8th Grade--Mrs. Scartozzi

Students in grade 8 have class on Thursday afternoons for 55 minutes. They have a Spanish folder with all the handouts they had last year (also found on the handouts page). Check back here weekly for what you can be reinforcing at home. There will also be a graded assignment for most Spanish classes (once a week), which will be found under assignments below.

IMPORTANT: If your child will be taking Spanish in high school, he or she should consider trying to prepare for taking the Spanish placement test in the spring. Last year, I prepared two of the 8th graders for this and at least one of them made it to Spanish two (honors, at that!) This year, since 7th grade has an additional year of Spanish, I should be able to work on preparing more children for this if they are willing to put in the work.

What we are learning now

9-14-17: We learned new classroom routines and vocabulary in Spanish, as well as how to use an online dictionary instead of a translator.

9-21/17: We played a review game.

9-28-17: We continued our review game.

10/5/17: We looked at slides and a video in Spanish (to put our review to use and learn some cultural facts).

10/12: We reviewed some more and started reading a chapter book in Spanish.

10/20: Spanish was cancelled because Mrs. Creciun subbed in 4th grade.

10/27: We read the second chapter of the book and worked with large numbers in Spanish.

11/2: We checked the numbers and continued our book.

11/9: We worked on pronunciation in Spanish and continued our book.

11/16: We read the next chapter and continued with pronunciation.

11/23: No Spanish

11/30: Presentations

12/7: More presentations, going over chapter homework, next chapter

12/14: Last Spanish class! We finished our book and looked at Christmas songs in Spanish.

Assignments

Summer work is due the first Spanish class (9-14-17), for a grade! See the home page.

For 9-21-17, please practice the new routines and vocabulary using these videos. You will be asked questions in class to see how prepared you are: https://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/rutinas-en-la-clase-de-espanol/44920522/?s=rveqA4&ref=app

https://spark.adobe.com/video/SUGkGFjh9ySYO

ALSO FOR 9-21: Dictionary Assignment

Please write 5 sentences in Spanish, EACH with ONE word looked up from the dictionary link on the home page. Follow the format under homework guidelines on the home page to document the words you looked up. You can make your sentences with Hay, Ser (es), estar (está), Ir, Dar, AR, ER, or IR verbs.

Due 9/28: Please watch the first video above some more. You should be prepared to do a command when you hear it, all by yourself. This is for a participation grade.

Due 10/5: Study your folder (or the handouts on the handouts page) well enough to do a good job participating in reading and listening to my slides in Spanish. This will be a participation grade.

ALSO, if I gave back your dictionary assignment you need to fix it! Look at the homework guidelines on the home page and ask me if you need help.

Due 10/12: Spanish speaking country project, part 1: Students bring a handwritten paper with answers to 3 of the questions about their country, in English. Their partner will do the same thing for 3 different questions about the country. The facts they choose should be about things we know how to talk about in Spanish, and what they write should be in simple language they would be able to put into Spanish. (One word can be a word we don't know, since they are allowed to use the dictionary for one word per assignment.) They must also include a list of sources they used, with exact webpages if they used a website (the web addresses can be printed out and glued to the handwritten sentences). Click below for the list of questions to choose from, the project overview, and my example which answers the questions about the U.S.A. See below the list of partners and what country they were assigned.

Slides of questions, project overview, and example project.

Tom and Josh: El Salvador

Mike, Joe, and Luke: (Whoever has 2 questions instead of 3 should say a little more to answer them): Belize

Erin and Devin: Dominican Republic

Zander and Colin: Panama

Natalie and Julianna: Ecuador

Sam and Bobby: Argentina

Alyssa and Julia: Chile

Jim and Joe W: Nicaragua

Abby and Brie: Uruguay

Caolin and Gianna: Peru

Connor and Shane: Colombia

Brendan and Dan: Cuba

Sarah and Tyler: Spain

Due 10/19: Turn in part two of the project. (I will give your paper back Friday or Monday.) You are not turning in slides, just the Spanish version of what you wrote last week. You MAY NOT use a translator, or any words we haven't learned except names of things or places. You are allowed to use one dictionary word from the online dictionary on my home page IF you follow the guidelines there. It will help you to look at the questions above to know how to say some things in Spanish (such as "The biggest city" or the Spanish word for South America.) Use your handouts or the handouts page to find the other words you need. Remember that if you use a verb, you must take off AR, ER, or IR and add the ending. There is is Hay. Is = es or está. If you did not turn in part 1, part 2 is still due. If you did not include a sources list, that is still due with part 2.

Due 11/2: Practice the numbers in Spanish so you are ready to count by 5's in class. Also practice the numbers below so you would be prepared to count by hundreds. We will check this for a participation grade.

100--cien

200 doscientos

300 trescientos

400 cuatrocientos

500 quinientos

600 seiscientos

700 setecientos

800 ochocientos

900 novecientos

1000 mil

Due 11/9: Turn in part 3 of the project by email to twinter@stjamesregional.com. Make your slides at slides.google.com by typing the Spanish I will give back to you with corrections and adding pictures. Make sure you correct everything I wrote on your part 2. You and your partner should combine your slides into one by sharing them with each other, and then share to me; put your name on the slides you did. If for some reason you can't combine, send me what you have--your grade is separate from your partner's. Make your slides have a lot of effort with really good pictures--show us something about the country with each picture! For example, if you say the country is hot, show us a real picture of the country that looks hot. Don't worry about accent marks--they are hard to do on the computer. Include your sources at the end.

Due 11/16: Practice the pronunciation rules (see handout in your folder or on the handouts page) on your slides. When we have class, you will get to say your slides for me one time, and I will tell you what you are pronouncing wrong so that you can get a good grade when we present the slides.

Due 11/30: Fix your slides using the email I sent you. Keep practicing pronunciation with the pointers I gave you and be ready to present! If you didn't get to try pronouncing your project for me, you will get to before you present. DO NOT LOSE the packet I handed out--you will get a calendar mark and a 1 if you don't turn it in. It is due 12/7. You will read it and answer the attached questions (most of them are multiple choice). You may use your Spanish folder and the word list on the attached question sheet to help you.

Due 12/7: The packet handed out before Thanksgiving is due. Read the chapter and answer the attached questions (most of them are multiple choice). You may use your Spanish folder and the word list on the attached question sheet to help you. Make sure you actually read the chapter and don't just choose random answers or copy them--I will be asking you questions in class about the chapter and the questions. Also continue to be ready to present by practicing pronunciation. You will lose points if your slides are not corrected by the time you present!

No more homework in December!

Spanish placement test group

You are learning two new verbs that both mean to know. Saber means to know something as in to have knowledge of it or know how to do it. Conocer means to know someone personally or to be familiar with something such as a place. See if you can choose the right verb here. Yo sé and yo conozco are irregular, but the rest of the people in Spanish have regular ER endings:

https://www.spanishdict.com/quizzes/78/saber-vs-conocer

Due 10/19: There will be a quiz on the verb saber and the verb conocer. You will have to fill in the blanks like you did in class, so you need to have memorized when to use which verb and the endings. Study using the link above. Yo sé and yo conozco are the yo forms. The rest have your regular ER endings.

Due 11/16: You are learning about possessive adjectives. (my, your, etc.)

Read this carefully and write examples of each one (mi, tu, su, nuestro with correct singular/plural and male/female forms) in a google doc. Do not pay attention to vuestro--it is only used in Spain. https://studyspanish.com/grammar/lessons/possadj

Then try this. Write your answers in a google doc and also submit them so you can read the feedback. https://studyspanish.com/grammar/test/possadj

Try this one too, for reinforcement, the same way. https://studyspanish.com/grammar/test/possadj-t

Send me your google doc (twinter@stjamesregional.com)

For everyone, in class 11/16: Watch this video and try writing the words as the woman spells them. Then listen while she checks them, and correct your work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6M6rYkEyyI

Then watch this one. After the man says each word, click on the video to pause it and try to spell the word aloud. Then click again to play the video and see if you were right. http://www.youtubecutter.com/watch/c4d94824/