Hace buen tiempo

Our weather this week has been warm and beautiful, and the students have been taking the ITBS, which created the perfect storm for holding class outside this afternoon.  It was all fun and games, but very specific, Spanish-oriented ones.  As the kids played tetherball, each hit was accompanied by preterite verb conjugations: ¡Gané! (I won) ¡Ganaste! (You won!) ¡Ganó! ¡Perdiste! ¡Perdió! and many others.

They took turns talking about what they ate, what they learned, what they studied, and what they played, using the regular -ar/-er/-ir preterites.  Some did monkey bars with a verb conjugation for each bar, and each game included variations in Spanish.  It gave us the chance to get outside and show God our appreciation for the beautiful day, work off any wiggles from the testing earlier, and still stay focused on learning and speaking Spanish.  I call that a win in any language!

Time of Preparation

One of my favorite things about All Saints is that our faith permeates every part of our day.  All of our Spanish classes have been talking about the importance of ayuno (fasting), limosna (alms-giving) and oración (prayer) as we begin our observance of cuaresma (Lent). As part of our practice of oración, we prayed La Coronilla de la Divina Misericordia (Divine Mercy Chaplet) together this week.  We are preparing our hearts in this Lenten season to receive the mercy of God, and to share that mercy with others.

Academically, we are also in a time of intense preparation, looking ahead to the coming year.  We are in the part of the year where the concepts move up a few notches, and it is exciting to see the kids rise to the challenge.  Our 4th graders are learning all of the conjugations of ser and how they match with the subject pronouns. Next week, our 5th graders will be writing compositions about themselves with appropriate adjective agreement and sentence structure. Our 6th grade class is deep in the intricacies of stem-changing verbs. The 7th graders have been learning about spelling changes in the preterite, and the 8th grade class is finishing the last set of irregular preterites before moving on the the imperfect. Our goal is to have learned the material covered by most Spanish II courses before the end of the year.

Our 7th and 8th grade students are also preparing for the National Spanish Exam in March, and our 8th graders are also planning to take the proficiency exam for Bishop Kelley to test out of Spanish I or II.  Although the BK exam is not used by other high schools in our area, I am confident that any students who pass it would also test out of Spanish I or II in other schools.  

We have had a very special way to balance the intensity of our studies by working with our buddies from pre-K, kindergarten, first and second grades.  Together with Mrs. Stafford's elementary classes we have done centers, learned about Hispanic saints such as Santa Rosa de Lima and Santa Laura de Colombia, and reinforced vocabulary skills.  Most of all, we love seeing the camaraderie and joy of our students of all ages working together. 

4th Grade-Subject Pronouns, Verbs and More!

This week, our 4th grade classes learned all 12 subject pronouns in Spanish.  This requires a little out of the box thinking, because the subject pronouns in Spanish are different from English. For example, we do not have a subject pronoun for "it", but we have FIVE different subject pronouns for "you", and they are not interchangeable!

My college students frequently ask at the beginning of the course if we are going to cover the vosotros forms.  Most Spanish-speaking countries use the word "ustedes" for the plural you.  In Spain, however, they use "ustedes" for the formal plural you, and "vosotros" and "vosotras" for the informal plural you. There are many schools that don't bother to teach those forms, but if the students go on to study in Spain, or to read literature that was published in Spain, or to take higher level courses, they need to be familiar with them.  My college students are usually a bit surprised to hear that even our elementary students learn these forms.

At All Saints, we work to establish a strong foundation.  Both our faculty and our families are very mindful about what we want to build in our children, academically, socially, spiritually and physically. It only makes sense to start off with a solid base of knowledge, so that when we add material on top of that, we won't find big gaps that fall through.

These are our twelve subject pronouns:
yo = I
tú = you (singular, informal)
Ud. (usted) = you (singular, formal)
él = he (Side note: I loved that our kids immediately understood that the accent mark was to keep it from being confused with the definite article!)
ella = she
nosotros = we (all boys, or both boys and girls)
nosotras = we (all girls)
vosotros = you all (boys or both boys and girls, informal, used in Spain)
vosotras = you all (all girls, informal, used in Spain)
Uds. (ustedes) = you all (everywhere, formal in Spain)
ellos = they (all boys or both boys and girls)
ellas = they (all girls)

Soon we will be adding in regular -ar/-er/-ir verbs in the present tense, and also some of the irregular verbs like ser, estar, tener and ir.

3rd Grade--Ir and Places in the Community

I am so excited that our 3rd graders are already learning the concepts of masculine and feminine, verb conjugation, and adjective agreement.  They have actually been learning these things all along since Pre-K Spanish with Mrs. Stafford, and thanks to her teaching and their effort to learn, we already have a strong foundation.

This semester we started learning the conjugations of the verb ir (to go), the prepositions al and a la (to the), and places in the community.  Although we have not taught formal patterns of verb conjugation or all of the subject pronouns yet, once we started learning the places, our students wanted to express that they were going there.  So why not?

Here is our vocab list for the present tense conjugations of ir, the prepositions al and a la, and places in the community:

To talk about going places:

Voy = I’m going

Vas = you are going

Va = he/she is going, you (formal) are going

Vamos = we’re going, let’s go

Vais = you all are going (vosotros--used in Spain)

Van = they are going, you all are going

Al = to the (masculine place)

A la = to the (feminine place)

Places (masculine):

Parque—park

Apartamento—apartment

Campo—country

Restaurante—restaurant

Museo—museum

Zoológico—zoo

Cine—movie theater

Places (feminine):

Granja—farm

Escuela—school

Ciudad—city

Biblioteca—library

Iglesia—church

Tienda—store

Casa—house

We are going to be playing with board games in Spanish to create complete sentences, such as Vamos al restaurante (We are going to the restaurant), Van a la escuela (They are going to school), etc.

We will be having a quiz over this material in the next couple of weeks, so please practice the material.  With all that they are learning, there is no doubt that these kids will go far!  

  

New Year, New Challenges--7th and 8th Grade

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!  I am so excited about digging into this new semester. Here is a quick heads up about what we are doing:

8th Grade: We have been moving quickly through Unidad 3.1, which expands on all of the clothing vocabulary, and introduces several new verbs that are similar to gustar.  They require the use of indirect object pronouns, and the third person conjugations of the verbs.  We have reviewed the verbs gustar and doler (ue) and have added in the verbs interesar, importar, quedar (to talk about the fit of clothing), encantar and molestar.  Additionally, we have been reviewing all of our verbs with irregular yo forms in the present tense, especially poner, decir, tener, venir, conocer, saber, dar, ver and hacer.  We did oral quizzes today, and will be doing a written quiz next week, with the chapter exam the week of the 18th.

I am very excited to announce that our 8th graders will be participating in the National Spanish Exam again this year.  Last year, more than 150,000 students nationwide participated in the exam, and All Saints students performed extremely well.  We are in a rather unique situation, in that our middle school classes are not officially designated for high school credit as being Spanish I or Spanish II, and the material overlaps a bit.  I offered the students the choice of testing at either level, and the class unanimously chose to test at level 2.  That means that they are testing at the exact same level as high school sophomores, juniors and seniors who are taking Spanish II!  It says a lot about this class that instead of taking the easier level, they chose to challenge themselves above and beyond what is required.  We talk about preparing students to go on after All Saints, not just with a strong academic foundation, but also in terms of their character.   So many colleges and universities lament the rise in students who are fragile and coddled. To have entire classes that seek a challenge and are courageous enough to risk lower scores instead of easy winnings, just because they want to stretch themselves and grow, is a powerful testimony to the resilience and motivation of our students.

7th Grade: We are learning the parts of the body, and the use of the verb doler (ue) with indirect object pronouns, and did an oral quiz over them today.  I was delighted when one of our students went blank on the word, and found a different way to express the same idea.  That is exactly what our students have to be able to do in real life to communicate!  We all have moments when we can't come up with the word we want to use, either because we have forgotten, or because it is one we haven't learned yet.  When our students have the gumption and poise (during an oral quiz when they are put on the spot!) to still be able to convey the information, that is a wonderful thing.

Next week we will begin the preterite, and I am very excited about helping our class learn how to talk about past events.  The preterite tense is all about details--accent marks, spelling changes, and all kinds of tricky little things that make a big difference in the meaning.  It is a lot of work, but I know that they are up for the challenge.

Our 7th graders will also be participating in the National Spanish Exam.  This exam is hard.  There is a TON of vocabulary that students are expected to know, as well as a great deal of grammar.  To my delight, students have already been on the NSE website, looking at past examinations and practicing with the online exercises, and even told me that they wanted to do more this weekend!

So, to sum up, our students had oral quizzes the first week of class and were successful on them, they are speaking the language, studying on their own, and taking on challenges even beyond what I would ask--I cannot imagine a better or more inspiring group of kids!

5th Grade Semester Final

It is that time of year again! The good news is that the semester final is actually shorter than our regular chapter exams, since they are taken over two class periods and the final is only one class period.  The other good news (not sure my students will agree on this ;) ) is that the final is comprehensive, so it is a chance to review all of the material covered so far.  That means you can review and take comfort from the areas where you are very strong, and work a little more on areas that need improvement.

Our first unit  (Lección preliminar) focused almost exclusively on vocabulary.  The complete vocab list is on page 25 of the textbook, and can also be found at this Avancemos link.  Students need to know how to write and respond to all of the vocabulary here.  The only real grammar is to understand the difference between the formal and informal expressions.

Our next unit, (unidad uno, lección uno), has a complete vocabulary list on page 55, or the Avancemos link here.   This chapter also covered the subject pronouns and the present tense conjugations of the verb ser.  Our students also have several handouts covering this material.  For the final, I will not include gustar and the indirect object pronouns, since they have not had as much time with that material.

There will also be a question over cultural material, and Our Lady of Guadalupe.

I hope that this will be an opportunity for all of our wonderful 5th graders to realize how much they have accomplished and to strengthen their foundation for the next semester.

6th Grade Essay ~ La familia

When learning a language, it is usually easier to understand it, either in written or spoken form, than it is to actually produce the language yourself.  In order to really grow in the language, you have to push yourself (or be...gently nudged...by your teacher) to speak and write. Last week our 6th graders created some remarkable family tree posters.

(Seriously--isn't this Harry Potter family tree by Trey M. awesome?)

This week, they are using those posters as the basis for an essay on their family members. Each essay must contain the following information for a grandfather, grandmother, parents, siblings, aunt, uncle and cousins according to the poster you created last week:

•     Name using the verb llamarse
•     Where they are from
•     Relationship to you
•     Age (don’t forget to use tener!)
•     Physical description (at least two adjectives)
•     Personality description (at least two adjectives)

·    They may type or hand write the essay, but it should be double-spaced, and include any appropriate accent marks. Remember: mi = my. Mí = me (the object of a preposition). Page 83 of our textbook contains several adjectives that may be helpful, too.  I can't wait to read more about your families!

I

What We're Learning in November - Middle School

I love our middle school classes.  When you genuinely look forward to seeing 6th, 7th and 8th graders every day, it is a good thing, and I truly enjoy these kids!

A quick note about homework:  in general, I try to give about 3 assignments a week, and leave the weekends clear.  However, at this level, all students should be reviewing their vocab daily, and reading through vocabulary from previous chapters about once a week.  They have learned so much that it can easily be forgotten if they don't review!

6th Grade: We have covered the basic irregular verbs (ser, estar, tener and ir) and regular -ar, -er and -ir verbs in the present tense.  Our new vocab for this unit covers all of the family members and pets, as well as giving dates, expressing age, and the numbers beyond 100.  Our grammar points are going to focus on showing ownership with ser + de, the possessive adjectives, expressions with tener and the comparatives.  Our culture theme is still Puerto Rico, and will will be talking about celebrating the quinceañera, government elections, and portraits by artists from Puerto Rico and Peru.  We are going to be alternating oral and written quizzes nearly every week.  I would encourage the students to review the verb tener, because we will be using it frequently.

7th Grade: The kids are already excited about the vocab for our new unit, which is all about sports.  We have several cognates in this chapter, so it will be pretty easy to remember the vocabulary.  Our grammar for this unit is also very easy compared to some of our previous chapters--we are doing the only u to ue stem-changing verb, jugar, and then the two verbs that mean to know: saber and conocer.  After all of the other stem-changers, and the differences between ser and estar, this will be one of those "catch your breath" units.  We will move through it very quickly, though, since I expect them to master the vocabulary and grammar easily.

8th Grade: This unit is also sports-related, expanding on the vocabulario that the students learned in 7th grade.  The grammar from this chapter is all review--the preterite of -er and -ir verbs, along with the demonstrative adjectives and pronouns.  These concepts are important, but our class did a great job with them last year, so we are going to go through them very quickly and then move through the next unit, which is also review of the reflexive verbs and the present progressive.  We will be doing a great deal of speaking and writing during this unit, and focus on refining both oral and written communication so that it is more polished.  The wonderful thing about units where most of the grammar is review material is that we can devote more time to truly using the language instead of explaining it!

Upcoming:  There are two very exciting things in the future for our 7th and 8th graders.  One is that they will be able to earn service hours by tutoring the 5th and 6th graders.  Explaining grammar concepts to someone else is the best way I know of to make sure that you have them down yourself.  This will be tremendously helpful to both the students who are being tutored and the ones who are doing the tutoring.  Sometimes just having a different person explain it makes all the difference. Also, we are going to be doing the National Spanish Exam in the spring, and will begin preparing for it after Thanksgiving.  The exam is given to more than 150,000 students nationwide, and I am delighted that our students will be participating.  More on that soon!

As I count my blessings this month, the students here make me more grateful than I can adequately express in either language.  <3

What We're Learning in November-3rd Grade -- 5th Grade

We are going full speed ahead with our vocabulary and grammar in all the grades.  Here is what we are covering:

3rd Grade: We have been working on the colores and la ropa (clothing).  We have learned songs to help out with our vocab:
Red is rojo

Green is verde

Blue, azul

Negro, black

Yellow, amarillo

Purple is morado

Brown, café

Gris is gray

Rosa or rosado, pink

White is blanco,

Orange, anaranjado

Gold, dorado

Plateado, silver

Blonde hair is rubio

Moreno, brunette (dark hair)

Pelirrojo, red hair

Dress is vestido, shirt is camisa,

pantalones cortos—shorts,

Coat is abrigo, belt—cinturón,

Zapatos are a pair of shoes.

Chaqueta—jacket, blouse is a blusa,

Guantes are a pair of gloves,

Skirt is a falda, socks—calcetines,

Botas are a pair of boots.

Pants—pantalones, sandals—sandalias,

Un sombrero is a hat,

Scarf is bufanda, clothing is ropa,

And a gorro is a cap.

Later this month, we will be using the definite articles and ser to create sentences and describe the colors of clothing and school items.

4th Grade: Along with reviewing the colors, we are learning the singular possessive adjectives mi (my), tu (your-informal), su (your-formal, your-plural, his, her, their), nuestro (our-masculine object) and nuestra (our-feminine object). In Spanish, the gender of the possessive adjective matches up with the item, not with the owner.  For example, our house is nuestra casa because the word casa is feminine, even if the people who own the house are male.  I have been so impressed at how well our fourth graders remembered the gender of nouns from last year, and how readily they have applied these concepts.  The gender of nouns can be tricky, because there are many exceptions.  In general, nouns ending in -o, -ma, -ta, -l and -r tend to be masculine, along with words that identify boys, days of the week, months of the year and the names of rivers.  Most nouns that end in -a, -d and -ión tend to be feminine, along with time (la hora) and words that identify girls.  There are several exceptions, though, including día (masculine, which is why it is buenos días) and mano (feminine).   We are writing sentences telling to whom different things belong, as well as describing the colors of those objects.  Examples: Su cuaderno es morado.  Nuestra mesa es de color café.

5th Grade: We have been working with all of the subject pronouns and the present tense conjugations of the verb ser, as well as the use and omission of subject pronouns.  Soon we will be using the prepositional pronouns, indirect object pronouns, the verb gustar and the infinitive of other verbs from this chapter to express how we like or dislike different activities.  We are generally alternating written and oral quizzes each Friday, so they are practicing all their skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing).  It is a lot for them to keep track of and fit together, but they are doing very well.  At this stage, they should also be reading through their vocab lists once every day, even if they do not have an assignment to turn in.  Because the grammar structures are pretty intense, we are spending more class time on the grammar than the vocabulary, and it helps tremendously for them to review it frequently on their own. Don't forget the ¡Avancemos! links on the right hand side of the blog.  They are great for practice!

I am always impressed and excited by the proficiency that our students are developing in Spanish.  They work very hard, and I hope that they can see how much they are accomplishing!

Día de los muertos-5th and 2nd Collaboration

Celebrating the rhythms of the liturgical year is one of my favorite things about teaching in a Catholic school.  While Advent and Lent are always special times, we also enjoy observing some of the holidays and feast days, especially those that are an important part of Hispanic culture.  For the día de los muertos (Day of the dead), we participate with an altar downtown, where our art teacher, Ms. Proctor, creates a beautiful display, including a book of letters and drawings from our 3rd and 4th grade students in honor of their loved ones who have died.

We discuss how the Day of the Dead and the way people celebrate Halloween now are very different, even though some parts look similar.  This is a very Catholic celebration for us: a reminder to pray for the dead, and a way to remember and celebrate the lives of our loved ones who have passed.  We also talk about the differences between an altar of remembrance for our loved ones, which is not meant for worship, and the altar in our churches.  It is not scary, but it is fun, and reminds us that we do not have to be afraid of death, because our Lord Jesus has defeated death, and through Him we believe in life everlasting.

Our 5th graders have teamed up with Mrs. Stafford's 2nd grade class to create calacas made out of q-tips.  As cute as their creations are, seeing the kids work together is even cuter!  <3

 

After all that we had talked about, we agreed that the pan de muertos (bread of the dead) was something that could only be learned through experience.  Of course, the best way to enjoy pan is with a nice cup of chocolate mexicano (Mexican hot chocolate).