A student's quarterly grade is derived from his/her performance on in-class exercises, homework assignments, quizzes, and tests.  Considerable emphasis is also placed upon classroom participation and one's overall contribution to the learning environment.  Since homework constitutes a considerable portion of the grade, it is imperative that students complete it in a timely manner.

 

Following is a brief review of what has taken place since the last update:

 

Kindergartners have learned the following food and drink words: queso (cheese), leche (milk), papa (potato), jugo (juice), pan (bread), pollo (chicken), and ensalada (salad).  They enjoy locating the labeled pictures of these items in My First Spanish Word Book as well as learning the Food and Alphabet songs in Spanish.

 

Even though they have completed the clothing unit, first and second graders still take pleasure in singing and acting out the Clothing Song in Spanish.  In addition to the food and drink words shown above, first graders have learned these words:  sopa (soup), agua (water), carne (meat), manzana (apple), sandwich, platano (banana), and naranja (orange).  Both levels also enjoy singing the Food Song and answering questions in Spanish about the color of various foods.  Third graders' food and drink vocabulary also includes the following: fruta (fruit), vegetales (vegetables), huevos (eggs), uvas (grapes), tomates (tomatoes), zanahorias (carrots), peras (pears), and salchichas (sausages).  They have developed and used this new vocabulary by playing games like bingo and drawing challenge.

 

After having learned to spell Spanish words by recognizing their letter names, fourth graders are now in the midst of a short unit having to do with eighteen different parts of the body.  They are playing "Simon Says" using the Spanish vocabulary and "Hands off!," a small-group game in which a team member draws a part of the body, covers it with his/her hand, and removes it upon command.  Teammates then identify it in Spanish.

 

Having completing a unit on "where" prepositions, fifth graders are formally learning how to use definite and indefinite articles as well as an English/Spanish dictionary.  One purpose is to compare and contrast Spanish with English and thereby have a better understanding of our native tongue.  (A Spanish noun is either masculine or feminine; therefore, there are four different words for "the" depending upon whether the noun is singular or plural.  The same is true for "a" or "an" and "some.")

 

Sixth grade students recently completed Chapter 1A of Realidades, our middle school textbook, in which they learned how to talk about activities they like and dislike as well as asking others what they like to do.  In the next chapter they will learn to talk about personality traits, ask and tell what people are like, use adjectives to describe people, and understand cultural perspectives on friendship.

 

Seventh and eight grade students are in the process of completing Chapter 2A of Realidades, in which they have learned to talk about school schedules and subjects, discuss what they do during the school day, and ask and tell who is doing an action.  The latter has entailed learning the Spanish subject pronouns and conjugating regular verbs that end in -ar in the present tense.  In the next chapter they will learn how to describe a classroom, indicate where things are located in it, talk about more than one object or person, and understand cultural perspectives on school.

 

 

 

   

 

Email: Mr. Daugherty