Spanish 1

Third Quarter

Spanish I has been working extremely hard as they are learning to conjugate verbs. This is one of the most challenging, yet most important concepts to learn in Spanish! Unlike in English, Spanish has six different verb forms for each verb!!! When we first began to tackle this important grammar lesson, the kids were a little overwhelmed, but the more exposure we receive, the easier it has become!!

Cuba and Miami have been the topic of our cultural units during this chapter! And how timely with the resignation of Fidel Castro!! We watched a biography on Castro's life, watched podcasts of Cuban and Cuban-American responses to his resignation, and we learned about "Calle Ocho," in Miami's Little Havana. We learned about the Carnaval, a huge community celebration of Cuban and Latino Culture. We viewed video clips of dancers and entertainers during the festival and listened to the native song, Guantanamera! Wow...have we been busy!!

We are also learning about weather concepts, expressing the date, and season, as well as learning how to communicate what we like to do and how often we do something. These Spanish I students are then going to take their newly learned skills and apply them to news broadcasts in which they report the weather and interview others for a "special report on what people like to do" all the while they are in front of the camera!!

Look at the piñatas that they completed!!