Ms. Heffern's page/La pagina de la Señorita Heffern
Elementary Parents, please scroll down the page to see more
information about what your child(ren) are learning.
Dear parents of the middle school students,
It is a joy to have your sons and daughters in my class as we
strive to build their Spanish skills this school year.
I know Spanish is a difficult subject for many students
who have not studied it much before.
It is my goal to assist them in this learning journey by
providing opportunities to practice what we learn in class.
Learning to listen to, read, write and speak another
language requires more practice for some than others.
In addition to making sure your child is practicing
flashcards and any homework assignments at home, please let me
know if they need extra assistance.
I try to be available after school Mondays-Wednesdays and
can arrange to stay on Thursdays on occasion if necessary.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email me
and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
In sixth grade we are building skills using
adjectives and indefinite articles to enable students to speak
about personality characteristics of others.
Soon, we will be moving into words about school and we
will begin to conjugate verbs in the present tense (I speak, you
speak, he/she speak, we speak, they speak).
As students build their vocabulary and understanding of
Spanish grammar, assignments will rely more on their
understanding of Spanish and may contain entire (simple, present
tense) sentences in Spanish.
This is to challenge students beyond translating word for
word or merely recognizing vocabulary to the point of actually
understanding Spanish.
In seventh and eighth grades we are using present-tense
conjugated verbs (especially
tener – to have) and
possessive pronouns to discuss family.
Soon our vocabulary will extend to restaurant terms and
we will focus on the verbs
venir (to come),
ser and
estar (different ways
of “to be”).
Homework will continue to build on prior vocabulary and grammar
skills to reinforce what we have covered and to allow students
to see how much Spanish they already understand.
In eighth grade, we will continue striving to complete
all of the content necessary for the students to move on to
Spanish II, but the student’s comprehension of the content
remains an important factor.
The prayers we are continuing to recite in sixth through eighth
grade are below.
La Senal de la Cruz (The Sign of the Cross)
En el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espiritu Santo.
Amen.
Padre Nuestro (Our father)
Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo,
santificado sea tu Nombre;
venga a nosotros tu reino;
hágase tu voluntad en la tierra como en el cielo.
Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día;
y perdona nuestras ofensas, como también nosotros perdonamos a
los que nos ofenden.
No nos dejes caer en la tentación;
mas líbranos del mal.
Amen.
Ave Maria (Hail Mary)
Dios te salve Maria;
llena eres de gracia,
el Señor es contigo.
Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres;
y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús.
Santa María, Madre de Dios,
ruega por nosotros pecadores,
ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.
Amen.
Gloria
Gloria al Padre, y al Hijo y al Espíritu Santo.
Como era en el principio ahora y siempre, por los siglos de los
siglos.
Amen.
In Kindergarten and 1st Grade we
have been focusing on greetings, colors and Christmas
vocabulary. Now we
are moving into animals, starting with common pets and farm
animals.
los animals = animals
los animalitos = baby animals
los mascotes = pets
la vaca = the cow
la gallina = the hen; el gallo = the rooster; el pollito = the
chick
el caballo = the horse
el borrego = the sheep; el cordero = the lamb
el pavo = the turkey
el perro = the dog; el perrito = the puppy
el puerco = the pig
el gato = the cat; el gatito = the kitten
la cabra = the goat; el cabrito = the kid
el patito = the duckling
The sounds representing animal noises are also different in
Spanish. For
example, cock-a-doodle-doo (the typical way of saying the noise
a rooster makes) is said “quiquiriquí.”
Other animal noises:
La vaca
(the cow) says “muu” (it still sounds a lot like “moo”)
La gallina
(the hen) says “cloc, cloc.”
El caballo
(the corse) says “jiii.”
El cordero
(the lamb) says “mee.”
El perro
(the dog) says “guau, guau.”
El gato
(the cat) says “miau.”
In 2nd-5th grade we
have discussed school supplies, weather, seasons, months of the
year and Christmas.
We are now discussing the house and objects around the home.
los cuartos de la casa (The rooms of the house):
la sala = the living room/family room
la recámara = the bedroom
la cocina = the kitchen
el comedor = the dining room
el baño = the bathroom
el garaje = the garage
una casa de un piso = a one-story house (literally, a house with
one floor)
una casa de dos pisos = a
two-story
house
el techo = the roof, the ceiling
la pared = the wall
el piso = the floor
la chinemea = the chimney
la ventana = the window
la puerta = the door
el porche = the porch
We will also be learning items that go in each of these rooms
and discussing how many of each of these rooms (and what colors)
students would want in their dream house.
This reinforces numbers and colors and gives students an
opportunity to speak in complete sentences.
“En la casa de mis sueños, quiero…”
(In my dream house, I want…)
As we introduce new words for each room, it
may be helpful if you label objects around the house to
reinforce new words.
