January 30th Classes

Dear Parents, 
         K-3 is making great progress.  They know two songs in Spanish and are responding in Spanish when I take attendance.  I read two stories to them. they learned how to say, "I love you, Mommy and Daddy" in Spanish.  "Te quiero, Mama y Papa."  We did a role-playing activity to a nursery rhyme in Spanish.  Most students know colors in Spanish and are rapidly learning terms for parts of the body, as well. 

Grades 5 and 6 took their verb test.  Next week they will have another test on the verb, Ser.  Students have a study sheet to review for the test.  Some students inform me that tbeir parents are helping them  study for the test.  Thank you very much, Mil gracias.

Students also have two sheets of animal vocabulary words to learn by using them in a short dialogue about a trip to the zoo.  The model is:  "Mira, el tigre."   Si, es el tigre."  "Look, a tiger."  "Yes, it's a tiger." They will substitute other animals to create more lines of dialogue:  "Mira, el elefante," "Si, es un elefante."    The dialogue is to be written entirely in Spanish and can be as simple as the above two lines, or more advanced, depending on the student's ability.  I have a range of abilities in class and any student who wants to create a dialogue that is more interesting, may do so.  For example, students can add expressions  from previous student-generated dialogues about going to a restaurant, the weather, what they do in their free time, descriptions of the particular animal using color words, etc.  Each student creates his or her own dialogue and will choose either their own or their partner's to present. I will give students class time to prepare with their partner on Friday.  

Students will be creating a book soon based on skills learned.  We did this last year.  I am planning to have an exhibit of student authored books in the spring. 

Thank you for your interest in our Spanish Language Program.  See you at the Mardi Gras Parade in Downtown Laurel! 

                              Laissez les bons temps roulez. 

           

Dear Parents,
     K-4 reviewed all songs and learned more weather terms.  They are also learning their numbers to 30 in Spanish.  Most students can answer all basic questions in Spanish such as, "Cuantos anos tienes?" How old are you?  They also can respond correctly when asked seven other questions.

K-5 also reviewed numbers  to  50.  They can respond to basic questions about themselves,  the days of the week, colors,  and the weather. Both K-4 and K-5 hear a story every week entirely in Spanish.  This week it was about a dog's adventures in the snow.

1st grade is working on expressing physical characteristics in Spanish.  We will complete their project next week in class.  They all completed last week's homework assignment on numbers to 50 in Spanish. I would like to thank Miss Connie for her collaboration with  this assignment.

2nd grade is also working on physical descriptions in Spanish.  We reviewed about twenty basic questions in Spanish and most students did very well.

3rd grade has a dialogue to present next week about two students discussing their likes and dislikes.
They shared their homework sentences. I am so pleased with your children's progress!

4th grade has a new dialogue to learn about the weather.  They presented their homework sentences about family members' likes and dislikes. Thank you for your cooperation with  the assignment.

Please contact me if you have any questions.
                                                     Atentamente,
                                                             Srta. Linda

Dear K-3 Parents, 
             We had two wonderful classes today.  Both pajama-clad classes accomplished a great deal this morning!  We learned several new songs, reviewed colors, reviewed days of the week, and heard a story in Spanish about a dog who loves to play in the snow.  Students are developing their aural language skills by listening to stories in Spanish.  They loved the story and whimsical illustrations.  All students earned stickers for listening so well today. 

Grade 6 students retook the verb exam today.  I am so proud of your children.  Once student, who passed the test, wanted to retake it anyway to try to obtain 100%.  Students presented their dialogues.  I will be preparing another dialogue for next week's class and want to encourage students to practice with their partners before the presentation.  I have many students with excellent oral language skills who can help other students who are not as strong.  Students can also call me if they need assistance.  The homework for next week is to study the verb, "Estar." for a test similar to the one they just took on regular verbs.  All students have a study sheet with three irregular verbs.  They only need to study, "Estar" for the test, but I encouraged students to study the other two verbs when they feel they have mastered "Estar."  In the weeks to follow, we will be testing all three important verbs.  

Grade 5:  Grade 5 presented their dialogues and also received the verb list described above.  They will also be tested on the verb, "Estar" next week.  We practiced in class for about ten minutes.  Some students wanted to take home a test I gave to Grade 6 to study the format.  Please call me if you have any questions. 
                      Have a great weekend. 
                                     Miss Linda 

Dear 6th Grade Parents, 

            I notified the students yesterday about the verb test tomorrow.  Students should be prepared to retake a test on verb conjugations.  They were all given a sheet with examples to study of the three kinds of verbs in Spanish: er, ir, and ar ending verbs.  WE are only working on present tense so far. 

Students who will not be testing should be prepared to deliver their dialogue concerning weather.  The rest of the dialogues will be next week's homework for students who were testing. 

      Thank you for your interest in our foreign language program. 

                                  It is a pleasure teaching your children! 

                                                    Miss Linda 

Dear Sixth Graders and Parents, 
             Sixth graders will retake the verb test on Friday, January 23rd, since there was some confusion about when the test would be given.  There were several students who were prepared based on the information I gave all students two weeks ago concerning test date.   I will notify those students that they DO NOT have to retake the test since their scores were very good.  One student passed the test with 100%!  I will notify that student and the other four or five students who did well on the test tonight by phone.  
             I am so pleased with the progress sixth graders are making.  I want to thank all parents for their cooperation  and interest  in St. John's Foreign Language Program.  It makes a huge difference in student performance when parents are involved  and supportive.  Gracias a todos.
                                                     Atentamente, 
                                                             Srta. Linda

Dear Parents,
    K-3 had an activity -filled Spanish class today!  They learned three songs, an interactive activity to learn the days of the week involving dance and gestures, reviewed colors, and listened to a story about animal habitats in Spanish.  I love working with your children!

Grades 5 and 6 shared their homework responses.  They did a superior job with this assignment.  I distributed a new dialogue for students to learn and present next week.

Due to an error, I wrote the incorrect date for an exam on verbs for 6th graders in my blog.  I will allow students to retest next week, on January 23rd.  In class, I had told students to prepare for the test today, but wrote the 23rd on my blog, therefore, students will have the opportunity to retake the test next week. Only students who pass the test will be excluded from the retake. I am sorry about the confusion. I plan to call students and inform them of the retest over the weekend.
 Have a wonderful three-day weekend.
                     Miss Linda

Dear Parents,
  Please pick up the homework for grades 3,4,5 and 6 if your child was absent on either Friday of last week or Monday, January 12.  I will leave the assignment with Melissa in the office.  There is no school on Monday and I want to make sure to cover the skills students  are learning in order to continue with our pacing plan.  Thank you for your cooperation.

  Miss Linda

Dear Parents, 
       Happy New Year!  Here is a look at what activities took place in Spanish classes last Friday and yesterday. 

K-3  Children began their study of Spanish by learning several songs in Spanish.  I will be introducing basic questions and answers in Spanish to the children in the following weeks.  The children were very interested in learning colors.   I also read a story in Spanish with primary language support as needed.  Picture books lend themselves  to language development because of the colorful visuals. 

K-4  We are continuing our study of weather terms.  The terms accompany gestures to indicate what the words mean; e.g, arms around the body for "Hace frio,"  shaking a shirt collar for "Hace calor,"  Fingers making a downward motion for " Esta lloviendo." 

K-5  Students also reviewed weather terms, sang known songs, and reviewed the days of the week as well as simple questions in Spanish. 

1st  Students began a number sheet to complete as homework since we will not be meeting next Monday due to the Martin Luther King holiday.  Miss Connie said she will most likely work with the children to complete the assignment and collect it for me.  I really appreciate all that Miss Connie  does  to support second language acquisition. I couldn't make such wonderful progress in language learning without the help of St. John's wonderful staff. 

2nd  Students reviewed responding to basic questions in Spanish.  We needed to do an intensive review since students have been away from Spanish for a couple of weeks. I did not assign homework, but asked students to think about how they will respond to questions in two weeks. I will be sending home a list of questions and responses for students to study in two weeks.  

3rd  Students completed an interactive lesson involving asking classmates to answer a question in Spanish about what they like to do in their free time, waiting for the response in Spanish, and recording it on a paper.  Students have examples to use as their model for the homework which is to record the responses of at least ten family members, friends, or make-believe people when asked what they like to do. I added "make-believe" responses when some  students said they do not know ten people to ask and have a small family. I encouraged them to ask teachers and Miss Stone for possible responses as well.  The question can be asked and answered,  of course, in English unless parents siblings, or friends understand Spanish. Students will translate the responses into Spanish. They have a sheet.  They can do this.   Some students said they want to write fifty sentences!  I did not discourage them, but ten are the minimum amount due on January 26, our next Monday class meeting. 

4th, and 5th   Students have the same assignment described above under "3rd ."  They also need to add ten (minimum) or more responses to their list.  Every student completed at least seven responses in class.  I will leave copies of the directions with Melissa if your child was absent on Monday.

6th   6th grade has the same assignment listed above under "3rd."  However, they have an additional list of conjugated verbs to study for a test on January 23rd.   

Have a great week.  

Miss Linda