June 2012 - Simsbury

The World Language
June 2012
Connection
A Publication of the Simsbury Public Schools World Language Department
HOST ACTIVITIES
l Simsbury hosts Chinese
Dignitaries
On February 3, Simsbury High
School hosted 21 administrators and teachers from the Jilin
Province in China. During their
professional development in
Connecticut they visited several
schools with each host providing a different perspective such as
curriculum, technology and the
college admissions process for high
school students. Simsbury teachers
and administrators presented our
topic: “A Typical American High
CHINESE—Continued on page 2
l French students at the Bushnell
The French teachers from HJMS
and SHS organized a field trip
for students from grade 8 to 12 to
attend the newest version of Les
Misérables at
the Bushnell
in Hartford on
March 8. This
musical performance based
on the novel
by Victor Hugo
has become a
beloved Broadway classic and
has celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Students in French 4 and 5 learned
about the characters, plot and
historical background by listening
to the French version of the music
and reading excerpts. There are
many students who choose the
character names as their French
name for
class. Jean
Valjean and
Eponine are
the most
popular. As
always our
students
impressed
the adult audience who
commented on their knowledge
of the play and their excellent
behavior at this sold out performance.
HJMS/SHS STUDENTS RECEIVE NATIONAL LATIN EXAM HONORS
2012 HJMS Latin Exam award winners
Henry James MEMORIAL School
Outstanding Achievement Achievement
(Ribbon and Certificate)
(Certificate)
Sarah Soja
Halley Haruta
Peter Soja
Chris Palms
Mitch Ball
Congratulations to the students from Henry James Memorial School
and Simsbury High School who participated in the 2012 National Latin
Exam. Ninety six students from both schools took the examination in
February. Over 148,000 students from all 50 states and 13 foreign countries also participated. Thirty six students received awards and earned
national recognition for their performance on the exam. The following
students have received recognition for their scores:
Samuel Kelly
Meghan Cross
Allison May
Emily Zepf
Kate Angus
Harrison Saperstein
Spencer Shafer
Ailsa Ryan
SIMSBURY HIGH School
Latin I
Ellen Ransley
Daniel Sparks
Latin II
Matthew Shaw
Josephine Black
Dan Schmetterling
Grayham Lohrey
Rebecca Grandahl
Joseph Adorno
Magna Cum Laude
Cum Laude
Gold Summa Cum Laude
Silver Maxima Cum Laude
Magna Cum Laude
Magna Cum Laude
Cum Laude
Cum Laude
LATIN EXAM—Continued on page 2
World Language Teachers Make Presentations
Our World Language teachers have been busy all year making professional presentations and sharing their knowledge.
Chinese teacher Shiffon Theodorou
smiles as she highlights a detail on the
smartboard duirng a presentation at
Central Connecticut State University.
Lori Davison wins a raffle prize after presenting her Incan Trail unit at the University
of Connecticut.
Squadron Line Assistant Principal Scott
Dunn and Simsbury High French teacher
Laura Tinnirella presented “Motivating the Reluctant Learner” to Alternate
Route to Education students on March 24
in Hartford.
LATIN EXAM—Continued from page 1
Latin III
Eduardo Rosadio
Jessica Lipponen
Nicholas Catalano
Ryan Riley
Calvin Krikorian
Seo-Yeon Lee
Gold Summa Cum Laude
Silver Maxima Cum Laude
Magna Cum Laude
Cum Laude
Cum Laude
Cum Laude
Prose IV
Joshua Motley
Sean McAvoy
Gold Summa Cum Laude
Silver Maxima Cum Laude
Gabriela Rovalino
Robert Amrein
Ryan Carr
Sam Sims
Ted Meyer
Laura Yablecki
Jillian Correia
Kristen Regenauer
Magna Cum Laude
Cum Laude
Cum Laude
Cum Laude
Cum Laude
Cum Laude
Cum Laude
Cum Laude
We commend and are proud of all of our Latin students!
CHINESE—Continued from page 1
School.” The visit included a welcome and overview of the school by
Principal Neil Sullivan. This was followed by a tour with Chinese teacher
Shiffon Theodorou and Technology
Education teacher Wendy Ku. After
a lunch provided by Green Tea, Department Supervisors and the visitors
discussed the various disciplines in
small groups. The guests ended the
day with classroom observations in
their subject area and a presentation SHS Principal Neil Sullivan and Chinese teachers Amy Watts and Shiffon Theof gifts to the school.
odorou stand with administrators and teachers from the Jilin Province in China.
T HE W ORLD LANGUAGE C ONNE C T ION l J UNE 2 0 1 2 l pa g e 2
World Language 1st Annual Awards Ceremony
O
n May 30, The World Language Department held its first annual awards ceremony to recognize the outstanding achievement, commitment and efforts of the middle
and high school students. The awards ceremony recognized students for the following achievements: Poetry contest state winners (the guests were treated to a recitation by each one of the winners), National Latin Exam and Latin Day academic achievement,
Dual Language learners and finally Connecticut Council of Language Teachers awards.
l The following students won academic awards during the
Yu Chen, Chinese
exchange student
Latin Day festivities:
Eduardo Rosadio Erika Sloan
Mia Ciccaglione
Pentathlon 3 Magna
Derivatives 5 Max, Pentathlon 5 Magna
Derivatives 3 Magna, Pentathlon 3 Max
l Simsbury students also received three awards for Athletic
Henry James Memorial School
events: First place in Boys’ tennis singles, 3rd place in boys 3
on 3 basketball, and third place in the chariot race.
Victoria Davis
Bradley Harper
Trevor Sebolt
l The following high school students were recognized for
Simsbury High School maintaining an 80 average in each language and also for their
effort and enthusiasm:
Dual Language Achievement Recipients
Somaieya Khurram
Marissa Klein
Christine Mueller
Ashley Meuser
Meaghan Ryan
Jonathan Saucier
Matthew Shaw
Natalia Simmons-Thomas Natalia Velasquez Spanish 5
Spanish 5AP
Spanish 5AP
Chinese 2H
Spanish 3H
Latin 4H
Spanish 3H
Chinese 2
Spanish 3H
French 3H
Chinese 5H
French 3H
Spanish 2H
French 1
French 1
Latin 2H
Spanish 1
French 4
l The Connecticut Council of Language Teachers Award
Recipients are chosen by their current language teacher. Each
teacher may select up to 5 students. The student must have
a 90 average for the year and demonstrate a commitment to
learning the language by actively participating both inside
and outside of the classroom. They must also have a positive
attitude toward other cultures and languages.
Katherine Amarell
Trevor Aron
Grace Bailey
Katherine Boswell
Dara Brody
Mason Burr
Nicole Byer
Sara Candito
Mia Ciccaglione
Shannon Cirilli
Jenna Dafgek
Arpit Dave
Haley Denninger
Sydney Denninger
Peter Fahan
Sarah Fayerweather
Jacob Gagne
Jack Genovese
Charles Glaser
Ryan Goss
Christopher Grossack
David Gurtcheff
Halley Haruta
Kyle Kowalchik
Morgan Locandro
Katherine Amarell
Stephen Herron
Kyle Heubner
Margaret House
Danielle Hudson
Amanda Jackson
Janiel Johnson
Kathleen Kuzmin
Samuel Kyzivat
Anna Lauchnor
John LaVigne
Natalie Lech
Jessica Lipponen
Grayham Lohrey
Walker Lohrey
Lindsey LoStimolo
Kenneth MacCormac
John Maher
Kathleen McGrady
Ashley Meuser
Jacqueline Meyer
Cameron Molinare
Sarah Mormino
Christine Mueller
Morgan Pfaff
Dana Winslow
Jennifer Nichols
Quinn Palmer
Hannah Petruzzi
Mary Pyatt
Lauren Reinhart
Allison Renwick
Abigail Ritson
Eduardo Rosadio
Gabriela Rovalino
Samantha Rubin
Meaghan Ryan
Austin Serio
Li Shaodi
Victoria Shingleton
Natalia Simmons-Thomas
Andrew Shaw
Matthew Shaw
Emily Slama
Erika Sloan
Zachary Walsh
Leah Wisser
Nicole Yang
Connecticut Council of Language Teachers
os on Page 4!
See Winners’ Phot
State Poetry Recitation
This year the annual state
competition took place at Bristol
Eastern High School on April
26, 2012. The state committee
comprised of teachers, administrators and representatives from
all language organizations began
to phase in a required slate of poems for each level and language.
Although we were unable to host
our own school competition for
Spanish and French, the Latin and
Chinese students held class competitions. Next year we look forward
to the school competition and final
slate of poems. The following students received medals at the state
award ceremony:
Henry James Memorial School
French native speaker
Silver medal (second place)
Rosemary Wallace
Simsbury High School
French 2 HS
Gold medal (first place)
Victoria Shingleton
Latin 3HS
Gold medal (first place)
Divya Bana
Latin 4 HS
Silver medal (second place)
Mia Capobianco
Spanish 5/6 HS
Gold medal (first place)
Katherine Maddy
T HE W ORLD LANGUAGE C ONNE C T ION l J UNE 2 0 1 2 l pa g e 3
Victoria Shingleton
Katherine Maddy
French Poetry Winner Spanish Poetry Winner
(Gold)
(Gold)
l Spanish Field Trip
On Wednesday, April 25th the
eighth grade Spanish classes took a
field trip to experience Mexican and
Latin American culture organized
by profesoras Glendening and Benard. About 90 students boarded the
busses in the morning and were soon
en route to the Webster Theatre in
Hartford to see the live dance show
called Latin American Rhythms. The
show featured music, dance and traditional costumes from countries such
as Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela,
Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the
Dominican Republic. In addition to
a live music and dance extravaganza,
Argentinean boleadoras thrilled the
audience with impressive rhythms
when swung around by the dancer.
The grand finale was interactive as
Divya Bana
Rosemary Wallace
Mia Capobianco
Latin Poetry Winner French Poetry Winner Latin Poetry Winner
(Gold)
(Silver)
(Silver)
several students and teachers were
invited on stage to perform a dance
with the rest of the cast!
From Hartford, the students and
chaperones boarded the busses and
headed to Puerto Vallarta in Avon.
As students arrived at this popular
Mexican restaurant, they were greeted by the inviting aromas of cheese,
meat, and chicken enchiladas. They
sat down with their friends and were
excited to devour the delicious torti- Girls eating: (l. to r.)Nicole Heller, Emlla chips and salsa before their meal. ily Rosenberg, Maia Czaikowski, Alexa
Students were invited to sample the Guglielmino.
Mexican foods, and señorita Zima
was quick to put the pressure on to
order in Spanish, as the servers are
all native Spanish-speakers! After
seconds, and in some cases thirds,
the group was treated to sopapillas
for dessert!
After a fun filled day and a real
“taste” of Mexican and Latin American culture, the group headed back
to Henry James. ¡Olé!
Serving food: (l. to r.) Lauren Law,
Anna Paquette, Señorita Zima.
T HE W ORLD LANGUAGE C ONNE C T ION l J UNE 2 0 1 2 l pa g e 4
NEWSWORTHY
l “Voyage au Québec”
By Noah Burrick
HJ Today Editor
It was fun to see how people worked and functioned
in the Huron culture
—Rebecca Ryan
(Carnival Parade). French student
Rosemary Wallace will never forget
that parade. “The parade was the
best by far because I got snatched
by a penguin,” Wallace exclaimed.
Students explored the city and used
their French to mingle with the
Québécois while shopping and enjoying the Carnival sites. The trip
was a huge success with students.
Rebecca Ryan was fascinated by
the visit to Huron Village. “It was
fun to see how people worked and
functioned in the Huron culture,”
Ryan explained.
The weather was mighty cold but
HJMS students brought plenty of
cold weather gear and bundled up.
Matt Zikovich loved tubing down
Abigail Lang, Natalie Hallen, and Ekaterian Makkaveyev.
Anastasia Ashchepkova and Kate
Boswell.
Bethany Hamlin, Richard Boyer, Thomas
Nicholson, Natalie Hallen, Abigail Lang,
and Anastasia Ashschepkova.
Kathleen Quinlan and Meredith Starrett.
the hills. “We went really fast down
the hills and got to spend a lot of
time there,” Zikovich proclaimed.
the bridge and seeing the falls was
majestical,” Patrick Lyman said.
On a beautiful crisp winter night,
the HJMS French students visited
Montmorency Falls. “Walking over
After a busy and exciting trip, the
students arrived home to Simsbury,
eager to share their experiences
with their families and friends.
CORNER
READERS
Bonjour, vous parlez français?
Hello, do you speak French? All
this year 8th grade HJMS students
have been studying the French language in the classroom. In February,
Mme Bruhl and her forty-five grade
8 French students had a chance to
put their French skills to the test.
The students departed Henry James
at 2:00pm on February 9th for three
fun-filled days in Quebec during
the internationally famous Winter
Carnival. Trip highlights included
several cultural tours such as a visit
to the Huron Village, an evening
at an authentic Cabane à Sucre
(Sugar Shack), inner tube and dog
sled riding in the snow, a French
dinner and the Défilé du Carnaval
l Summer fun!
www.wordl.net
This website is fun in any language. Read a text in a language and
then select key words to form a Wordl. You can reorganize the words
and change colors. Your wordl can be shared with friends or printed
and put on your wall. A great way to remember details about your
favorite story!
www.travellinguist.com/mss-videos.html
Do you want to learn a language online? This site will show you free
language learning videos in more than 15 languages.
T HE W ORLD LANGUAGE C ONNE C T ION l J UNE 2 0 1 2 l pa g e 5
l Marche aux puces
Madame Bruhl's eighth grade
French students are currently working on their unit on shopping while
interacting in a famous Parisian
flea market. After bargaining in
the marche aux puces, they will
write an interesting and sometimes
bizarre story about their perfect flea
market treasures!
Rhythm and Rhyme Canto
The Town Wide Elementary Choir singing “Viva La Musica.”
Rigby Michaelsen and Patrick Lyman
Jacob Patrone and Michael Reinhart
On March 23rd the Rhythm and Rhyme Canto event,
organized by Spanish Teacher Dennis Marolda, was
held at Squadron Line School. This World Language
and Music collaboration was a tremendous success! In
the words of Simsbury Public Schools Superintendent
Diane Ullman, “What a fantastic way to put world languages to joyful use—by linking it to the universal language of music!” Over 350 family members and friends
gathered for this exciting evening and delighted in the
music, language and incredible opportunity this event
afforded our Simsbury students. Music teachers Miriam
Schreiber, Keira Brown and Susan Mollica directed
five separate choirs from all of Simsbury’s elementary
schools. The hard work that the directors and the students poured into the
concert really shone through that night. The singing was amazing!
Rosemary Wallace and Jameson Boeshans
Kathleen Quinlan and Caitlyn Clifford
T HE W ORLD LANGUAGE C ONNE C T ION l J UNE 2 0 1 2 l pa g e 6
SPECIAL FEATURE
Connecticut World Language Educators Leading the Way
Written by Stephanie Duchesneau
C
entral Connecticut State
University has a vibrant
language program, and a
recent project by two of
its professors and graduate students is
yet another testament to the talented
faculty and hardworking teachers
continuing their education. Spanish professors, Paloma LaPuerta and
Lourdes Casas along with Jan Ferrier
Sands and Lisa Berliner, teachers at
Simsbury high school have authored the
level 2 and 3 textbooks for the recently
published Spanish series from publisher
Santillana USA. The company is also
introducing an elementary and junior
high (first year book) as part of the
sequential series.
teacher who has taught many courses
both with and without a textbook as a
learning tool in the classroom there are
many questions that interested me. I
attended the presentation of the series
at the recent conference at CCSU
where I met Professors LaPuerta and
Casas. The presentation of the series
was standard but I was intrigued by the
process of writing a textbook. Spanish
teachers Jan Ferrier Sands and Lisa
Berliner sat with me to answer some of
my questions.
Completely new editions of textbooks
are not easily found these days and
these tomes are arriving with online options and a plethora of audio and video
resources. We are proud that our Connecticut educators have helped in creating this new series. As a high school
There were five writers of the level
2 and 3 books. Paloma has written many textbooks for the college
level and she was the coordinator for the work that we did. The
company wanted her to work with
three other instructors. We were
Generally there are many authors, editors, reviewers and
advisors who create a series.
How were you chosen to write
the book?
(Left to right) Central Connecticut State University professors Lourdes Casas and
Paloma LaPuerta, Simsbury High School teachers Jan Ferrier Sands and Lisa
Berliner.
chosen because we teach in a high
school and the company wanted
input from secondary teachers.
We teach students at all levels and
abilities every day in a high school
setting and recognize good strategies
for reaching our learners. We were
also able to talk to each other daily
as we see each other every day. The
fifth writer, María Pérez, worked independently from us on the chapter
readings.
What part of the textbooks were
the four Connecticut writers responsible for?
We basically wrote all of the
chapters and created the vocabulary, grammar, and communicative
activities which were integrated
with the culture. The listening
exercises were also created by our
group. We researched our topics
integrating the four skills every two
pages as required. We were given a
scope and sequence from Santillana
and provided them feedback. From
there, the company gave us guidelines for the challenges, vocabulary
and grammar. We were responsible
for the activities and layout of the
chapter introduction, vocabulary,
grammar and communication pages.
Since there were four of us working
as a team, we each took a chapter
of each unit. The company set
deadlines for the units, and Paloma
worked to edit and unify the unit
prior to sending the draft to the
publishing company.
What were some of the challenges that you discovered as
you went through the writing
process?
When we began writing the exercises we thought of the learners
T HE W ORLD LANGUAGE C ONNE C T ION l J UNE 2 0 1 2 l pa g e 7
that we teach every day in our
classroom in Simsbury but as we
received feedback, we realized that
this textbook was for the entire
country. We had to adjust our
perceptions of what reaching all
learners meant. The activities had
to be varied for every student and
district who would use the book. At
times, it was difficult to create exercises for all of the grammar points
with the cultural theme. How do
you make interesting activities for
students to understand masculine
versus feminine nouns? Or create
a dialogue that will appeal to the
students? It was also important to
continue to spiral and include the
vocabulary and grammar from past
units in order to build the language
skills and recycle them in. Since
this was our first time working on a
textbook, it also never occurred to
us that we would be asked to do the
basic graphic layout of the pages.
We had to provide appropriate
spacing, allow room for pictures in
the recommended sizes and design
the layout of the vocabulary presentation. We assumed that there
would be someone in the publishing company for this. Initially that
was a challenge, but as we continued it became easier. It was a great
learning experience.
Were there any surprises?
The company asked us to be part of
the selection process of the actors
that appear in the text and videos
for the Spanish 3 book. The Spanish 1 and 2 books used the same
actors, but the company decided to
incorporate some new characters
for Spanish 3. That was fun and we
did not anticipate having a vote.
Later we found out that it was difficult to keep the actors together
to finish all of the filming. As you
can imagine they had other projects and commitments and could
not be on hold to play the roles
for extended periods of time. The
pictures of the actors in the book in
various places use the green screen
so they are not actually in the locations they visit even though they
appear to be there. It is amazing
what technology can do.
How did you manage to meet
all of the deadlines while teaching full time?
We basically worked nonstop. It
was important for us to continue to
give the energy and planning to our
own students in the classroom every day. This book was not going to
take away from our high standards
and dedication so there were nights
in hotels to get away from the daily
distractions and focus on the task at
hand. The house got messy and we
ate out more frequently. We knew
that this would not last forever and
so we let some holiday details slide
or let family pick up the slack. We
wrote all summer and during school
vacations. We worked through the
October snowstorm without power.
The deadlines did not change
because of our lack of electricity.
We went to Starbucks or other
places and kept on working. The
company had to get the textbooks
to print and complete the editing
and publishing by the target dates
in order to market the book. We
all were abroad at different parts of
the experience and communication
via e-mail was essential. We find
it hard to believe that we did this
for 2 years straight, but it feels like
such an accomplishment to see it
in print!
As language teachers we know
that there can be a learning
curve for some of the culture
that we must include in our units.
How did you research the topics
that you were unfamiliar with?
There were countless hours on
the internet, checking sources and
researching and verifying informa-
tion. Initially each cultural topic
took 24 hours to research. We later
got it down to 20 hours. When
working on certain units, we would
eat, sleep and dream about it. For
example, surfing was something
that was new to us as well as mole
blanco. We also learned about the
migration of the monarch butterfly
and its life cycle.
What did you learn from this experience?
It is important to accept criticism
and not take it personally. There
was simply no time to get angry and
hold onto it. If some of our ideas
were not accepted we just kept
moving forward. We kept our sense
of humor as best we could especially
when the deadlines seemed to come
faster and faster in the end. Paloma
really helped us in the process. Although we made many sacrifices to
write the book now that we see the
final product we are happy that we
took on the challenge.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
I would like to thank the writers for
taking the time to answer my questions. They also want to let the readers
know that they do not receive any
royalties for the textbook. As educators, we know that a textbook can
never meet the needs of all the schools
and their students. Teachers must
insert relevant material to supplement
the text and use it as a guide. They
have not yet seen the workbooks and
assessment guides nor have they heard
the audio or watched all of the videos.
As for me, I am excited to see the culture integrated in the text as well as the
online options and the large number of
choices for students to find success. I
certainly have a new appreciation for
the work that goes into putting the book
together. While looking at the new
text, I was able to identify the creative
activities and ideas that these two
teachers use in their classrooms in our
school and the teaching styles of each.
I feel fortunate to have the opportunity
to work with them every day.
T HE W ORLD LANGUAGE C ONNE C T ION l J UNE 2 0 1 2 l pa g e 8
Student Profile
The
WORLD LANGUAGE CONNECTION
l Lorna Loves Languages
Lorna Lechak is a language enthusiast in eighth grade at Henry
James Memorial School. She
currently studies Chinese with Mrs.
Watts, who describes Lorna as a
dedicated and thorough student.
Lorna Lechak
Lorna is always prepared and eager
to participate in class. And she
doesn’t stop there! On a weekly
basis, Lorna checks in with Mrs.
Benard’s Spanish class to inquire
about the learning progression in
l The Year of the Dragon
In celebration of the Chinese New Year, students in the Chinese
program decorated Simsbury High School with traditional Chinese
paper cuttings and other decorations. The Year of the Dragon
occurs once every 12 years and is the sign of good fortune and
this mythical creature is a master of authority. The students also treated their peers to a traditional dragon
dance through the halls during homeroom. Staff and
students alike enjoyed the festivities and are looking
forward to next year!
is a biannual publication of the
Simsbury Public Schools World
Language Department.
EDITORS
Stephanie Duchesneau (SHS)
Mary Glendening (HJMS)
Spanish 8. She collects and completes the work being done by her
peers and studies on her own. She
is currently working on writing a
children’s book in Spanish, similar
to the work of her peers. Lorna
enjoys all languages. Once she was
found in a study hall creating flash
cards for katakana and hiragana,
two sets of characters of Japanese.
There is no doubt Lorna will be
multi-lingual in the future!
English
teacher
Marilyn
Strelau dressed
up for Simsbury
High School’s
celebration of the
Chinese New Year.
Standing next to her
is Chinese teacher
Shiffon Theodorou.
T HE W ORLD LANGUAGE C ONNE C T ION l J UNE 2 0 1 2 l pa g e 9