¿Qué pasa en español? (What's up in Spanish?)
It is amazing how quickly time is passing and how close we are to the end of the school year. We began this month with the traditional Cinco de Mayo, a historical day in Mexico [Battle of Puebla Day], that is more celebratory in the United States. In Spanish classes of all levels, we have been talking about Mexican traditions, history, culture and gastronomy.

In Elementary, we continue to study basic expressions like "How are you" or "What do you like to do" and "I like" or "I don't like". We had drawing and coloring activities learning more vocabulary, this time more numbers and animals.

For Middle School we did work in vocabulary for technology, nature, Mexican culture, traveling, and schooling. We reviewed the Cinco de Mayo celebration. We are learning other expressions such as "Where do you live," "My favorite food or drink is," "My favorite activity is" and some basic grammar. In each class, students were one on one pronouncing Spanish words and expressions and improving some of them. They did hard work!

In High School, we are working on conjugations in all tenses, students work on creating a good number of sentences in Spanish almost every day, and they [also] read sentence to sentence and get support to improve pronunciation. We are still doing many word searches since students really like to do it and with that learning new words every day. We will prepare for finals in the coming weeks and finish this year in a positive way.

Thank you so much and still wishing little like "Happy Cinco de Mayo!!"

– Rubén Nuñez, K-12 Spanish Teacher

 ¡VAMOS 2025!
We just started 2025 and now we are working and preparing for everything that is coming to us in this wonderful year. 
   In LowerEl we are reviewing basic vocabulary: colors, numbers, days, months, animals, transport, school supplies, foods, and drinks. Short Spanish cartoons, some Spanish songs, and games such as Spanish BINGO help reinforce our learning.
   Middle El is reviewly vocabulary similarly to LowerEl, but we also learn sentence structure and basic expressions in Spanish – How are you? How old are you? Where do you live? What do you like to eat/drink? What is your favore movie/tv show? and more.
We start focusing on Spanish pronunciation.
   There is always new vocabulary to learn and Upper El students practice a lot during class. Spanish movie scenes help students hear proper pronunciation and learn new vocabulary. Certainly it is a challenging exercise but they are doing very well. 
   In Middle School, we learn to recognize vocabulary with wordsearches, and we practice pronunciation by reading aloud small paragraphs and sentences. We continue to learn and use many of the basic questions for communication in Spanish. We use iPads for educational Spanish games or for finding Spanish slides that help in our class. Like the other levels, Spanish films continue to be a helpful learning tool. 
   High School classes learn vocabulary through puzzles and wordsearch. Almost daily, we type a good number of sentences in Spanish and complete corrections to improve our grammar. We read each sentence aloud, as well, and try the best pronunciation. Practicing basic conversations is important, so we try to speak as much as we can in Spanish every day. In Spanish 3, we reached a goal to speak only Spanish nearly the entire class! Recently we are working hard to prepare for next week's Showcase. Students are excited to show their parents what they are learning.
   We have good expectations for the rest of the year. We will keep working more and more to improve our Spanish learning process.
    Before I finish I will thank all of you for your support and understanding during my medical leave. I am doing very well now and ready to continue.
Muchas gracias.
– Ruben Nunez, K-12 Spanish

   We are approaching to the end of Hispanic Heritage Month. In Spanish, we are learning about this celebration as part of our cultural approach to Hispanic traditions and the importance of the community to the United States in general. We have much more to learn but we had a great beginning of the year in Spanish and we are always getting better.
   In Lower El, we are learning vocabulary of animals, numbers, colors, days, months, and basic expressions – hello (hola), bye (adiós), how are you (cómo estás), morning, afternoon, night, and more. A common activity we use in class is drawing pictures and then adding Spanish words according to the picture. We then repeat the words and expressions in class to help them with pronunciation. We occasionally watch scenes of movies in Spanish to learn new Spanish words from recognizable characters such as Mickey Mouse.
   Middle El is learning vocabulary of sports, plants, foods, animals, countries, and cities. The students practice basic expressions including questions and answers about the things they do, like, and want. As part of our cultural approach, we watched a video about the Mexican Independence Celebration. 
   Upper El is learning vocabulary of numbers 1 to 100, as well as animals, places, colors, school items and more. We are also learning basic expressions such as how are you (cómo estás); what's your name (cómo te llamas); where do you live (dónde vive) and how old are you (cuántos años tiene)? Along with asking the question we learn how to respond, too. This group is still interested in sports and foods!
  In Middle School, we are learning different expressions and sentences that are commonly used. Students practice pronunciation and common sentences in class. We are reviewing numbers and how to write them. We learned about Spanish speaking countries and their culture including traditions and gastronomy.
  High School Spanish continues to use the Realidades textbook for all levels (1-3). Realidades materials are understandable and activities are easy to complete. We continue to work with working with grammar, specifically with the conjugation of verbs. For Hispanic Heritage Month, students researched different Hispanic personalities and their contributions to this country. We learned about the Independence of Mexico as part of cultural approach. 
   While I am out on medical leave in the coming weeks, Gladys will be taking over my classes. Please see more about what's coming below.
– Rubén Núñez Sanchez, K-12 Spanish Teacher

   We will be learning about Spanish speaking countries and their different cultures to end Hispanic heritage month on a strong note. 
   In the next few weeks we will be learning about Dia de los Muertos, a tradition that is very important to me and Mexican culture. We will be learning all about ofrendas - what goes on them, what the different objects on them mean, why we place food and pictures on it as well. We will even be assembling an ofrenda in our classroom! More information about how your student will be able to contribute will come soon. 
   Redwood City will have their annual Día de los Muertos celebration on Sunday, November 3, from 3:30–8:30 PM in Courthouse Square. Hope to see some students there!
– Gladys Arana, K-12 Substitute Spanish Teacher