Flippity Jeopardy

¡Hola familias!

As we near the end of the units in 6th, 7th and 8th grade, an overall review of the unit is our "Jeopardy" game. In table groups, the students compite to win the most points. Flippity makes a template that is easily customized to our own units! Ask your estudiante about it!

¡Hasta pronto!

Juegos de vocabuario en parejas

¡Hola familias!

Today I am sharing with you a vocabulary game that we play usually at the beginning of the unit. The "Double Dice" game o "Dos dados".

For the "Deportes y tiempo libre" unit, students have a grid of choices, and a sentence starter to create questions and answers with their partner.  Students roll the dice to randomly fall in a square in the table, where (with the help of their picture dictionary) they can formulate a question and an answer with their partners. The students both recall their vocabulary and practice their grammar in context at the same time.
Ask your student about "el juego de doble dados"!

¡Adivina quién soy!

¡Hola familias!

In 6th grade Spanish we have been busy with physical descriptions in Spanish.  To practice, we played a game called "tengo un estudiante secreto en mi cabeza" in which, literally, the students have a secret student on their forehead... Fun was had by all, especially when the secret student was oneself, ha!

A student is trying to guess the name of the secret student on his baseball hat.

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¡Chichicastenango!

Spontaneous, creative conversations are a main focus of our work in class, being asking and answering creative questions part of our daily routines. Therefore, ¡Chichicastenango! is a game that allows us to hit that Intermediate Mid level target, asking and answering many spontaneous questions. It also helps us study for our Charlamos quiz next week. Chichicastenango is a very famous market in Guatemala.

How it works:

• Profe has a magic wand that turns anyone she gently taps into a "Chichicastenango". Chichicastenango students can only respond with the word Chichicastenango.
• The students gather in a circle with a chair, except for the Policía, who stands in the middle of the circle.
• Students "sleep" with eyes closed, including the Policía in the middle, until Profe is done delivering an unknown number of magic taps, turning different students into Chichicastenangos.
• The Policía needs to find the Chichicastenangos by asking questions in Spanish. Regular students will answer in Spanish, while Chichicastenangos will only respond with "Chichicastenago". It is how the magic works...
• At the sound of ¡Chichicastenango! everyone must change seats, and the Policía needs to try to seat as well. The last student to find a seat is the next Policía.

¡Chichicastenango en acción!

The Proficiency Path

¡Hola familias!

Today I thought I would include all the families at home in our conversations that we have about proficiency in the classroom. The students are familiar with the different proficiency levels and the "tasks" that they can do with the language. By the time the students graduate from Devo, the target proficiency level is Intermediate Mid. Here is a visual of the proficiency path:

As you can see, the Intermediate learner, writes in strings of creatives sentences, using connectors, and asks original questions! ¡Bravo, estudiantes de español!

Noticias del mes de octubre

Hola familias,

We have been busy reviewing and launching into our new units in español. In class, the students are encouraged to use botones with their group tables in order to track how much español they use in class: all of the botones in the cup earns them Dojo points for the work well done speaking español! Be sure to ask your student about the botones, and whether their group earned points during class.

¡Bravo! ¡Felicidades! This group spoke bunches of español in class...

On another note, our cultural focus for 7th and 8th graders for the unit is Guatemala and the Latino Community in the US. Are you an expert on clothing fair trade or salsa dancing? We welcome you into our classroom! In the meantime, here is a little excerpt regarding two famous ladies, one from Guatemala and one from Cuba, that we will talk about in class: Rigoberta Menchú and Celia Cruz.

Rigoberta Menchú y Celia Cruz

Enjoy! ¡Hasta pronto, amigos!

Artistas españoles y Sant Jordi

¡Hola familias!

In 7th grade we are learning all about Spain, and your students of español know about all about the masters! Ask your student what painting they chose, the author, the time period, and one thing they like the most about it. It was fun sharing their artwork with the class. Bravo, Spanish artist!

On another note altogether, April 23 is a very special day in Barcelona, it is Sant Jordi, the day of the roses and the books. Amongst the many holidays and fiestas, Sant Jordi is Profe's favorite! 

"Pà amb tomàquet" and Inca Kola

¡Hola familias! 

We are finishing out unit on Food ans Perú. What can your student tell you about it? We have been learning geography,  climate,  landmarks and ancient civilizations. A very beloved Paco may also be found in Perú, and his sister Flaca...  As we finish up our unit, your student may also know about traditional ingredients in the Peruvian diet, how to set the table the Peruvian way in español, what meals are healthy and why, or the very famous soda in Perú (here's a hint!)

On another note altogether, your family may give the most traditional receta of tapas and merienda dish a try at home. Note that it is best to use peasant/rustic bread: no sugar, honey or molasses! (It's from Barcelona, not Perú, where Profe is from.) 

Enjoy! ¡Buen provecho!

Estudiamos Perú

¡Hola familias de séptimo!

After a busy unit studying clothing and Guatemala, the Spanish class is "travelling" to Perú! Ask your student about what they remember of Perú: who used to live there? What is a famous city in Perú? How about the regions, how many are there? What food do they have that is different from ours? Below is a video of a very famous Peruvian dish... Guess the name! Adivina...

Los muñecos quitapenas

In our Guatemala unit the 7Th, graders are studying about clothing and presents. Can your student recall the name of a traditional blouse? Or the actual currency in Guatemala? We have also been learning about the muñecos quitapenas, the very tiny little dolls that take your worries away.

Here is a link for some more fun reading about them: muñecos quitapenas

En la tienda hay un alien

¡Hola familias!

7th graders are working on a clothing unit in Guatemala. Aliens just came to the Spanish class to buy some clothes... Will they fit nicely? Ask your student how we say "it fits" or "what size it is?" in español. More to come soon... Stay tuned!

PS: ¡Puntos extra! What verbs are we learning in class that sound like Master Yoda speaking?

A hint:

Los Superhéroes y las Superheroínas

¡Hola familias!

Both 7th and 8th grade students started the year by reviewing some information from last year, and they had to come up with a special superhero character. It was very entertaining to see your students at work, some of them chose to be a supervillain instead, some others joined forces in a superhero alliance! ¡Qué creatividad! Here is a peek at our Pared de la fama - Wall of fame, where the projects are posted. Can you guess which superhero is your student?

Ms. Moore's great welcome is in display on the 3rd floor. 

Gracias Ms Moore for a fabulous beautifying of the school!

¡Hola de nuevo, familias!

As some of you know already, I have switched to Middle School and this year I'll be teaching Español to 7th and 8th graders. I am very excited about this new challenge (or desafío, as some of the 8th graders will know by now :) 

I will keep news from the classroom in the blog and there will be a page for homework reminders, projects, and other news that I hope you find helpful.

Cheers for a great year! 

By the way, if you are receiving this post and your student is in K-6 (I will miss them!) feel free to unsubscribe.