World Languages

Week of November 18th

This week in our classes!

Spanish Language and Culture (Mr. Fontalvo, Ms. Gonzalez)

Last week, students learned the months of the year, seasons, and weather expressions in Spanish. They practiced their speaking skills and focused on reading texts, making annotations to better understand and answer questions. Next week, they will continue practicing vocabulary related to weather and seasons and they will take their first reading formative assessment.

Spanish I (Mr. Donaldson, Ms. Cuffee)

Week 3 (Nov. 18-22, 2024)

This week, students will focus on vocabulary for weather, seasons, months, and days of the week. Homework assignments on SpanishDict.com for these topics are due on Friday, Nov. 22. The notes page titled "Los meses, las estaciones, el tiempo" will be graded as a student engagement grade based on completion. On Nov. 20, students will complete 2FormB2, a reading comprehension formative assessment on clothing and weather. Later in the week, students will engage in an activity analyzing logical and illogical clothing choices based on the weather, season, and context. We’ll end the week with 2PA3, an open-notes classwork activity identifying appropriate outfits based on seasonal and weather-related contexts.

Week 4 (Nov. 25-26, 2024)

To start the short Thanksgiving week, students will be introduced to demonstrative adjectives and will practice applying them in sentences. The notes page titled "Adjetivos demostrativos" will be graded as a student engagement grade based on completion. This new concept will be reinforced through activities, including a video-based exercise. There will be no homework for Week 4; homework will resume in Week 5.

Please note that the first grading deadline, after which assignments completed before that date will not be accepted late or for retakes, is Monday, December 9. The reading comprehension summative assessment, worth 20% of the term grade, will be on December 6.

Spanish II (Ms. Wooten, Ms. Henderson)

Spanish 2:

This week, we had the great pleasure of hosting immigration panels on Friday, in which students got to ask questions and hear about the immigration experiences of a diverse group of panelists. MANY THANKS to all participants- it was such a great experience. Next week, students will get to have smaller more one-on-one conversations in Spanish on Tuesday with visiting students from Cardozo International Academy, talking about their experiences in immigration, but also about school, interests, etc. It is a wonderful chance to USE the Spanish we have been learning, and perhaps be motivated to take more risks in everyday life to use Spanish and communicate with others. After the conversations on Tuesday, we will reflect and read the last few chapters of our book Esperanza. We will wrap up this unit by Thanksgiving!

Spanish Humanities, grade 6 (Ms. Balestra)

Last week we worked with reflexive verbs, and which verbs cannot be reflexive. We will have a Formative on Monday after a quick review in class.

On Tuesday we will begin reading the book, Cajas de Cartón, by Francisco Jimenez.

Please note that the first grading deadline, after which assignments completed before that date will not be accepted late or for retakes, is Monday, December 9.

Spanish Humanities, grade 7 (Ms. Henderson)

Esta semana, nuestros estudiantes de Humanidades están trabajando en el vocabulario clave para prepararse para la lectura del capítulo cuatro de Lazarillo de Tormes. En este capítulo, Lazarillo sigue encontrando maneras ingeniosas de engañar a su amo para sobrevivir en condiciones de gran pobreza, y nuestros estudiantes explorarán estas tácticas mientras profundizan en el contexto social de la obra.

Además, la próxima semana tendremos una visita especial: estudiantes de Español AP de Cardozo International Academy se unirán a nosotros en clase para participar en una discusión sobre la adversidad y cómo podemos desarrollar estrategias para superarla, ¡todo en español! Esta actividad ofrecerá a nuestros estudiantes una gran oportunidad para aplicar su vocabulario y habilidades lingüísticas en una conversación auténtica y significativa.

This week, our Humanities students are working on key vocabulary to prepare for reading chapter four of Lazarillo de Tormes. In this chapter, Lazarillo continues to find clever ways to trick his master to survive in conditions of extreme poverty, and our students will explore these tactics while deepening their understanding of the social context of the novel.

Next week, we will also have a special visit: AP Spanish students from Cardozo International Academy will join us in class to participate in a discussion on adversity and how we can develop strategies to overcome it—all in Spanish! This activity will provide our students with a great opportunity to apply their vocabulary and language skills in an authentic, meaningful conversation.

Spanish Humanities, grade 8 (Ms. Wooten)

Students this week read the first 3 vignettes of Casa en Mango Street, analyzing figurative language and making connections with the text. All students have their OWN copy of the text, which will often be graded in class for their text annotations- so they should be careful not to lose it. If you are able to buy a copy of the book (to replace the one I gave your student), please do buy one from our amazon wish list and I will use it with students next year! We also had the opportunity to participate in an immigration panel on Friday, listening to the stories of a diverse group of immigrants. Next week, students will participate in small group conversations on Tuesday with visiting students from Cardozo International Academy, and will discuss many of the themes and topics from both our first and second units. We will also introduce the major themes of Casa en Mango Street and begin tracking the themes throughout each vignette to help understand how Cisneros develops each theme throughout the whole book. For homework (due Wed), students need to read viñetas 5-6 (p 46-50) “Cathy reina de gatos” y “nuestro día bueno” pensando en las ideas de amistad, estereotipos, clase social. Hay que marcar el texto (mínimo de 3 anotaciones para cada viñeta con un pensamiento sobre QUÉ está diciendo esta viñeta sobre los temas de AMISTAD (friendship), estereotipos, o clase social.

French Language and Culture (Ms. Bullock, Mr. Almanza)

Unit two is off to a strong start! Students have already had a chance to show off how much they've learned on speaking interviews. This week in Introduction to French we will continue to talk about the weather en français. They will never have to have an awkward pause in a French conversation because they can officially make small talk about the weather! At the end of the week, students will get the opportunity to show off what they've learned on our first reading formative. To prepare, students should review their weather vocabulary! Need a study tool at home? Quizlet to the rescue. Want to support at home? Have your student teach you what they're learning! There's no better way to review!

French I (Ms. Balestra, Mr. Osei)

Last week we focused on food vocabulary and partitive articles. We ended the week with a Reading Comprehension Formative, focused on vocabulary.

Next week we will work more specifically on the verbs MANGER, BOIRE, PRENDRE and focus on Speaking output.

Please note that the first grading deadline, after which assignments completed before that date will not be accepted late or for retakes, is Tuesday, December 10. The reading comprehension summative assessment, worth 20% of the term grade, will be on December 6

French II (Dr. Mbayu)

We begin Unit 2: Le sport, la nourriture, et la santé. We will complete a diagnostic assessment and explore culture capsules.

Chinese (Ms. Liang)

Grade 6

In Lesson 4, we explored the topic of family members in Chinese, helping students learn to describe their family structure. This week, students practiced asking and answering questions such as:

你家有几口人? (Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?) – How many people are there in your family?
他们是谁？(Tāmen shì shéi?) – Who are they?
你有几个兄弟姐妹? (Nǐ yǒu jǐ gè xiōngdì jiěmèi?) – How many siblings do you have?
他们几岁？(Tāmen jǐ suì?) – How old are they?

Through these questions, students learned vocabulary related to family members, numbers, and ages. They also practiced introducing their families and describing family dynamics in Chinese, enhancing both their speaking and comprehension skills. Next week, we will continue building on this theme by introducing grade levels and occupations. Students will learn how to say their school grade and talk about family members' jobs.

Grade 7

Last week, our Grade 7 Chinese class proudly completed their summative oral presentations on the topic of “My Dream House.” Students worked hard to describe their ideal homes in Chinese, focusing on details like rooms, furniture, and surroundings. Each student showcased their creativity and language skills, helping to build their confidence in oral expression. We’ve begun a new unit on clothing! In this lesson, students are learning essential vocabulary for different types of clothing, accessories, and colors. They’re also practicing how to describe clothing styles and appearances, focusing on measure words “件，” “条,” and “双”and phrases like "长裙(long dress)," "短裤 (shorts)," and "穿了(wear)." This topic helps students apply descriptive language in fun and practical ways. Next week we will continue our learning and will have a formative assessment on Friday.

Grade 8

In Grade 8

We have been exploring the topics of extracurricular activities and different types of films. Students have learned vocabulary through etymology related to their hobbies outside school, such as sports, music, and clubs, and have been practicing how to discuss their interests. This week, we introduced various film genres, like "喜剧 (xǐjù - comedy)," "侦探片 (zhēn tàn piàn - detective)," and "科幻片 (kēhuàn piàn - sci-fi)," and sharing their opinions on each type. We began our movie-watching experience by analyzing scenes, plots (剧情 jù qíng), and characters (人物 rén wù) to understand how to talk about movies in Chinese. Next Friday, we will have a formative assessment to check students' understanding so far. Afterward, we’ll continue with more in-depth activities to build on this exciting unit.