4th Grade Overview of September/October 2009

In fourth grade, students have just finished a unit on landform geography of California’s four regions: la costa, el valle, las montañas y el desierto, (the coast, the valley, the mountains and the desert). They’ve been learning vocabulary and structures related to the geography of California, as well as finding and describing locations on maps. Additional activities include related songs, interactive dialogues, online exercises and games to further reinforce vocabulary.

During the last week of October, our main focus has been on teaching about an important Latin American celebration of life known as Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Students have learned about Day of the Dead’s vibrant cultural traditions and related vocabulary in Spanish, been introduced to music related to the event, as well as created a variety of art activities. On November 1, (actual date for Day of the Dead), students tour the Spanish classroom, which showcases each grade levels’ art projects.

3rd grade classrooms created máscaras tradicionales de muchos colores para disfrazarse (traditional multicolored masks)

4th grade classrooms created papel picado de muchos colores (colorful paper banners used for Latin American festivals)”

5th grade classrooms created ofrendas (home offerings/altars) to celebrate and remember the lives of deceased loved ones.