Día de Andalucía

Here at C.E.I.P. Lope de Vega, we're already  gearing up for Día de Andalucía (Andalusia Day).  As an auxiliar, I've been looking forward to this holiday since my arrival in the autonomous community.  Every February 28th, students throughout Andalusia practice traditional dance, games, and songs. They even cook up traditional Andalusian food!

One such game that they play, Pañuelo, has become a first grade favorite during bilingual P.E.  I thought I'd share the rules so that you all can participate along with us this year!

You'll need the following:
- one old scarf, cloth, or piece of fabric
- one field, gym, or open space for running
- two teams of eager, energetic, and genuinely adventurous people
- good counting skills

1. Elect one person to be the "caller".
2. Divide those remaining into two teams of equal numbers.
3. Each team should count-off, making sure that each number is matched across the field (for example, each team should have a 1, 2, 3, etc.)
4. The "caller" stands between each team, who have all lined up on opposite sides of the filed.
5. The "caller" raises the pañuelo loosely, at an arms distance away, and calls out a number.
6. For whichever number called, that person runs to grab the pañuelo before the other team. This is when the "caller" needs to brace themselves and remember to let go!
7. Whoever grabs the pañuelo first must turn around and run back to their side, with the pañuelo-less person chasing after.
8. If they make it to their team, they win. If not, they don't!
9. Repeat until the "caller"'s voice gives out, team members forget their number, or general exhaustion sets in.

I love pañuelo because you can always change the rules a bit - from numbers to colors to animals. It offers hours of fun!

Happy Día de Andalucía!

 - Robyn

Carnival!

It is Carnival season in Spain! Unlike Spain, the United States doesn't celebrate Carnival much, but many Americans would love Carnival. The US city of New Orleans is famous for its Mardi Gras party, a French-inspired celebration of Carnival, which includes a street party, a parade, and plenty of drinking and crazy costumes. Some American cities and bars host one-day or weekend Carnival events, but they are never as huge as the Spanish celebration.

This was my first time experiencing Spanish Carnival and I didn't realize that the celebration was so big. Throughout the week, I experienced Carnival in school and in different pueblos and cities across Andalucia. Carnival was incredibly fun! It will always be a great memory for me and I'm thankful for it.

On Friday, our school celebrated Carnival with a short play, songs and full costumes! After practicing all week, two teachers played the music while the older students sang for all of our school. It was a special and fun performance. I really loved the costumes! Here are photos from our celebration. Happy Carnival! :)

Happy President's Day!

Feliz día de los Presidentes!

 "True friendship is a plant of slow growth." - George Washington

Today at C.E.I.P. Lope de Vega, we're celebrating the American federal holiday of President's Day.  We're reading legends about George Washington and his wooden teeth and Abraham Lincoln's log cabin, plus some interesting facts about U.S. presidents (did you know that President Hoover had a pet opossum?!).  We're also learning about Mount Rushmore, the White House, and other cool presidential monuments in the U.S. What exactly does it take to be a president?

Leer un poco sobre los presidentes!

- Robyn

My Daily Routines

While most of us are trying to avoid the pitfalls of daily routines, in the fourth grade we are embracing them! We've been working on some key vocabulary this year - time, food, places, and action verbs - and we're finally putting them all together to talk about Our Daily Routines.  Like one big English vocab puzzle, it's nice to see everything we've learned so far fall into place.  We're brushing our teeth at 8.45 after eating breakfast at 8.30.  We do our homework at 17.00 and eat our dinner at 20.30.  The most-loved routine seems to be when we head home after school at 14.00.

However, when talking about our daily routines, a discussion on differences in routines between Spain and the U.S. is inevitable, with a classroom of perplexed students to follow.  There's always an audible gasp when I tell the students when I eat lunch back in Oregon (What?! TWELVE THIRTY IN THE AFTERNOON?!) or at what time I go to bed (TEN THIRTY?! HOW EARLY!). Quite possibly my favorite daily routine to talk about is when I eat dinner (6.30pm). I sometimes feel like I might as well be speaking Pig Latin when my students sit in disbelief at just how strange my own daily routine is. 

Check out our finished artwork! Que chulo, no?

- Robyn

St. Valentine's Day

I never would have guessed it, but St. Valentine's day seems to be much more of an American holiday than Spanish.  Now, that's not to say that everyone in Spain has a Grinch-sized heart, but that they take love and romance much more seriously.  When I think back to my time in elementary school, I have (fond) memories of making valentines for all of my classmates, teachers, and relatives (sorry, Mom, for all the glitter I must have spread through the house). At school, we would make little mailboxes out of lunch bags and spend time going from desk to desk, or class to class, handing out our cards, chocolates, and the ever-amusing conversation hearts.

This, however, is not the case in Andalucia.

While discussing the story of Cupid (fact: sometimes Cupid makes bad decisions because he's a baby! Why had this never occurred to me before?!), one fourth grader asked how many valentines I usually receive each year.

'Tons!' I exclaimed. 'We pass them out to everybody - our classmates, our workmates, our teachers, neighbors, mailmen.' 

In Spain, according to my students, love is taken a bit more seriously, with only one or two valentines given out, perhaps to your best friend, your teacher, and your significant other. There aren't conversation hearts, Hershey's Kisses, or the onslaught of Valentine's Day cards, stickers, teddy bears and balloons. Perhaps the Valentine's Day images that live in my head come straight from Hallmark, but I still love it. And so did the kids!

Check out our Valentine's Day cards!

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

- Robyn

International Day of Peace (Día de la Paz)

This past week, we celebrated International Day of Peace (Día de Paz), which occurs in Spanish schools on January 30.

Last week, the students worked on a variety of activities to honor this day. The fifth grade students created digital collages, using images and quotes that they found on the internet. Other classes made arts and crafts, including a tree of doves, peace flags, and a balloon of the world with all of its diverse people (shown in the photo above).

All classes learned the beautiful song "Mensajes del Agua," by the artist Macaco, in preparation for singing it together as a large group. To celebrate today, our entire school performed this song together, as we also released doves into the air.

Here is song by Macaco - "Mensajes del Agua":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbgsKHqn5fU

Christmas (Navidad)

To celebrate the season of Christmas, our students participated in a bunch of Christmas activities (in Spanish and English) during the two weeks before vacation.

They sang many classic Spanish Christmas songs (which I enjoyed since I only knew of "Feliz Navidad"). The Infantil classes also performed a song together in a big group. In some of my English classes, we talked about Christmas in the United States and sang popular American Christmas songs. In one class, we sang "The 12 Days of Christmas," a fun and long song that is sometimes used in Christmas caroling. The students read the lyrics in English and Spanish - and, despite the song's repetition, the students loved it!

In some classes, we played a Christmas game (similar to "Who Am I?") in which one student sits at the front of class pretending to be someone. The student is the picture that is on his/her head, such as Santa Claus or a snowman. The student at the front of class does not know the picture, but the other students see it and have to describe it, such as ¨It is red." However the students cannot say the actual word/name of the picture - only the student wearing the picture can guess who or what he/she is pretending to be. In this game, students were: Santa Claus, a reindeer, a snowman, a Christmas tree, and an elf. As you can imagine students describing Santa as "red" but not being allowed to say "Santa Claus," the game tested their patience in a funny way and the students really enjoyed the game.

In other classes, the students made Christmas cards for their families, a tradition that I love. I wrote "Merry Christmas" and other Christmas words on the board, in Spanish and English, and I attempted to draw famous Christmas icons, such as a tree and holly. We discussed Christmas traditions in Spain and in the United States. I explained one of my favorite American Christmas traditions: mistletoe ("muérdago"), which I could not find in Spain. The students found this tradition entertaining as well.

In celebrating Christmas while learning about recycling in a unique way, our school created a recycled Christmas tree (shown in the photos above). We used all recyclable materials for the tree and its ornaments. The tree is made out of cardboard boxes, painted green, and giant plastic bottles are used in place of the tree limbs. The students made Christmas ornaments for this tree, using recyclable materials such as aluminum, paper, etc.. If you look at the photos, you can see some of these ornaments, including a beautiful red starburst made from a Coca-Cola can and a cardboard stocking that says "Feliz Navidad."

It was very fun and cultural to celebrate Christmas with the school, especially for me (as an American auxiliare that stayed in Europe during the holidays). The school made me feel at home and we had a nice holiday season. I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas season! Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad! :)

- Elsie

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Para celebrar las fiestas de Navidad, nuestros alumnos participaron en un montón de actividades de Navidad (en español y inglés) durante las dos semanas antes de las vacaciones.

Ellos cantaron muchas canciones de Navidad clásica española (las cuales me gustaron ya que sólo conocía "Feliz Navidad"). En las clases de Infantil también se interpretó una canción juntos en un grupo grande. En algunas de mis clases de inglés, hablamos sobre la Navidad en los Estados Unidos y cantamos canciones de Navidad popular americana. En una clase se cantó "Los 12 Días de Navidad," una canción divertida y larga que se utiliza a veces en villancicos. Los estudiantes leyeron las letras en inglés y español - y, a pesar de la repetición de la canción, los estudiantes les encantó!

En algunas clases, jugamos un partido de Navidad (similar a "¿Quién soy yo?") en la que un estudiante se sienta en la parte delantera de la clase pretendiendo ser alguien. El estudiante es el dibujo que se encuentra en su cabeza, como Santa Claus o un muñeco de nieve. El estudiante en la parte delantera de la clase no conoce la imagen, pero los otros estudiantes que la ven son los que la describen, tales como "Es de color rojo." Sin embargo, los estudiantes no pueden decir la palabra real / nombre de la imagen - sólo el estudiante que lleva la imagen es el que puede adivinar quién o qué él / ella está fingiendo ser. En este juego, los estudiantes fueron los siguientes: Santa Claus, un reno, un muñeco de nieve, un árbol de Navidad, y un elfo. Como se puede imaginar los estudiantes que eran 'Santa' podían describirse como "rojo" pero no se le permitía decir "Santa Claus," con el juego se probaba la paciencia de una manera divertida y los estudiantes realmente disfrutaron el juego.

En otras clases, los estudiantes hicieron tarjetas de Navidad para sus familias, una tradición que me encanta. Escribí: "Feliz Navidad" y otras palabras de Navidad en la pizarra, en español e inglés, y traté de dibujar iconos famosos de Navidad, tal como un árbol y el acebo. Hablamos de las tradiciones de Navidad en España y en los Estados Unidos. Le expliqué que una de mis favoritas tradiciones americanas de Navidad es el muérdago, y que no podía encontrar aquí en España. Los estudiantes encontraron esta tradición entretenida también.
En la celebración de Navidad, se llevó a cabo el aprendizaje sobre el reciclaje de una manera única. Nuestra escuela creó un árbol de Navidad reciclado (como se muestra en las fotos de arriba). Utilizamos todos los materiales reciclables para el árbol y sus adornos. El árbol fue hecho con cajas de cartón, pintada de verde, y botellas grandes de plástico se utilizan en lugar de las ramas de los árboles. Los estudiantes hicieron adornos de Navidad para el árbol, el uso de materiales reciclables como aluminio, papel, etc.. Si mira las fotos, puede ver algunos de estos adornos, entre ellos un hermoso destello rojo a partir de una lata de Coca-Cola y un calcetín de cartón que dice "Feliz Navidad."

Fue muy divertido y cultural el celebrar la Navidad con la escuela, especialmente para mí (como auxiliar estadounidense que se quedó en Europa durante las vacaciones). La escuela me hizo sentir como en casa y tuvimos una temporada de vacaciones agradable. Espero que usted tenga una maravillosa temporada de Navidad! Feliz Navidad! :)
 
- Elsie