Our assignment menus indicate we have a Unit 6 Sampler scheduled for Wednesday 12/09. As already mentioned in class, however, the concepts in this unit are both essential and challenging, and I’ve been modifying my pace to suit the needs of my learners. I don’t want to “rush” things just to stick to my desired interim report date! So we’re tacking a few extra days onto this unit and our quiz is now being rescheduled to Tuesday 12/15.
Students have received their yellow Unit 6 assignment menus detailing the various options available to earn points (out of a possible 100 in all).
In Unit 6 we will:
listen/think/respond all in Spanish as we discuss countries, flags, languages, and colors
acquire grammar skills related to subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, we, they) and the verb ser (to be: am, is, are)
describe people using adjectives (tall/short, blonde/brunette, etc.)
describe family members using relationship words (mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather) and possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her)
participate in a variety of hands-on and visual activities allowing us to demonstrate comprehension and apply our learning to a task, such as identifying country flags, describing classroom dolls, or playing a card matching game
practice interpretive listening skills as we identify friends and family members based on what we hear
practice speaking skills by describing a classmate in Spanish with enough accuracy for the rest of the class to figure out who it is!
HOME-BASED ACTIVITIES FOR UNIT 6: - Complete worksheets not finished in class. Remember, the worksheets are not for me, they’re for you! They enable you to practice what we’ve learned, recognize whether you understand it, and decide what questions you might want to ask me. – Study for 12/0912/15 Sampler assessment(rescheduled). Review your notes, handouts, and worksheets as usual.
Welcome back following the Thanksgiving holiday! Last week our time together was shortened both by days (3-day week) and by classes (periods 5/6/7 are always cancelled on early dismissal days). Since some students had no Spanish all week, we couldn’t begin a new unit but the rest of us made valuable use of our time by:
finishing up our Spanish weather forecasts for Unit 5
exploring facts about the South American country of Bolivia, comparing/contrasting life there with our own life here in the U.S.
writing letters in Spanish to a girl that Mrs. Devlin knows in Bolivia
learning Spanish vocabulary for the table settings and holiday foods we were likely to encounter on el Día de Acción de Gracias – Thanksgiving Day! The “Food Fight” competition is always fun!
This week we will begin Unit 6 (details to follow soon).
Our school will hold parent-teacher evening conferences from 7:00 to 8:30 PM on Thursday 11/19. However, because Mrs. Devlin also has to attend her own child’s conference in another town that night, she will be available only until 8:00 PM.
Daytime conferences will be held Monday 11/23 and Tuesday 11/24 from 1:00 to 2:45 PM (students are dismissed at 12 noon on those days).
Many teachers (including Mrs. Devlin) work with about 150 students each day, so the school does ask us to limit each conference to about 5 minutes. Longer meetings with the 7th grade team may be scheduled by contacting the 7th grade guidance counselor, Ms. Nicholls.
We received several Unit 5 worksheets during the week, doing a few problems together here and there so students would understand the practice involved and then be able to finish the rest themselves. Our Unit 5 worksheets are identified by codes in the bottom left-hand corner of each page:
WK 5-2A/B: months, ordinals, dates
WK 5-2C: seasons, months
WK 5-3A/B: hours, subjects, minutes
(period 5 will get 11/16)
WK 5-4A/B: weather
(period 8 will get 11/16)
WK 5-5A: concept of time
(period 8 will get 11/16)
I have instructed students to finish this practice at home and then to ask me any questions they may have about their completed work on Monday or Tuesday. Then on Wednesday 11/18 we will have our quiz!
Click flamenco image to visit Jim Becker's "Best Spanish Web Sites"
Tradition vs. Swine Flu
Folks in Spain are asked to withhold kisses traditionally shared in greetings or religious rituals.
(more)
Mexico: A Country of Records
From The New York Times:
If Guinness World Records ever creates a category for the country most obsessed with being in the Guinness book of world records, Mexico will surely be in the running.
(view slide show)
