Cuetlaxochitl

Poinsettias decorate many homes during this time of year. This pretty plant has been around since the time of the Aztecs. The Aztecs used this plant to cure fevers and called it "cuetlaxochitl". In 1825, Dr. Joel Poinsett became the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. While in the region of Taxco, he found this beautiful plant and sent it to some of his colleagues. In 1836 it became known as the poinsettia. ¡Qué interestante!

¡Cantamos!

All the Spanish students have been practing our songs for caroling next week. Everybody sounds fantástico! Ask a Spanish student to serenade you with one of our canciones: Mi Hombre de Nieve, Feliz Navidad or Cascabeles!

el árbol genealógico

Los estudiantes del 7 are working on family trees this week (due Friday). ¿Cómo es tu árbol genealógico?

¡Examenes!

7

Los estudiantes del 7 have an examen on miércoles el 5 de diciembre.

8

Los estudiantes del 8 have an examen on jueves el 6 de diciembre.

¡Estudia mucho!

Go Blue Team!!

Everyone in our Homebase did a great job cheering for the Blue Team in our Lakeview Derby. We had 100% participation for "blue spirit" in our Homebase. Way to cheer us on to victory!

Oaxaca

Los estudiantes del 8 just began a chapter on Oaxaca, Mexico. Oaxaca is one of Mexico's states and is located in southeastern Mexico. The name Oaxaca doesn't look Spanish because it isn't. It comes from Nahuatl Huayacac-which was the language of the Aztecs. Oaxaca is a unique estado because there is an incredible mix of indigenous people in the state. There are many indigenous languages that are still spoken in this estado. Click on some of the links below to learn more about Oaxaca!

http://oaxaca-travel.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oaxaca

http://www.advantagemexico.com/oaxaca/

8th grade

Tienen un examen el jueves. ¡Hay que estudiar mucho! Pregúntale a Señorita Payne si tienen preguntas.

7th Grade

• Don't forget-you have una prueba de vocabulario el martes(11/6).
• miércoles is our día para trabajar on our book reports-make sure you bring yours to class!

El Día de los Muertos

On November 1st & 2nd many families in Mexico celebrate el día de los muertos-the Day of the Dead. On these days, the families take time to remember and honor their deceased loved ones. Much preparation goes into this day-families start gettting ready months before the actual day!

We learned some vocabulary that is associated with the Day of the Dead. The 8th graders are expertos and can answer questions about what happens on November 1st & 2nd. After viernes the 7th graders can show you their máscaras. Ask to see one!

Click on the link below to learn more about this interesting holiday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_dead

El Gato Ensombrerado

¡Gracias a Natalia for bringing in a copy of El Gato Ensombrerado! Nos divertimos mucho reading this cuento popular.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cat_in_the_Hat - 40k

7th Grade-Examen

No se olviden-you have un examen this jueves! You should be studying from the Study Guide that you got last viernes in clase!

8th grade-Book reports

No se olviden-your book reports are due next viernes el 26 de octubre! This viernes el 19 de octubre will be un día para trabajar on your reports. See me if you need another rubric.

¡Bachata!

On viernes the 7th grade estudiantes learned the basic steps of bachata. Ask a student for a demonstration!

¡Examen!

8th graders have an examen this viernes. Make sure you study so you don't have an avalancha on your test!

Trivia

Did you know any of the Trivia questions? Here are the respuestas:

What is the name of the road that connected the Spanish missions in Mexico?
~El Camino Real
What is the name of the famous art museum in Madrid?
~El Prado
What is a charro?
~A Mexican cowboy

Payne's Piñatas

Here's our Homebase poster that we've been working on for the last few weeks. Thanks to those of you who worked so hard on the poster. It looks great!

¡Trivia!

Every viernes we answer cultural trivia questions at the beginning of class to see how much we know. Here are a couple of today's trivia questions:

• What is the name of the road that connected the Spanish missions in Mexico?
• What is the name of the famous art museum in Madrid?
• What is a charro?

Do you know the respuesta? Check back next week to learn the answers!

8th

• prueba/examen: jueves el 20 de septiembre

el 16 de septiembre

On domingo, México celebrates its día de la independencia.
Visit these links for some history on Mexico's fight for independence from Spain. http://www.inside-mexico.com/featureindep.htm
http://www.mexonline.com/mexican-independence.htm

¡Viva México!

8th

¡Tanto repaso! We've been reviewing concepts from last year-the students have great memorias! We've reviewed expressing origin with the formula ser+de+place, the difference between familiar and formal greetings and expressing activities that we like (or don't like) to do.

• Our prueba/examen will be next martes el 11 de septiembre. ¡Hagan repaso por favor!

7th

We are about to finish our etapa (chapter) preliminar in our books. We have learned how to greet people at different times of the day (Buenos días), how to tell someone where we are from (Soy de...) and we are learning numbers 0-10 and the days of the week-have you heard the days of the week song?

• Our test will be next Wednesday September 12. ¡Estudien por favor!

¡Lo hicimos!

¡Hola a todos! We made it through our first week of school! Last week we spent some time getting to know each other and picking Spanish names. As we dive into our libros this week, Señorita Payne will be trying to memorize everybody's Spanish names-Pablo, Mercedes, Felipe, Raúl, Julio, Julia, Enrique...¡ay ay ay!

¡Bienvenidos!

Welcome to the Spanish class blog! My name is Señorita Payne and I am very excited to be teaching at Lakeview this year. I look forward to meeting you at Open House or on the first day of school! ¡Hasta pronto!