review some of the other things we’ve learned and help the class become more comfortable with conversing in Spanish. There are also still a few parent-teacher conferences planned for Friday, and I am also still availble for a phone conference if anyone has any specific questions or suggestions. I’ve again recommended that the children practice a little at home so that they can better retain the information; even going over their past assignments is a great help to your both YOU and your child. I hope that everyone has been enjoying the great weather and that you all have a wonderful rest of the week. Adios!

Ms.Joanna