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