About The Teacher

NAME: Señora Claudia Olea
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SCHOOL: St. John Catholic School

CLASS: Spanish (Español)


About Señora Olea:

I was born in Santiago, Chile, so I grew up speaking, playing, singing and 
even dreaming in Spanish.  The first time I came to Lawrence I was two years 
old, but I didn't move to Lawrence from Santiago until I was seventeen. I 
have a husband named David and three daughters. All three of my girls are 
attending St. John School this year!


About our Spanish classes:

One of my main goals is to make learning Spanish fun! I like to use art, 
stories, music, games and connections to real places and people to learn and 
practice our Spanish.

Preschool to third grade-

This last fall semester in primary level Spanish class, we headed for 
adventures, heroes and villains with our theme of fairy tales! We learned a 
song about the Puss in Boots (El gato con botas), counted mattresses with The 
Princess and the Pea (La princesa y el guisante), and saw how big the vines 
grew in Jack and Beanstalk (Juan y los frijoles mágicos). Second and third 
graders wrote and illustrated a fairy tale book to take home, and starred in 
two plays!

You'll find out on Monday when you return from Christmas break what our new 
theme will be!

Fourth to sixth grade-

Each semester in 4th to 6th grade Spanish class, we will study a different 
country to make the Spanish language come to life. These are some examples of 
how we’ve done that in past classes:

•	When we “visited” Spain, we studied the Spanish masters like Picasso 
and Miró, and learned about shapes, colors, feelings, and parts of the body.
•	On our trip to Mexico, we practiced verbs like “I want” by trading 
food and goods in an Aztec market.
•	In Perú, we practiced writing and saying large numbers by learning 
the Inca system of recording numbers by tying knots on a quipú.
•	Costa Rica was a bird and animal lovers' paradise, and we also 
practiced checking into a virtual hotel.
•	In Chile we learned about the mysterious moai statues and wrote plays 
set in a Chilean ski resort.

You'll find out on Monday when we return to class what new country we are 
visiting this spring semester. If you guessed correctly, you might win a 
prize!