This month, in which Latin America remembers the “Encounter of Two Worlds”, the students were busy in the classrooms learning, working, researching and presenting their work about our rich Hispanic culture and its people. Below is a glimpse of our activities.

Primary

 

by Yeny Hernandez   [dt_sc_email emailid="[email protected]"/]

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Children in Tracy's class learning different aspects of the Hispanic Heritage Month

This has been an active month in Primary in Spanish. The students worked with geometry, recognizing the different geometrical shapes and naming them as they created figures with them.

We also celebrated the Hispanic Heritage Month, talking about different aspects of it: history, geography and art among others.

We look forward to another month of exciting activities!

 

 

Lower Elementary

by Susana D'Ruiz  [dt_sc_email emailid="[email protected]"/] 

In cultural studies, we covered Mes de la Herencia Hispana (National Hispanic Month), songs and cultural content. As an end to cultural month, we read about one of the most renowned Mexican artists, Diego Rivera. In phonetics, the emphasis was on /m/ sound and syllable formation for first level students, and /d/ sounds and syllable formation for second and third levels.

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Albert and Andrew listen attentively about Diego Rivera's life.

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Students working on their phonetics books

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Working on a Diego Rivera painting

Upper Elementary

by Susana D'Ruiz and Sandra O. Lee  

Fourth Level

The fourth level students have transitioned well into Upper El. This past week the lessons focused on noun gender. In vocabulary the emphasis was on useful phrases for the Spanish class.

Fifth Level

This month the students have been busy working on vocabulary and sentence analysis. They compared the Spanish versus the English patterns using the Montessori Grammar Symbols. They continue working on vocabulary and phonetics. 

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David analyzes sentences in Spanish using Montessori grammar symbols.

 

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Middle School

by Sandra O. Lee   [dt_sc_email emailid="[email protected]"/]

Part of October has been marked for the visit of our friends from our sister school in Costa Rica. Our kids had the opportunity to make new friends, practice Spanish and get ready for their trip to Costa Rica in May. But we do not forget about academics during "Mes de la Hispanidad" in which we celebrate the "Encounter of Two Worlds". The students in Middle School researched and presented their work about different people, natural wonders and monuments from Spain and Latin America.

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Sixth year girls work on their schedule in Spanish

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Middle schoolers working with some of our new friends who visited from Costa Rica.

Collaborating with colleagues speaks of community and shows our students that we support each others work.  Lower elementary art students have been  helping our librarian Erin Carmola with her reading challenge called Reading is a Piece of Cake. Students are helping to promote the reading challenge by creating pieces of cake in art class.  These will be displayed on the bulletin board outside the library.  The element of art we are studying in October is line.  Look for a variety of lines used in these delectable looking pieces of cake. Notice how each artist uniquely expresses their interpretation of a piece of cake.

Reading is a Piece of Cake

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Three -dimensional line work

3 dimensional line work.

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Collaborating with Upper Elementary Teachers

5th level upper elementary students are studying about Rome and we have been making mosaics in art.  This has been a valuable learning experience.  Students have learned that art is a process that evolves over time. They have used problem solving skills when realizing their design was too detailed for the mosaic pieces to work in their image.  Reworking the design became a natural part of this learning process.  This process has been grueling at times but upper elementary students are very proud of their finished pieces!

Mosaics Designed By Upper Elementary Students

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Grouting is the next step in this mosaic.

Grouting is the next step in this mosaic.

All this fabulous art work will be coming home at the end of this first trimester.

Art and music will be working together to create scenery and costumes for upcoming winter concerts. Students love when their classes overlap and there is continuity in their day.  It is such a blessing to work with such talented colleagues and to come alongside such eager learners.