National Spanish Exam Results

All Saints participated in the National Spanish Exam this year for the very first time, and the results were announced this morning.  A HUGE congratulations to Meagan K, winner of the Premio de Plata (Silver Medal), Hallie H. and Sarah W., winners of the Premio de Bronce (Bronze Medal) and to Freddie B., Bri M., Sam S., and Jericho D., for Mención Honorífica (Honorable Mention)!

I would like to specially recognize Hallie for scoring in the 98th percentile on the grammar section of the exam.  That is the 98th percentile out of about 100,000 students who took the exam!  Because of having had Spanish twice a week in elementary grades, our students were placed in the Outside Experience category, but nearly all of the students who participated in the exam would have qualified for an Honorable Mention in the Regular category, and Sam, Bri and Jericho would all have received medals, as well.  That is a wonderful achievement for any student, and particularly for middle school students who are competing against high school students!  As always, I am so impressed by the diligence and hard work that our students demonstrate.  It is truly an honor to be their teacher.

Hora de leer

We are celebrating our library/book fair week, and having so much fun!  One of the best parts is DEAR--Drop Everything And Read.  This afternoon my fourth graders were in the middle of class when we had to DEAR.  To my delight, several chose books in Spanish!  Although they are not yet at the level of fluency to read entire books in Spanish, we have several bilingual books that they can use to check comprehension, and if it is a translation of a story they already know in English they can often use that knowledge to help them understand new words.  I am especially grateful to our book fair volunteers who help make sure that we have Spanish titles available, to the generous parents and students who have donated for our class, and to Mrs. Scalet and others who have been so gracious to make sure that our students have so many resources in Spanish.  <3  

Ariana and Emileigh keep saying, "¡Qué chulo!" at the cute puppies.

Sam found a cozy nook to hide out in.

Austin is absorbed in his book.

The Wimpy Kids books are favorites in both languages.