Welcome Back, and Happy New Year! ¡Feliz año nuevo! Welcome to 2019!
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La ola del lago Spanish Immersion Mid-Summer 2018 Update:
It may be summer time, but there is a lot of stuff going on during the summer here at LODL. Here are 29 things to know! 28 Things to Know about La ola del lago Spanish Immersion
If you have any questions, please contact Richie Kucinski, La ola del lago Spanish Immersion Principal at [email protected] or 952-226-0903 We can’t wait to welcome our students back to school in 38 days! J Greetings, LODL families. We hope everyone is having a safe and fun summer. It's hard to believe we are nearly into August. Here are a few summer updates and announcements to share:
1 - Class lists will be mailed out sometime the week of 8/21 2 - New 21st Century Learning furniture have been purchased for our 3 new sections of grade 3 3 - We are running 2 sections (because we had a waiting list) of "Welcome to Kindergarten" Spanish camp next week 4 - LODL will have 13 classes (4 Kindergarten and three of grades 1 - 3) and be about 285 students. All 13 teachers have been hired and can't wait to greet students in August! 5 - Our 6 new Amity International interns for the 2017-18 will be arriving around 8/15 - a special thanks to the families that will be hosting this fall and Spring. We will have 4 female (Elisenda, Gabriela, Carolina, and Ana) and 2 male (Daniel and Jaime) interns this year 7 - Our fabulous PTC helped to raise over $5,000 from Lake Front Music Fest tickets and volunteer hours 8 - All classrooms will have their own iPad charging systems with enough iPads for a 2:1 ratio 9 - School supply lists are posted on our website and FB pages and are available at many of the local stores (Target, Walmart, etc) 10 - All of our LODL teachers are coming in this summer for many days of professional development, training, and curriculum planning before the official start 11 - All classrooms received full sets of math manipulatives from Lakeshore learning 12 - We placed a very large order of Spanish language arts materials for grades K-3 to supplement the amazing resources we already have 13 - Open House for LODL will be Wednesday, August 30 from 3:30 - 5:30 (additional information will be included in the materials you receive with class lists) 14 - We have purchased additional guided reading books, all the way from level aa – level Q 15 - Great Start to Kindergarten Assessments will take place the week of August 7 16 - LODL office is open Monday - Friday 8:00 - 4:00 If you have any additional questions, please contact Richie Kucinski at [email protected] or 952.226.0903. We can't wait to welcome our students back to an incredible year of learning! Enjoy the last few weeks of summer!! It has been way too long since I last blogged. So there is no better way to get back into the routine than simply taking the time to do it! Our school district was on Spring break the week of March 13, and many of our La ola del lago students traveled to Spanish speaking parts of the world. As we returned back to school last week, I heard many stories from parents that our LODL students were engaging with the locals, helping parents order food at restaurants, and asking for directions. Thanks to the Richardson Family (Mackenzie grade 2) for sharing the short video clip of her speaking Spanish at a restaurant, as well as a narrative provided by her father, Scott.
This video and narrative are a perfect example of how language immersion education is raising up the next generation of bilingual world changers. "Mackenzie has been attending La ola del lago Spanish Immersion since the program opened two and a half years ago and has done well academically and in terms of grasping and speaking a second language. My wife and I had heard from her teachers throughout her brief career at La ola del lago that she was doing very well in her language development but, since my wife and I do not speak Spanish, we really had no idea what that really meant. In March we decided to take our children to Mexico for Spring Break and we quickly learned that in a very short time (2 ½ years) our daughter was nearly fluent in Spanish. It was amazing to watch her spend nearly 4 full days speaking Spanish to everyone except her family. Mac was able to get us tables at restaurants, exchange money from American to Pesos with the concierge, order her own drinks and snacks, and interact with Spanish speaking peers at the children’s explorer area. My wife and I were amazed to simply listen to her talk to her new friends and their parents and there seemed to be no limits to her ability to communicate in Spanish. More adult concepts were difficult for her, for example, she did not know how to tell the parents of her new friend from Mexico City to “drive safely” and she struggled translating for us if we were haggling with a merchant off the resort but otherwise Mac was nearly fluent. As I stated earlier, we knew that she was progressing nicely in her language acquisition, however, to actually see her immersed in Spanish, speaking it constantly, and engaging with native speakers was amazing. Mckenzie’s confidence and joy in speaking Spanish was very apparent and every native speaker that she engaged with made a point to tell her mother and I how good her Spanish was. Most of Spanish speakers she interacted with assumed that her mother or I spoke Spanish because she spoke so well and were surprised when we told them we did not. Everything she has learned in the area of language acquisition, she learned as a result of her immersion at La ola del lago and we could not be happier with her ability to speak and understand Spanish as a result of our decision to place her in an immersion school." El rincón de Richie: el 1 de abril, 2016
Estimadas familias de La ola del lago: We made it to abril, and are now 7/9 complete with our school year. And our students continue to learn and grow and flourish each day. Each day at La ola del lago is full of wonderful learning and active student engagement. One highlight this week was when Srta. Cook’s first grade students received letters from their penpals in Cali, Colombia! They sent their first letters a few months ago and received their responses this week. The kids LOVE learning about and communicating with children in another country, and it is a perfect example of students using their Spanish to communicate in an authentic way! If there is anything I can help you out with over the course of the school year, or if you have any questions about Spanish immersion education, I am always happy to hear from you. I can be reached directly at 952.226.0903 or [email protected]. Hasta luego, Richie A very special and memorable night for La ola del lago Grade 1 students as they celebrated their commitment to speaking only Spanish at school. Nearly 250 people were attendance to support these ambitious learners on their journey towards becoming bilingual citizens of this global community.
Our grade 1 Celebration to Spanish-only last night was a huge success! I could not have been more proud of our students and our families. I would simply like to share with you what I wrote for the back of the program. Our grade 1 students (soon to be grade the bar for next year’s first graders, as well as future students! “Queridos estudiantes de La ola del lago: Wow! I can’t express enough how proud I am of each and every single one of our La ola del lago first grade students! Do you remember when each one of you began Kindergarten at La ola del lago? Many of you were only able to say “Hola” and might have known how to count uno, dos, tres or knew a few colors. But you kept learning. You kept listening. You kept growing. And you kept trying each day to speak as much Spanish as possible. Soon you were beginning to sound out letters in Spanish , read syllables and sight words, do math problems, write about what you like to do, and learn new words to talk in Spanish with your friends and teachers. And now you are able to talk and laugh with many more people and better understand cultures and worldviews. Tonight you are making a commitment in front of your teachers, families, friends and interns to speak only Spanish during the school day. You are wonderful examples of bilingual learners to our entire La ola del lago school community. We are all cheering and supporting you as you continue your Spanish immersion learning journey here at La ola del lago in Prior Lake – Savage Area Schools. We all hope the very best for you and are excited to see you reach your full potential as citizens of this global community. From all of us here at La ola del lago, ¡FELICIDADES! Sr. Kucinski Director de La ola del lago” If there is anything I can help you out with over the course of the school year, or if you have any questions about Spanish immersion education, I am always happy to hear from you. I can be reached directly at 952.226.0903 or [email protected]. Hasta luego, Richie One of the most crucial elements of literacy development is small group guided reading instruction. La ola del lago students meet daily in differentiated small groups at their appropriate instructional level. Here are a few quick samples of grade 1 students writing and reading their own stories. We had a phenomenal week of learning at La ola del lago. Not only was it the 100th Day of School, there is also the feeling of Spring in the air! It is very evident our teachers, interns, and students have “hit the groove” of the year. Learning happens at all moments of the day; and this is why we do what we do.
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Richie KucinskiPublic education is an extremely complex system. When unpacked, powerful and unique possibilities for our students to influence and change society are discovered. Join me in my learning journey to better understand, frame, and clearly articulate the systems of modern day public education. Archives
November 2015
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