Thank you Megan!

It is a great opportunity for all the schools to have a language assistant because the children, the teachers and all the community can live a different experience during the school year. However, as always, we have to say "see you soon" by the end of May each year. And we hope to see you again after this COVID-19 situation at school.

What advantages have our students had with Megan, our language assistant, in our natural and science lessons? Our assistant has shared with all of them an unique linguistic experience and her culture. They have developed everyday communication with the use of language skills in real-life situations. 

As we all know, the best option to learn a language is with games and a lot of fun. Megan has combined the work in the classes with oral interactive activities and a very good English. During this lockdown due to this coronavirus situation, she has done a great contribution to our school for the online education with the creation of materials.

To sum up, our language assistant has done a great job and I would like to include the following tasks:

• motivating students to learn English,
• encouraging our children to participate in oral communication activities,
• preparing classroom materials and activities,
• encouraging children to explore the different cultures.

Some posts of these years are:

The Universe Project: 5th Grade	Layers of the Atmosphere in 4th Grade
The Five Senses in 1st Grade	5 Senses Project in 4th Grade
Me on a Map! 5th grade	Christmas Time!
The Water Cycle	5th Grade 5 Senses
Animals!	Sensitivity and the Nervous System
Geography and Culture Around the World	Jeopardy!
Animals and Ecosystems	Thanksgiving! 5th grade
School Day of Non-Violence and Peace: Light a candle for PEACE	Springtime!
Shop Role Plays	Parts of the Cell
Thanksgiving in the USA	So good to work as a linguistic assistant

Thank you very much!

Hope you come back soon!

Animals and Ecosystems (2nd Grade)

In the second grade, we have been working on learning about ecosystems and about all the different animals and plants in ecosystems. In My Pond Community, we made a pond ecosystem with water, plants, the sun, birds, fish, frogs, and turtles. We are learning about the many parts that make up an ecysystem and why each part is important. And here you can see the different types of ecosystems we have learned about.

Here you can download the ecosystem template, just print it for your class.
Pond Ecosystem Cut & Paste template
Cycle of the frog template

Here you can see the life cycle of the frog: 

The life cycle of a frog starts with an egg, then a tadpole, a tadpole with legs, a tadpole with arms and legs, a froglet, and finally, an adult frog. 

The earth has many different ecosystems and we have learned about a few key ones: forest, desert, ocean, and polar. The children learned about the different plants and animals that belong in each ecosystem. For example, in a forest, you will find pine trees, deer, and owls, while in a desert, you will find sand, cactuses, snakes, and camels. 

Shop Role Plays in the 6th Grade!

This week in Lucia's 6th grade science class, we acted out various shop role plays! The eager students were put into six groups of four and were given a specific shop to act out a typical exchange between customers and workers. Some of the shops included were a supermarket, an electronics shop and a pharmacy. The students were very excited to act out the little skits and all worked very hard to deliver their lines and act out their roles. It was a great way to show the students how the economy is embedded into our everyday activities, such as going to the market. It also gave them an idea of how these exchanges might go in an English speaking country. AND it allowed them to practice some of their budding acting skills! :)

Thanksgiving in the USA

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving in the USA so we all learned a little bit about it's history and how it is celebrated today (mostly eating yummy food!). Thanksgiving is based on the first harvest of the pilgrims and Native Americans, and also about giving thanks for all the good things we have in our lives. In some classes, we did a traditional activity done with children in the USA in which we create a turkey from the outline of our hand and write in each "feather" (or finger) the things we are thankful for such as family, friends, food, water and toys. What are you thankful for? :)

So good to work as a linguistic assistant here!

My name is Megan and I am the new English language assistant at CEIP San Miguel! I am very excited to be working in a school with such helpful and welcoming staff and students that are very sweet and eager to learn :)

This will be my second year working in Spain as an English language assistant. Last year I worked in a secondary school in Ciudad Real. Though I am somewhat familiar with the city of Granada after having studied there in university, this is my first time spending time in the cute neighboring town Armilla!

The first week at school I introduced myself and taught the students about where I'm from. I told them a little bit about me, my interests and hobbies, about the USA in general, and some fun facts about my state, Washington (not to be confused with Washington, DC). The students then asked me questions about myself and told me a little bit about themselves as well. They told me their names, ages, favorite foods, and hobbies. After showing them a map of the world and demonstrating how far my home is from Spain, many of them were curious to know how long it took me to get here (12 hours, but so worth it!)

Here is a link to my intro presentation

I am very excited to be working at this school and am looking forward to getting to know the students and teachers better! :)

Last Day in CEIP San Miguel

It has been such a beautiful and enriching experience to be working alongside the teachers and students at CEIP San Miguel.

My favorite experiences were getting to talk about my country (mi país), teaching a short story about the elements for some classes, seeing different theater performances, being a part of the Mindfulness and Yoga during the Cultural Week, and learning about Social and Natural Science in English.

Thank you so much to all the staff, teachers and students at CEIP San Miguel! It has truly been a pleasure working with all of you.

I will never forget this experience.

I hope to come back to visit soon. Granada and CEIP San Miguel will always have a place in my heart.

Muchas gracias a todos desde mi corazón!

A Portfolio in Natural Science

We have been working on so many different themes in all of the classes!

 The common theme we have all been working on is nature.

 In first grade, we have been learning about the Sun and the Earth. We learned that the Sun is a star, and the Earth is a planet. We also learned about the four different seasons - spring, summer, autumn-fall and winter!

What is your favorite season?

 In the second grade classes we have been learning about the phases of the moon, as well as the order of all of the planets.

We drew the different phases of the Moon, such as waxing Moon, full Moon, new Moon and waning Moon.

 In our journals, we created a beautiful drawing of the planets and our Solar System!

 Lastly in fourth grade, we did crafted a project about the parts of a flower.

We labeled all of the parts in English and Spanish. Inside the petals we wrote about the Sexual Reproduction and their roots.

If you click on these lovely photos, or here I have attached a link to the portfolio of the student´s work:

Spring Solstice

Spring is finally here!

Flowers are blossoming and the sun is finally coming out to play. We hope to see lots of rainbows, flowers and sunshine! 

As we prepare for Easter holidays, here are some interesting links, songs and printables you can use to learn more about spring.

Poems are a great way to learn about new vocabulary.

Spring is Here song:

https://youtu.be/DobrRgD5aOU

Here is an activity about a chick hatching from an egg:

https://www.kidssoup.com/craft-and-resource/chick-hatching-craftivity


Make sure to go outside and enjoy nature! We hope everyone has a lovely week of Easter break!

Natural Science in 2nd Grade: My senses and the respiration

In our 2nd grade natural science class we learned about the five senses: smell, hearing, taste, sight and touch through drawing pictures and writing sentences for each sense.

 "I smell with my nose."

 "I hear with my ears."

"I taste with my tongue."

"I see with my eyes."

        "I touch with my hands."     

We also learned about respiration.We did a breathing excercise together where we breathed through our nose and then our mouth!

Beautiful drawings, children!

Danielle, English language assistant

Hi everyone my name is Danielle and I am the new language assistant at C.E.I.P San Miguel in Armilla this year. It’s my first year living and teaching in Granada. Last year, I taught English in Galicia. The weather has been a lot warmer in Andalusia!

My first day I met the students and told them about California and the United States of America. They learned about the US flag, which colors are red, white and blue and also learned that we have fifty stars because there are fifty different states. I showed them where on the map I live and how close it is to Mexico.

At the end of my presentation, they all got to color their very own US flags!

I also got to show the students a special PowerPoint presentation I had made about myself, where I come from and my interests. Here is my presentation.

The following week I got to meet the rest of the students and learn about the subjects that they are learning in science class. Some of the classes were studying the reproductive and circulatory systems and others were learning about the different stages of life such as, birth childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

In 1st grade class, we got to experience a workshop learning about the different senses: Touch, Taste, Sight, Smell and Hearing. At one of the tables students had to taste lemon, salt, sugar and an apple to see if they liked the flavor or not. One of the tables students experimented with different musical instruments making different sound and music. Another table students were blindfolded and had to describe the textures they were feeling-hard, soft, rough or smooth. They all had so much fun learning about the senses in a creative and interactive way with the help of some students of the fifth grade.  

I’m looking forward to spending the year working with the students and teachers at C.E.I.P San Miguel!