About
This page will highlight blocks, projects, festivals and wish list for the Spanish program.
* Please check out our blog for the latest update*
"Celebrating festivals can bring us consciously to what we all experience instinctively in our daily lives, the changing cycles of the seasons and of life itself. Through various festivals and rituals we acknowledge and celebrate our connection to and our responsibility toward each other and the world." excerpted from Festivals by Marilyn Pelrme.
February
In February, we began our Guatemalan worry dolls project.
Grades 2-4 are told the story of Ramón Preocupón, and then create their own "quitapesares". Children are also practicing how to ask for materials while constructing their dolls, as well as using good manners. We will work on finishing up our "quitapesares" into next week, and will then move on into a weaving/textile block.
Grades 5-7
Grades 5-7 worked on a group performance of the song "La Bamba".
"La Bamba" is a classic example of the Son Jarocho musical style, which originated in the Mexican state of Veracruz and combines Spanish, indigenous, and African musical elements. The name of the dance, is connected with the Spanish verb bambolear, meaning "to shake" or perhaps "to stomp". A traditional huapango song, "La Bamba" is often played during weddings in Veracruz, where the bride and groom perform the accompanying dance. The song became popular in the United States when Ritchie Valens, a young Chicano rock n roller, recorded it in 1958. Mr. Lance May, Ms. Kellie Palmblad, and Mr. Michael Budler accompanied the 5th, 6th, and 7th graders in singing and swinging to La Bamba.
We have been learning the numbers, days of the week, seasons and months in Spanish and a second Romance language: 5th graders added Italian, 6th graders, Latin, and the 7th graders, French. We discussed the cultural and geographic ‘sense’ of the calendar and seasons from ancient Rome, Norse myths, and indigenous pyramids in the Americas. Each grade created a dual language calendar page that revolved around the sun/sol.
Resources
Lower Grades 1-4
Festivals
Las Posadas
Books and Activities
Waldorf stories in Spanish
Reg Down- La Abeja que Perdio su Zumbido
Songs and games
Poesia, Cancioncillas y Rimas
http://www.waldorflibrary.org/books/3/view_bl/117/verses/57/poesia-cancioncillas-y-rimas-ebook
