¡Es octubre! It's October!

Hola todos,

De verdad ha llegado el otoño con los días más cortos y fresquitos. Las hojas de todo color bailan en el viento. Los pájaros y las ardillas aprovechan del buen tiempo para buscar comida. Las calabazas y las otras plantas cambian de color verde al anaranjado. Y los niños esperan con mucha anticipación el comienzo de la estación de fiestas de octubre, noviembre y diciembre. En México, las familias están preparándose para el Día de los Muertos cuando recuerdan en forma muy especial sus seres queridos que han fallecido. Vayan al Museo Nacional de Arte Méxicano para experimentar como realmente se celebra. Espero que ustedes disfruten de esta temporada tan rica en tradiciones y diversión.

Fall has truly arrived, with its shorter and cooler days. The leaves of all color dance in the wind. Birds and squirrels take advantage of the good weather to look for food. The pumpkins and other plants change from green to orange. And children wait anxiously for the beginning of the fall festival season of October, November, and December. In Mexico, families prepare for El Día de Muertos, a time to remember in a special way their loved ones who have died. Check out the exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art for a real feeling of how it is celebrated. I hope that you all enjoy this time so rich in tradition and fun.

Hispanic Heritage: Many of our classes were treated to an "in-school field trip" last Thursday. Ms. Lynn Allen, director of the D97 MultiCultural Resource Center (MCRC), sometimes called the "Coolest Room in District 97," came to teach us about Hispanic Heritage Month and to share artifacts from around the Spanish speaking world. She encouraged students to try on, try out, and touch much of what she brought: clothing, musical instruments, photographs, dolls, Día de muertos artifacts, artesanry, books, and more. We learned a lot and had great fun. We are in the process of making Spanish cards to say "gracias" to Sra. Allen for such a wonderful "trip."

WISE and Latin Dance: Latin culture and Spanish learning continue at Whittier even after the school day ends thanks to the PTO and the WISE program. This session we are very excited to offer ¡Baila! -- dance with a Latin American twist. Peruvian dancer/instructor Jessica Loyaga meets with students Mondays after school to teach dances from around Latin America, mostly in Spanish, throwing in a bit of English only when needed. I help get the class started and then Maestra Jessica and the chicas take over. They are working very hard, mastering the movements and steps. I look forward to seeing their performance at the end of the session. We are hopeful to offer this again next session and get even more students bailando. We also hope to have Maestra Jessica and su esposo Maestro Rubén come and perform for some of our classes. Watch for information about joining "Baila" in the next WISE registration.

More PTO Thanks:
¡Gracias Whittier PTO por los libros! Whittier PTO, thanks for the books!

Thanks to the generosity of the PTO back to school gift, I was able to purchase some new books for our Spanish room library. They focus primarily on social studies and science topics. We've already started using them and they are a big hit! I still have a bit more of that back to school gift funds left for something special. I'll keep you posted on how I use it. Remember that my library is always open. -- come visit and borrow a book.

Here's the list of the latest additions:
¡Agua, agua, y más agua!
De la A a la Z por Veracruz
De la A a la Z por México
De la A a la Z por Puebla
Explora América del Sur
Conoce a los Estados Unidos
The Day of the Day/ El Día de los muertos

Family Conferences:
I enjoyed having so many families visit the Spanish room during conferences. It's always a delight to talk with you and share our learning.


A Taste of Our Learning in septiembre y octubre:

In the younger grades, we have learned a new song: "Ojos, boca, dientes y naríz." It includes lots of fun movement. We can't wait to share it with you in our winter sing!

Other morsels:
MAP K-1: numbers 0-10, colors, numbers, shapes, days of the week, Hispanic Heritage, seasonal themes

MAP K-2: numbers 0-10 & 10-100, Hispanic Heritage, seasonal themes. With plants we talked all about the parts of plants and trees. Some of our new words are raíz, tronco, ramo, hojas, flor, fruta, semilla, brote, planta. See how many you can figure out. Wait till you see our art work!

Grades 2, 3: numbers 0-10, 10-100 by tens; Hispanic Heritage, seasonal themes. We've spent lots of time on the sistema solar talking about planets in order from the Sun, whether the Sun is a planet or a star, which planets are bigger/ smaller, which have rings or moons, which are hot/cold, and more -- ALL IN ESPAÑOL! Wait till you see our art work!

4/5 Multiage: Hispanic Heritage, Spanish alphabet, sound/letter correspondence, reading and writing, math operations (subtraction, division), numbers beyond 100, cardinal directions

As always, don't forget to check out the links for more enrichment ideas and resources. Check back after conferences for some photos of our Hispanic Heritage visit with Sra. Allen and our drawings of plantas y planetas.

Watch for más noticias! Gracias por todo, Sra. Deaton