Reception Year 1 Mascotas – Pets

Learning Spanish is both fun and challenging! Students have been participating in enjoyable learning experiences such as singing songs about pets. They have been focusing on being able to identify the names of animals in Spanish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adpq9JbygTQ

 

 

¿Que mascota tienes tu? – What pet do you have?

Discover the Traditions of Día de los Muertos

El Dia de los Muertos – The Day of the Dead

Introducing students to new and exciting celebrations encourages curiosity and respect for cultures that they aren’t very familiar with.

 

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated every year on November 1st and 2nd in Mexico and other Latin American countries and communities. These dates correspond with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. It is believed that during these two days the souls of the dead are allowed to return to the world of the living and visit their families.

As part of the festival families will come together to celebrate and remember family members and loved ones who have passed away, and although it is a time for people to reflect and remember, it’s also a celebration.

It’s a joyous occasion, filled with traditions for honouring and celebrating the lives of deceased family and friends.

Traditions of Día de los Muertos

In preparation for the arrival of their loved ones, families clean and decorate their homes and graves.

Altars are created to welcome the souls’ home and include ofrendas (offerings) such as marigolds, calaveras de azúcar (sugar skulls), candles, incense, paper or clay skeletons, papel picado (paper cuts), water, foods, and objects that represent things the person enjoyed while living.

Pan de muerto 

A special sweet bread, pan de muerto (bread of the dead), is baked in the weeks leading up to the celebration and included on the altar. The dome-shaped loaf is crowned with dough shaped bones and dusted with sugar. Smaller loaves are moulded into different shapes, like animals and skeletons.

 

Day of the Dead ‘Coco’ celebrates Mexican Culture

Coco delivers a beautiful animated tale centered around the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead. It introduces a wide audience to many of the important traditions associated with this celebration.

Coco is a vibrant and emotional film about the Mexican traditions and customs associated with El Dia de los Muertos.

How Coco pays tribute to The Day of the Dead

 

 

The Day of the Dead / El Dia de los Muertos. A bilingual celebration by Bob Barner and translated by Teresa Mlawer contains simple English rhymes translated into Spanish. Calaveras dance and play music as they accompany two children throughout their day while they celebrate the traditions of their ancestors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNHWnv3TRxA&t=8s

 

Vamos jugar! – Let’s play!

Day of the Dead – Juegos (Games)

http://www.hellokids.com/t_7397/day-of-the-dead

 

Vamos a colorear! – Lets colour!

http://es.hellokids.com/r_1465/dibujos-para-colorear/fiestas/dia-de-muertos

Buscapalabras – Find-a-word

 

How to draw a sugar skull

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h53SiATbLzE&t=10s

How to draw a Day of the Dead Girl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCi27TzSIws&t=4s

Español Spanish – On line learning

Hola!

Bienvenidos – Welcome to Spanish online. I hope that this blog finds everyone safe and well.

I will be posting some fun ideas and activities for online learning over the coming weeks. Today I have posted some links to some interactive language games and songs. There are lots of activities to try for a range of year levels.

Keep safe.

Regards Señora Nuñez.

 

https://www.pandatree.com/FreeLearningSpanishResources

Reception and Year 1 – Canciones – Greeting Songs

 

In Reception and Year 1 this term we have been focusing on Los Saludos – Greetings. The children have enjoyed singing lots of songs about greeting each other in Spanish. They love singing and dancing to these songs. These are a few of their favourite Spanish greeting songs:

 

 

 

Please enjoy these songs with your children.  Watch this space for further Spanish activities

Take care and all the very best, Señora Nuñez

Feliz Pascua – Happy Easter

 

Pascua (Easter), is a Spanish holiday celebrated over the course of several days in remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. At the end of La Cuaresma (Lent), La Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations begin, these include daily processions and festivities.

During la Semana Santa, Spanish towns have street parades every day.  In the processions, people carry and follow floats, known as pasos.  On the floats, there are statues of Jesús and la Virgen María.   Los pasos are beautifully decorated with flowers, gold, silver, candles and fine fabrics.

 

A popular Easter cake is called la Mona de Pascua.    It is decorated with coloured feathers and big chocolate eggs or figurines.   Cake shops compete to see who can make the most impressive monas to place in their shop windows!

 

How is Easter celebrated in Spain?

Here are some of the most popular Holy week celebrations in Spain.

 

Spanish Easter Vocabulary

Practise your Spanish language skills: How many Spanish Easter words do you know?

 

 

 

Juegos de Pascua en español – Spanish Easter Game

Please use the link below to play the Spanish Easter game

Pascua game

 

Please enjoy dancing “El baile de conejito” – The bunny dance.

 

In Spanish, this week we have been learning our ‘colores’ (colours) . If you would like to practise your Spanish at home, why not teach a parent or friend what you have learnt in class?

 

Learning at home resources for Receptions and Year 1s – Term 1 – Greetings

Dear families,

Here are some Spanish Greeting songs that are often used in Spanish. I will be regularly adding more content for students to enjoy!

Regards Virginia Nunez-Scalzi

 

Cinco de Mayo

The Cinco de Mayo is Spanish for The Fifth of May. The Cinco de Mayo (The Fifth of May) is a day of celebrations for the people of Mexico and Mexican-Americans.

What does “Cinco de Mayo” celebrate?

Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican heritage, culture, and pride. Cinco de Mayo! It’s everyone’s favourite Mexican holiday, a chance to listen to traditional music, eat some Mexican party food and maybe even speak some Spanish with friends.

 

What do people do to celebrate?

The day is celebrated with parades, carnivals, street fairs, and sometimes fireworks at night. There are some traditional Mexican celebrations such as the Baile Folklorico dance along with mariachi music. People dress up in traditional Mexican clothing as well.

 

To celebrate the “Cinco de Mayo” students learnt about the Mexican cultural celebrations and had the opportunity to try some yummy Churros!

 

Week 8

¿Cómo te llamas?

 

 

Students in Year 1 and 2 have been learning how to ask someone their name and introduce themselves in Spanish.

This has allowed students the opportunity to learn how to ask and answer “Hola. ¿Cómo te llamas? Me llamo ____.” (Hello. What’s your name? I am called ________) This has given students a chance to strengthen their oral language skills.

As part of the lesson students listened to the song ¿Cómo te llamas? They sang along and participated by using our own names.

Students by the end of the lesson were able to introduce themselves in Spanish. Here are some examples of the student’s oral language.

 

 

Churros – Year 5’s

 

 

Churros are a famous Spanish treat that are popular in many countries. They are often eaten at breakfast – desayuno or as a snack – bocado. Churros are a deep fried-dough pastry that is typically served with hot chocolate.

Students spent the morning cooking our own version of ‘churros’.

We began the lesson by discussing the cultural aspects of any community besides its language, its food is a very important part of its culture. Especially, when we’re talking about Spain, with its vibrant traditions and unique style of life!

Cooking allowed students to discuss and examine the similarities and differences of foods from around the world and what they eat at home. It promoted discussions regarding certain beliefs and stereotypes and allowed for the uniqueness of diversity that makes up our class to be reflected on.

Discussions regarding diversity helped students to gain an appreciation and sensitivity towards different cultures.

It led to a reflection on the strength of food to bring people together – How it is good to enjoy, celebrate and explore foods from all cultures. Especially given the multicultural community that students in our class come from and celebrating these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the photos we took of the students cooking







Week 6

During Week 6, the Year 1’s and 2 students have been practicing greetings using songs and corresponding actions. This activity helped expand the students’ understanding and usage of common greetings. Please enjoy watching some of the Year 2’s canto y baile – singing and dancing.