Hola, Amigos!

Today was the last day of our 'Round the World summer tour. I noticed that we hadn't done anything in Latin America---nothing from Mexico on down to Chile. So time to try out some Spanish!

We started with Hello World! Greetings in 43 Languages, by Manja Stojic. I gave this book to my grand-daughters some years ago, and if I'd remembered it, I would have borrowed it back sooner. Since they've outgrown it, I'm adding it to the library collection. It has bright cheerful paintings of smiling children around the world saying hello, from Aloha to Kia Ora, Amharic to Zulu.  Today we just looked at a few that we already learned.

We also read a Latin American folktale, The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle's Wedding, by Alma Flor Ada, and My Colors, My World: Mis Colores, Mi Mundo, by Maya Christina Gonzalez. This one is a bilingual book---I read it in English, but used the Spanish words for the colors.

We sang Bate, Bate, Chocolate, and counted bees from 1 to 10 in Spanish on the flannelboard.

The craft was a world mosaic, easy and fun to do. I have to thank Sheryl at the Chico Library for this idea.

Materials needed:

Blue paper plate
Foam sheets in earth colors (greens, browns, maybe some white, black, or blue)
Glue, hole punch, yarn.

Cut the foam into little randomly-shaped pieces. Give each child a paper plate, glue stick, and some foam bits. Let them make their world of continents and islands any way they like. When they are done, punch two holes in the rim and add a piece of yarn for hanging.