The Week Before Winter Break

8th grade Spanish students did a great deal of input activities this week one of which featured a short "Toopy y Binoo" episode followed by an reading and writing questionnaire. The link can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGaUedF_ajU


Students also did a "Descripciones" activity where they read paragraph descriptions in Spanish and drew whatever character was being described. Directions were given in written AND orally.

7th grade Spanish students worked primarily with their new unit "Objetos de la Clase." Students have been also learning prepositions to better understand and communicate locations of classroom objects (books are found in the library, pencils are found in school, staples are inside stapelers, etc).

6th grade Spanish students did a mini-comic conversation activity to supplement their unit surrounding courteous expressions. Our focus will shift after the winter break and we will move into how to address certain people in certain situations using the 3 ways to say "you" (Tú, Usted, and Ustedes).

Have a happy holiday and a restful break. I'll see you next year!

A New Trimester

8th grade Spanish students did their first "Reader's Theatre" presentations early this week and they did an excellent job. All students were very enthusiastic and the skits were very entertaining. We ended the week with a "StoryBoard" which featured "El hombre de pan de jengibre" (The Gingerbread Man). Students had used a series of pictures and written Spanish cards and had to figure out the plot line using the pictures and dialogue. The ending of "El hombre de pan de jengibre" was open-ended, and students created their own ending for this tale in Spanish.

7th grade Spanish students received their graded tests back for "La Comunidad" and synthesized their unit with a jeopardy game of La comunidad, La familia, and we recycled some categories from 6th grade Spanish as a much-needed vocabulary refresher.

6th grade Spanish students practiced their expressions of courtesy in mini-skits this week. This week we strived to make the interactions more authentic rather than scripted which meant a great deal of improv was required. We will add more expressions leading up to the winter break.

Just before grades are due

8th grade Spanish students heard/read the stories "El pequeño pianista" ("The Little Pianist") AND a clip from a popular hispanic TV series, "Toopy y Binoo: La caza del tesoro" ("Toopy & Binoo: Treasure Hunt"). The links to these stories can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdafCqHO7Bs (El pequeño pianista)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyIBJO6eZiI (Toopy y Binoo)

Students then discussed the stories and answered questions about their understanding of the plot, characters, and lesson of each story. Next week we will do a reading with non-fiction rather than fiction which centers around Thanksgiving.

7th grade Spanish students have now completed presentations of their project on "La Comunidad" and they had an exam this week on this unit. Next week we will begin our unit in classroom objects.

6th grade did their first "Culture Corner" activity in which they learned about Spain, Spanish America, and the Spanish language. We discussed and read articles about how ancient indigenous cultures and Spanish influence has shaped the hispanic identity today.