¡Tortillas!

As part of our Food and Restaurants unit, we spent a day in the kitchen the week before vacation learning how to prepare authentic corn tortillas from scratch.  Students followed these step by step instructions (method 2 - corn tortillas), and were quite successful in their efforts.  When the tortillas were prepared, we added cheese or queso to make quesadillas.  

Dried hibiscus petals steeping in simple syrup to make agua de jamaica

As an extra treat I prepared agua de jamaica for students to try.  Agua de jamaica is a sweet beverage made from the dried petals of the hibiscus flower.  This is a very traditional Mexican beverage that tastes somewhat similar to fruit punch.  

I've offered students extra credit for this unit if they make tortillas at home and document the process with a series of photos or a video.  The main ingredient, masa, can be found in the international aisle in most grocery stores and a rolling pin can be used in place of a tortilla press.  Check out our photos from this very fun class!

End of the School Unit - Now on to the FOOD Unit!

We've made it to my favorite unit of the school year - La comida y los restaurantes or Food and Restaurants!  

Students did a great job overall on their speaking assessments this week.  They were given a sample student schedule and had to answer eight questions in complete sentences in Spanish about the schedule.  Speaking assessments can be nerve wracking, but everyone survived! :) 

Now that we've wrapped up El día escolar  or the School Day we can begin to learn to talk about what we like to eat.  By the end of this unit students will be able to discuss what they eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Most exciting in my opinion, is that students will be able to order food in a restaurant!  Start planning that Latin American vacation now!  To get things started today we listened to this song in class by Mexican hip hop artist, MC Luca.  It's ALL about food, Mexican food to be precise.

Wrapping up another unit!

Spanish students have been working hard on their Mi Vida (My Life) projects.  These are multimedia projects that include photos, writing, student narration (en español of course), and music.  We will be presenting our videos tomorrow in class, and I've also asked students to email a copy to parents.  Check them out!  

Busy fall!

We've been very busy in Spanish class so far this fall!  We've completed our second unit, El Calendario y El Tiempo (The Calendar and Weather), and are deep into our third unit Así Soy Yo (All About Me).  Students are learning how to talk about what they like and don't like to do, and how to describe their personalities.

We also spent some time at the end of October and the beginning of November studying El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) which is celebrated in Mexico and some Central American Countries.  Students created papel picado (cut paper banners) to line our hallway and decorated authentic calaveras de azúcar (sugar skulls).  

Advice from former Spanish students

At the end of last school year I asked my students a series of questions about their experience in Spanish class.  One of the questions I asked them was, "What advice would you give students who will be in this class next year?"  

Now that we have completed our first unit, I thought it would be a good time to share their responses.  Their answers were anonymous and I promise that I didn't bribe them! :) 

Here's what they said:

And most importantly:

I start every school year with the suggestion that students create consistent study habits, so it was great to see that at the end of the school year they agree with me!  Regular studying makes a big difference.

I was so happy to see students successfully complete the Greeting Speaking Assessment yesterday in class.  We're off to a great start this year!

Bienvenidos - Welcome!

Hola - Hello, to my new students and parents!

My name is Meghan Tiernan Fisher, the Spanish Teacher at Colchester Middle School.  By this point I believe you have all received my summer letter in the mail.  My apologies that it got to you so late in the summer.  There was a delay in the schedules being sent out this year.  I hope you've also had a chance to read through our class expectations and procedures.  These are printed on blue paper and were reviewed with your student on our first day of class.

I'm glad you've found our Spanish class blog!  Please be sure to subscribe to the blog by entering your email address in the box on the right hand column of the page where is says, "Follow by email." Subscribing to the blog by email will allow you to stay up to date with what we're doing in class.

Latin Dance Lesson

A couple of weeks ago, students got a taste of one of my favorite aspects of Latino culture - dancing! Thanks to a grant from the PTO, I was able to invite Victoria, the owner of Salsalina dance studio in Burlington, to CMS to give each of my Spanish classes a Latin Dance lesson.  Students learned the basics of the merengue and salsa and were exposed to something new and fun!