Thank you so much for making it to our Fall 2024 Webinar Series to all those teachers who made it! Your presence and active participation made this series a fantastic experience, and we truly appreciate the time and energy you dedicated to each session.

We kindly ask that you take a few moments to fill out our survey. Your feedback is essential to us as we strive to provide even more webinars and trainings tailored to the needs of world language educators. Fill out the survey here:

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sv/fDGkRZk/Fall2024Survery

Be on the lookout for future information on upcoming webinars, trainings, and workshops!

Thank you again for your continued support and dedication to our community.

Biliteracy Seals: New Opportunities for Our Students

Earlier this year, Mayerling Monteros-García, one of our board members from IEFLA and a teacher at Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD), learned that the Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE) would no longer offer the Seal of Multiliteracy. This decision was disappointing for many students who had worked hard to earn it. In response, TVUSD is now offering students the chance to earn both the State Seal of Biliteracy and the Global Seal of Biliteracy, recognized in over 50 countries.

This opportunity has lifted students’ spirits, and we’re working with RCOE to facilitate testing for both seals. There will be two testing windows this year: one in mid-October, perfect for seniors adding the seal to their college applications, and another in the Spring.

A former student recently returned to share how the Seal of Biliteracy helped him in his career. A standout athlete, he was recruited by West Point, but it was his Seal of Biliteracy that secured his acceptance, proving his academic strength. Today, he serves as a Captain in the U.S. Army. His journey and dedication to learning Spanish—his second language—inspired many current students to continue pursuing the World Language Pathway.

It's stories like these that make teaching an amazing profession! If you're interested on learning more about any of the Seals mentioned here or the Westpoint Captain, please don't hesitate to reach out directly to Ms. Monteros-García at mmonteros-garcia@tvusd.us.

El Pib - Cuento para Día de Muertos

Looking for a Día de Muertos video/story for your Spanish Classes? This is a great short to show your students for Día de Muertos for all levels. Need a TPRS story to go along with with your lower levels? This is what I've used in the past:

Me llamo María y estoy con mi mamá, mi abuela Carmen y mi tía Mercedes. En mi familia, no hablamos español ni inglés. ¡Hablamos maya! Me gusta mucho hablar maya.

Es el 31 de octubre en Yucatán, México. El clima es diferente, el aire está frío y no hace calor. En la cocina, mi abuela prepara el pib para comer. ¡El pib es muy rico! Mi familia prepara el pib porque es el Día de Muertos. Para hacer el pib, necesitamos pollo, orégano, sal y pimienta. A mi abuelo Marcelo también le gusta mucho el pib.

Ahora las familias preparan el altar para los muertos. Lo decoran con flores de cempasúchil, fotos y la comida favorita de los muertos. Yo como el pib con mi abuelo. Nos encanta el pib porque es nuestra comida favorita. Yo como el pib con mi abuelo porque nosotros no estamos vivos. Estamos muertos.

Mi familia prepara el altar con comida para los muertos para recordar a los difuntos. El 1 de noviembre, los espíritus de los niños están con las familias. ¡Es una celebración de la vida! Seguimos la celebración el 2 de noviembre, cuando los espíritus de los adultos visitan a sus familias.

¡Tenemos mucha hambre! Comemos mucho pib en esta celebración en Yucatán, México.

Cortometraje: El Pib

AP Spanish Langauge Mentoring Program

https://catchy-sound-886.myflodesk.com/b43d34f2-ceaa-48e2-8c96-51b00f59b8d2?fbclid=IwY2xjawGKlxFleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHWtFq4Lwc22SMNgKN_tiBOv9Ragak8-8tTjZrEGPSXEhKCc11x_Rlp_FTQ_aem_lz3Kr0l_0gVKmC8ew2hn-A

Día de los Muertos & Calaveras Auction

Día de Muertos en el mundo latinoamericano

Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is not only celebrated in México. Introduce your students to unique traditions and foods around the Hispanic world -- from Guatemala to Ecuador to the Canary Islands -- with these SIX comprehensible readings. The readings discuss Día de los Muertos/Difuntos and Día de Todos los Santos.

Best for Spanish 2/3 +

This EDITABLE resource includes:

- 6 comprehensible readings on Google Slides
- Graphic organizer
- Reading comprehension questions
- Answer Key

You can use this resource for a gallery walk, daily warm-ups, individual or group work, etc. You can even use the comprehension activities as a short quiz. Click below to use:

https://tinyurl.com/3a64t522

Día de Muertos - Actividad

AATSP SoCal Chapter 2024 - Fall Conference Call for Submissions

Join us for the 2024 Fall Conference at Mount Saint Mary’s University, Los Angeles, on November 16, 2024. Educators, researchers, and practitioners in Spanish and Portuguese language, literature, and culture are invited to submit proposals. Attendance options include in-person or Zoom.

Areas of Interest:

Spanish/Portuguese Language, Literature, and Culture
Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies
Teaching Practices, Heritage/Bilingual Education
Social Justice and Critical Theory
Open Educational Resources

Formats:

Papers: 15-20 minutes
Workshops: 60 minutes

Submit proposals by emailing: aatsp.southerncalifornia@gmail.com with "2024 Fall Conference" in the subject. Include title, format, abstract (200 words), short abstract (50 words), and bio (50 words).

For more details, visit: https://sites.google.com/site/aatspsocal/

National Spanish Exam

Are you interested in having your students take the National Spanish Exam in the Spring? If so, sign up today by looking up the «National Spanish Exam Practice Exam» and use the provided activities Lingco Language Labs to get extra practice:

https://nationalspanishexam.org/

Loyola Marymount World Language Project

We are excited to announce our 2024-2025 Loyola Marymount World Language Programs! Led by LA STARS, these workshops offer standards-based, framework-aligned programs with hands-on strategies to enhance student engagement and classroom success.

With online, in-person, and hybrid options, there's something for every educator. Register today to elevate your teaching and inspire your students!

Online Program:
https://www.ocwlp.org/lmwlp-online-programs-2024-2025

In-person Program:
https://www.ocwlp.org/lmwlp-inperson-programs-20242025

Hybrid Program:
https://www.ocwlp.org/lmwlp-hybrid-programs-2024-2025

Workshops for Teachers of French

French: Organisation of French Classes 1 à 4AP/BI

A five day workshop, conducted in French, will focus on the theme of Contemporary Life (La vie contemporaine). Teachers will experience and develop communicative tasks and thematic units to improve language acquisition in their students from levels 1 – 4AP/IB.

Emphasis will be placed on CI strategies such as TPR, Storytelling, and Personalized Q&A. As well, teachers will learn to integrate student performance tasks within interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes of communication. Strategies for enhancing textbooks and teaching songs will also be addressed. In addition, participants will have time to work on activities tailored for their classes.

Teachers will leave each of the five sessions empowered with activities and strategies to use in the classroom and will also have the opportunity to connect and collaborate with colleagues.

Soyez chic! Soyez unique! Prenez le français! C’est magnifique!

For information and registration form: https://www.ocwlp.org/programs-2024

Here is the link to the Google slides from the Kick-Off Celebration.

ACTFL 2024 Conference: Philadelphia

The ACTFL Annual Convention will be held Friday, November 22 through Sunday, November 24, 2024 (Pre-Convention Workshops will be scheduled on Thursday) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 2024 ACTFL Convention will feature educational content covering a wide spectrum of the language profession. The ACTFL Convention is a national event bringing together over 7,000 attendees from all languages, levels, and assignments within the profession. The goal of the ACTFL Annual Convention is to provide a comprehensive professional development experience for language educators of all languages and levels. Click below to find out more info:

https://www.actfl.org/attend/registration-terms-conditions

SWCOLT 2025 Conference: Chandler, Arizona

🎉 Nominate Someone for an Award!

Don’t forget, the deadline for SWCOLT 2025 Award Nominations is November 8th!

🎓 Apply for a Scholarship!

Need some support to attend SWCOLT 2025? Submit your scholarship application by November 8th!

📅 Join Our SWCOLT-CLTA Webinar Series!

Stay tuned for our upcoming webinars filled with valuable insights and tips!

🌟 News from Our SWCOLT States

Catch up on the latest happenings and updates from around the SWCOLT community.

✈️ Conference Registration is Open!

Mark your calendars for SWCOLT-AZLA 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona, from January 23-25!

Click the link below to secure your spot and accommodation:

https://tinyurl.com/2tphd2v4

CLTA Conference 2025: San Diego, California

Come to San Diego, California to the CLTA Conference 2025.

2025 offers MORE SESSIONS on Saturday & Sunday! Sessions will be 45 minutes each! With more double sessions! SIX (6) on Saturday and THREE (3) on Sunday. Click the link below to see all the details:

https://clta.net/conference-2025/

CLTA Conference 2025

Coordinators Needed - Travel Abroad!

CIEE is looking for a few teachers that can help coordinate for them across the world! Being a coordinator can be a great side hustle for teachers to earn some extra cash, travel the world, and help to connect their local community with cultures from across the world.

Coordinators typically:

Are curious about other cultures
Enjoy spending time encouraging and working with teenagers
Want to share their community with other cultures
Love to travel!

Coordinators are paid for their help and go on some pretty amazing trips! In the next 12 months CIEE will be going on trips to Costa Rica, Mexico, Iceland, and Italy!

It isn’t much a time commitment, is really rewarding, and I bet you’d love the trips we go on! If you have any interest, please let me know. I’d love to hop on a call and tell you about it and answer questions!

For additional information click on the link below or come to hear Danny Velasquez tell about the program at the CLTA Jamboree, Chino Hills High School on September 30..

For information on CIEE

Flangoo

Flangoo is a subscription-based service for digital World Language readers available in Spanish, French, and German!! A sister company of Teacher’s Discovery®, Flangoo creates an affordable solution for World Language teachers who want to offer students a wide range of readers. One Flangoo account gives you and up to 150 students access to an entire virtual Free Voluntary Reading (FVR) library. Try it out!

For more information on Flangoo

Engaging Activities in the Classroom!

How about some quick, fun activities to do with your students in the target language! Let’s start with...

Who's telling the truth?

Have them fill out a survey telling something strange they did as a child. Choose several of those answers and display them on your board or presentation.
This can be played online. Call on 4 people in the class, including the person who wrote the sentence, to read the sentence as if they wrote it.
You ask each person two questions, and they answer, acting as if they wrote it. Then the students type in the chat who they think is telling the truth, but the students wait to send until you say, "Send".
After they send, you ask each actor if they wrote the sentence to reveal the truth-teller. The actor with the most votes gets extra credit. The students who got it right get extra credit.
This is a great game to play with your upper levels, especially now with the fun Among Us game, students have to try to figure out who the imposter is! Here’s an example:
Example: When I was little, I used to hide in the kitchen cupboards.
Questions: Why did you hide in the cupboards? (asked to all actors)
or How old were you when you hid in the cupboards? (asked to all actors)

Who knows you best?

Choose a volunteer and have them select a question to answer (#1-12).

The teacher asks the question, then all of the other students guess what the interviewee's answer is.

They type it in the chat but don't send it. When the teacher says "send", they send it.

The teacher then asks the interviewee to send their answer. Everyone who gets it right gets a point.

Here are some sample questions. You can adapt them to any level, any unit:

What are you afraid of?
Where do you like to go on vacation?
What is it that makes you angry?
What are you laughing at?
Do you prefer to cycle, ride a horse, or drive?
What do you prefer: doing the dishes, mowing the lawn, cleaning the bathroom, or vacuuming?
At night, do you prefer to play a game, visit a relative, watch a movie, or read?
Who would you like to be lost with on a desert island?
Approximately how many pairs of shoes do you have?
Which public transport do you prefer (plane, boat, train, bus, metro, etc.)?
What is your favorite zoo animal?
What is your favorite holiday: Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day, Halloween, Easter, July 4th

Scavenger Hunt:

If you're online, ask students to find something that makes people happy/sad/frustrated etc and show it to the camera. Ask students to find something hard/soft/wet/round/square etc and show it to the camera. Great for all levels and another great way to start some fun, personalized discussions!

Express Link to EdJoin JOB Listings

Open Positions for World Language Teachers

Are you looking for a job? Know someone who is looking for employment? There are currently 9 positions open in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties for Spanish teachers. Click the express link below to go directly to all of the current listings by area in EdJoin!

JOB OFFERING IN APPLY VALLEY: https://www.edjoin.org/Home/JobPosting/2011905

Express Job Listings for Spanish, French, Chinese, and ASL.

The Polyglot is published 10 times a year. It is a publication of the Inland Empire Foreign Language Association. Editor of the Polyglot is Abraham Garcia, M.A., of Citrus Valley High School, Redlands, CA.

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