In Global class we just finished our last unit on Communist China. This has been an interesting unit to discuss because it allows us to compare and contrast our own economical system to theirs. Having been to China I was able to discuss how China has evolved over the past sixty years politically and economically. The students wrote their own biographical account as if they lived in China during this time period and how it affected them personally. In upcoming weeks we will begin to review as the years comes to a close.
Mr. Fowler
Students are till striving to do well on the Regents Exam. Practice, practice is all we do to get us
ready for the exam.
Mrs. Colon
Students in Spanish class are learning about the airport. They are learning the different jobs and places in an airport. They are also learning the job names of the flight crew and the words describing how to board and disembark from a plane.
Mrs. Colon
Students have just finished their experiment with different Spanish foods. They had to make the food and tell us why they chose that certain food. Students were critiqued by their fellow classmates so they would know if they enjoyed the food the student picked.
Mrs. Colon
We have been working with the very complicated poetry of the Baroque period. It is known for its many references to ancient mythology and works of scholars. It took some doing but we were able to discuss several poems of the era. We discussed the work from Luis de Góngora and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
Ms. Rivera
We finished reading the adaptation of Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra. We were able to distinguish a man of high principles who was out of his time and who lost touch with reality. This is seen in the well-known scene where Don Quijote goes to fight giants in honor of his lady Dulcinea. The words of his friend Sancho Panza fall on deaf ears because nothing was going to stop him from fighting the horrible giants that were “destroying” the land. When he was thrown back by the blades of the windmills and got hurt, his friend Sancho told him: “You see, I told you they were windmills.” To which Don Quijote replied that a magician had changed them. The real world around him saw a crazy man, while he saw himself as a hero, an errant knight.
Ms. Rivera
As we continue to emphasize the spoken language, we have revisited our vocabulary and added new words to our repertoire in order to give and request personal data. We had a lot of fun as we made skits of situations in which we introduced ourselves and asked for information of others. We also made a project that dealt with the activities we like to do, depending on the seasons. The students who are very good at communications excelled in the skits, while others excelled in their very creative projects.
Ms. Rivera
We are now reading an adaptation of Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra. We are exploring what happens when a man that lives in a fantasy world is confronted by the harsh reality of his surroundings. This masterpiece of literature is sure to bring some laughs, and some tears, to anyone who reads it.
Ms. Rivera
We have continued with the spoken language. We are now concentrating on giving and getting directions in getting from point A to point B. We are also studying commands, because they are most used in this task. We have set “scavenger hunts” around the school, following directions backwards and forwards finding the beginning point or end point of our directions. It’s been lots of fun.
Ms. Rivera
We have continued to study the literature from the Spanish Golden Age. We dedicated some time to Maria Zayas y Sotomayor who until recently had been excluded from the Spanish Literature cannon, or “must read” writers. During her time, writers wrote about the knight in shining armor and the damsel in distress. She put a different spin in her heroines and heroes. She wrote of women that were daring, clever, and at times deceiving. She wrote of men that were not gentlemen, who were foolish and dim-witted. We can understand why her writing was excluded for so long.
Ms. Rivera