¡Feliz día de acción de gracias! Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students and their families a Feliz día de acción de gracias (a Happy Thanksgiving!) Have a delicious and restful break and see you when we return next Monday!

8th grade Spanish students have begun their final unit for the first trimester. This is a 4-part story series about a boy named Gabi and his disorganization. Students have completed the first two chapters of this series. Students have discussed their own organization habits and daily routines asa result of the content in these stories. The stories this week included:
* El armario de Gabi (Gabi's Locker)
* ¡Qué asco! (How Gross!)

7th grade Spanish students did the following MovieTalk discussion for this short week:
* Lifted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY1_HrhwaXU
Students learn different structures in Spanish with each video. Students are asked guiding questions both written and orally. If you are unfamiliar with how MovieTalk helps kids learn Spanish faster, I have provided a link below for more information:
http://martinabex.com/teacher-training/movietalk/

6th grade Spanish students did the following MovieTalk discussion for this abbreviated week:
* ¡Le Duele! (Sun Herald commercial) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE2853uYaE0
Students learn different structures in Spanish with each video. Students are asked guiding questions both written and orally. If you are unfamiliar with how MovieTalk helps kids learn Spanish faster, I have provided a link below for more information:
http://martinabex.com/teacher-training/movietalk/

Mid-November

8th grade Spanish students did the following MovieTalk activities this week:
* El gato de Simon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1qHVVbYG8Y
* ¿Quién soy? (Who am i?)
Students learn different structures in Spanish with each video. Students are asked guiding questions both written and orally. If you are unfamiliar with how MovieTalk helps kids learn Spanish faster, I have provided a link below for more information:
http://martinabex.com/teacher-training/movietalk/

7th grade Spanish students did the following MovieTalk discussions this week:
* Feast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7ARYCDna3E
* Toopy y Binoo: Burbujas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGaUedF_ajU
Students learn different structures in Spanish with each video. Students are asked guiding questions both written and orally. If you are unfamiliar with how MovieTalk helps kids learn Spanish faster, I have provided a link below for more information:
http://martinabex.com/teacher-training/movietalk/

6th grade Spanish students did the following MovieTalk discussions this week:
* El tiburón https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7r2cBgr0rs
* Lágrimas de Carl's Jr. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjabx_J1dDw
Students learn different structures in Spanish with each video. Students are asked guiding questions both written and orally. If you are unfamiliar with how MovieTalk helps kids learn Spanish faster, I have provided a link below for more information:
http://martinabex.com/teacher-training/movietalk/

MovieTalk Units

8th grade Spanish students did the following MovieTalk discussions this week:
* La receta del amor (Love Recipe) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ufQ9OUosKE
* La muerte en el hospital (Death fails at the hospital) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1bbN08o6Y4
Students learn different structures in Spanish with each chapter. Students are asked guiding questions both written and orally. If you are unfamiliar with how MovieTalk helps kids learn Spanish faster, I have provided a link below for more information:
http://martinabex.com/teacher-training/movietalk/

7th grade Spanish students did the following MovieTalk discussions this week:
* El monje y el mono (The Monk and the Monkey) https://vimeo.com/14441514
* Toopy y Binoo: Caza del tesoro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyIBJO6eZiI
Students learn different structures in Spanish with each chapter. Students are asked guiding questions both written and orally. If you are unfamiliar with how MovieTalk helps kids learn Spanish faster, I have provided a link below for more information:
http://martinabex.com/teacher-training/movietalk/

6th grade Spanish students did the following MovieTalk discussions this week:
* Emma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRDSj62tlvQ
* Crest y Oral B https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thU8HUVdU0U
Students learn different structures in Spanish with each chapter. Students are asked guiding questions both written and orally. If you are unfamiliar with how MovieTalk helps kids learn Spanish faster, I have provided a link below for more information:
http://martinabex.com/teacher-training/movietalk/

Conference Week

8th grade Spanish students did the following oral MovieTalk this week:
* Dulces de Halloween which can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thU8HUVdU0U
Oral MovieTalks involve taking still shots of the animated shorts and discussing the film in Spanish. Students are asked questions regarding the plot, the thoughts/actions/feelings of the characters, and they offer their own theories about the endings/what happens next for our protagonists.

7th grade has ended their TPRS story unit which they will be showing parents during conferences in their portfolios. Below is a description of what can be expected of your children during a TPRS unit. 
TPR Storytelling (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling TPRS) is method of teaching foreign languages where a mixture of reading and storytelling help students learn Spanish in the classroom setting. The method works in three steps: 1.) Vocabulary structures are learned and are taught using a combination translation, gestures, and personalized questions. 2.) Those structures are used in a spoken class story; and finally, 3.) These same structures are used in a class reading. Throughout these 3 steps, the teacher will use a sumber of techniques to help make sure the target language is comprehensible to students; including careful limiting of vocabulary, the constant asking of comprehension questions, frequent comprehension checks and very short grammar explanations known as "pop-up grammar."

6th graders have started their unit on "El día de los muertos" (The Day of the Dead). Students watched a slideshow surrounding this major Mexican holiday, viewed music videos, and re-created authentic Mexican artifacts (calacas and mascaras).