¡Hola familias!
We cannot believe that February Break is already here! Quarter 3 is already flying by! With that said, we felt it appropriate to provide you with an update of what we have covered since the break, what we will be working on after the break and to remind you of ways you can help your student to keep their Spanish fresh over the break.
January and February have been very busy months in our Spanish classrooms. In January, students worked hard on winter poems and posters for World Languages Week. We were very impressed with the great quality of work we saw from students on these assignments. Between January and February, we also wrapped up our study of winter holidays in Spain and Colombia, as well as our unit on family vocabulary and physical descriptions. Your student should be able to name all of the members in your family as well as describe them. Feel free to quiz them some time!
We have just begun a unit called "En el restaurante" (in the restaurant). Students have just learned the names for items found on the table at a restaurant (fork, knife, spoon, napkin etc.), as well as how to tell a waiter if something is missing from a table. Please feel free to quiz them on this as well! Students will also be learning how to order food at a restaurant as well as how to take food orders. If you are traveling to a Spanish Speaking Country over the break, you can order in Spanish on your vacation by saying "quisiera" key-see-ara" ("ara" with the "a" as in "apple") followed by the dish you would like to order! You can also visit many restaurants in the area where there are Spanish-speaking servers!
Here is a list in case you're interested! And please let us know if you know if any others :)
Acapulco's (Mexican) - Sudbury
El Azteca (Mexican) - Framingham
Pueblito Paisa (Colombian) - Framingham
La Casa de Pedro (Venezuelan) - Watertown
El Oriental de Cuba (Cuban) - Jamaica Plain
Mexico Lindo (Mexican) - Melrose
To wrap up the unit, we will focus on how to use the verbs "ser" and "estar", which both mean "to be", but serve different purposes. For example "estoy aburrido" means "I am bored" while "soy aburrido" means "I am boring". This may be challenging for some students, so please encourage them to seek extra help if they express frustration when we reach this point in the unit.
Over the break, many students will go a whole week without any exposure to Spanish! Repeated exposure is very important in language learning, so below are a few tips to help encourage their student to keep their skills sharp over the break:
1. Review previous unit vocabulary on the site Quizlet.com. There are great interactive games that students can play or flashcard sets they can study...playing games on Quizlet could be an easy and fun solution if your student ever says "I'm bored" over the break!
2. Play games or complete practice activities on the website Conjuguemos.com. This is a great way for students to keep grammar concepts fresh. To play games, they can click on the topic they want to study and click on the "new interactive games" link on the left hand side of the activity.
3. Practice with a friend or family member who speaks Spanish!
4. Watch t.v. or listen to music in Spanish. Any input in Spanish, even if they only understand a few words will help keep their listening skills sharp.
5. Eat at one of the restaurants listed above where you student can order in Spanish!
6. If you are going to a Spanish Speaking Country, encourage your child to use their Spanish! An "Hola, ¿Cómo está usted?" can go a long way!
As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns. We hope everyone has a happy, safe and restful February break.
Un saludo cordial,
Kathy Delima and Leigh Netcoh
8th grade Spanish Teachers
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