World Languages
Week of October 13, 2026
Spanish Language and Culture (Mr. Fontalvo, Ms. Gonzalez)
Last week, students completed both a formative and a summative listening assessment. Next week will be a short but productive week! Students will participate in classroom review activities to prepare for their final writing summative assessment of Term 1.
To prepare, students should review how to introduce themselves and share basic personal information, describe their classes and teachers, and explain what materials they need for each class. We strongly encourage students to review the resources available on Canvas to reinforce their learning and build confidence before the assessment.
Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration!
Next week also marks the end of our Hispanic Heritage Month celebration! On Thursday, October 15, students are invited to show their Hispanic pride and appreciation for Hispanic cultures by wearing traditional clothing, sports jerseys representing Hispanic countries or teams, or traditional hats from Spanish-speaking countries.
We will celebrate with music and a fun Hispanic Heritage trivia activity during recess!
Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to a wonderful week of learning and celebrating the rich diversity of Hispanic cultures!
¡Gracias por su apoyo!
Spanish I (Mr. Donaldson, Ms. Cuffee)
Please note that there will be no school on Monday, October 12, in observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. On Tuesday, there are student-led conferences, so there will be no school as well. There is a writing summative on directions on Wednesday. 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, Mr. Almanza)
This week, Spanish 2 students put their vocabulary knowledge and understanding of the first two chapters of Esperanza to the test in their first summative assessment of the year. They summarized the novel’s key events so far and made predictions about what might happen next. Students did an amazing job, and this is certainly a piece of work worth showcasing during next week’s student-led conferences!
Next week may be short, but we’ll keep moving ahead with chapters three and four as we prepare for our final reading summative of the advisory.
Finally, if you’re interested in having your student travel to Costa Rica this February, please join us for our second trip meeting on October 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Have a lovely long weekend and we look forward to seeing you at the Family Conferences on the 13th.
SPANISH 2 - Wooten
This week students finish their writing summative summarizing and reacting to Chapters 1 and 2 of the book Esperanza. Ask your student to share their graded work at student conferences! We also went over the last new vocabulary for our reading summative next Friday (ask your student- En general, ¿te quejas mucho? ¿De qué se quejan las personas en tu familia/ tu escuela? ¿De qué tienes miedo? ¿Qué deben hacer los estudiantes para tener buenas notas en escuela)? The vocabulary on the test can be accessed on this list in quizlet or this gamified review here.
Next week, we will finish reading part 2 of chapter 4 in reader’s theater style, do a jeopardy review for the reading test, and take our chapter 1-4 reading test. As discussed in class, this test uses the VOCABULARY from class in a new context. The test is not about the book, but will use the vocabulary we have been working on from the book. See links above to access the vocabulary- but the best resource is the student created “mi diccionario” which has all of the tested vocabulary.
Make up work- if you are checking grades over the long weekend as see missing assignments, please look on canvas and download the missing work and complete it. If you can’t find it, shoot me an email and I can help you out!
Spanish Humanities, grade 6 (Ms. Balestra)
This past week we prepared for our Summative by looking at each text individually and seeing how it relates (or does not relate) to our life. Students took a Summative on Thursday or Friday (depending on their field trip day). On the day they were not on a field trip, students worked on the past tense in Spanish.
Next week students will take a Summative to show their understanding of expressing themselves in the past tense.
French Language & Culture (Ms. Bullock, Mr. Almanza)
Last week, students had the opportunity to show what they know on our listening summative. This week, students will be drafting and completing our writing summative. The topic is themselves...all in French! There are many study resources on Canvas.
The easiest way to learn French is to practice a little every day. Encourage your student to review regularly! Madame Bullock's students can use Match or online flashcards to review. (For data privacy, students do NOT need a quizlet account to practice!)
French I (Ms. Balestra, Mr. Osei)
This past week students learned new vocabulary, put all of the material together, and showed their mastery on a Writing Summative.
Next week students will take a Listening Summative on Thursday. We are practicing in class and everyone should feel ready.
French II (Dr. Mbayu & Mr. Osei)
French II – Unit 1: Qui suis-je ?Students explored personality traits and strengthened their adjective agreement skills. They learned descriptive adjectives, listened to interviews about friends, and wrote paragraphs describing their best friend. Roleplay games encouraged guessing personalities, while reflections centered on choosing the correct adjective forms.
Chinese (Ms. Liang)
Grade 6
Last week our students learned stroke order, pinyin, and numbers. We also learned how to ask and answer dates and each other’s birthday in Chinese. Students will learn how to sing happy birthday songs in class next week. We will work on summative assessment and start learning lesson 3 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 presentation describing their daily schedules and a written formative assessment on Lesson II Time and Activities last week. Next week is a short week. We will continue learning activities and routine. 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, compare the differences between American and Chinese students' life, plan vacation itineraries, decide activities for summer breaks and explain why. Students will prepare for the speaking summative assessment on Dream China Trip project next week and one written summative assessment the following week. We are excited to see their progress as they build their presentational speaking skills in Chinese.