Monday, March 25, 2013

Entrevista Bulletin Board Up!

Spanish 5-6 students are reminded of the Entrevista de Empleo project on the World Languages bulletin board located on the outside wall of Room 250.  Charts of the project packet are displayed along with pictures of well-dressed students from past years.  The project includes an essay, a resumé, an interview with a Spanish-speaking member of the community and a thank-you letter.  The interviews are given on April 29 & 30.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Compare & Contrast Essays in Spanish 5-6

Señor Lawhead's Spanish 5-6 students used Naviance's "Do What You Are" survey as a basis for their questions and answers during a peer interview that will result in a compare and contrast essay,  an important component of the mock-job interview project. 

Skits and shopping simulations in Spanish!

Señora Trott's Spanish 1-2 classes are preparing skits in class.  Students will either role play an exchange student from Puerto Rico visiting their family for the summer or create and describe a family tree for a famous Spanish speaking person.

Spanish 3-4 students are shopping in a large mall in Puerto Rico named Plaza las Americas.  3-4 students will write, proof read and perform a skit that includes a saleperson, a customer and friend shopping for a specific occasion (dance, wedding, school, working out, birthday party etc.).

Analyzing ASL signs

ASl 1 students with Mrs. Redelings worked together in small groups to analyze signs in preparation for their test on Unit 12. Students signed each sign and broke down each one
into its four constituent parts: handshape, location, palm orientation, and movement. It was great to see every single student engaged in their work!


ASL 3 started to explore how to convert English text to ASL, but seeking to understand the underlying concepts and meaning of English phrases. As a culminating project for the grading period, they will be converting the lyrics of song or lines of some other written work to ASL. Although it will be challenging task, many students are looking forward to it!

A B.A.T.H. to help with the Imperfect tense

Students in Spanish 3-4 with Profe Bañuelos this week were introduced to the imperfect tense: another way to say verbs in the past tense.  The acronym "B.A.T.H." was taught in order to help students remember when it is used: B: Background (of a story)  A: Age (saying how old someone is)  T: Time (when telling time in the past) H: Habitual (what someone/something did on a regular basis) or Repeated Events.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Thank-you! Empty ink-jet cartridges!

The World Languages Department would like to thank all the parents and students who regularly donate empty (or unneeded) ink-jet and laser toner cartridges!  As the district continues to pare down its budget for discretionary items such as paper, pens, ink and other office supplies, the World Languages Department is able to earn hundreds of dollars per month in STAPLES gift-certificates due to its recycling program.  Your donations are very helpful and we appreciate them!  Please send them to class with your student or drop them off at the main office (in care of Mr. Lawhead).  And, please, thank STAPLES by patronizing your local store!

Menus, storybooks and AP tests in French!

Using HARD ROCK menus from Paris in French, Madame Leidhoff's students of First year French hunted for information.

Students of Second year French are writing narrative story books for children.

Students of Advanced French are preparing and drilling for the Advanced Placement French and Culture Exam.

Mrs. McDonald explains Naviance to Sp 5-6

Students in Dr. Jacobson's Spanish 5-6 class were treated to a presentation by Leslie McDonald who explained the process of accessing information for the 'Entrevista' activity through Naviance.

Spanish 7-8 students presented their prepared descriptions of a product they would sell as representatives of a company traveling to Mexico while AP Spanish students made use of the authentic testing environment in the library, practicing interpersonal speaking as well as presentational speaking with tape recorders and AP college board materials.

¿Cómo se dice: "hat" en español?

Students in Spanish 1-2 with Profe Bañuelos this week were introduced to the vocabulary in Chapter 4.1. Which includes three different variations of the word hat (pictured from left to right) #1 "La Gorra" a baseball hat, #2 "El Sombrero" a dress hat [sombrero vueltiao from Colombia pictured], and #3 "El Gorro" a beanie or winter cap.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Sp 5-6 Mock-Job Interview Project Scheduled!

One of the traditions of Scripps Ranch High School World Languages Department is the mock-job interview project for 3rd year students.  Students will dress in appropriate business attire and face a Spanish-speaking member of the community in a one-on-one interview about the job that they have researched and "applied for".  Students in classes with Señor Lawhead, Dr. Jacobson and Mrs. Ranzolin will be preparing themselves in the months of March and April for the April 29 & 30 scheduled interviews. 

The project consists of career research (through Naviance), a compare/contrast essay, a resumé, the interview and a thank-you letter. Parents can familiarize themselves with the requirements by asking to see their student's Entrevista de Empleo packet.

Interested readers can also view a video of the Entrevista experience by going back in the archives on this blog to April 2011, or this link:  Entrevista

Une tartine et un jus de pomme in French class


Madame Leidhoff's students of French 2 shared and enjoyed une tartine et un jus de pomme vocabulary of baguettes, beurre, confiture in having a French breakfast together.
Students of French 4 presented timeline of their childhoods, citing major events and describing these events of the past. This project shows proficiency in usuage of the passe compose and l'imparfait.
 
Students of AP French presented countries from French Speaking Africa in target language explaining geographic interests, challenges in their economy and politics, and cultural anecdotes.

Ritmos del Caribe


 
While learning cultural celebrations and music in Puerto Rico, students in Spanish 3-4 with Profe Bañuelos were introduced to some of the key instruments that lay the foundation of the beat/rhythm of Caribbean/Latino music.

Hina Matsuri (Girls'Day) in Japanese Class!

Mr. Blackwelder's Japanese 1-2 classes have recently completed doll projects in a celebration of Hina Matsuri, or Girls' Day, celebrated on March 3rd in Japan, usually by families with daughters. Each student created two- or three-dimensional dolls and explained their physical characteristics (shape, body parts, clothing, colors, etc) to the class. Many students also added information about personalities and likes/dislikes, bringing a creative flair to the presentations.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Tutoring available -- All Levels!

Please encourage your son or daughter who may be having difficulty to take advantage of the after-school tutoring program offered by the World Languages Department. Tutoring is available in all languages and for all levels. Check the bright green signs posted on doors in the upper-200 wing of the building or ask teachers for details concerning rooms and subjects!

Prep for AP test with Haití & Dominican Republic

Students in Dr. Jacobson's AP Spanish class practiced synthesizing information related to Haiti and the Dominican Republic from both written and audio sources in preparation for the presentational writing section of the AP Spanish test.

 

Sunday, March 3, 2013

The Irregular "O"

Students in Spanish 3-4 with Profe Bañuelos used the graphic of a donut style "O" to help them learn more irregular verbs in the preterite tense that have their own unique stem change but all have the same ending. The verbs are estar, andar, poner, poder, tener, and saber.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Omedetou Gozaimasu! JCAP competition!

Congratulations to the Japanese Program that, under Mr. Blackwelder's leadership, had an outstanding performance at the Japanese and Academic Proficiency (JCAP) competition Feb. 23 at San Diego State University!  Second-year team:  Anita Ito, Alice Kim & Yvette Tan placed 1st overall and 4th-year team: John Berba and Desiree Viola placed 3rd!  Omedetou Gozaimasu!

Protegiendo el Ambiente

Ms. Ranzolin's 5-6 class has been busy working on pamphlets in Spanish that promote the protection of the environment. Not only were they very creative but they were beautiful as well. In Ms, Ranzolin's 3-4 class, students have practiced using what they learned about shopping at a handicafts market by writing a skit and sharing it with the class.

Reading Pobre Ana!

Señora Trott's classes have just finished presenting projects in class. Students in Spanish 3-4 are learning about clothing and what to wear to various events (wedding or football game etc.  They are also reading a novel in class called Pobre Ana. Spanish 1-2 students are learning how to talk about foods they like and don't like. Both classes are learning
about Puerto Rico.

Travel Vocab and a French Story

Madame Leidhoff's students of third-year French are role-playing as passengers on a flight. They are learning vocabulary associated with travel, airports, flights
Students of Advanced French did a representation of the African story, in French, Le Genie du Mangier.

Menus and the Cocina Criolla

In Señora Lemaitre's 1-2 classes, students are just finishing up with Unit 3, Lesson 1 where they were introduced to Puerto Rico and la cocina criolla (Puerto Rican traditional cuisine). Students created their own restaurants and menus, then created a skit where customers and servers interact in Spanish, ordering food, paying for the meals and practicing proper greetings and leave-takings. It's great fun to watch. Here is a sample of one of the menus created by Shea Forrey and Madison Furcolo.