MICROSOFT Foreign Language · set up “ofrendas”, or offerings, in honor of their faithfully...
Transcript of MICROSOFT Foreign Language · set up “ofrendas”, or offerings, in honor of their faithfully...
Señor Taylor’s Spanish III/
Honors Spanish III class is
working very hard to com-
plete their video project.
The students are collaborat-
ing with Mr. Lorenz and Mr.
Young (who also have been
assigned a part, in Spanish).
After teaching them their
lines, they will record it and
put it in the final product.
Their enthusiasm and crea-
tive energy keeps them mo-
tivated to move forward.
The project is enhanced with
technology (especially in the
planning/brainstorming
stage). The new Inspiration
program was used exten-
sively to keep the focus and
ideas flowing.
The final product will be
available on TerrierTube
and release date of the video
is to be determined. Future
projects are planned by inte-
grating technology such as
Rosetta Stone and Prome-
thean to facilitate the proc-
ess.
Inspiración
Bonbons et Questions Every year, the American
Association of French
Teachers designates a spe-
cial week (la semaine du
français) in early November
to promote the French lan-
guage and culture. This
year, our French students
observed the week by selling
gummy Eiffel towers and
assorted chocolates with
expressions such as J’ai
faim (I’m hungry) and Je
regrette (I’m sorry). Le
Cochonnet, a chocolate bar
whose wrapper shows the
small ball of the same name
that is used in the French
game pétanque, proved to be
very popular. The students
also sold our French Club t-
shirts, which bear the proud,
if not arrogant, statement
“Ce tee-shirt est meilleur
que le tien” (This t-shirt is
better than yours). Sales
went well, but many items
are still available, if anyone
is interested.
French 1 students have been
busy learning interrogative
expressions in order to for-
mulate questions. They had
several to ask me. Why
(Pourquoi )are you leaving?
Where (Où) are you going?
What (Qu’est-ce que) are
you going to do there? Who
(Qui) will replace you? I’m
leaving CCHS at this time
because my husband is retir-
ing from SIU and we wanted
to live in a place where we
would be able to see our
sons and other family mem-
bers more often. We’re
moving to Florida for that
reason. (It’s also pretty nice
there in the winter!). I
don’t know yet exactly what
I’ll be doing, but I hope to
stay involved with the
French language and possi-
bly work with the Haitian
population. Charlene De-
Hoet will take over my
French classes next semes-
ter. She is a native speaker
with lots of teaching experi-
ence. I wish all my students
and colleagues the very best.
I will miss you. Joyeuses
fêtes de la saison et bonne
année!(Happy holidays and
Happy New Year). RG
DECEMBER 2010
Foreign Language
MICROSOFT
Germann’s Class
Celebrates El Día de
los Muertos
2
Spanish Students
Explore Language
Through Projects
2
ESL Class Growing 3
Oktober Fest a
Delicious Success 3
The French Invasion 3
Taking a Look at
Mrs. Taylors’ Classes 4
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
BY ARNOLD TAY LOR
BY ROBIN GROSS
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
STAFF :
L INAY A GERMANN DEPARTMENT CHAIR ,
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR
S HARON LORINSKAS GERMAN INSTRUCTOR R OBIN GROSS FRENCH INSTRUCTOR
S HANTHI BLANCHARD C HINESE INSTRUCTOR
JANE RENDÓN SPANISH INSTRUCTOR
M ARIA TAYLOR SPANISH INSTRUCTOR
ARNOLD TAYLOR SPANISH INSTRUCTOR
DECEMBER 2010 P AGE 2
mole. Other students chose to focus on
Spanish culture with demonstrations of
Flamenco dance and Flamenco guitar,
with an original composition and live
performance! Other presentation topics
include Semana Santa (Holy Week) in
Seville, dating customs and wedding
traditions, Dia de los muertos (Day of
the Dead), the Burning of Judas, and the
Spanish soccer league.
Mrs. Rendon's classes recently com-
pleted their semester projects. Students
in Spanish I created scrapbook pages of
friends, family and favorite activities.
Students had fun decorating and com-
piling their pictures and information.
Some students made scrapbooks, which
were presented in small groups. Others
chose to make their scrapbooks with
Power Point and present them to the
whole class. Presentations were in
Spanish. It was fun to learn about class-
mates and to realize how much we can
actually say in Spanish now!
The presentations in Spanish 2 had a
cultural focus. Students were allowed
to work in pairs and choose from a vari-
ety of topics and presentation formats.
Many students chose to research foods.
We were able to watch student created
food preparation demonstrations and to
taste Mexican favorites, such as tama-
les, Mexican wedding cookies, and
El Día de los Muertos is a traditional
Mexican holiday in which families re-
member loved ones who have passed
away. The three day festival of remem-
brance begins on the evening of October
31st, and is celebrated throughout All
Saints Day and All Souls Day, on No-
vember 1st and 2nd. Families decorate
loved ones’ graves and in their homes
set up “ofrendas”, or offerings, in honor
of their faithfully departed. “Ofrendas”
may include photos, favorite belongings
of the loved one, food, and candles.
Some popular foods during this celebra-
tion of life are “pan de muerto” or bread
of the dead, sugar skulls, atole (a sweet,
cornmeal drink), and tamales. Spanish I
and II students were able to make sugar
skulls from scratch by using a sugar
mixture and mold. Skulls were then
decorated with glitter and sequins. Stu-
dents were also excited to try the atole
drink and to sample authentic pan de
muerto which was ordered from a local
Mexican bakery! Upper level classes
made a “Rising skeleton coffin” to
decorate.
As students worked diligently on this 3-
day project, they were also expected to
learn a great deal of cultural information
and vocabulary about the holiday itself.
The culmination of our lesson took
place with a jeopardy game in which
students chose categories and answered
questions to win prizes including brace-
lets, keychains, skull pops, and Day of
the Dead stickers and tattoos!!
Spanish Students Explore Language Through Projects
Germann’s Class Celebrates El Día de los Muertos
“It was fun to learn about
classmates and to realize how
much we can actually say in
Spanish now!”
BY L INAYA GERMANN
BY JANE RENDON
FOREIGN LANGUAGE P AGE 3
wurst, Kartoffelsalat (potato salad),
Brötchen (rolls),
Löwensenf (“lion
mustard”, a hot
and spicy Ger-
man variety),
Käse (cheese),
and Apfelkuchen
(apple cake).
About 15 stu-
dents partici-
pated, the highest number ever.
Future events being planned include
film evenings, Christmas caroling,
and a Fasching party in March.
German Club held its sixth annual
Oktober Fest
Picknick on Fri-
day, October 29th
after Parent/
Teacher Confer-
ences. Members
brought a wide
selection of Ger-
man food to share,
including Brat-
Enrollment in the ESL class is 17, the
highest it has been in recent years, and
at least one new student is expected to
be added to the class soon. These stu-
dents represent seven different countries
and they speak four different languages.
Countries currently represented include
China, Columbia, El Salvador, Guate-
mala, Korea, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia.
The class will again celebrate Thanks-
giving on the last day of class before the
break by bringing dishes from their
home countries to share.
and French chocolate.
They also listened to
French music and learned
about French loan words in
German. Tres jolie! Viel
Spaß! A lot of fun!
History was made in October when,
for the first time, France invaded
Germany. On the last day of the
quarter, the Honors French III/IV
class surprised the German II class
(but not the German teacher) by
bearing the red, white and blue into
German “territory.” Led by Ma-
dame General Gross, the French
quickly overcame any German re-
sistance, peace returned to the J
pod, and the two erstwhile enemies
ate German cheese, French bread,
Oktober Fest a Delicious Success
ESL Class Growing
The French Invasion
The German and French classes bear their respective flags
post-invasion.
BY SHARON LORINSKAS
BY SHARON LORINSKAS
BY SHARON LORINSKAS
Español I, II, III:
Mrs. Taylor’s classes deeply engage in
learning.
High-tech video explanation of grammar.
Low-tech verbal instruction.
Fun-tech bingo and word searches.
Every way we look students are encouraged to
learn in the most personal way possible.
A second language is not an easy thing to learn
but all these students with a positive work ethic
are accomplishing it very successfully.
Taking a Look at Mrs. Taylor’s Classes
P AGE 4 DECEMBER 2010
BY MARIA TAY LOR