All of our Spanish classes this year have been very productive and it is always a pleasure to see how quickly our students grow and interact with the language! We love hearing stories about how our students have used their language skills outside the classroom and have gotten the opportunity to talk with some Spanish-speaking individuals around the community. We were especially excited this year to welcome a very large freshman class into our Spanish I classes, as well as a group of students who had great success taking Spanish I at the middle school and have been able to transition flawlessly into Spanish II at the high school. We were also fortunate enough to take a great group of students to Spain, Portugal, and France over the summer, and we have used a lot of what we learned abroad to increase cultural awareness in our classrooms.
In Mr. Brick’s classes, the students have started to work with Ms. Ariss, who is joining us as a long-term substitute for Mr. Brick as he takes paternity leave later in the year. Ms. Ariss graduated from UWL and has had prior teaching experiences in the La Crosse and Prairie du Chien school districts. We are positive that Ms. Ariss will bring a lot of great ideas and activities into our classrooms and the students have really enjoyed getting to know her. We wish her a lot of luck in her career and know that she will make a fantastic teacher!
We are also busy this month as all the language classes have been listening to a presentation once a week from one of our foreign exchange students. These presentations are always a great learning experience for every one (including teachers) as we get to hear about new cultures, languages, foods, holidays, and traditions.
Here is a quick breakdown of what we have been doing in all of our classes:
Spanish I – the Spanish I classes have been busy working on multiple verbs they can use to describe emotions as well as where people and things are located around the school.
Spanish II – the Spanish II classes are busy talking about daily routines and comparing and contrasting the schedules of students in the United States with those of students in other countries. They have been discussing a great deal how the schedules of students and families in Spanish-speaking countries differ from those of a typical American student, as well as some common stereotypes that some Americans might have about Spain and Latin America.
Spanish III – We have been continuing to describe events and activities that have taken place in the past and are starting a new tense that students can use to express certain activities that took place over and over again. The students have been told many times over the last few weeks that the grammar concepts we are beginning in this chapter are some of the most challenging in the entire language, so they have been extremely productive making sure they understand the basic concepts so as to make the process as stress-free as possible!
Spanish IV – The students have been busy learning how to influence and make recommendations to others by forming commands. We have been working on commands that students would use in everyday conversation to influence groups of people that they know very well. In the coming weeks, they will be working on a project in which they must demonstrate an activity of their choice to the class, and command the class in Spanish to follow along with them through each step. This project allows the students to be very creative with the language, and we always look forward to seeing what they have chosen to demonstrate!
It is hard to believe that we are already through the third term, but we look forward to introducing more vocabulary to our students and giving them more opportunities to use the language! -Sra. Anderson y Sr. Brick
