World Languages

Week of May 19th

Current 7th grade families -

Next Year's 8th Grade World Language Trips

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.

To register for the world language trips, families will need to complete two steps:

Submit a signed permission slip to the trip's sponsor by Friday, May 30th. Permission slips should be turned in to your student's language teacher or emailed directly to the trip sponsor:

Once the trips are approved by DCPS, families will need to register with the travel company. We anticipate registrations will early in the 2025/2026 school year.

Please note, completing the permission slip gives your student permission to travel and expresses interest in the trip, but is not a guarantee of attendance on the trip. Once the trip is fully approved by DCPS, families will need to complete the tour company's registration process, including paying for the trip and turning in all required documents.

Please note – The dates on the permission forms are for DCPS approval purposes only and are likely to change. Families will be required to complete an updated form once dates are finalized.

If you are considering joining the trip at all, please submit the permission slip Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to sharing this experience with our students.

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)

In Week 6, students will complete their listening and speaking summative assessments about food, meal, restaurant, and health-related topics. In the listening summative assessment, they will answer questions about food, meals, restaurants, health-related vocabulary, and scenarios. The next day, for the speaking summative assessment, they will describe issues and give advice regarding food, meals, restaurants, and health-related scenarios.

No more SpanishDict.com homework for the rest of the year.

The following summative assessments are included this week: 4SummA1.RS - Restaurante y supermercado Listening Summative and 4SummC1.QP - ¿Qué piensas tú? Speaking Summative

Spanish II (Ms. Wooten, Ms. Henderson)

Spanish 2 students are wrapping up their work on the STAMP language proficiency exam. We’ll dedicate one final class period on Monday to ensure all students have the time they need to complete it.

Students have already received scores for the interpretive portions of the exam—listening and reading—and we expect to receive their writing and speaking scores next week. Overall, students have been doing a spectacular job, and we’re proud of their effort and focus.

If there’s one sure way to boost vocabulary and fluency, it’s reading regularly in Spanish. It’s never too early to start thinking about a summer reading book in Spanish—please encourage your student to see me if they’d like recommendations!

Next week, we’ll return to our class novel, La calaca alegre, and begin a new focus on art and identity. We’ll start by exploring the powerful mural work of Héctor Duarte in Pilsen, Chicago—an exciting way to connect visual art with cultural expression.

Spanish Humanities, grade 6 (Ms. Balestra)

Last week we finished our hard work on the formation and differences between the two past tenses: preterit and imperfect. Students worked hard, powered through, and showed me on a Formative that they understood.

This week we will finish our work on Oda al Tomate by Pablo Neruda and begin creation of our own ode, "Oda a la Leche." I am excited to see what the students create! We will have a celebration on June 5th where students will present their ode and we will all enjoy treats made with milk! Think: tres leches, arroz con leche, helado, flan...

I will be sending an email for families to sign up to contribute treats. Stay tuned!

Spanish Humanities, grade 7 (Ms. Henderson)

In Spanish Humanities, we are continuing our work with the novel El épico fracaso de Arturo Zamora. This week, students demonstrated their comprehension of the first six chapters on an exam (check Aspen for scores). Next week, they will focus on analysis—examining the decisions Arturo makes, as well as the motives and consequences of his actions. This in-class written analysis will take place on Thursday.

Students should finish reading Chapter 7 over the weekend and complete the comprehension quiz on Canvas.

Also, after a great conversation with a parent, I’ll be putting together a list of Spanish books for students who want to continue expanding their vocabulary and fluency over the summer. Stay tuned!

Español:

En la clase de Humanidades en español, seguimos trabajando con la novela El épico fracaso de Arturo Zamora. Esta semana, los estudiantes demostraron su comprensión de los primeros seis capítulos en un examen (pueden consultar las calificaciones en Aspen). La próxima semana, se enfocarán en el análisis: examinarán las decisiones que toma Arturo, así como los motivos y las consecuencias de sus acciones. Este análisis escrito se hará en clase el jueves.

Este fin de semana, los estudiantes deben terminar de leer el capítulo 7 y completar el cuestionario de comprensión en Canvas.

Además, después de conversar con un padre de familia, voy a preparar una lista de libros en español para los estudiantes que quieran seguir ampliando su vocabulario y mejorar su fluidez durante el verano. ¡Muy pronto compartiré más información!

Spanish Humanities, grade 8 (Ms. Wooten)

In 8th grade humanities, students spent the week working on the stamp exam. I have been very proud of their efforts on what is quite a long test. Students should already know their speaking and listening scores, and avant will be grading their productive skills (writing and speaking) in the next few weeks. As they finish, I am evaluating their responses and putting the 2 summative grades in ASPEN. We will have one last full-class testing day on Monday, and after that I will help individuals finish as needed, but we will return to reading our class novel. When AVANT publishes the full score report, I will send it home with students. IMPORTANT- students have had homework to read and annotate chapters 6 and 7 of the book during testing. I will check this in class on Tuesday. Expectations for annotations are on canvas.

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

This week in Introduction to French students will be showing off all that they have learned! We will be reviewing our concepts from the year before we complete our final writing formative. This writing formative will be like a student autobiography which will be assembled into our class "yearbook." Please encourage your student to review! Students can check out our quizlet sets from the year and review vocabulary sheets. We can't wait to see all they have learned!

French I (Ms. Balestra, Mr. Osei)

Students took a Listening Formative on Friday and worked all week on different parts of their final Summative, a writing assignment. Their final draft is due this Friday, the 23rd. All work is being completed in class.

*8th graders* will be taking the STAMP exam this week during French class.

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)

G6

Last week in Chinese class, we continued our unit on body parts and focused on reading and writing practice. Students reviewed vocabulary through interactive activities and completed a quiz last Friday to assess their progress.

Next week, we will continue exploring this topic with an emphasis on speaking and listening. Students will engage in fun partner conversations and listening exercises to help reinforce their understanding of key vocabulary and sentence patterns. We will have a formative next week.

Keep up the great work, everyone—let’s continue building our Chinese skills together!

G7

Last week, we wrapped up our speaking summative assessment and kicked off a brand-new unit on weather. Students learned common weather vocabulary and practiced new sentence patterns through engaging speaking and listening activities in class.

Next week Friday, we will continue building on this foundation and have an in-class formative assessment to check for understanding. Keep reviewing your notes and practicing at home to prepare!

G8

Last week, our Grade 8 students completed the reading and writing sections of the STAMP test. Great job to everyone for your focus and effort!

Next week, we will continue with the listening and speaking sections of the test. Keep up the hard work, and best of luck—you're almost there!