Spanish December 4-8

We are continuing our study of feelings and how you answer the question "How are you?" in more depth. There will be a quiz on feelings on Wednesday, December 13th. Here are the phrases:

Estoy feliz.        I am happy.
Estoy triste.       I am sad.
Tengo hambre.  I am hungry.
Tengo sed.         I am thirsty.
Tengo frio.        I am cold.
Tengo calor.      I am hot.
Tengo miedo.    I am scared.
Tengo dolor.      I am hurt.

Extra:
Estoy cansado/a.   I am tired.
Estoy enojado/a.   I am mad.

We have also started the days of the week and weather.

We will have our "Navidad" party on Monday, December 11th.

Middle School Announcements:

1. Scrip cards for sale in the office.
2. Yearbook sales are on. Price increase after 12/15/17.
3. Chipotle fundraiser from 12-8pm on Friday, 12/15/17.
4. Night to Shine Prom on 2/9/18.
5. Spelling Bee for middle school students on 1/10/18.
6. High School information night on 1/11/18.

Spanish November

I am enjoying Spanish with the  middle school. They are picking up quite a bit of conversational Spanish. We are finishing up first quarter with a paragraph about themselves. They will memorize their paragraphs and be able to speak 8 sentences about themselves.

During 2nd quarter, I will continue to mostly base their grades on classwork and some quizzes. However, their are students who are motivated to learn more. I will be doing some incentive-based challenges that will not help or hurt their grade but rather motivate them to do the extra worksheets/challenges for extra prizes (probably food based... because, well, they are middle-schoolers).  I will be presenting these incentives to them on Wednesday, November 8th. Because Spanish is an elective, I hesitate to give very much homework. However, they will  not learn the language well without extra practice at home. Therefore, I want to challenge those students who are ready.

We will also be doing a field trip to a Mexican restaurant before the end of the quarter. I will check on dates and let you know.

Please let me know any questions or concerns you have.

Thank you!

Spanish October 18

On Wednesday, the students will present a short skit using the vocabulary we have learned so far. They have had ample time to prepare and memorize their lines. Using Spanish in front of others is difficult so I will go "easy" on their first attempts to speak in public.

I want Spanish to be as interactive and fun as possible but I have noticed an increase in boisterous behavior. I do not want to revert to desk work but I do need students to be able to refocus quickly and quietly. Thank you!

Spanish Updates

I was pretty impressed with the quizzes last week. While the spelling was humorous, that was o.k. because we've mainly been focusing on conversational Spanish. I loved seeing how much most of the students are grasping.

If your student is struggling, no worries! We will be trying all different strategies so that everyone picks up some Spanish by the end of the semester. Keep encouraging them to do 3-5 minutes nightly to absorb the phrases.

If your student is getting everything right and wanting an extra challenge, I'm going to encourage a few to start doing some high school Spanish work. I want everyone to be working at their maximum potential.

The next big assignment is a group conversation. The students are only allowed to use words and phrases we have learned so far. They will create a conversation where each person speaks at least three times. The conversations will be MEMORIZED and presented in class on October 20th.

I will be gone October 6-15th so the students will be mainly reviewing and working on their group skits. I will be checking emails if you have any concerns.

Upcoming Spanish Assignments

Spanish students will have their second quiz on classroom vocabulary and question structures on Wednesday, October 4th.

On the 4th, I will assign their long term group project (3-4 people) that will be due October 16th. They will work on this project while I am out of town for the week. The project will be to create a lengthy conversation that includes props and then present their conversation on the 16th. They will need to memorize their lines. They will have four class periods (October 6-13) to work on this so there should be no problem completing. I will be handing out rubrics with the expectations.

Thanks! We are having fun!

First Assessment

We are having a great time in Spanish. We are working on basic greetings and introductions. Today, students will get points on creating a dialogue of at least 8 lines. On Wednesday, they will be tested on the following words:

1. hola hello
2. buenos días good morning
3. buenas tardes good afternoon
4. buenas noches good night
5. adíos good bye
6. hasta luego see you later
7. hasta manana see you tomorrow
8. Cómo estás? How are you
9. muy bien very good
10. muy mal very bad
11. así así so-so
12. Cómo te llamas? What is your name? (informal, to friends or adult addressing kids)
13. Me llamo _____. My name is _______.
14. y tu? And you?
15. Mucho gusto Nice to meet you (literally "much pleasure")
16. gracias thank you
17. muchas gracias thank you very much
18. de nada your welcome
19. por favor Please

We will not have Spanish this Friday. Please practice saying all your words so far.

** If your student is interested in extra work or wants to try to work their way through Spansih 1, please email me at traceys@ecsolympia.com

Bienvenidos a espaňol!

Bienvenidos a espaňol!

We are excited to offer a Spanish elective this year because exposure to another language at an early age will greatly improve a student's ability to pick up foreign languages later. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States with over 45 million speakers. In addition, there are twenty-two countries in this world where Spanish is the primary language. Learning Spanish will help your student appreciate other cultures and more closely understand a growing U.S. population of Spanish speakers. Plus middle schoolers will receive a jump start on taking a language in high school.

Middle school students will have Spanish three times a week for 35 minutes. They are encouraged to practice at home as much as possible so that they can advance quickly in the language. My expectation is that they will practice repeating vocabulary and phrases for 5 minutes each day. We will have little "accountability assessments" every week. If they are listening and participating in class, they will have no trouble completing these mini quizzes.

This course will not prepare them to be ready to skip Spanish 1 in high school. However, it will give them a very solid foundation making high school Spanish much easier. If your student is highly gifted in languages and wants to do extra work to try and get through an entire Spanish 1 textbook, I will be happy to give extra assignments to facilitate a rapid progression. This will require about 30-90 minutes extra per week.

In full disclosure, while I have many years of teaching experience in other subjects, I am not close to being a fluent Spanish speaker. I studied abroad in Spain many years ago and have kept up with a little bit of reading and practice. Even though my accent is decent, I will be using CDs and videos featuring native speakers as much as possible. The songs and videos we will be singing and viewing each week will help them learn the correct sounds in Spanish.

You do have the opportunity to purchase or download the CDs. This is completely optional but may interest those who have super motivated language learners or those who, like me, spend a ton of time in the car and would love to use 5-10 minutes to practice Spanish. Some middle schoolers may resist listening to/singing the songs but it is a great way to learn words and phrases quickly.

If you have any questions, please contact me at 360-485-6293 or traceys@ecsolympia.com

Gracias!

Tracey Sondgroth