Español Intermedio Middle School
We started the second trimester of Español Intermedio MS celebrating Three Kings Day, a popular holiday around the world. As it is customary in many Spanish speaking countries, each student wrote a letter to the three kings and decorated a paper-made shoe which they filled with grass, also made out of paper. In their letters they introduced themselves by writing brief descriptions. They also included a reflection of their last year, as well as their hopes and wishes for the new year.
Afterwards, we continued reading and discussing the short novel Quince. While doing so we worked on learning how to express our ideas in the past by using the preterite tense. Once we finished the book and discussed its story arch, students continued developing the telenovela project they started last trimester. After choosing a major plot point, they wrote the main events in their telenovela using the format of a timeline. When writing these they employed the preterite tense. Once these main events were revised, each student chose a specific event to develop a script for one scene. Once their scripts were finished, we had a read-through in class. Students then voted on what script was going to be filmed, and they worked collaboratively during the filming and editing process.
Español Intermedio 1 (High School)
This trimester, we began our unit ¿Quieres comer conmigo en Venezuela? with the study of the current situation in Venezuela with regards to food shortages in supermarkets.
In class, we reviewed the vocabulary for food and cutlery through daily vocabulary tests, and we studied how to organize a typical menu in a restaurant. As we focused on expanding our vocabulary, and discovered more about Venezuelan culture, we continued to review grammar concepts such as the preterite tense, the gerund and using Ser y Estar.
Students then created their own restaurant, from the basics, such as the name and location of their establishment, to the menu and floor plan of the space. Additionally, we picked a typical Venezuelan dish and wrote a step-by-step recipe in Spanish, and created a cooking video.
As a class, we all reviewed each other’s videos and gave each other feedback!
Español Intermedio 2 (High School)
Come and hear from students about their projects!
Session 1: 7:10-7:30 (Dom, Mara, Rosa, Seth)
Session 2: 7:30-7:50 (Amos, Anna, Clem, Didi)
At the start of the second trimester the Intermedio 2 class learned about Three Kings Day, a popular holiday around the world. After reading how this day, January 6th, is celebrated around the world in places like Bulgaria, Cuba, France, Germany, Perú, Portugal, and Puerto Rico; each student worked on a project for which they chose how they wanted to take part in the festivities. Inspiring their choice on the traditions of these countries, some students baked a Galette du Rois or other baked goods, similarly to France, others did a good deed for their community, like children do in Germany, or sang a festive song like they do in Portugal.
We then transitioned to the theme of this trimester: legends of Latin America. As a class we read about “El callejón del beso,” a melodramatic urban legend of Guanajuato, México. Alongside, students learned vocabulary to talk about relationships. They then used it in context to write short scripts and give voice to the animated and silent short film “¿Cómo funciona el amor?” (How does love work?). Once we were finished discussing “El callejón del beso” and had studied the present perfect, to talk about things that have happened in the recent past, students focused on one out of five different legends of Latin America. In small groups they adapted these into radionovelas. They also created advertisement posters for their plays.