Pre-Kindergarten: To celebrate Hispanic-Latino heritage month, PreK read “Growing an Artist” by author and illustrator John Parra. We discussed the life story of John Parra and then made a no bake dessert called frutas con crema.

PreK learned about the life and works of Pablo Picasso. We studied his piece called “Boquet of Peace” and then used that piece for our inspiration while we easel painted. Kindergarten: The children watched two short videos on the history of Hispanic Heritage Month and learned about Hispanic Americans who made significant contributions to society. We focused on Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman to go to space when she served on a nine-day mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. We also danced to the music of Gloria Estefan.

During rest time, the children watched Dora the Explorer to practice counting in Spanish and to learn some new Spanish vocabulary words. First Grade: As a class we completed a book about the culture of Hispanic-Latino Heritage including famous people, food and music. We also had a chips and salsa party while listening to Spanish music! We also learned about Dolores Huerta and did a writing assignment on her.

We watched a few videos on Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month, and we read a booklet where we learned about countries and people who are Hispanic and Latino. We also read about different foods that are eaten, and we enjoyed chips and salsa in class. We learned about Frida Kahlo. Then we made our own self-portraits and butterflies, and we created a bulletin board in the hallway in honor of Ms. Kahlo.

Third grade: Student watch videos and slides about famous Hispanic people and their contributions to society. We also read a Scholastic news article and watch videos from that link. Performing Arts: Students in 3rd grade read and acted out 2 Reader’s Theatre scripts entitled “Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month” and “Hispanic Heroes.” They also learned a little bit about Lin-Manuel Miranda and his contribution to Broadway theatre.

Explorations: We viewed a 2 minute video clip about nations with dirty drinking water. This will tie in to our global problem solvers unit next week. Students then chose countries to research if their drinking water was clean or dirty. If it is dirty, they needed to find out what the cause or causes are.

Students continued their learning about entrepreneurs. They researched Hispanic modern or historic entrepreneurs. They also integrated AI technology to finalize their work for wall décor.

Library: Students got to learn about a special author named Matt de la Pena. We learned about his life and shared numerous books he has written but read together the Caldecott/ Newbery award winning book called Last Stop on Market Street. Computers: The Computer Class lesson focused on Luis von Ahn, a Guatemalan entrepreneur, software developer, and consulting professor in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University. He is renowned for developing CAPTCHA and reCAPTCHA, systems designed to differentiate between humans and bots online. During the lesson, students viewed a slideshow detailing his achievements and the evolution of CAPTCHA technology. They also had the opportunity to complete CAPTCHAs themselves.

French: Our class focused on the creator of Duolingo, Luis von Ahn. Dr. Luis von Ahn was born in Guatamala city We explored his numerous accomplishments and engaged in a detailed discussion about his contributions to the field of language learning. Musical Arts: Music students learned about musical artists and instrumentalists like Selena, Celia Cruz, and Arsenio Rodriguez! They played maracas and castanets and learned how Mexico uses the Pan Flute! Students learned songs and games from Puerto Rico and Spain!

Kindergarten – We had a parent come in to discuss their family’s Rosh Hashanah traditions with us. She provided the class with apples and honey to celebrate a sweet new year.