Art Lessons

I have grown increasingly interested in abstract art over the last couple years, and I decided to explore some abstract art styles with my students over the last few weeks. To help keep enthusiasm levels up toward the end of the school year, we would do art instead of science every Friday morning. The students loved it and even asked on Thursday what we would be doing in art on Friday! Our last abstract art lesson combined everything we had learned with a ''final project'' in which the students painted using an abstract technique (blowing the paint using a straw, pouring, dripping, throwing, etc.) and then after it had dried, we added a word to each canvas that described the painting. The idea was to discuss how we can look at colors and textures and our brains make connections to concepts (words) that make sense, to something we can communicate. As you can see by the photos, we had tons of fun!

National Theater Field Trip

3rd, 4th, and 5th grades went to the National Theater for a dance performance from the Julliard School travelling from New York. We practiced our theater sitting positions and our theater manners for a week in advance. I wanted to be sure the students were ready. Everyone was really excited on the bus on the way to the theater!

Carissa and Paula

Melissa and Camila

Mariana and Mariana

Michelle and I

Lucas, Amanda, Michelle, Valeria waiting for the performance to begin!

Paula, Tess, Niki waiting

and afterwards, we took a group photo with the four Julliard dancers!!

I had fun planning this field trip. It was definitely simpler than planning the camping trip! If I can do 24 hour field trips, then 2 hour theater trips seem like a piece of cake!

Science Experiments

We had a Science Experiment morning a couple weeks ago, and the students were asking some tough questions! I was wading into new waters as I have never participated in a Science Fair or led students through the scientific process in self-invented experiments, so it was definitely an adventure for me and for them! Here's a peek at what we were learning:

Melissa wanted to know if people could tell similar tastes apart... such as regular Coke vs. Diet Coke... or sweetened tea vs. unsweetened tea. Here Gabriel tries the two Cokes.

Carefully thinking about which one is which...

Jonathan and Amanda were asking questions about what liquids will create solvents with water. Here they are with their whole display set up!

It was quite the process to try all their different solvent ideas.

I think the glue non-solvent was their favorite.

And then they surprised everyone with a vinegar and baking soda solvent! :) The only problem was that Jonathan couldn't find regular vinegar, so he actually brought in wine vinegar. I didn't realize this until after the fact when the resulting solvent bubbling all over the desk and floor smelled very strong... so strong we were all gagging and running out of the room!!! Oops!

Then Mariana and Mariana demonstrated how global warming is affecting the oceans due to ice melting. It was an impressive concept for 4th graders to dive into.

And then it was back to work once we cleaned up the messes!

Sojourn Staff

Here we are! All (well, almost all) the Sojourn staff! Trish and I are standing in the back because we are, well, tall :). I am actually on tip toe to pretend that I am tall!

It's weird to think I only have 5 more days of working with this group of people...

Bethabá and Sojourn English Exchange

Friday, June 4th, was a big day for the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders at Sojourn. Another San José private school, Escuela Bethabá, arrived at Sojourn at 9am for a two-hour English practice exchange. Here are some photos:

Like I mentioned in my previous list post, it was quite the challenge for us teachers as the Bethabá students did not speak much English. Imagine explaining the Human Knot game in a language the kids don't understand!! Good luck :)

Lack of Posting

I have like 5 sets of photos to post, but for some reason, blogger.com is having difficulties uploading photos. Without photos, I don't think my posts are as memorable, lol, but I can list a few of the exciting latest events.

Bethabá School Visits Sojourn
Another private school here in San José had a field trip for a morning at Sojourn to experience a morning of English learning. It was fun for the students but difficult for the teachers as the Bethabá students didn't speak much English at all. Because the whole purpose was to give all students an English immersion, I had to resist the temptation to translate. I have photos to testify to the interesting morning we all had.

National Theater Field Trip
3rd, 4th, and 5th just went to the National Theater yesterday to see the Julliard School from New York perform. We had practiced our ''Theater Positions'' for the last week in preparation, and the students were so excited to be part of the event! We were the only school group there and several adults around us remarked how cute or how well behaved they were! :) We enjoyed exploring the upstairs of the theater afterwards as well... even seeing the ball room that looks as if it were straight from a fairy tale! (well, the girls really enjoyed that part :))

Trish Sick
My roomie has been and still is sick. We spent the evening last night at the private hospital's emergency room so she could be hydrated again. The good news is I graded a lot of my student's recent work while sitting in the waiting room... and of course that Trish is now home and feeling a little better. We will persevere in getting her healthy again.

Seven Days Left of School
...and counting :)

Twenty Days Until I'm Stateside...
...and counting :) but still enjoying every moment here!

Student Smiles

Some of my favorite English bloopers this week:

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The story problem asked how many pieces of candy each child had, and the student wrote ''30 pieces of candy has each child.'' I imagine 30 gigantic pieces of candy with arms and legs running down the street after a little kid!! lol

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A student wrote in her writing journal about how she has the best teacher in the whole world. She went on to describe how much she has learned this year and how much fun she has had. The only problem was that she spelled best ''B E A S T''. So I am the beast teacher ever. lol




Some of my favorite antonyms today:

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A girl was brainstorming an antonym for different foods, and when I said ''What about ketchup?'' she said, ''Mayonnaise!!'' That's a classic tico opposite for you that they put on everything (actually probably more like synonyms since ketchup and mayo go on together!)... I was thinking mustard, the classic gringo condiment that goes with ketchup.

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A boy was brainstorming antonyms to add to our ''graffiti wall'' and his first response was, ''Reading and playing!!'' I have worked very hard to encourage him in his reading this year, so I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry!!