miércoles, 5 de junio de 2019
jueves, 30 de mayo de 2019
domingo, 12 de mayo de 2019
miércoles, 8 de mayo de 2019
martes, 7 de mayo de 2019
miércoles, 17 de abril de 2019
lunes, 1 de abril de 2019
domingo, 31 de marzo de 2019
Catching up...
I've been behind the past few weeks! I've been traveling and trying to keep my creativity alive in the classroom, so blogging has taken a back seat unfortunately but here's what we've been doing in first grade:
SCIENCE
Our plants have all been left on the patio so they are a thing of the past now. (Something I need to toss!) For the animals unit I played a class-wide version of Guess Who. I placed pictures of 8-10 animals on the chalkboard and wrote the name one on a notepad for myself. The students asked questions to guess which animal I wrote, such as "Can it fly?" "Does it live in water?" etc. They had a really great time but sometimes would just start immediately guessing. That's to be expected with young ones right?
We also completed an activity with snails where each student received a snail and several types of food to find out what the snail would eat. Those poor snails, haha! Naturally the students were excited and talkative the whole class so we made it through most of the activity and they now know the types of things snails will eat. This activity was Teacher Eduardo's creation so I squealed with the children at the site of dozens of slithering snails. I made it through though!
We also went on a field trip to a farm where the students saw live sheep, pigs, cows, chickens and donkeys. What a day! The location that we visited was highly organized and the students were whisked off into small groups as they toured the grounds and participated in several activities. For me, unfortunately, everything was in Spanish and with so many of them separated I found it difficult to jump in with any English. I think they learned a lot about the material that day...just nothing in English. :(
Now we are starting time so I'm creating some activities about daily routines for the next couple weeks.
ART
After we completed our yogurt ducks we created a beautiful tree full of birds, birdhouses, leaves and flowers...all of the student's artwork of course. One day of art was the day we traveled on our field trip so that sums up everything that has been happening in art pretty quickly. Hopefully I can add some new activities for us soon and help Teacher Carmen with ideas!
SCIENCE
Our plants have all been left on the patio so they are a thing of the past now. (Something I need to toss!) For the animals unit I played a class-wide version of Guess Who. I placed pictures of 8-10 animals on the chalkboard and wrote the name one on a notepad for myself. The students asked questions to guess which animal I wrote, such as "Can it fly?" "Does it live in water?" etc. They had a really great time but sometimes would just start immediately guessing. That's to be expected with young ones right?
We also completed an activity with snails where each student received a snail and several types of food to find out what the snail would eat. Those poor snails, haha! Naturally the students were excited and talkative the whole class so we made it through most of the activity and they now know the types of things snails will eat. This activity was Teacher Eduardo's creation so I squealed with the children at the site of dozens of slithering snails. I made it through though!
We also went on a field trip to a farm where the students saw live sheep, pigs, cows, chickens and donkeys. What a day! The location that we visited was highly organized and the students were whisked off into small groups as they toured the grounds and participated in several activities. For me, unfortunately, everything was in Spanish and with so many of them separated I found it difficult to jump in with any English. I think they learned a lot about the material that day...just nothing in English. :(
Now we are starting time so I'm creating some activities about daily routines for the next couple weeks.
ART
After we completed our yogurt ducks we created a beautiful tree full of birds, birdhouses, leaves and flowers...all of the student's artwork of course. One day of art was the day we traveled on our field trip so that sums up everything that has been happening in art pretty quickly. Hopefully I can add some new activities for us soon and help Teacher Carmen with ideas!
lunes, 18 de marzo de 2019
domingo, 10 de marzo de 2019
Weeks of February 25 - March 1 and March 4 - 8
These past two weeks were slightly off schedule as we celebrated Andalucia Day on February 28 and International Women's Day on March 8. We've also had some teacher's out with various things going on so these past two weeks were definitely a lesson in going with the flow which is very important! All that said, they were very good weeks and the students had a lot of fun with the activities that were related to these two very important holidays.
SCIENCE
In first grade we have continued watching our plants grow (or not). We are having a lot of success in one class, and practically none in the other. To me, it looks like a bird may have gotten to the seeds in our second class but we will continue to watch what happens. The students are very invested in making sure their plants are getting everything they need and remind me when they need water or when we need to look at them. We have also moved onto animals and are learning how they move, where they live and what they eat! This requires a lot of interaction and motion...jumping, chomping, slithering, etc. And the kids love it as much as I do. Sometimes its hard to get a classroom of frogs back in their seats but that comes with the subject matter.
ART
These weeks we spent some time learning about instruments because it corresponded with the Andalucia Day song and other festivities. We also completed our yogurt ducks!
During our class about instruments Teacher Carmen led a game where the students sat in a circle around pictures of the wind instruments they are learning about. They were given a chance to choose the instruments we named, in Spanish and English. They enjoyed it and I also got a refresher on some instrument names...my my my high school was a long time ago! Ha!
For their yogurt ducks, we glued them to the yogurt cups and added an anchored string to the bottom. When pulled with a wet hand it creates a "quack" sound! The students were amazed and I'd bet the teachers needed some ibuprofen at the end of that day. A class full of cute little ducks!
SCIENCE
In first grade we have continued watching our plants grow (or not). We are having a lot of success in one class, and practically none in the other. To me, it looks like a bird may have gotten to the seeds in our second class but we will continue to watch what happens. The students are very invested in making sure their plants are getting everything they need and remind me when they need water or when we need to look at them. We have also moved onto animals and are learning how they move, where they live and what they eat! This requires a lot of interaction and motion...jumping, chomping, slithering, etc. And the kids love it as much as I do. Sometimes its hard to get a classroom of frogs back in their seats but that comes with the subject matter.
ART
These weeks we spent some time learning about instruments because it corresponded with the Andalucia Day song and other festivities. We also completed our yogurt ducks!
During our class about instruments Teacher Carmen led a game where the students sat in a circle around pictures of the wind instruments they are learning about. They were given a chance to choose the instruments we named, in Spanish and English. They enjoyed it and I also got a refresher on some instrument names...my my my high school was a long time ago! Ha!
For their yogurt ducks, we glued them to the yogurt cups and added an anchored string to the bottom. When pulled with a wet hand it creates a "quack" sound! The students were amazed and I'd bet the teachers needed some ibuprofen at the end of that day. A class full of cute little ducks!
lunes, 25 de febrero de 2019
Week of February 14 - 22
NATURAL SCIENCE
This week in first grade we were still learning about plants and started on The Stages of Life. They were specifically focusing on BORN, GROW and REPRODUCE.
For our plants, all of our dreams came true and out of about 50 students only two beans did not sprout. We allowed those two students, and those that were absent last week, to try growing their beans in a cup again. The rest of the class was given soil in their cup and they planted the sprouted beans and placed them outside. Now we will cross our fingers again that they grow and the birds don't eat them before we get to see the results.
The students are having a wonderful time with the plants and they are showing that they understand what should and shouldn't be happening.
For the stages of life we created a foldable with four flaps. Each flap was labeled with a stage of life and I included "EGGS" as one stage because we used the chicken as our example. They folded, cut, drew and colored everything themselves and we talked about how the chicken goes through each stage.
They were very interactive in this activity and some even hopped out of their seats to show me a chicken "growing" or "laying eggs". They flipped through each stage of their completed foldable and spoke about it amongst themselves. The students enjoyed this activity but were far more interested in the plants, understandably so.
ART
This week in art we were reinforcing the students knowledge of animals. They are making a yogurt duck so this week they colored and cut out their ducks. They will bring an empty yogurt cup next week which will go inside the duck to create the body and Teacher Carmen has a surprise for them after that! While they colored their ducks I read This Way, Ruby! A book about an observant duck who saves the day.
The students always enjoy coloring so of course they enjoyed coloring their ducks. They're also excited about the surprise. While I read the book they did not understand much but I only wanted them to hear some familiar words. Next week, I will read it again and help them to understand what happens during each stage of the book. My plan is for them to use their completed ducks to act out the stage of the book.
This week in first grade we were still learning about plants and started on The Stages of Life. They were specifically focusing on BORN, GROW and REPRODUCE.
For our plants, all of our dreams came true and out of about 50 students only two beans did not sprout. We allowed those two students, and those that were absent last week, to try growing their beans in a cup again. The rest of the class was given soil in their cup and they planted the sprouted beans and placed them outside. Now we will cross our fingers again that they grow and the birds don't eat them before we get to see the results.
The students are having a wonderful time with the plants and they are showing that they understand what should and shouldn't be happening.
For the stages of life we created a foldable with four flaps. Each flap was labeled with a stage of life and I included "EGGS" as one stage because we used the chicken as our example. They folded, cut, drew and colored everything themselves and we talked about how the chicken goes through each stage.
They were very interactive in this activity and some even hopped out of their seats to show me a chicken "growing" or "laying eggs". They flipped through each stage of their completed foldable and spoke about it amongst themselves. The students enjoyed this activity but were far more interested in the plants, understandably so.
ART
This week in art we were reinforcing the students knowledge of animals. They are making a yogurt duck so this week they colored and cut out their ducks. They will bring an empty yogurt cup next week which will go inside the duck to create the body and Teacher Carmen has a surprise for them after that! While they colored their ducks I read This Way, Ruby! A book about an observant duck who saves the day.
The students always enjoy coloring so of course they enjoyed coloring their ducks. They're also excited about the surprise. While I read the book they did not understand much but I only wanted them to hear some familiar words. Next week, I will read it again and help them to understand what happens during each stage of the book. My plan is for them to use their completed ducks to act out the stage of the book.
domingo, 17 de febrero de 2019
Our first six weeks with Teacher Melanie!
Our first six weeks with Teacher Melanie!
Now that I’m adjusted to my new life here in Spain, let me
tell you about these amazing first six weeks…
I am the Auxiliar or Culture and Language Assistant here at
CEIP Antonio Rodríguez Almodóvar and my role is to encourage conversation and
introduce relevant American culture into the classroom. Let me say…this is THE
BEST job I’ve ever had! I am showered with love and appreciation and I get to
use fun activities to get students involved in their curriculum. I think the
one thing that I have been shocked by is how much I am truly able to teach the
students. When I have their full attention I am able to introduce new subject
matter and they walk away with knowledge and new confidence in their English.
There is no better feeling!
On my first day in the first grade classrooms, I was met
with excitement and blank stares after I spoke. I think my American accent was
surprising to them and it seems they had a difficult time understanding me. I
was nervous after this. I thought I wouldn’t be able to teach them much but by
week four I knew I’d made a breakthrough and I was confident we’d be
productively learning together for the rest of the school year! Here are some
highlights:
SCIENCE
The first two weeks we spent time getting to know each other
and I used the time to understand the routine of the classes. By week three and
four we were learning about our city and road safety. To reinforce road safety,
I created a game called “Red Man Green Man”. I used our American game “Red
Light Green Light” as inspiration. In this game the class went to the patio and
were instructed to find a partner because we should never cross the road alone.
They then had to shout “Red Man Green Man” to me and I would indicate with
words and colors whether they were allowed to cross the road or not, and
numbers to indicate how far they could go. The goal was to get to the other
side before the Red Man appeared.
The students had a blast playing this game! They used
speaking to ask for their chance to cross, listening to hear the response and
counting to take each number of steps they were given. When I could not get
them to start over I would turn into a car in the road and they were sent
running to the other side. I’m not sure if I had more fun or them! One student
even asked the following class period if we were going to play again.
In weeks four and five we learned the Three Stages of Matter
with an in-class experiment. At each table we melted a piece of ice in an oil
burner as the students observed. They recorded each phase with drawings in
their notebooks and excitedly watched as the heat turned ice into water, water
vapor and then into nothing over time!
This was a fun activity as the students were very involved
and making observations ahead of my instruction. It’s always exciting when your
students start teaching you! To go from that first day, which was likely, scary
for them and for me, to this activity where they fully understood the concept
and activity in English was a breakthrough. One of the classes was even
chanting the word “English” as I walked in the door! They’ve become excited
about learning in English...what a feeling!
In week six we started an activity to try growing our own
plants. We planted our seeds in cotton and left them to sprout over the
weekend. My fingers are crossed that on Monday we have some sprouts so that we
can do the same activity with both classes!
ART
In arts and crafts we have a more casual classroom
environment. I give instructions on the activity and then walk from table to
table assisting and asking questions. So far in this six weeks we have learned
about warm and cool colors and landscapes. They’ve created some beautiful
pieces and we sang a song in class about warm and cool colors.
Last week we began animals and I taught the students how to
make their own hand puppet. They really enjoyed this activity and were even
making more than one puppet. The goal was to create an animal puppet and have a
conversation in English with their puppet friends. I’m excited to hear from
them next week on what they talked about!
Outside of traditional classroom instruction I also took the opportunity to teach about Martin Luther King Jr on MLK Day. I also made sure to bring a little bit of the American style of holiday celebrations for Valentine's Day by giving the students candy and a Valentine treat to keep and to share. At the end of the school day I could see that they had shared all of their stickers with their friends and were enjoying their lollipops...ahh spreading love! :) <3
Outside of traditional classroom instruction I also took the opportunity to teach about Martin Luther King Jr on MLK Day. I also made sure to bring a little bit of the American style of holiday celebrations for Valentine's Day by giving the students candy and a Valentine treat to keep and to share. At the end of the school day I could see that they had shared all of their stickers with their friends and were enjoying their lollipops...ahh spreading love! :) <3
lunes, 11 de febrero de 2019
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