Happy Thanksgiving!

The World Languages Department wishes a happy and grateful Thanksgiving to all its students, parents and friends!  The staff hopes that everyone enjoys the pleasure of family, free time and travel.  Until November 26, we say:

 

¡Diviértanse!

 

Amusez-vous!

 

    お楽しみください！

        

ASL Presentations Begin!

Three of Mrs. Redelings' ASL 3 students are featured in this video giving their presentations in front of class.  Students had interviewed a family member and presented at least twelve pieces of information in chronological order.  Students were only permitted to use a picture timeline (no written notes).

ASLPresentations from Richard on Vimeo.

Skits in Spanish 1-2 & 3-4

Señora Trott's Spanish 1-2 and 3-4 classes all finished skits in class this week. Students in Spanish 1-2 did a role play based on meeting new people, making small talk and introducing
others.
Spanish 3-4 students created a travel skit and had to solve a challenge when something goes wrong at the airport. For example, a lost passport or a missing suitcase. The skits were funny, creative and (mostly) very well done!

Famille et Théâtre

Madame Leidhoff's students of French 1-2 are learning vocabulary of the family, possessive adjectives (my, your, his, our your and their) and description. Synthesis of this learning will be a family tree, a paragraph about our family members and a description of member and relationships in Le Roi Lion.

 

Students of AP French Culture and Language are working on the play LES BATISSEURS DE L'EMPIRE ou Le Schmurtz, by Boris Vian. After researching, they found this play from the Theatre of the Absurd most interesting to present.

"Yo soy"

Apart from their chapter's regular vocabulary, students in Spanish 1-2 with Profe Bañuelos learned a special adjective that described a personality or physical trait of their own. They used that with the phrase "YO SOY..."
Spanish 3-4 students did a writers workshop to improve writing in the preterite tense.

Mrs. Redelings' ASL 3 students worked on preparing their latest presentation:  signing about a family member's life. Students were to interview a family member and present at least twelve pieces of information in chronological order. The only notes students may have is a picture timeline, so this is also the first presentation students have signed without a written script! Presentations officially start next week!

Spanish 5-6 students take oral tests

Jocelyn concentrates as she describes the cartoon in front of her that she's never seen before.  Señor Lawhead has been using the TPR/S method to prepare students to speak spontaneously.  Unlike the methods used in traditional oral testing, students do not write, memorize and recite practiced language. This is true natural speech and Jocelyn is doing a great job!

Role-play at La Boulangerie

Madame Leidhoff's students of second year French are creating 'STORES' in teams. In the stores are researching products sold., quantities and prices for each and labeling quantities in kilograms.

For example, in la Boulangerie, we are learning that a bakery by the Luxemburg gardens in Paris sells a baguette for .90 Euros. The bakery design needs to have 10 products for sale.

"Customers" will "shop" in the stores and cultural role-play will display and demonstrate gestes, expressions, customs.... in the language.

La Ecología - Español 7-8

Students in Dr. Jacobson's 7-8 classes developed a presentation related to the current theme of the vocabulary words they are studying 'La ecología/Ecology.' Students worked together to produce a public service announcement, poem, interview with an expert or a song describing the importance of the conservation of the environment, implementing new words into their script.

Spanish 5-6 students are expanding their knowledge of grammar through power point activities and are developing skits related to the theme of 'friendship.'

After reviewing models of essays, AP Spanish language students engaged in writing an in-class essay based on the analysis of three articles requiring students to explain the authors' perspectives regarding improved economic, educational and health opportunities for youth in Latin America
 

Yo voté. - I voted.

Students in Spanish 1-2 and 3-4 with Profe Bañuelos this week listened to him share his voting experience and see his voting sticker in Spanish (see photo) from Voting Day Tuesday November 6, 2012. Although Profe did not share with them how he voted, he did encourage them to become civically involved when they become eligible to vote at age 18. An educated voting population is key to maintaining a democracy.

Students Prepare for Oral Exam

Using TPR/S techniques to hone their speaking skills, Señor Lawhead's period 6 students tell the story illustrated by a stick-figure cartoon projected onto the whiteboard.  Stephen H. tells his version of the story to Chloe D. who, in turn, will tell him her version.  Students have not seen the cartoon before and are confident enough to tell the story without practice nor writing it down.
 

World Languages Students share Halloween Spirit

 

Students in every Spanish class have learned the difference between Halloween and Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  However, it was very evident throughout the school that the Halloween spirit of fun was in full force. 

¡Salud!

Tying into Latino communities around the U.S., students in Spanish 1-2 with Profe Bañuelos sampled the unique taste of the Cuban-American carbonated malt beverage Hatuey Malta. Although not famous in North America, it is commonly consumed throughout South America, the Caribbean, and in South Florida. It is sometime referred to "wheat soda," even though it isn't a soda at all.

The "Horror" of Japanese Culture!

On Wednesday and Thursday, Mr. Blackwelder's Japanese classes took a closer look at the terrors within J-Horror (Japanese Horror). Our main focus was kaijuu, or giant beasts, and yuurei, or vengeful ghosts. The impact of yuurei on the Japanese and American popular film market, beginning with films like Ringu (1998) and Juon (2001) and their American counterparts The Ring (2002) and The Grudge (2004) and continuing through the present with The Ring 3D coming out next year, were examined in-depth. In short, students gained a new reason to keep a light on at night.

Grammar Review & a Jeopardy Game

Students in Dr. Jacobson's classes reviewed grammar this week through a Power Point presentation of various pictures where students associated vocabulary reflective of the action portrayed, demonstrated knowedge of varied grammatical structures and derived similar verbs, constructed and conjugated in analogous forms. Additionally, classes engaged in online practice quizzes and a 'Jeopardy' game where, in teams, students conjugated verbs and answered comprehension questions from within varied categories.

Aitana B. Studies and Presents Picasso!

"For one part of our most recent project we were told to recreate one of our artists' work with our own hands or make an original peace of art. Many people recreated painting and drawings their artist had already made. After looking through Picasso's art, I realized all his works are of such high level and/or very abstract, so I would have a difficult time recreating one of his pieces. So, I decided to create my own version of a Picasso. Picasso has varying periods of time in his life that correspond with the different painting styles he used. I took Picasso's famous art style of Cubism and incorporated his Rose and Blue Periods as well. One can see Cubism from the geometric shapes throughout the woman and the displacement of her eyes. The Rose Period is evident through the utilized colors in the painting. Yellows were used for her hat, pinks for her face, browns for her hair and reds on her shirt. All these colors were essential during the Rose Period. During Picasso's Blue Period, he used many shades of blue and gray and depicted many depressing scenes. In order to properly represent his Blue Period, I used a grayish-blue to create the background for the sky as well as added rain. All these components were brought together to resemble different parts of Picasso's life and his different art styles. The name of this piece is "Woman In The Rain" and pastels and watercolors were used." Presented in Madame Leidhoff's French class.