World Languages

Week of May 5th

Interest Meeting for World Language Trips, 2026 (current 7th grade families)

World Language Trip Interest Meeting for 7th Grade Families

Deal will host an interest meeting for 7th grade families in-person at Deal at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, May 14th. The world language trips will take place during the 8th grade year, but planning for these trips starts now!

As part of Deal's commitment to inspiring excellence, curiosity, and compassion in our students, Deal Middle School will once again plan optional international trips as a supplement to our world language program. 8th grade students enrolled in Spanish, French, Chinese, or Spanish Humanities will have the opportunity to join their designated trip. These trips are entirely optional, funded by families, chaperoned by Deal staff, and open only to Deal 8th grade students in good academic, attendance, and behavioral standing. We find these trips to be a powerful experience for all involved.

All families interested in taking part should plan to attend the meeting. Additional details will be shared in future 7th grade team newsletters. See you there!

This week in our classes!

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

Last week in Spanish class, our students continued developing their language skills by learning how to conjugate regular verbs in the present tense. They also took a listening formative assessment to practice their comprehension skills. Next week, we will build on this foundation by learning how to ask and answer questions about extracurricular activities. Students will use verb conjugations in meaningful contexts to practice their speaking and writing in Spanish. We're excited to see their continued growth!

Spanish I (Mr. Donaldson, Ms. Cuffee)

**The assignment turn-in deadline for the first half of Term 4 is Tuesday, May 13.**

In Week 4, students will focus on giving and evaluating advice for maintaining good health. They will also analyze a song where they will use their vocabulary knowledge to infer meanings and answer questions related to health. The practice activities will involve reviewing health advice and the correct use of vocabulary related to nutrition and well-being. The week concludes with a listening formative assessment and a PA writing activity related to food and health. 8th grade students in Periods 2 and 6 need to make up 4PA3.CC on their own.

No homework this week.

The following graded assignments are included this week: 4FormA2.LL - Los hábitos y las opiniones Listening Formative and then 4PA3.CC - Crucigrama de comida Classwork

Spanish II (Ms. Wooten, Ms. Henderson)

This past week in Spanish 2 students continued reading chapters of our book La Calaca Alegre, while mixing in speaking and writing practice for the upcoming STAMP exam. This upcoming week, we will have slightly fewer classes due to PARCC testing. We will practice building vocabulary in preparation for reading chapter 5, and will do some fun game-based reviews for STAMP. Students have received a guide about topics covered on the STAMP exam and the expectations for each of the 4 sections (reading, speaking, listening, and writing). We will test May 12-16 in our normal class period, and will finish the following week if needed. The test is untimed and adaptive. Reading and listening is multiple choice and scored instantly. Writing and speaking each have 3 questions each. Students will receive 2 summative scores based on the following criterion: meeting the dCps based goal of novice high to intermediate low (3-4), finishing the test, and following all expectations set by the teacher (ie, attempts at least 5 sentences on writing and speaking).

Spanish Humanities, grade 6 (Ms. Balestra)

Students did a fabulous job creating their own mythological story and depicting a scene from their story in clay!

Here is a link to the stories: MItologia_cuentos de nuestras clases.docx

Here is a link to pictures of the clay creations: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0a2cQdb_pMWiOm8E13Wd7npqg

Los alumnos hicieron un trabajo fantástico creando su propia historia mitológica y representando una escena de ella en platilina.

Aquí tienen el enlace a las historias: MItologia_cuentos de nuestras clases.docx

Aquí tienen el enlace a las fotos de las creaciones en arcilla: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0a2cQdb_pMWiOm8E13Wd7npqg

Spanish Humanities, grade 7 (Ms. Henderson)

En nuestra clase de Humanidades hemos comenzado a leer nuestra última novela del año: El épico fracaso de Arturo Zamora. Esta historia sigue a un adolescente cubanoamericano que intenta ayudar a su familia y, en el proceso, descubre el poder de la comunidad, la poesía y la amistad. Contamos con algunas copias del libro en el aula, pero si desean que su estudiante tenga su propio libro, pueden conseguirlo en este enlace.
Además de explorar la cultura cubana a través de la historia, los estudiantes también aprenderán sobre la vida e ideas de José Martí, una figura clave en la historia de Cuba. ¡Los animo a conversar con sus hijos sobre el libro y lo que están aprendiendo en clase!

In our Humanities class, we’ve begun reading our final novel of the year: The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora. This story follows a Cuban American teenager who tries to help his family and ends up discovering the power of community, poetry, and friendship. We have some copies available in the classroom, but if you would like your student to have their own copy, you can find it at this link.

In addition to exploring Cuban culture through the novel, students will also learn about the life and ideas of José Martí, a key figure in Cuban history. Talk with your child about the book and what they’re learning in class!

Spanish Humanities, grade 8 (Ms. Wooten)

This past week, students received their labeled copy of the book La última cuentista (which they can and should take home). We read the first three chapters of the book and did a fun jeopardy comprehension game to review the basic elements of the book. For hw over the weekend, students are reading chapter 4 and answering a few short questions on a pink bookmark. It is not my expectation students will understand every single word of this book as they read, but I would like them to experience reading an engaging novel in Spanish more independently- so they are working on identifying their own level of comprehension and deciding which key words on each page are essential for their comprehension, and which they can infer or skip and still understand the main idea. Next week, we will have slightly fewer classes due to PARCC. We will read chapter 5 together and create a visual representation of the chapter and review what we have read so far. We have also been reviewing expectations for the STAMP exam which will happen in class May 12-16. Humanities students will take the stamp monolingual test, and will receive a proficiency score in each of the fluencies of the language- reading, writing, speaking and listening. The test is untimed and adaptive. Reading and listening is multiple choice and scored instantly. Writing and speaking each have 3 questions each. Students will receive 2 summative scores based on the following criterion: meeting the dCps based goal of intermediate mid (a 5 on the ACTFL proficiency scale), finishing the test, and following all expectations set by the teacher (ie, attempts at least 6 sentences on writing and speaking).

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

Happy DC Cape testing week! This week in introduction to French students will be creating a comic strip demonstrating their knowledge of invitation vocab. We will also be learning vocab to express WHERE we do things so students can level up their sentences! As always, regular practice of vocabulary is the best way to succeed in a language class. Encourage regular review!

French I (Ms. Balestra, Mr. Osei)

The theme for Unit 4 is clothing and fashion. While we continue to work on reading and speaking, our focus this term is listening comprehension and writing. Students have been learning new vocabulary and new verbs related to this theme. Last week they took a vocabulary Formative. This week students will be working on projects, using new material and integrating it with what we have been learning all year. Please remind your student that projects will be graded!

French II (Dr. Mbayu)

This week we started Unit 3: Le weekend, les loisirs, et les spectacles. We will complete a reading performance activity (criterion B): le metro et vive le jazz.

Next week we will delve into weekend activities in the city and the countryside from a comparative perspective.

Chinese (Ms. Liang)

G8

Last week, our Grade 8 students focused on strengthening their reading, speaking, and listening skills in preparation for the upcoming STAMP test. In class, we watched the official STAMP introductory video and reviewed testing procedures to help students feel confident and ready.

Next week, we will conduct our final in-class review, with a special focus on test-taking strategies and scheduling.

📌 Reminder: Please encourage students to study and review their notebooks at home to reinforce key vocabulary and grammar structures.

We’re proud of their progress and excited to see their growth on the STAMP assessment!

G7

Last week, our Grade 7 students worked on their menu project and gave in-class presentations. Each student designed a creative and unique menu featuring Chinese dishes, using the vocabulary and sentence patterns we’ve learned in our food unit.

Next week, we’ll bring the project to life! Students will “order” dishes from their classmates’ restaurants, practicing functional conversation skills in a fun, immersive setting. To celebrate our learning, we’ll wrap up with a class food party!

Thank you for supporting your child’s learning — we look forward to a delicious and memorable experience!

G6

Last week, our Grade 6 students learned vocabulary related to body parts and practiced their speaking skills through interactive classroom activities. Students enjoyed using new phrases to describe people and participating in short dialogues.

Next week, we will shift our focus to reading and writing about body parts. Students will complete character recognition and sentence-building activities to strengthen their literacy skills in Chinese.

Please encourage your child to review their notes and vocabulary at home for extra practice!