Monthly Updates

Prayers are written at bottom of this page.

April/abril

All grade levels are finishing their family vocabulary themed units. Grades K-3 will also start animal vocabulary. Gr. 2 will be introduced to some house vocabulary to prepare for their April/May projects of designing a house and labeling it in Spanish. Gr. 3 will be introduced to simple community vocabulary to prepare for designing and labeling their own communities. Grades 4-5 will finish learning about direct object pronouns related to family and move on to different grade level units. Gr. 4 will be choosing a project from a choice board related to food and restaurants. Gr. 5 will be learning clothes, simple shopping vocabulary, and the history behind Cinco de Mayo. My microsite assignment page has been having issues and we have not been able to solve it. I hope to be able to tell you soon to check my microsite assignment summaries for links to favorite songs and videos. https://www.regiscatholicschools.com/staff/lynne-larabee/

March/marzo

Parent Teacher Conferences went well and I enjoyed seeing some of you.. All grade levels are finishing their calendar themes and will be starting to learn or review family vocabulary. Grades K-3 will also start animal vocabulary. Gr. 2 will be introduced to some house vocabulary to prepare for their April projects of designing a house and labeling it in Spanish. Gr. 3 will be introduced to simple community vocabulary to prepare for designing their own communities. Grades 4-5 will continue learning about direct object pronouns related to family. As always, don’t forget to check my microsite assignment summaries for links to favorite songs and videos. https://www.regiscatholicschools.com/staff/lynne-larabee/

February/febrero

The Second Semester has started and is moving quickly. Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for the end of the month. All grade levels will continue with their calendar themes and then learn or review family vocabulary. Grades 4-5 will be learning about direct object pronouns related to family. There will of course also be some “love” sprinkled into the month along with one of my favorite versions of the song “Jesus Loves Me” in Spanish. First Grade and Third Grade will have their food taste experiences before the start of Lent. First Grade will enjoy Mexican soda pop and Mexican animal crackers. Third grade will be enjoying Mexican hot cocoa. As always, don’t forget to check my microsite assignment summaries for links to favorite songs and videos. https://www.regiscatholicschools.com/staff/lynne-larabee/

January/Enero

Advent is over and Christmas is upon us. I hope the peace and hope of the season blessed each of you and your families! For us Christmas ends on the 12th day or Epiphany, sometimes called Three Kings Day. It is always Jan. 6. In 2024 that falls on a Saturday. On Friday, Jan. 5 all classrooms will place a paper shoe outside their classroom door. Students will have to wait until Monday, Jan.8, to see if the Three Kings were able to stop by our Elementary Schools. We will continue with a Christmas theme through all grade's first class. Kindergarten will get to enjoy a taste test of Three Kings Cake/Bread with a Baby Jesus hidden inside. They will enjoy a video about Three Kings Day with Dora The Explorer. Once the holidays are over we will get back to work on numbers and colors. Calendar vocabulary (months, days of the week, dates) will soon follow. Number timings will resume. The end of Quarter 2 is Jan. 19 so grades 4 & 5 will be working hard to finish any missing work for the grade book. The next taste tests will be for grades 1 & 3 with Mexican soda pop and Mexican animal cookies and then Mexican hot chocolate, respectively. Those will happen the last week of January or first week of February. Stay warm.

December/DicIEMBRE

Advent is upon us. May the peace and hope of the season bless each of you and your families! All grade levels will be focusing on vocabulary for the Holy Family, Christmas and Christmas traditions in Hispanic countries. Fifth Grade will be moving on to numbers 1-1,000, and then their grade level unit on Our Lady of Guadalupe. Her appearance in 1531 changed history in Mexico and the Americas. Gr. 4 will be moving on to an introduction to the numbers 1-200 and to their unit on Our Lady of Guadalupe. They will learn about the messages in her image and color pictures of her to be displayed in school hallways. Her Feast Day is Dec. 12. Saint Juan Diego's is Dec. 9. Grade 3 will be introduced to the importance of Our Lady of Guadalupe and will decorate roses to place around the image of her tilma in each schools' hallways. They will also learn about Rooster Mass and New Year's Eve traditions. The younger grades will continue working on colors and numbers (K=1-15; 1st=1-30; 2nd=1-50, 3rd=1-100). Grade 2 will be learning about the tradition of 'Las Posadas' (The Inns) which is a nine night novena to remember Joseph and Mary's journey to Bethlehem and will be creating their own individual small nativities designed by Tomie d'Paola. Grade 1 will be introduced to the legend of the poinsettia and make a small one. Kindergarten will focus on Christmas vocabulary, numbers, colors, and the traditions surrounding "Three Kings' Day" in Spanish Speaking Countries. Each school will prepare for a visit by The Three Kings on the Eve of Epiphany, Jan. 5. Kindergarten will have the opportunity to taste test Kings Cake and see where the Baby Jesus is hiding. I will post a "Camel" alert advising families if the Kings and their caravan have been seen in our area. Many of our children in all grades enjoy participating in the traditions surrounding the Three Kings. I always tell students that the decision lies with their parents and "who" is allowed to visit each house on the Eve of the Epiphany. Please see https://www.regiscatholicschools.com/staff/lynne-larabee/parent-resources/ for more information. Favorite songs will be "Feliz Navidad" and "Silent Night" in Spanish. They are very likely to get stuck in our heads! Apologies, pre-emptively. Have a wonderful holiday season!

November/noviembre

The first quarter is now behind us! Where did time go? October went by quickly with our grade level prayers and continued focus on greetings and color introduction/review for grades K-3. Grade 4 spent last month focused on All Saints and All Souls Days and Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). They will be taste testing a Mexican sweet bread the first week of the month and continue to finish all our work/games related to our unit. They will then move on to an introduction to the numbers 1-200 and to their unit focus for Our Lady of Guadalupe, who's Feast Day is Dec. 12. Fifth Grade spent October working on Spanish Speaking Countries and Spanish Exploration. November will include finishing this unit, moving on to numbers 1-1,000, and then their grade level unit on Our Lady of Guadalupe. The younger grades will continue working on colors and numbers (K=1-15; 1st=1-30; 2nd=1-50, 3rd=1-100) and possibly even some body vocabulary. Have a wonderful season of Gratitude.

October/Octubre

The year is underway and we are more or less organized. September and October included some excitement for the upper grades in watching the emergence of monarch butterflies from their chysalises and then their release. Grades 1 & 4 have started new prayers by repetition of small Spanish pieces. Grade 1 is learning The Angel of God Prayer and Grade 4 is starting The Hail Mary. Nametags in Grades 2-5 are being finished and classes are reviewing how to ask another's name and how they are. Numbers and colors are next except for Grades 4-5 which have started cultural units. Grade 4 is learning about Día de los Muertos which is connected to All Saints and All Souls Days. Watch for their colorful sugar skulls in your school's hallway. They will be taste testing bread de lost Muertos at the beginning of November. Grade 5 is learning about the names and locations of Spanish Speaking Countries and some information about Spanish Exploration. A few seasonal topics and vocabulary may be introduced as well.

September/Septiembre

The school year starts with introductions and learning how to say 'my name is' in Spanish. We start on grade level prayers right away, reviewing what was learned last year. Practicing numbers with a 'number race' timing and learning different greetings and courtesy vocabulary will also be topics. It takes us a couple weeks to get organized with our folders and learn/remember our class protocols. Grades 2-5 get to choose a Spanish name for class and will make nametags. Grades 4-5 will log into our Spanish Google Classroom for their class and begin learning how to use Google Classroom. I will post weekly assignments there for them. Grade 4 will start earning an effort grade on their quarterly report cards this year and Grade 5 will receive an achievement (letter grade) and effort grade quarterly. Do not hesitate to contact me by email or phone if you have any questions or concerns. The prayers are listed below.

Our Spanish Prayers

Sign of the Cross (all grades)
En el nombre del Padre
y del Hijo
y del Espíritu Santo
Amén

Angel of God (grades 1 & 2)
Angél de Díos,
que eres mi custodio,
pues la bondad divina,
me ha encomendado a ti,
ilumíname, dirígeme,
guárdame, Amén.

3rd Grade St. James 2020-2021: https://ensemble.cesa10.k12.wi.us/Watch/Jd4p6MEy

Meal Prayer (grades 2 & 3)
Bendícenos, Señor, a nosotros
y estos dones tuyos que vamos a tomar
y que hemos recibido de tu generosidad;
por Jesucristo, nuestro Señor. Amén.

El Ave María (grades 4 & 5)
Dios te salve, María;
llena eres de gracia;
el Señor es contigo;
bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres,
y bendito es el fruto de tu veintre, Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros, pecadores, ahora,
y en la hora de nuestra muerte. Amén.

(Please note: This prayer has also been said "el Señor está contigo". This uses the verb estar instead of ser. I have spoken with Father Sakowski, to find out which version is preferred. The verb ser is being chosen because despite the indication of location, it is a permanent condition and characteristic of Mary to have God with her, thus the verb ser.)

The Glory Be (grades 1+)
Gloria al Padre y al Hijo
y al Espíritu Santo.
Como era en el principio,
ahora y siempre,
por los siglos de los siglos.
Amén.

The Our Father: El Padre Nuestro, a song and video by Juana

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5FPKUMlNMo

The prayer: (only introduced quickly in grade 5)

Padre Nuestro, que estás en el cielo;
santificado sea tu Nombre;
venga a nosotros tu reino;
hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo.
Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día;
perdona nuestros ofensas como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden;
no nos dejes caer en la tentación, y líbranos del mal. Amén.