October with English Language Assistant Teacher Daniella

October at CEIP Antonio Rodríguez Almodóvar

A whole month working as an English Language Assistant at CEIP Antonio Rodríguez Almodóvar has flown by. My name is Daniella and I am 23, from the United Kingdom and currently teaching English at CEIP. I am in science classes teaching science in English, which I love because the students get to practice their English through their science learning. I think I am the first British language assistant that the school has had, so I am looking forward to bringing some British culture into the classroom. This brings me to one of the most exciting days so far at school… Halloween!

Halloween at CEIP
It was so amazing to see Halloween celebrated at CEIP by all the teachers and students. I was blown away by the costumes. Halloween originated in Scotland and Ireland so it was a great festivity to intertwine with some British cultural history! I told class 3A and 3B about the history of Halloween and how people wore costumes to scare away the evil spirits. They seemed interested and learned some new vocabulary as well as the geography of the UK and Ireland. I asked the students questions about Halloween in Spain to find out how it is similar or different to the UK, where Halloween is a big deal. They were surprised that everyone puts a pumpkin outside their door in the UK, and that we eat the insides of the pumpkin sometimes too. It was great to see the students trying to explain what they do on Halloween and what they dress up as without realising they were improving their English by practising and learning new vocabulary.

Spooky Word Search and Bingo
We did a spooky word search and bingo. I taught them some new vocabulary like ‘broom’ and ‘cauldron’ by drawing pictures and writing the words on the board. They had to understand the new vocabulary for bingo because I would call out a word and they needed to know it to find it on their sheet (and as with all games, they all wanted to win so worked hard to remember the vocabulary).

First Impressions of English & Intentions
 
I have been so impressed by the high level of English across the year groups! The first step to learning a new language is motivation and to be motivated the children need to be excited and confident. I hope I can make the students have fun with their English learning and not worry about making mistakes (as that is how we learn after all).

Science

In October, we learned about the 5 senses and how to stay healthy including having a healthy diet.

To teach the 5 senses I brought a tea towel into class with some different objects hidden underneath. They had to feel without looking and describe using the structure ‘I touch with my hand…’ and saying if the objects were hard or soft. They loved this game and it got them all asking questions and replying in English, as well as learning about their 5 senses.

To learn about a healthy diet the students worked together to fill in a food wheel, putting 'apple' in the Fruit and Vegetables section for instance. Then they made their own food wheel, cutting and sticking the foods into the right box as well as writing down why we eat different foods, e.g for protein or vitamins. I showed them different foods on an Ipad and they had to tell me which category the food is in and why we eat it. This was a good test and they used their English very well.

Let’s see what November holds for science learning using English!

California song

Making a guitar

Posicion notas en flauta dulce

European Anthen

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 third grade:

SCIENCE
I spent a couple classes working on their oral exams which is always a welcome change of pace. I am able to sit with each student one on one and encourage them in their speaking. We moved onto another unit about animals, focusing on reptiles, amphibians and fish. They moved quickly through the material so I was able to come in and help them with review! They are getting stronger everyday at their comprehension and pronunciation and Teacher Fatima does a wonderful job encouraging them!

ART
We spent a couple weeks on Van Gogh's "Sunflowers". The students recreated the famous painting and I told the story behind its' origin. Van Gogh painted it to decorate a bedroom for a friend who was coming to visit...lucky friend eh? After they completed their recreations they then created their own painting for a friend. Last class they started a drawing competition that is being sponsored by the library. They are creating a mailman from space and trying to win some cool prizes. They look amazing so far so I hope to see some finalists from our school!

Weeks of February 25 - March 1 and March 4 - 8

These past two weeks were slightly off schedule as we celebrated Andalucia Day on February 28 and International Women's Day on March 8. We've also had some teacher's out with various things going on so these past two weeks were definitely a lesson in going with the flow which is very important! All that said, they were very good weeks and the students had a lot of fun with the activities that were related to these two very important holidays.

SCIENCE
In third grade they wrapped up their units on farm animals, bird and reproduction so we were ready to review! With a classic game of Jeopardy we covered all of the subject matter. Each table became a group and were given the chance to answer questions from the category of their choice. One class had a bit more fun with this than the other class did, but the questions were exactly the same for each so there was just a bit more studying that one class needed to do. The winning team was given a prize and everyone was encouraged to study for their exam. The following week I began their oral exam portion and we will continue with that in the coming week.

ART
In art we learned how to draw a lion step by step using a YouTube tutorial. I used this time to talk about what type of landscape they would draw for their lion to live in. We sang "In the Jungle" more times than I can count but it was really fun!
The following week Teacher Carmen was out but we continued with the lesson she prepared. The students were given Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" as inspiration and asked to recreate their own version of the classic painting. We have some beautiful pieces in the works and I'm looking forward to seeing the completed works this coming week!

Week of February 18 - 22

NATURAL SCIENCE

This week in third grade we learned about birds. I used the book and we covered the vocabulary about wings, beaks and nutrition. Then Teacher Fatima played a video with several birds in it and we pointed out all of the types of bird characteristics we could find.

This activity was simple and a strong finish for the unit. Next week we will begin reviewing the unit so this time spent reinforcing content will be good for them. I used stickers for participation and it works well to get them involved.

ART

In art we are also working with animals. Teacher Carmen had the students bring in pictures of animals and cut different body parts to create a collage of a unique animal. I explained the activity in english and let their imagination go.

I used this activity to teach them the names of animals in english and help them name their unique animals with english names. Art is a more personal time where I get to communicate with the students about many things. We get to know each other a bit more and they get to ask me about words that may help them with other classes.

Our first six weeks with Teacher Melanie!

Our first six weeks with Teacher Melanie!

Now that I’m adjusted to my new life here in Spain, let me tell you about these amazing first six weeks…

I am the Auxiliar or Culture and Language Assistant here at CEIP Antonio Rodríguez Almodóvar and my role is to encourage conversation and introduce relevant American culture into the classroom. Let me say…this is THE BEST job I’ve ever had! I am showered with love and appreciation and I get to use fun activities to get students involved in their curriculum. I think the one thing that I have been shocked by is how much I am truly able to teach the students. When I have their full attention I am able to introduce new subject matter and they walk away with knowledge and new confidence in their English. There is no better feeling!

My third graders have been fully invested since day one. They always give me their attention and are hungry to tell me new things and receive feedback. They help me to see the true difference and character of each grade level. I am always able to merge right into their lesson and they are eager to have me be a part of their class, which I appreciate very much!

SCIENCE

So far we have learned about our city around us, and the physical and political maps of Spain and Europe. These classes were helpful for me as well! I’ve learned some landforms and capitals, which is great information for me to talk with the students about. We spent a couple weeks also doing oral evaluations and I truly enjoyed that one on one time with each student. Last week we began animals and I wrote a story as a listening and logic activity. I read the story aloud and then asked for the order of animals. They did very well with this activity and next week we will build on it by having them answer more questions.

ART

In arts and crafts the students constructed their own city maps and presented them to the class. They worked carefully on these and presented some quality maps by the end of the unit.

Last week we began animals and I taught the students how to make their own hand puppet. They really enjoyed this activity and were even making more than one puppet. The goal was to create an animal puppet and make a short story with friends to present in class. I’m looking forward to hearing their stories and watching them present.

Outside of traditional classroom instruction I also took the opportunity to teach about Martin Luther King Jr on MLK Day. They all drew pictures in their notebooks about what his dream looked like to them and several of them shared their own dreams. We have some future lifesavers in third grade! They watched this video as part of the activity.

I also made sure to bring a little bit of the American style of holiday celebrations for Valentine's Day by giving the students candy and a Valentine treat to keep and to share. At the end of the school day I could see that they had shared all of their stickers with their friends and were enjoying their lollipops...ahh spreading love! :) <3