Folk Tales and Music

Spanish students in Dr. Jacobson's classes submitted their first essay based on the theme of the qualities of a good friend. After watching the videos of the Columbian folktales El tigre ñato (The pug-nosed tiger) and La mujer pez (The fish woman), students read the scripts and answered questions requiring the analysis of the past vs the imperfect verb forms used in the story. In addition, students practiced auditory skills and grammar knowledge as they wrote about what they understood while watching a video about a girl's memories of summers during her childhood. Students then read their summaries aloud to a partner.

AP students enjoyed listening to a recording of 'El décimo', and participated in comprehension activities with the use of bilingual dictionaries.

Mucho progreso en Español 1-2

In Señora Lemaitre's Spanish 1/2 classes, students have successfully finished up Lección Preliminar and are on their way to Unit 1! So far, they can hold basic conversations to exchange greetings and introductions, share phone numbers, talk about the weather, and respond correctly to classroom instructions. Looking forward to a great week!

Story-telling in Spanish 5-6!

Señor Lawhead's students are preparing for next week's review exam as well as honing their conversational skills using TPR/S methods.  The new exercise for this week was choosing 4-5 random words from our lists and to tell 2-3 quick stories off the top of their heads using each one of the words in any order necessary. 

French students put in beaucoup d'efforts!

Madame Leidhoff's students of first year French did jigsaw reviews of Chapter One to prepare for their first exam.

Students of French 3-4 performed their First Benchmark - interviews on getting to know one another. It was very impressive, completely memorized with excellent verbal cues, intonation and cultural gestes.

Students of Advanced French submitted their final drafts of their essays - nicely polished

City presentations in Japanese. See example!

Mr. Blackwelder's Japanese 3-4 class has just completed city project presentations in which students shared information on a variety of major Japanese cities: from Sapporo in the north to Naha in the south. Information in the presentations included geography, topography, famous sights, festivals, notable cuisine, history, and interesting trivia! Students were also instructed to use as much Japanese as possible during the course of the 2-3 minute presentations.

A number of students in both 1st and 3rd period also used prezi, the free online presentation template. Below is one of the more innovative presentations. Enjoy!

Kyoto a Go Go! on Prezi

"¡Dame otro!" (Give me another!)

Students continued to work through the heat at the beginning of the week with temperatures in classrooms reaching to the 90's and higher.  Here, Jonathan in Señor Lawhead's class gets a bit of relief by taking a spray of water to the face. Several teachers cool off their students by spraying them on request during the afternoon classes.  Thankfully, temperatures appear to be moderating!

"La Amistad" Students write essays on friendship!

Students in Dr. Jacobson's Spanish 5-6 class began a review of grammar, comparing the past, imperfect and present tenses. In addition, students described pictures they brought to class.

After having analyzed the figurative language (e.g. alliteration, metaphor, simile) in the poem 'Amigo mío', students in Spanish 7/8 are writing their first essay, focusing on the theme of friendship. The essay includes a conventional introduction, thesis statement, supportive details as well as evidence of critical analysis and application of the student's thesis to related concepts. As a tool for achieving native like pronunciation, students read aloud their first paragraphs to classmates, using their writing as an avenue through which to demonstrate their speaking skills.

In addition to writing a 5 paragraph essay, AP Spanish students evaluated their personal vocabulary and grammar knowledge through comprehension activities derived from listening and reading selections in commercially produced AP Spanish materials.
 

Spanish con "Accento Cubano"

Students in Spanish 3-4 with Profe Bañuelos viewed a short video conversation in Spanish with him and his Cuban-American friend Elizabeth (pictured) done last month in Miami, Florida. It was to show the differences in Profe's Mexican-American accent and Elizabeth's Cuban accent which isn't heard much here in California as it is in Florida.

Spanish 1-2 students acted out charades to memorize classroom commands.

Ms. Gans now working at La Jolla High School!

Ms. Janelle Gans, former ASL teacher at Scripps Ranch High School is now teaching ASL at La Jolla High School.  World Languages staff and students miss Ms. Gans, but we celebrate her new position and wish her the best!

¡Buenos Días! Students act out introductions.

Students in Ms. LeMaitre's Spanish 1-2 class act out basic greetings and pleasantries in a skit performed in front of class.