Middle Grades Spanish Semester 1 was full of teaching and learning!
We began our journey with an introduction/review of the alphabet and Spanish phonics. These skills would help us throughout the entire semester as we practiced sight reading and spelling. We learned that Spanish and English have many similarities because they share a common root language--Latin. As a result, we are able to find many words in Spanish which resemble those in English and these are called COGNATES!.
After learning the alphabet and phonics, we studied numbers, beginning with the ones that we are most familiar with 1-20! We applied our knowledge of Spanish consonant and vowel sounds in order to master spelling of number words, and even applied our knowledge of math to demonstrate mastery of our newly gained numbers knowledge! Our study of Spanish numbers took us all the way to 1000! To help our classes learn and master this content, students worked together in groups to create and teach full lessons to our classes. They were responsible for coming up with an "I do" (Introduction) and "we do" (guided practice), which took the form of a Powerpoint and guided notes sheets that were student created. Students also had to create "You do", which included a worksheet, a review game, and an exit ticket. I was so impressed with the powerpoints and the games like BINGO and Kahoot. Bravo Students!
Next we took our knowledge of the quantitative in order to learn about all things related to El Calendario (The Calendar). Students were taught their days of the week, months of the year, how to tell the date for the day, and other related language including, but not limited to birthdays, seasons, and the weather. As a homework assignment, students were tasked with creating a Spanish calendar which included images representing that month/season.
Recognizing that the days of the week are full of different plans, we moved into our "Adonde Vas" Unit, which helped us talk about our travel plans over the course of the week. Students learned first person singular conjugation of the verb "to go" (IR), conjunctions "al" and "a la", and the names of common destinations they may find themselves throughout the week. Infromation from the "Paso a Paso" textbook helped students organize and remember these vocabulary words. Additionally, students demosntrated their knowledge in the form of a role play. Students were able to work with their partners to write out and perform their role plays in front of the class.
Conversation
Using "Adonde Vas" as a means fo seguing into more in-depth conversation, students were able to acquire additional vocabulary which helped them greet, agree, inquire, confirm information, express surprise and wonder in their conversations.