World Languages

Week of October 14-18

Student-led Parent-Teacher Conferences - Thank you!

It was nice to meet so many of you on Thursday. Thank you for making the time to come in with your student!

This week in our classes!

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

Last week, students practiced classroom objects vocabulary and completed a listening formative assessment. We also wrapped up Hispanic Heritage Month with a festive food festival, where students tasted traditional Hispanic dishes and learned some basic salsa steps!

Looking ahead to next week, students will focus on reviewing the vocabulary and structures they have learned in preparation for their upcoming listening and writing summative assessments. Keep up the great work!

Spanish I (Mr. Donaldson, Ms. Cuffee)

Looking ahead to Week 8, students will have SpanishDict.com homework on giving directions, the verb venir, and colors. Please note that there will be no school on Monday, October 14, in observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. On Tuesday, Profe. Donaldson's students will complete a writing formative on giving directions, followed by a writing summative on directions on Wednesday. Sra. Cuffee's scholars will take the formative on Thursday and the summative on Friday. The final two IB assessments for the term will take place this week. The rest of the week will focus on practicing directions.

To retake a summative in which a student scored 69% or below, they must complete a summative retake review. All retakes and makeup assignments must be scheduled in advance. For Profe. Donaldson, students can use the form at the top of his Canvas page. For Sra. Cuffee, students must message her via Canvas inbox and use the format/template provided on her Canvas page.

Spanish II (Ms. Wooten, Ms. Henderson)

This past week students received feedback on their first writing summative, summarizing Chapters 1 and 2 of Esperanza. If they didn't share their summative at conferences, ask them to bring it home and show it to you! We have now written down all of our official class vocabulary for Chapters 1-4 and students should be studying this vocabulary in preparation for a reading test next Thursday. On the test student will have to read a NEW text (not related to the book) and be able to understand the text (because they know our class vocabulary) and react to the text with their own opinion. Next week we will finish reading the ch4 readers' theatre and then prepare and take the test.

If you or someone you know would be interested in participating in this panel, please reach out to Anna Henderson anna.henderson@k12.dc.gov or Kathryn Wooten kathryn.wooten@k12.dc.gov . We would love to hear from you!

Thank you for your continued support!

Spanish Humanities, grade 6 (Ms. Balestra)

Students did a great job working with high-frequency verbs last week. They took a Formative on Tuesday where they showed their mastery.

Next week we will finish our reading of "Once" by Sandra Cisneros, we will work on speaking in small groups, and students will take a Summative. This Summative will show me that students can analyze, compare, and contrast their lives with the lives of other children. It will also show me their mastery of the written language.

If you'd like to purchase anything for our classroom, click here! Thank you!

Spanish Humanities, grade 7 (Ms. Henderson)

Los estudiantes han completado el proyecto culminante de nuestra unidad sobre identidad y exploración. En este proyecto, crearon un collage de símbolos que representan sus identidades a través de la lente del "Viaje del héroe." ¡Sus trabajos han sido increíbles!

Esta semana, comenzamos a aprender sobre España en la Edad Media, lo cual nos ayudará a contextualizar nuestra próxima lectura de El Lazarillo de Tormes. Durante el fin de semana largo, los estudiantes deben finalizar su estudio sobre las ciudades importantes de esa época y crear sus mapas de España.

Students have completed the culminating project for our unit on identity and exploration. In this project, they created a collage of symbols representing their identities through the lens of the Hero’s Journey. Their work has been amazing!

This week, we began learning about medieval Spain, which will help us put our next reading, El Lazarillo de Tormes, into context. Over the long weekend, students should finish their study of important cities during the Middle Ages and create their maps of Spain.

Spanish Humanities, grade 8 (Ms. Wooten)

This past week students worked on writing their second poem, using figurative language to describe how the languages they speak impact their identity. Over the long weekend, they should be submitting the first draft of this poem for feedback, along with a paragraph in which they explain how they chose to use figurative language and how it contributes to the overall message of their poem. Next week, I will conference with each student to provide feedback and students will write their final poem in a group, choosing their intended audience and message, and modeling the poem after a poem "Nos gustarían que sepan" that we will read together in class.

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

This week in Introduction to French students will be learning to give their opinion about their classes en français. This will all be in an effort to complete our first writing summative at the end of the week! It's AMAZING all that we have learned in a short time. In this writing summative, students will be talking all about themselves and their school life (in French)! You can support your student by encouraging them to study their vocab to prepare! Need some help? https://bit.ly/MadameU1

If you would like to donate to our classroom needs, please use this Wish List! Merci, merci!

French I (Ms. Balestra, Mr. Osei)

During our short week last week, students worked on putting all of the vocabulary, verbs, and contractions together. Students in Ms. Balestra's class took a Listening Summative. Next week we will focus on writing, writing, writing, and take a Writing Summative. The topic will be our homes, our neighborhood, and our city.

If you'd like to purchase anything for our classroom, please click here for Ms. Balestra's wish list.

And here for Mr. Osei's wish list.

French II (Dr. Mbayu)

Last week our students continued the use of realia by annotating authentic newspaper ads and responding to comprehension questions. Next week, we will take two summative assessments.

Merci.

Chinese (Mr. Zhi, Ms. Liang)

Grade 6

Last week our students had an in-class formative assessment about greetings and dates. We sang songs and had a class party. We started learning lesson 3 School Supplies and learned new characters through etymology. Next week we will continue learning Lesson 3.2 School Supplies. We are excited to see their progress as they build their foundational communication skills in Chinese.

Grade 7

Last week our students had an oral summative assessment and described their daily schedules and had a written summative assessment on Lesson II Time and Activities. We started learning Lesson 3 My house. Next week we will continue to learn L3.2-5. We are excited to see their progress as they build their speaking and writing skills in Chinese.

Grade 8

Last week our students continued exploring how to describe popular cities in China, plan vacation itineraries, decide activities for summer breaks and explain why. Students prepared for the speaking summative assessment on Dream China Trip project last week. Students will share their Taiwan trip project to the class this Tuesday. And we will have one written summative assessment this Friday. Next week we will start lesson three. We are excited to see their progress as they build their presentational speaking skills in Chinese.