5th grade "Somos Amigos" Student Videos

5th graders had the "assignment" of having a friendly conversation with a friend from class all in Spanish. Each conversation uses the basic questions and answers that we have been practicing in our first unit, "Somos Amigos" (We are Friends). Check 'em out! They did a great job!!!

Bagnall Blurb for Octubre

Bagnall Blurb #2

Octubre

Padres y Amigos,

This is a great time of year! I absolutely love the different colors outside on the trees and the crisp air that comes into my classroom when we crack open a window. I also enjoy now being into a “rhythm” at school. It always takes awhile to get used to the schedule and pace of life, but I think that both myself and the students have adjusted well. I am also (anxiously) awaiting the arrival of our first baby… the due date is one week away! The students have been very curious about this baby, and I’ve promised to come back and visit before Christmas. Before I take my maternity leave I wanted to update you on what has been happening in my classroom!

Quinto Grado (5th): We finished our first unit of “mis amigos”. The video dialogues went well and students impressed me with their great Spanish accents and knowledge of the questions and answers! We are now in our second unit “En clase” (In class). We are learning classroom and school related vocabulary with the verbs tengo/necesito (I have/I need). Please use quia to practice these new words (There is a link to quia on the upper right hand side of the blog)! We are also learning a new praise song in Spanish, “Demos Gracias al Señor”  which expresses thanks and praise to our heavenly Father for all that He blesses us with. Feel free to practice this song at home by listening to the video on the blog as well.

Sexto grado (6th): We just finished a great assigned by researching a famous Hispanic person. Each student created a profile on their assigned person all in Spanish using the vocabulary and verbs that we have been practicing in class. We are now moving on to study how other verbs work (and conjugate). We are starting with the verbs comer and beber (to eat and drink).

 I also want to make you aware of my quiz policies, and that is that if a student/parent is disappointed with a quiz result they may take their quiz home with them and fix any mistakes, return the quiz, and earn ½ of each point that was taken off back. It is the students’ choice to do so, and he/she must be responsible for remembering to turn it back in… but I thought it might help if you all also knew about this nice bonus!

 Finally, in conclusion of our first unit we have memorized the bible verse I Juan 3:1 “!Fijense que gran amor nos ha dado el Padre, que nos llama hijos de Dios! Y lo soy!  (See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!) , perhaps you could ask your student to say it at home before dinner or bed sometime in the upcoming weeks!

Séptimo Grado (7th): In 7^th grade we are about to finish our first unit. Before we end, we have two big things to accomplish. The first, being our end of the unit final quiz.  A review sheet was done in class this past week and there are review games on quia for students to practice with. The second, next week we will be starting a project that required students to make a family tree in Spanish. Students can choose to use real family pictures and relatives, or create an “imaginary” family with cartoons and celebrities. Please ask your students about these two big graded assessment pieces and look on net classroom for grades to be posted.

Coming up will be our second unit “el cuerpo” (the body). Our vocabulary will include all body parts, how to describe pain, and how to give advice. We will also being asking students to share (in Spanish) a home remedy that they may have in their family (for example, putting tooth paste on a bee sting or taking a tablespoon of honey for a sore throat). So look for more information on that to come!

 Octavo Grado (8^th): As the weather is changing outside, our eighth graders are learning how to talk about the weather in Spanish! Putting vocabulary, grammar, and culture together… students are creating their own weather forecast videos reporting from various Spanish speaking cities. The scripts have been written and the videos have been recorded. The videos are due on Tuesday, October 16tth. I will attempt to post some of the videos that turned out well on the blog, so be sure to check back for those. We will be wrapping up our first unit with a final quiz that will be on Tuesday, October 23^rd. A review sheet for this quiz was sent home today and is a homework assignment due next week. Lastly, be sure to check out the Spanish assignments and grades that are posted regularly on net classroom.

For everyone, … I will continue to pray for all of my students and classes as I am at home with the new baby Bagnall. I am sure that time will pass quickly and I will be back at it in early January. Until then, please direct your questions and communication to Kim Knoester (kknoester@grcs.org) who is my maternity substitute. Please schedule a time during parent teacher conferences to visit with her and hear more about Spanish here at GRCMS! Adiós y hasta luego,

Sra. Becky Bagnall

bbagnall@grcs.org

616 574 6343

La Vida Loca El Tiempo

BBC has put out a great interactive video series entitled, "La Vida Loca" (The Crazy Life) to learn Spanish in a fun way! Here is a link to an episode that uses weather phrases and vocabulary. 8th graders are learning these same phrases so it is a great way to put our new vocabulary to use! Use the listening guide passed out in class to help! CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE EPISODE

5th grade GAMES to practice

Game #1

Game #2

Game #3

Game #4

Game #6

Ir + A + Infinitive Video Lesson

Spanish Rap: ¿Cómo es tu familia?

8th grade SECOND HOUR voicethread

8th grade FIRST HOUR voicethread

Spanish Rap: ¿Cómo es tu familia?

7th graders, this "cheesy" rap practice the vocabulary that we are working on in class AND the verb SER! Listen, it's pretty catchy :)

Spanish Speaking Countires Geography Games!

5th graders here are two ways to practice for Thursday's Quiz on Spanish speaking countries and the alphabet!

PRACTICE GAME #1 CLICK HERE (try and beat your time)
PRACTICE GAME #2 CLICK HERE (there will be some listed that are NOT Spanish speaking countries... note you will not need to know those for the quiz)
LISTEN to the letter of the alphabet here
Get the letters across practice with the Spanish alphabet

El Verbo Gustar

The verb GUSTAR is a little "diferente" in Spanish, please click on the following link and go through the power point that it brings you to. Please do not just click to the next slide without understanding the concept that is being taught!

CLICK HERE FOR GUSTAR POWER POINT

1st Bagnall Blurb of 2012-2013!

BAGNALL BLURB

August 31^st, 2012

Parents & Guardians,

Just a quick, “HOLA” to start off the year from the perspective of your friendly GRCMS Spanish teacher! For many of you this is not a new introduction and I have had the pleasure of teaching your GRCMS student(s) for the past few years! But to those of you who are new to our school or just new to having me as a Spanish teacher, I look forward to getting to know you and your student as the year progresses!

This will be my 4^th year at GRCMS and it feels SO comfortable and exciting to be in the position I am now. Last year we graduated our first class of 8^th graders who went through the MS Spanish program. Of that class, about a third of them tested into high school semester 3 of Spanish! It has been a blessing to witness and be a part of the continual Spanish growth within the GRCS schools. Even so, we are continuing to make changes, adjustments, and improvements as we head into another new year!

This year holds some big changes for me personally. For starters I am part time for the first time. I am teaching my classes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays and staying home on Mondays and Wednesdays. In order for this to “work”, I have the privilege of team teaching with Kim Knoester! She is a Calvin College graduate and just so happens to be the daughter of two excellent teachers already in our GRCS family (Arie and Pat Knoester)! We each have our own middle school Spanish classes, but we are also “sharing” three sections. Those being: 6^th graders that have Spanish on Wednesdays and Fridays, 7^th graders who have Spanish Mondays and Thursdays and 7^th graders who have Spanish on Wednesdays and Fridays. With those classes, Kim Knoester will be teaching the first lesson of the week and I will be teaching the second. We are working closely together with great communication to make this a successful schedule for all involved!

Another big personal change will be the arrival of my first child in the middle of October. My husband and I are very much looking forward to the start of our family and also anxious to know if we will have a son or daughter! I will be taking time off to make my motherhood adjustment starting around October 18^th. At that point Kim Knoester will take over all of my classes until I return after Christmas break in early January. God has truly blessed me with a healthy pregnancy and I still feel very energetic as I head into these weeks of school!

Just some final thoughts before I “sign off”. I wanted to share with you what our principal, Ashanti Bryant, challenged all of us teachers to do at our recent staff retreat. And that was to write our own personal mission statement for teaching.  Although I am not an eloquent writer, this is what God poured onto my heart:

“It is my calling to engage ALL students in a Christ loving community as we learn about God’s global and LOCAL Spanish speaking kingdom; To find ways for my students and I to partake in His work by serving and learning from “the stranger”; To give students the tools and practice to be loved and love those who are different from them”.

I ask you to join me in faithfully praying throughout the year for all of my students and myself as I do my best to live out that mission statement in this new school season. Thank you in advance for your support, communication, and prayers! Please use my blog (www.senorabagnallsclassroom.blogspot.com )as a way to stay in touch with what is going on in room 29 with Señora Bagnall as well as email (bbagnall@grcs.org) and/or calls/texts (616-322-4188)!

Gracias y Dios le bendiga (Thanks & God bless!),

Señora Becky Bagnall!

Trabalenguas... Pepe...

 8th graders, try this "trabalenguas" or tongue twister as we say :)

Pepe Peña pela papa, pica piña, pita un pito, pica piña, pela papa, Pepe Peña.  

(Pepe Peña peels potatoes, cuts pineapple, blows a whistle, cuts pineapple, peels potatoes, Pepe Peña.)

Español in the Media

I love hearing Spanish in commercials when I am watching some TV! See if you can catch the two phrases that actress Selma Hayek uses in this "Got Milk" ad :)

Un Año Escolar Nuevo... (a new school year)

As I write this first post of the 2012-2013 there are many things that I still can´t wrap my mind around...
1st  This will be my 6th year of teaching!!! I can say confidently that I LOVE my job and feel so blessed to teach at Grand Rapids Christian Middle School :)
2nd  I must begin to set my alarm a bit earlier than usual... I am a morning person but waking up at 5:30 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays still might be a rude awakening come next week.
3rd I will be a first time MOM in October! It has been fun to watch this baby grow over the summer and now I can´t wait to meet him or her by the end of October!
4th I am actually okay with summer ending and a new school year beginning! I love my students, I love the subject I get to teach, and this fall promises to hold many blessings :) 

Here are some of my favorite summer 2012 memories! I will continue to use this blog to communicate with my parents and students of GRCMS! Enjoy :)

 A first time trip for the MI native to Mackinac Island

 My first baby shower, thrown by my cousins and two lovely sisters!

And a great camping trip at Hoffmaster with my husband to celebrate 5 years of marriage!

Pobre Ana Review Game

7th graders, here is a way to practice ALL of the information from our book, Pobre Ana. 

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE POBRE ANA JEOPARDY REVIEW GAME 

Comida Latina.... LATIN FOOD FIESTA!

Comida Latina Proyecto

*latin food project

Estimado Parents, Guardians, and Students, 

It has been un año fantástico in 6^th grade! We have learned to:

·         conjugate ER and AR verbs in present tense, Spanish songs,

·          vocabulary on transportation, locations, sports, numbers, telling time, restaurant, and more.

·         we are impressed with their work ethic, capability & willingness to communicate in the target language, and appreciate a different culture.

But… we are not quite done yet!

We have one final Spanish project…a FIESTA. They want a party, they have to prepare it!

This project will be a way for students to learn about the Latin culture through taste. They will learn that the Latin culture has more to offer than spicy salsa and tacos J

PROJECT:

Your child, in a group of four, will be assigned to a Spanish speaking country. They will create their own RESTAURANTE so they will research currency used, main produce grown, and any cultural influences that affect foods eaten in today’s culture. Students will have time in class to research what food is typically eaten and prepared in that country. Using their researched information students will complete two tasks.

1^st: Create a poster size menu for their restaurant that will represent their assigned country and above information. Monday’s class: 23 de Mayo / Tuesday class: 22 de Mayo

2^nd:  make & bring in authentic food to be eaten by their classmates. Each country (restaurant) must have a main dish, a beverage, snack/appetizer, and dessert.  Due Thursday, 24 de Mayo.

We realize that this is a busy time of year, so they should by the end of this week have brought home a recipe for you to approve of and plan on. If the recipe is too complicated or doesn’t fit your schedule please contact me and we can work something out.

Students will need to make and prepare  only samplings, enough for 20 people to SAMPLE!  (so probably NO need to double any recipes, maybe even cut them in half) We discourage “store bought” or made only by parents, we really want the students to be involvedJ.  We leave the final outcome to your discretion.

INGREDIENTS:

Many/most ingredients can be found at

·         Meijers or your local grocery store.

·         ALDI has cheap Mangos - $.80/each

·         the “Nacional Supermercado” at 1610 Clyde Park Sw, Wyoming.

·         La Tropical Market & Grill (from the 5^th grade Scavenger Hunt).

·         A GRCM family owns DUTLER’s Foods on Madison & Hall.

These are very user friendly store with English speakers to help you find specific items. Please do not hesitate to call/email us with questions or concerns… we are happy to help. If a recipe calls for an ingredient you will not use again, save receipt and I can buy it from you.

Finally, the food prepared must be brought to school with all necessary serving wear and small paper products on…Thursday 24 de Mayo. We will start set up during Lunch at 11:30 and eat during 5^th hour; 12:14-1:04. Dishes can be brought in any time that morning and set in the gym (labeled). We also understand that some dishes meant to be served “hot” will not be, and others intended to be served “chilled” might be room temperature! I am sure it will still all taste good!

Looking forward to ending the school year with some delicious comida latina J.

PLEASE, COME JOIN US in the gym for our FIESTA! You are your family members are MORE than welcome to stay and experience it all!

Sra. Rebekah Bagnall (bbagnall@grcs.org 322-4188)

Sra. Johana Rodriguez Quist (jrquist@grcs.org   322-8068)

*P.S  Please have your child bring any serving dishes or utensils LABELED that are needed for their specific dish. Remember, small serving sizes. Any leftover food must be taken home!