Señor Taylor’s Spanish III/

Honors Spanish III class is

working very hard to com-

plete their video project.

The students are collaborat-

ing with Mr. Lorenz and Mr.

Young (who also have been

assigned a part, in Spanish).

After teaching them their

lines, they will record it and

put it in the final product.

Their enthusiasm and crea-

tive energy keeps them mo-

tivated to move forward.

The project is enhanced with

technology (especially in the

planning/brainstorming

stage). The new Inspiration

program was used exten-

sively to keep the focus and

ideas flowing.

The final product will be

available on TerrierTube

and release date of the video

is to be determined. Future

projects are planned by inte-

grating technology such as

Rosetta Stone and Prome-

thean to facilitate the proc-

ess.

Inspiración

Bonbons et Questions Every year, the American

Association of French

Teachers designates a spe-

cial week (la semaine du

français) in early November

to promote the French lan-

guage and culture. This

year, our French students

observed the week by selling

gummy Eiffel towers and

assorted chocolates with

expressions such as J’ai

faim (I’m hungry) and Je

regrette (I’m sorry). Le

Cochonnet, a chocolate bar

whose wrapper shows the

small ball of the same name

that is used in the French

game pétanque, proved to be

very popular. The students

also sold our French Club t-

shirts, which bear the proud,

if not arrogant, statement

“Ce tee-shirt est meilleur

que le tien” (This t-shirt is

better than yours). Sales

went well, but many items

are still available, if anyone

is interested.

French 1 students have been

busy learning interrogative

expressions in order to for-

mulate questions. They had

several to ask me. Why

(Pourquoi )are you leaving?

Where (Où) are you going?

What (Qu’est-ce que) are

you going to do there? Who

(Qui) will replace you? I’m

leaving CCHS at this time

because my husband is retir-

ing from SIU and we wanted

to live in a place where we

would be able to see our

sons and other family mem-

bers more often. We’re

moving to Florida for that

reason. (It’s also pretty nice

there in the winter!). I

don’t know yet exactly what

I’ll be doing, but I hope to

stay involved with the

French language and possi-

bly work with the Haitian

population. Charlene De-

Hoet will take over my

French classes next semes-

ter. She is a native speaker

with lots of teaching experi-

ence. I wish all my students

and colleagues the very best.

I will miss you. Joyeuses

fêtes de la saison et bonne

année!(Happy holidays and

Happy New Year). RG

DECEMBER 2010

Foreign Language

MICROSOFT

Germann’s Class

Celebrates El Día de

los Muertos

2

Spanish Students

Explore Language

Through Projects

2

ESL Class Growing 3

Oktober Fest a

Delicious Success 3

The French Invasion 3

Taking a Look at

Mrs. Taylors’ Classes 4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

BY ARNOLD TAY LOR

BY ROBIN GROSS

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

STAFF :

L INAY A GERMANN DEPARTMENT CHAIR ,

SPANISH INSTRUCTOR

S HARON LORINSKAS GERMAN INSTRUCTOR R OBIN GROSS FRENCH INSTRUCTOR

S HANTHI BLANCHARD C HINESE INSTRUCTOR

JANE RENDÓN SPANISH INSTRUCTOR

M ARIA TAYLOR SPANISH INSTRUCTOR

ARNOLD TAYLOR SPANISH INSTRUCTOR

DECEMBER 2010 P AGE 2

mole. Other students chose to focus on

Spanish culture with demonstrations of

Flamenco dance and Flamenco guitar,

with an original composition and live

performance! Other presentation topics

include Semana Santa (Holy Week) in

Seville, dating customs and wedding

traditions, Dia de los muertos (Day of

the Dead), the Burning of Judas, and the

Spanish soccer league.

Mrs. Rendon's classes recently com-

pleted their semester projects. Students

in Spanish I created scrapbook pages of

friends, family and favorite activities.

Students had fun decorating and com-

piling their pictures and information.

Some students made scrapbooks, which

were presented in small groups. Others

chose to make their scrapbooks with

Power Point and present them to the

whole class. Presentations were in

Spanish. It was fun to learn about class-

mates and to realize how much we can

actually say in Spanish now!

The presentations in Spanish 2 had a

cultural focus. Students were allowed

to work in pairs and choose from a vari-

ety of topics and presentation formats.

Many students chose to research foods.

We were able to watch student created

food preparation demonstrations and to

taste Mexican favorites, such as tama-

les, Mexican wedding cookies, and

El Día de los Muertos is a traditional

Mexican holiday in which families re-

member loved ones who have passed

away. The three day festival of remem-

brance begins on the evening of October

31st, and is celebrated throughout All

Saints Day and All Souls Day, on No-

vember 1st and 2nd. Families decorate

loved ones’ graves and in their homes

set up “ofrendas”, or offerings, in honor

of their faithfully departed. “Ofrendas”

may include photos, favorite belongings

of the loved one, food, and candles.

Some popular foods during this celebra-

tion of life are “pan de muerto” or bread

of the dead, sugar skulls, atole (a sweet,

cornmeal drink), and tamales. Spanish I

and II students were able to make sugar

skulls from scratch by using a sugar

mixture and mold. Skulls were then

decorated with glitter and sequins. Stu-

dents were also excited to try the atole

drink and to sample authentic pan de

muerto which was ordered from a local

Mexican bakery! Upper level classes

made a “Rising skeleton coffin” to

decorate.

As students worked diligently on this 3-

day project, they were also expected to

learn a great deal of cultural information

and vocabulary about the holiday itself.

The culmination of our lesson took

place with a jeopardy game in which

students chose categories and answered

questions to win prizes including brace-

lets, keychains, skull pops, and Day of

the Dead stickers and tattoos!!

Spanish Students Explore Language Through Projects

Germann’s Class Celebrates El Día de los Muertos

“It was fun to learn about

classmates and to realize how

much we can actually say in

Spanish now!”

BY L INAYA GERMANN

BY JANE RENDON

FOREIGN LANGUAGE P AGE 3

wurst, Kartoffelsalat (potato salad),

Brötchen (rolls),

Löwensenf (“lion

mustard”, a hot

and spicy Ger-

man variety),

Käse (cheese),

and Apfelkuchen

(apple cake).

About 15 stu-

dents partici-

pated, the highest number ever.

Future events being planned include

film evenings, Christmas caroling,

and a Fasching party in March.

German Club held its sixth annual

Oktober Fest

Picknick on Fri-

day, October 29th

after Parent/

Teacher Confer-

ences. Members

brought a wide

selection of Ger-

man food to share,

including Brat-

Enrollment in the ESL class is 17, the

highest it has been in recent years, and

at least one new student is expected to

be added to the class soon. These stu-

dents represent seven different countries

and they speak four different languages.

Countries currently represented include

China, Columbia, El Salvador, Guate-

mala, Korea, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia.

The class will again celebrate Thanks-

giving on the last day of class before the

break by bringing dishes from their

home countries to share.

and French chocolate.

They also listened to

French music and learned

about French loan words in

German. Tres jolie! Viel

Spaß! A lot of fun!

History was made in October when,

for the first time, France invaded

Germany. On the last day of the

quarter, the Honors French III/IV

class surprised the German II class

(but not the German teacher) by

bearing the red, white and blue into

German “territory.” Led by Ma-

dame General Gross, the French

quickly overcame any German re-

sistance, peace returned to the J

pod, and the two erstwhile enemies

ate German cheese, French bread,

Oktober Fest a Delicious Success

ESL Class Growing

The French Invasion

The German and French classes bear their respective flags

post-invasion.

BY SHARON LORINSKAS

BY SHARON LORINSKAS

BY SHARON LORINSKAS

Español I, II, III:

Mrs. Taylor’s classes deeply engage in

learning.

High-tech video explanation of grammar.

Low-tech verbal instruction.

Fun-tech bingo and word searches.

Every way we look students are encouraged to

learn in the most personal way possible.

A second language is not an easy thing to learn

but all these students with a positive work ethic

are accomplishing it very successfully.

Taking a Look at Mrs. Taylor’s Classes

P AGE 4 DECEMBER 2010

BY MARIA TAY LOR