November

Traditions and Festivals in the UK and Spain

In November, we talked about traditions and festivals in Spain and the UK.

To start off with a communicative activity, I asked the students about 'traditional' food in Spain and what they thought of it. Then, we looked at some traditional British foods. This was a great chance to bring in some British culture as part of my role as a foreign language assistant.

This is a classic 'Afternoon Tea' in the UK, with scones, jam and clotted cream alongside black tea with milk. Teacher Maria and I drew some links between the Afternoon Tea we have in the UK and
'La Merienda' in Spain. We asked the students what they thought of the British foods and if they would like to try them one day.

I showed the class pictures of some traditions, festivals and activities in the UK and my childhood village.

They watched a video about this activity, 'May Pole Dancing', where children dance with one another using ribbons and a central pole. 

Then the class worked in their science books to identify different festivals and traditions in Spain. This was a fantastic chance to introduce them to another culture's traditions and festivals, to expand their knowledge of the Anglo world and get them to think outside of their Spanish customs and norms. 

other spin drums

Making a pin drum

Eco

Clapping game

Magic drawings

Catching up...

I've been behind the past few weeks! I've been traveling and trying to keep my creativity alive in the classroom, so blogging has taken a back seat unfortunately but here's what we've been doing in second grade:

We have completed the water cycle, animal kingdom and plant kingdom and started to review. I took the opportunity to survey the class and ask them what they like best for class activities. They mentioned games! And some other things like coloring and songs but the general consensus was games, which wasn't surprising.

We have since played one game that was suggested to me by a fellow English teacher in my program and it was a hit. One student faces the class and I write a word on the chalkboard. The other students must take turns giving clues to the student so that they can guess the work. For example "cow"..."We get milk from this animal." "It is a mammal." "It has four legs." etc. The students had a blast and so did teacher Marta Ruth!

I'm going to continue searching for educational and conversational games to keep them engaged and their energy high, there are some stars hiding inside!