Dr. Jacobson's classes brought in the Yuletide cheer to World Languages classes as well as many other departments including the administration.  Her students sang:  Adoremos Nuestras Casas, El Niño del Tambor and Cascabel.  In the video, Señor Lawhead's classes enjoy the singing and celebration of the holiday. 

Famous d/Deaf People Presentations

This week, Mrs. Redelings's ASL 1 students observed, compared, and contrasted the reactions of hearing parents to having a deaf child through the film, Mr. Holland's Opus. Students enjoyed the film and brought what they have learned about Deaf people to bear on their personal reactions to the film.

ASL 3 students spent much of this week researching famous d/Deaf people and began scripting their final presentation of the semester. Famous people included Laurent Clerc, the first Deaf teacher in America, I. King Jordan, the first Deaf president at Gallaudet university, Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, and Marlee Matlin, Academy Award-winning Deaf actress (Children of a Lesser God).

TPR/S Preview

Spanish 3-4 students with Profe Bañuelos were introduced to the T.P.R.S. (Total Physical Response with Storytelling) method used widely in Señor Lawhead's Spanish 5-6 class. Shown here is a class reading using body movements to help memorize certain verbs and nouns that are for chapter 2.2. The story is about Adán getting ready to go out with Mónica.
 

Bonne Fete!

Madame Leidhoff's students of French 3-4 are assembling group "yearbooks". They will interveiw athletes, artists, musicians in class and do a write-up and photo of them.

 

Students of French 5-6 are studying jobs and careers. Students have presented what they will be doing in the future. For a seasonal craft project, students are making Santon de Noel, which are figurines of the guides (jobs) of Middle Ages. Artisan workshops where these Santon are produced exist today in Provence today.

French 1-2 students are making a brochure in French of their school.

More Oral Practice

Students in Señor Lawhead's Spanish 5-6 class continue their preparation for this week's oral test.  In this video, Rocky looks at the cartoon (student-work) shown on the whiteboard and tells the story as he understands it.  ¡Fantástico, Rocky!

Reporte Deportivo

Students in Spanish 3-4 with Profe Bañuelos worked in groups of six to create a sports report in one period, reporting on a sports match giving the final result and interviews with some of the players involved. Much of this used the preterite tense. This group made their report about a soccer match in England's Premier League: Arsenal vs. Manchester United.

"El Mercado" Project in Spanish 3-4

Señora Trott's Spanish 3-4 classes participated in a role play called "En el Mercado". Students took turns playing the role of vendors and customers in a an open-air market.  A lot of bargaining for good prices took place!  Students practiced using currency (el euro), using polite expressions and, of course, all their best bargaining phrases!

Spanish 1-2 classes are preparing for next week's project:  "Teach a Lesson".  Students are divided into groups and each group has 20 minutes to teach a mini-lesson to the class using material in Chapter 2.1.  They can be as creative and they wish, including making puzzles, games, worksheets and pop quizzes.

La Moda (Fashion) y Turismo in Spanish!

Ms. Ranzolin's Spanish 5-6 class had a fashion show this week. Students had to dress up for and describe fashion for four seasons orally to the class (no notes alowed!) This was really a lot of fun.

 

In Ms. Ranzolin's 3-4 class, students had an oral presentation describing a trip they took. It was so interesting learning about all the places our students have visited.

Span 5-6 Students Draw Stories & Share!

Señor Lawhead's classes, partnered up during oral practice to draw an original 4-panel cartoon story.  When finished, students shared the story orally with another group.  Stories were then swapped and the story told by others.  This is all visual and oral work.  No writing allowed!  All in preparation of their second oral test coming up just before Winter break!

The best picture stories will be kept (and students rewarded) for the teacher to use with other classes in the future for TPR Storytelling* practice.

*For more info on TPR/S, check out the links on Señor Lawhead's website!

Spanish 7-8 reads Dr. Jacobson's story

After reading 'El camión de Carlos, a story authored by Dr. Jacobson, her Spanish 7-8 classes practiced critical thinking skills as they wrote questions to classmates and then responded, demonstrating their ability to grasp the concepts of comparison, contrast, cause and effect, synthesis, relevancy and varied types of evaluation.

Students also spent the week refining their writing skills, developing a formal 5-paragraph essay based on 3 essential qualities of 'Leadership.'

Advanced French Perform Play

Today, Madame Leidhoff's students of Advanced French performed a play from Boris Vian, Batisseur d'Empire ou le Schmurtz (first act). After the play, the students spoke to the Honors students about their interpretation of the Schmurtz in the context of society, families and community.

Language in Action!

This week in Señora Lemaitre's 1-2 classes, students will be performing their "interpreter" skits. Three actors are needed for each sketch. 1. Interviewer, 2. Interviewee, 3. Interpreter. The questions for the script are provided, but the answers must be formulated by the students using the verb "Tener" and "Tener Que" and other conjugated AR verbs, students can explain in the mock interview that which they "have" and "have to do" on a daily basis. Students seem to enjoy the opportunity to use their new grammar skills to formulate original language and perform it for peers. It's language in action!

Profe Visits Tikal

During Thanksgiving Break, Profe Bañuelos traveled to the country of Guatemala and the state of Chiapas, México to visit four different Mayan archeological sites: Tikal (in Guatemala [pictured]), Yaxchilán, Bonampak, and Palenque (in Chiapas, México). Profe was also able to experience one of the indigenous languages of Chiapas, named Ch'ol.

2nd Grading Period Ends!

Students are looking forward to seeing how well they are doing at the end of the 2nd grading period here in the World Languages Department.  Teachers will submit grades by Monday morning and printed progress reports should be available and brought home to parents by Thursday, December 6.  Be sure to ask your son or daughter about his/her progress.  There are three weeks left until Winter Break and six weeks left of the Fall Semester!

French Students Cook at Home and Present

Madame Leidhoff's French 3-4 students did a cooking project where students cooked something French at home, using the past tense, presented their culinary delight's image to the class and gave a regional explanation of the dish.

2nd Annual CHOPSTICK OLYMPICS!

Mr. Blackwelder's Japanese 3-4 students took part in the 2nd Annual CHOPSTICK OLYMPICS.  A true test of dexterity and handling of o-hashi!  Beginning with objects thae size of French fries, students passed items from one to another in both time trials and accuracy contests.  The final event involved sticky, unwieldy fermented soybeans.  All participants prevailed, excited for what the rest of the restaurant unit has in store!

ASL Students Describe People

Mrs. Redelings' ASL 1 students finished up their second presentation of the semester in which they need to describe a friend or someone famous while the rest of the class guesses who it might be. We had lots of fun as students described a variety of people, from siblings to admired athletes, to musicians, to movie stars!

Tengo Tu Love

In correlation with learning the verb "tener" which means to have, students in Spanish 1-2 with Profe Bañuelos learned and sang the chorus to the song by Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Sie7e (seven) titled Tengo Tu Love. The chorus goes like this:

 

 "Yo tengo tu amor. I got your love. Yo tengo tu amor. Yo tengo tu love, yeah."