World Languages

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

The final week of term 2, students completed their final project of the term by acting out restaurant scenarios where they practiced ordering food and used vocabulary learned throughout the term. Students had a lot of fun with this project!

Next week, we will begin Unit 3 and start our third term. The focus of this unit is “My Family and My Friends,” and students will begin learning adjectives to describe different people.

Spanish I (Mr. Donaldson, Ms. Cuffee)

Students will start the week practicing irregular present-tense verbs. They’ll also receive four new SpanishDict.com homework assignments focusing on household chores (3HW4.Chore), irregular present-tense verbs (3HW5.Irreg), and stem-changing verbs (3HW6.Stem1, 3HW7.Stem2). Throughout the week, they will learn household chore vocabulary, practice using it in context, watch a video about a family’s chores, and conclude with a reading passage and comprehension questions.

Spanish II (Ms. Wooten, Ms. Henderson, Mr. Almanza)

It was good to see your students, even just for 2 short days this week! In Spanish 2, we worked on reading chapter 3 of our book, using our target vocabulary to interpret how the family did in the game show, and also getting to participate in a few of the games ourselves, for fun. If your student did not submit their speaking assignment designing a game show, make sure they do that ASAP to avoid starting the new advisory with a WS. Next week, students will have an opportunity to practice their speaking- about the book and using the vocab related to the book in new contexts. They will practice their listening skills, interpreting a video about being a tourist versus a traveler, and then describe which characteristics they think they would have while traveling- and if they think that dichotomy is accurate, or should it be more nuanced. We will review emotion vocabulary (that ideally students know from 6th/ 7th grade) and add more complex emotion phrases to their vocab- tiene verguenza and se siente culpable. We will complete reading stations to see if students can interpret and use their emotion vocabulary in different contexts, and then annotate chapter 4 of the book for emotions- writing in the margin what emotion they can infer that each character might be feeling and why. Don't forget- Costa Rica travelers meeting Thursday at 6:30pm.

Spanish Humanities, grade 6 (Ms. Balestra)

We have finished Esperanza Renace! Students did a great job reading the text and talking about the events and themes. In Unit Three we will be exploring literature themes around Monsters and Heroes.

Spanish Humanities, grade 7 (Ms. Henderson)

This week we finished reading Lazarillo de Tormes contado a los niños. Over the weekend, students will be working on their final project for the unit, where they will demonstrate their understanding of the text and its themes.

Next week, students will participate in a Socratic Seminar to show their comprehension and ability to interpret the novel using evidence and discussion skills.

As a small classroom need, we are running low on printer paper and tissues. If you are able to donate either, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your continued support.

Español

Esta semana terminamos de leer Lazarillo de Tormes contado a los niños. Durante el fin de semana, los estudiantes trabajarán en su proyecto final de la unidad, donde demostrarán su comprensión del texto y sus temas principales.

La próxima semana participaremos en un seminario socrático para mostrar nuestra comprensión y habilidad de interpretar la novela usando evidencia y conversación académica.

Como nota para las familias, en la clase estamos necesitando papel para la impresora y pañuelos. Si pueden donar alguno de estos materiales, ¡se los agradeceríamos mucho!

Spanish Humanities, grade 8 (Ms. Wooten)

It was good to see your students, even just for 2 short days this week! We started off our short week this week with some creative writing review the vocab we worked with last week- tener empatía, tener verguenza, estar arrepentido, ser indiferente. Then we began reading the next vignette, "jardin de mono"- ensuring comprehension by ordering sentence summaries and illustrating the key events in each summary. Due to very short classes, we may spend Monday completing this work and engaging in discussion around what we have read. Then students will read the next 2 vignettes ("payasos rojos" y "rosas de linóleo") while listening the audiobook and completing playposit questions- which allows them to work at their own pace, have pronunciation support from the audiobook, and comprehension support from the quick question breaks while reading. Looking ahead- students will end this unit writing a thematic essay on a theme of their choosing. Then we will move onto a unit about environmental justice and climate change in latin america!

PLEASE NOTE- all humanities Costa Rica travelers- please hand in your completed folder of documentation AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, but absolutely no later than at the meeting Thursday Feb 4th at 6:30. By handing in folders ahead of time, we are able to follow up with families in person about any questions that may arise.

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

It was good to see your students, even just for 2 short days last week! Next week, we will begin Unit 3 and start our third term. The focus of this unit is “My Family, My Friends, and Me.” students will begin learning adjectives to describe different people. Vocabulary is KEY to language learning. Please encourage your student to review their vocab nightly so they have a strong start to unit 3! Students have been commenting about how much they've learned so far. It's great to see their confidence grow.

French I (Ms. Balestra, Mr. Osei)

Welcome to Unit 3! Our unit theme is Sports and Hobbies. Please check in with your student about the new vocabulary that will be introduced and will grow over the course of the term.

French II (Dr. Mbayu & Mr. Osei)

Students learn how to describe what weekends used to be like using the imparfait.
Focus: patterns in verb endings and comparing past routines.
Ask at home: How is imparfait different from the present tense?

Chinese (Ms. Liang)

Grade 6

This past week, our students explored the fascinating world of zodiacs! They delved into the unique characteristics of each sign and participated in interactive activities that sparked both creativity and critical thinking. As part of this unit, students completed a formative assessment to showcase their progress in Lesson 5: Zodiac.

In addition to language practice in class, students learned how to sing the song As Wished. This was an exciting step in preparing for their performance at International Night. We are incredibly proud of their hard work, enthusiasm, and dedication throughout the week!

Grade 7

Last week, our Grade 7 students continued working on Lesson 4: Clothes. They practiced essential vocabulary and expressions. Our Grade 7 Chinese class had a summative oral test on school uniforms project and will complete the review of Lesson 1-4. We will start Lesson 6 Shopping last week. We will learn new vocabulary through etymology next week.

Grade 8

In Grade 8 Chinese class, we started and completed Lesson 6 seeing doctors. We had a formative assessment last Friday and will start a summative oral and written assessment next Thursday and Friday. The week after next week we will start the new unit on International Trips.