Guest Blog by Julie, Maestra de Espanol

Guest blog by Julie Sterling, Lower School Spanish Teacher —

Dear Families,

What does it mean for a young Spanish learner to use Spanish for real communication?  What does an authentic conversation inside a Lower School classroom look like?

When studying Spanish at LREI, children begin to use the language right away, for real communicative purposes; even the youngest children, and quite early in the school year.  That’s a goal supported by Lower School teachers, who know that children learn best by doing, though imperfectly at first.  It’s a goal that gives shape to the small details of my work in the Spanish classroom with your children.

In the Early Childhood, children talk about something close to their hearts:  their families.  In Spanish, I ask them:  Who is in your family?  How many children?  Who are the grown-ups?  Is there a baby, or a grandparent?  Is your family big or small?  The children point to photographs of their families as they speak, and they listen with interest to the descriptions of their classmates’ families.  They are using the simplest vocabulary and grammar, and making mistakes as they go, but they are talking about the people they love … in Spanish.

They might say, “Mamá.  Papá.  Bebé chiquitito.  Hermano. Dos gatos.  Y yo.   Mi familia es grande.”

As fourth graders, they will use some of the same Spanish words and grammatical structures, although in a more sophisticated way, to talk about topics that are compelling to them now.  For a recent “About the Author” paragraph that they will append to an upcoming published piece, they wrote about their preferences as readers and writers.  To begin this piece, they answered these questions in Spanish:  What genres do you like to read?  Write?  Do you have a favorite genre?  Author?  Or book?  Why do you like poetry / fantasy / historical fiction?  Is it funny /  beautiful / scary? Or something else?

Their written answers looked something like this:  “Me gusta muchísimo leer porque es muy importante leer.  Me gusta mucho escribir la poesía porque es chistosa.  Me gusta leer la poesía también.  Mi libro favorito de poesía es  Where the Sidewalk Ends. Mi autor favorito es Rick Riordan.  Yo tengo muchos libros de ciencia ficción y mitología griega.”

Meaningful conversation topics often come from the classroom social studies or math curriculum.  When first graders study parks and playgrounds, they play the circle games that Spanish-speaking children play.  Second graders label their block buildings in Spanish, and third graders solidify their understanding of the place value system by talking about numbers in terms of “grupos de diez” and “grupos de uno.”

Talking about things that matter to them in Spanish means that Spanish matters to them, too!

Best,

Julie

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LETTERS FROM LOWER SCHOOL TEACHERS

Beth & Samson’s Fours: Please click here for our letter. Also click here to view our latest photo album, “Beth & Samson‘s Fours Visit BK Botanic Gardens and The Guggenheim!”

Diane & Charles’ Fours-K: Please click here for our letter.

Dot & Becka’s 3rd Grade: Click here for this week’s updates!

Dina & Jessi’s 4th Grade: Please click here for our newsletter.

All Grades:  Click here for helpful summer reading lists and recommendations from LREI librarians (scroll down the Library blog to see pdf’s of book lists by grade level).

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UPCOMING LOWER SCHOOL MEETINGS & EVENTS

For the most up-to-date information visit the school’s online calendar at www.lrei.org/calendar. Click here to download the one-page 2009-10 school calendar.

5/20 – 21  The Annual LRE Spring Book Fair is coming up on May 20 – 21! As usual, the book selection for this fair is based on the summer reading lists put together by the faculty and librarians. The lists will be posted online at http://lrei.org/libres/sr.html before the fair starts, so please check them with your kids to plan out some great summer reading! Incoming 4th-graders have reading requirements; these will be noted on the lists, or you can check with your kids’ teachers. Please click here for the poster with more information.

5/27  Spring Concert, Charlton St. Performing Arts Center, 6:30 p.m.

5/28  Field Day — Please read the following important information regarding Field Day:

On Friday, May 28th, we will hold our annual Field Day at Pier 40. Prior to beginning the Field Day festivities this year, we will convene as a community on Charlton Street briefly to celebrate the completion of the most recent phase of renovations/expansion at the Charlton Street campus. We are looking forward to a very exciting day!  Some additional information follows:

  • It is important for all students to arrive on time to school.  Classes will walk over to Charlton Street together at about 8:45am.
  • We would love to have parents at the ribbon-cutting if you can stay with us (for a half hour or so).
  • To celebrate the importance of the day, LREI will be providing each student with a Ribbon Cutting/Field Day T-shirt. T-shirts will be distributed on Friday morning. Students do not need to wear any special color shirt to school on Field Day.
  • Students will spend the first part of Field Day in activities with their buddies. The younger lower school classes will return to the school after lunch, while the third through twelfth grades will participate in a variety of activities in mixed age groups.
  • Students will need to bring their own lunch along with a container of water. (No nuts or seeds, please.) Plastic bottles are fine, but please no glass containers! Clothing should be comfortable and easy to move in – shorts or sweatpants and athletic shoes. No sandals. Sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat are strongly recommended.
  • We will return to school in time for 1:00 p.m. dismissal, 12:45 p.m. for the Fours, Fours/K,  Kindergarten, and First Grade.

5/31  School closed for Memorial Day

6/1  The Afterschool Piano and Voice Recital and Instrumental Concert will take place on Tuesday, June 1st.

Piano and Voice Recital, 5:30 in the P.A.P.A.S.
Instrumental Concert, 6:30 in the Auditorium.

6/3  The Afterschool Karate Share and Enrichment Share will take place on Thursday, June 3rd.

Karate Share, 5:30 in the Auditorium
Enrichment Share, 6:00 in the P.A.P.A.S.

6/4 – 6/6  LREI Camping Trip: Sign-up tables will be in front of the Sixth Avenue building on the mornings of Tuesday,May 11 and Thursday, May 27.  It’s time for the 17th Annual LREI Camping Trip, which will take place the weekend of June 4-6 this year at the Riverbend Group Campground along the Delaware River.  Swimming, hiking, games, fishing, bird-watching & S’mores!  All LREI families and their children — from all grades pre-K through high school — are invited to participate.  If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help out, please contact Larry White at LWhite@stern.nyu.edu or (212) 533-1966.

6/11  Lower School Half  Day on Friday, June 11: dismissal at 11:45 a.m. for fours – 1st grade, 12:00 p.m. for 2nd – 4th grade. Afterschool is closed on this date.

6/14  Fourth Grade Moving Up Ceremony, 9:00 a.m.

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LOWER SCHOOL END OF YEAR CLASS PICNICS

5/24 Luise’s Kindergarten

5/26 Penny’s 1st Grade

6/2 Elizabeth’s Kindergarten

6/7 Diane’s Fours-K

6/8 Beth’s Fours

6/9 Kate’s 4th Grade

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LOWER SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES

All Movement Assemblies are held in the P.A.P.A.S. (on the Fourth Floor) at 8:45 a.m.

5/26 Kindergarten Movement Assembly

6/2 4s & Movement Assembly

6/3 4s-K Movement Assembly

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UPCOMING PARENT ASSOCIATION MEETINGS

5/21 POCOC Spring Book Club

5/24 Red is Green Committee

5/27 Adoption Committee Meeting

5/28 Literary Committee Meeting

6/3 LGSA Committee Meeting

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COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Save the Date! On Thursday, June 10, right after school (3:00 p.m.), we will be having a Farewell Party for Sue Ribaudo to celebrate her retirement. Faculty, staff, and families are invited to stop by the auditorium for some music and good wishes for Sue. More on this later, but please save the date!

Take a look at what we’ve  been cooking in Afterschool! Our recipes blog includes detailed recipes and pictures of the dishes that the Reds and Blues have been making in Afterschool. Click here for the link!

For parents interested in the Parent Association next year:

Spring is here, so we are starting to plan for the next school year. The PA would like to let you know the many ways you can participate. Becoming a parent rep is a great way to get involved. If you have not been a parent rep before but would like to try it or find out more about it, please let us know. We would be happy to talk to you more about what the job entails. In the meantime, you can look at the Family Handbook, page 36 (link on our website www.LREI.org) for the Parent Rep Guidelines. Of course, until the classes are actually made up for next year (mid-August or so), we cannot match parent reps to classes.

If you’re looking for other ways to get involved, you could consider volunteering for any of our PA committees; please click here for the list. Also in the Family Handbook (p. 38), is a list of the co-chairs of the PA committees if you would like to contact them for more information.

Please email us at PA-Presidents@lrei.org if you would like to get involved.

Thank you,
Regina Trumbull and Kim Hostler

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