Dear President Obama...

Did you know that anyone can write a letter to the president of the United States? It's true! Anyone can write a letter or an email and send it to the White House! Look at this link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/write-or-call

Presidents Day was on February 16th in the United States so the students of 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th courses at our school wrote letters to the president. In the letter the students asked President Barack Obama questions and told him their comments. Every letter started with "Dear President Obama." Next, the students introduced themselves, then they asked their questions and gave their commentary. Lastly, they ended the letters with "Thank you for reading my letter" and "Sincerely, [student's name]"

Some of the students asked President Obama very good questions! Here are photos of a few of the students' letters:

The Presidents and American Money

In the United States of February 16th we celebrate Presidents Day. Presidents Day is a day to celebrate and appreciate the current and past presidents of the United States. Presidents Day happens every year on February 16th because it is near George Washington´s birthday. George Washington was the first president of the United States. The American conversation assistant, Rachel brought US notes and coins for the children to see and examine.

The students and Rachel reviewed the most famous US presidents and why they are famous. Here is a list¨

1. George Washington: He was the 1st president and was the general of the Revolutionary Army that won independence from England. 

2. Abraham Lincoln: he was the 16th president. He is most famous because he helped free the slaves after the Civil War. He was also assasinated while watching a theatre.

3. John F. Kennedy: He was very popular with the American people. He was also assasinated while participating in a parade.

4. Barack Obama: He is the current president and also the first black president.

George Washington appears on the US 1 dollar note and the quarter dollar coin:

Abraham Lincoln appears on the US 5 dollar note and the US penny (1 cent):

The White House appears on the US 20 dollar note:

Love is in the Air!

Valentine´s Day (El Dia de San Valentin) was on February 14th. At the school we did a few different activities to celebrate this day in English. First we talked about what Valentine´s Day is about. It is about love. Then we talked about the different people in our lives whom we love (Our friends, mums, dads, brothers and sisters, teachers...).
In the United States, Valentine´s day is popular and celebrated by a lot of people, not only the people who are in romantic relationships. It is a tradition to give a Valentine´s Day card to friends, family members or other people you love. So in the classroom, each student had to make 4 Valentine´s Day cards. In each card the student had to write a special message in English. We brainstormed different nice things you could say in English in the Valentine´s Day cards. Here is an example of some of the things we thought of to write in our cards.

Martin Luther King Day Activities!

Martin Luther King Day was celebrated in the United States on January 19th! Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a great man who worked for racial equality and civil rights in the United States. During the 1950's, Dr. King participated in the movement for civil rights and racial equality. He participated in many peaceful demonstrations that protested the unfair treatment of African-Americans. He thought non-violence and peace were very important. He wished that America and the world could be a colorblind society where race would not affect a person's civil rights. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968. 

The 5th and 6th level students we read information on Dr. King and saw some pictures of him and his work. Dr. King was very famous for his ideals of equality but also because he was a great orator. Today many people still reference his speeches and things that he said. His "I have a dream" speech one of the most famous speeches ever made in the USA. So with the 5th and 6th years we also viewed some of his most famous quotes and translated them. We talked about the significance of each and about if we agreed with them. Here are a few examples of the more famous things Dr. King said.

In his famous "I have a dream" speech Dr. King said he had a dream that all children (black children and white children) would be equal and could love each other like friends and brothers. With the 3rd, 4th and 5th years we talked and wrote in English about our dreams for the world. The children had really great ideas! Here is a picture of the blackboard after we wrote our dreams:

Constitution Day

Constitution Day is on December 6th in Spain. Because of this, we talked about the constitution of the United States in the 5th and 6th grade classes. We read an document with information about the US constitution and after I surprised them with a short quiz consisting of 5 questions about the US constitution. The students who answered the most corrected won a pair of American-themed sun glasses! Here is a picture of Lidia and Alvaro wearing their glasses, they answered the most questions correct in their class!

Here is a copy of the information about the US constitution that we learned about:

• The Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
• It sets up the government and protects the basic rights of Americans.
• The Constitution was written after the American War of Independence.
• It was written in 1787.
• The federal government only has the powers that the Constitution says it has.
• The states have the powers that the federal government does not have.
• The Preamble is a short statement about the purpose of the Constitution. The Preamble does not prohibit actions or grant rights.
• The Preamble starts with the words "We the People." This means that the power of the government comes from the people.
• Changes to the Constitution are Amendments. There are 27 amendments to the Constitution.
• There are seven Articles in the Constitution.
• The Constitution separates the government into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.

Celebrating Universal Children´s Day

Today the students of the 6th year are celebrating Universal Children´s Day. They are going on an excursion to the center of Seville to complete workshops and activities about children´s rights. Yesterday they made a banner to present in Seville. Here is a photo of the students with their banner.

The banner featured a picture of Malala, an icon for children´s rights to education. Here is a link that explains more about Universal Children´s Day!

Around the World!

In Ms. Pilar´s 5th grade English classes the students are working on a special project. The students work with their classmates in groups to do a project about a country. The students are researching Morocco, Canada, Germany and Australia.

The students must find information about their country´s language, famous people, animals, land forms, climate, typical food, monuments and places. Then, the students will present the information on a poster. Here are some pictures of the students working on their projects in class.