Merry Christmas v. Feliz Navidad

Throughout the month of December Maestra Isabel Alvarez has been preparing several lessons in anticipation of Christmas Vacations. As a result, I thought I should share some of the differences I have learned between Spain and the United States over the past two years.

Decorations 
To begin with the decorations are pretty different. In the United States almost everyone has a large Christmas tree with a star at the top similar to some families in Spain. However, the biggest difference is that we don't typically put a nativity scene "portal de Belen" in our homes with a Virgin Mary, Baby Jesus in a manger, Joseph and the three wise men. We do however decorate the outside of our homes with lots of lights and different colors, more so than I would say in Spain.

A house decorated with Christmas lights 

Nativity Scene in Seville 

Food
Also, this year with some of my private classes I got to make Christmas cookies a great tradition I have at home with my family. We made sugar cookies and decorated them with a present, stocking, reindeer, wreath etc. Generally my family has a big Christmas dinner with turkey or ham, mashed potatoes, cakes and vegetables similar to Thanksgiving.

In Spain I got to try polvorones, a cookie generally with almonds inside and turron, a hard or soft nougat with almonds and honey on the inside and can be chocolate or many different kinds. Another speciality is the King's cake which I have yet to try.

Polvorones 

Turrón

The Three Magic Kings
The correct name in English is actually the three wise men (los reyes magos), but everyone in Spain knows they are the ones to bring the presents on the three kings day. However, in the United States we receive presents from Santa and open them on Christmas morning December 25th. Some children make lists for him of the presents they want him to bring and make sure to stay on the "nice" list instead of the naughty list.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

5B and The Spread of Disease

This past unit in Natural Science has been about infectious and non-infectious diseases and how to stay healthy which is perfect for this time of year when the weather is getting colder and people are getting sick with fevers and colds. 5th grade learned about antibiotics, bacteria, viruses, diseases such as cancer and diabetes as well as how to stay healthy from these illnesses. Staying healthy included eating fruits and vegetables, doing exercise, getting eight hours of sleep and keeping clean by washing our hands and brushing our teeth.

On the last class before the holidays we performed an experiment to show the spread of disease.

The Spread of Disease Activity

To do the experiment we used plastic cups in groups of two and three. The students poured water into other cups in different groups to represent "coughing or sneezing" on another student. One group's cup was infected with a mixture of baking soda. After, I poured a few drops of homeade phenolphthalein solution (indicator for basic solutions) and the water turned a light green. The darker the green the more infected the group was.

The class then had to determine which group was originally the "infected" one and how now other groups had been contaminated.

Pouring water to spread disease 

Recording the results 

Sharing the infection: "coughing or sneezing" 

They are not infected! 

Constitution Day: Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

There was a popular American TV trivia show called "Are you smarter than a 5th grader" somewhat like Who wants to be a Millionaire where they asked educated adults the same questions that 5th graders were learning in their class. In case you are unfamiliar here is a link to the show.

Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader

Constitution Day is being celebrated tomorrow December 6th, this week we discussed the American constitution in my fifth and sixth grade classes.

Here is the presentation I shared with them which includes:
- Our Constitution Day
- The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States
- It protects our Rights and sets up the government
- It begins "We the People"
- It has 27 amendments, or changes to the constitution
- The first 10 are known as the Bill of Rights (with 2 videos)
- The three branches of government are the legislative, executive and judicial
- The Coat of Arms - Which can be found on the U.S. Dollar which I showed them along with a passport


The Constitution of the United States

Shake it Off - Bill of Rights

After we took an American Citizenship Exam. The same Naturalization Exam that immigrants have to prepare for in the United States, I had with flashcards.

Here you can have a look at the questions and see "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader???"