¿Lo sabía?

Did you know the following facts about José Feliciano?

-He was born blind.
-He was born in Puerto Rico, moving to NY City when he was five.
-He taught himself how to play the accordion and the guitar.
-He's won 6 Grammys.
-His Christmas song, 'Feliz Navidad' is sung around the world during the Christmas season.

Well, if you didn't know all of these facts about this súper-famous Hispanic, you can ask one of our Third or Fourth Graders!!

'Feliz Navidad'

Venezuela

First Graders have just finished a cultural theme centered around Venezuela, learning about many aspects of this South American country. We have had the opportunity to explore virtually some of the natural wonders of the country, such as Salto Ángel (Angel Falls), some key symbols, such as the national bird (el turpial) and the national flower (orchid), and used play ‘bolivares’ (Venezuela’s money) to practice math skills and review our numbers in Spanish. We also learned that scientists believe that cacao trees are indigenous to Venezuela. And what do we make from cacao trees? Chocolate! Something we can't possibly live without :)
21st century skills include cultural literacy as part of what makes a graduate competitive in the job market, and we start early here at Camden Rockport Elementary, gaining knowledge of other countries and perspectives. A measure of success, when a student says, ‘Wow, I want to go THERE!’

For more kid friendly information about Venezuela, go t0:
http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/ven.html

Saludos!

Wow!

Fourth graders have been learning about the Mayan tradition of a 'nagual', a guardian animal spirit which can serve to protect you. As part of a larger project, students answered three questions about what we have learned in class. One student found she just didn't have enough room on the sheet, so she went home, wrote all she had learned and brought it back to me the next day. Wow!!