Dominique De Los Reyes

My last two months at CEIP Blas Infante

Wow! My last two months working at C.E.I.P Blas Infante have 

been so bittersweet. April was super fun because we celebrated 

Day of the Book. In infantil, I read them a story in English titled 

Nelly Paints a Monster and each student drew their own monster 

and reviewed the colors and parts of the body in English. In first 

grade I read them a story titled What’s the Time Mr.Wolf? and 

each student made their own clock and practiced telling time in 

English. In second grade I read Goldilocks and the Three Bears 

and I read The Ugly Duckling in third grade and they each 

completed a book review worksheet in English.

May was so much fun! We had a lock-in event for 5th
 grade where some teachers dressed up in scary 
costumes while the students had to work as a team 
to solve clues. To celebrate Europe day, Molly and I 
decorated the English board with a map of Europe 
and we marked all the European countries we had 
visited this school year! The teachers treated us 
to an amazing farewell dinner and surprised Molly 
and I with some gifts. It was so sad saying 
goodbye to the teachers and students. Working 
at C.E.I.P. Blas Infante was such an amazing 
experience and I am so happy to have met everyone!

February and March were amazing!

Hello again! February and March were amazing! In infantil
we focused on practicing greetings in English. In first grade 
we focused on the different seasons of the year as well as 
learning about houses and flats. In the second grade class we
 continued learning about landscapes. In third grade we 
focused on the human body. In February I celebrated my 
birthday and it was really sweet to hear the students sing the 
“Happy Birthday” song in English. February also brought 
another culture shock in the form of Carnaval! This is a 
celebration that I had never experienced but it was so fun to 
learn about it and see the students dress up.

The infantil students paraded through the school in their 
amazing costumes.

In March, the first graders learned about the different types of 
materials and machines. In second grade we discussed the 
universe and learned the names of the planets. In third grade I 
taught about the different bodies and forms of water on Earth. Just 
like in February, March brought a new cultural experience for me 
in the form of Semana Santa. In the United States, we do not 
celebrate Semana Santa like they do in Spain. Instead, Easter is 
the major holiday in March so I presented the holiday to all the 
students so they could be introduced to traditions in the U.S.A. 

Molly and I decorated the English bulletin board with Easter 

baskets filled with Easter eggs that the infantil students decorated.

December and January at CEIP Blas Infante

Hello again! December and January were full of fun lessons 

and introducing new traditions.

December taught me a lot about the difference in American 

and Spanish culture when it comes to the December holidays. 

In the USA, Santa Claus is the star of Christmas. But in Spain,

 I learned the the Reyes Magos are extremely important and 

the children look forward to Día de Los Reyes Magos rather 

than Christmas. This was so strange and interesting to me 

because I never knew that Spain gave so much importance to 

the Reyes Magos. Back in the USA, my family celebrates Día

de Los Reyes Magos but it is typically a small celebration that 

is nowhere near as anticipated as Christmas. This was very 

interesting for both the students and I to learn because I felt 

that they taught me about their culture just as much as I had 

taught them about my culture.  

January was also a very fun month. In Infantil 5 we were 
learning all about the Circus. I introduced them to
 vocabulary words and showed them videos of different 
circus acts which the students really loved. In first grade 
we learned about the parts of the school and the parts of 
the street. In second grade we learned about landscapes 
and I created a worksheet for the students to name the 
different types of landscapes in English. In third grade 
we focused on the atmosphere and weather. These were 
all really fun topics to teach in class with the students. 

It was really interesting to see how the students 
celebrated School day of Non-Violence and Peace. 
This is something that I never celebrated in elementary 
school in the USA so I was very happy to learn about 
this holiday. 

November was a really fun month!

In  the first grade on the parts of the house as well as the different types of homes.

In the second grade we focused on the animals. We discussed the different types of vertebrate animals as well as learning their reproductive methods (viviparous or oviparous)

In the infantil classes we focused on colors, numbers, greetings, and castles.

 

In third grade we focused on ecosystems. We learned the different types of terrestrial ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, life cycles, symbiotic relationships, and distinctive features of each ecosystem.

In the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving in November. This is a celebration that takes place every 4th Thursday of November and families get together to have a big dinner and give thanks. The dinner usually includes foods like turkey, mashed potatoes, and corn. The students were really interested in learning about this holiday because it is not celebrated in Spain. Their favorite part was when I talked about the annual Macy’s thanksgiving parade and showed them a video of the big parade balloons.

In Infantil 3 we discussed the colors of fall and painted an autumn tree.
During the week of thanksgiving, the students made hand turkeys in Infantil 3.
Although it was the first year that I am unable to be with my family during Thanksgiving, I still had so much to be grateful for. I was also very happy to have celebrated Thanksgiving with my friends in Sevilla. I definitely ate a lot of food that day.

           Thanksgiving celebration in Sevilla

 My first month as a Language Assistant 

    Hello everyone! My name is Dominique De Los Reyes and I am one of the Language Assistants this year. I am from the United States, specifically from Texas. I grew up in South Texas near the Mexican border so my family is from Mexico and I was surrounded by the Mexican culture my entire life. Although I would say I am fluent in Spanish, I have a lot of room for improvement and it has been so interesting to identify the differences between Spanish from Spain and Mexico. 

    I had never been to Spain before, but I was so excited to move here so that I could improve my Spanish, learn about Spanish culture, explore Europe, and teach English. I have had an amazing time getting to know all the students and teachers. This month we celebrated Halloween which was a very fun surprise for me because I had previously thought that Halloween was not celebrated in Spain. I learned that it is starting to gain popularity but that a big difference is that only scary costumes are used whereas in the United States people don’t only dress in scary costumes. They also dress up in funny costumes, superhero costumes, princess costumes and so much more. I had a great time working at the face painting booth during the Halloween festival after school. It’s always a great feeling to see the students so excited. 

Molly and I at the face painting table