The ship is off and sailing. Here’s hoping you have smooth sailing. Feel the wind blow. Please browse the info below for helpful information. Polyglot Press issues are archived in the blog http://polyglotpress.blogspot.com Please share your latest discoveries.
BRAVO
· Welcome to Ann Haddon, student teacher with Jean Patterson, French teacher at Parkwood High.
· Shout out to Katie Kane, Spanish teacher at Piedmont High, who is pictured in the UCPS back-to-school video tour http://www.ucps.k12.nc.us/news/jump.php?news_id=368708
· High Five to Stacie Thompson, Spanish teacher at Cuthbertson High, for being part of the CHS team who received their International School banner at a UCPS ceremony August 23. http://www.ucps.k12.nc.us/news/jump.php?news_id=368762
· Lisa Helms and Jean Patterson are using the Allez, viens online text. Jean shared with me how to register. Now all the French teachers have that information. French, German and Spanish all have online texts. French 1, 2 and 3 teachers can register at http://my.hrw.com/
· UCPS Forest Hills graduate is studying in Morocco this year of college. You can follow her blog at http://hannahpotter2012.blogspot.com/2012/09/playing-how-many-cities-can-you-see-in.html Hannah Potter has already studied in Egypt as a senior in UCPS. Her story is motivating to students.
· MRHS Women’s Ensemble is video-recorded to air on Chinese TV for the Mid-Autumn Festival. MRHS featured the story at http://mrhs.ucps.k12.nc.us/news/jump.php?news_id=369214 The Enquirer Journal featured the story at http://enquirerjournal.com/view/full_story/20157846/article-Ensemble-will-perform-for-400-million-Chinese?
Implementing the New Standards
· Where are you going to archive examples of student accomplishments? Paper folders? Elinguafolio? http://www.elinguafolio.org/ Your Moodle page per class? Have a plan!
· Be sure to have practice activities and assessment for each of the four NC world languages Essential Standards per major unit of study (i.e. chapter).
· Standard 1 – Interpersonal Communication - Partner Activities for the WL Classroom - Interactive Crossword Puzzle to Practice Foreign Language Vocabulary http://wlteacher.wordpress.com/category/activities-and-games
· Standard 2 –Interpretive Communication – (understanding – listening and reading) http://www.digitaldialects.com/ Choose the language of study.
o Listening Comprehension in French – infinitives http://www.digitaldialects.com/French_verbs/verbs.htm and http://www.digitaldialects.com/French_verbs.htm
· New NC Standard Course of Study Site and READY FAQs - The NCDPI wants educators and public school supporters to have access to the answers they need surrounding the many changes occurring this year in our public schools. To that end, staff have developed a new website that features a wealth of information on the state’s new Standard Course of Study, including a thorough overview of the new standards, plus a menu of resources for educators to explore. It can be found online at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/.
HS Final Exam Exemptions Are No More
· As the new curriculum from Common Core and Essential Standards is being fully implemented this year in high school courses, the state Department of Education is also phasing in a new accountability model and student assessment process called “Measures of Student Learning”. End-Of-Course assessments will be: Algebra I, Biology, and English II. In other areas that do not have an EOC or an IMS (all Career and Technical Education courses), Measures of Student Learning (MSL) have been created to monitor student progress. MSL assessments will replace final exams in many courses this year, 2012-2013, and most for 2013-2014. MSL assessments in World Languages are not scheduled to begin until at least 2013-2014. Future MSL exams will count for 25% of the student's grade in the course, the same as all current high school final exams and EOC tests. As a result of the new assessments, high school exam exemptions have been eliminated for all courses.
Collaborate (Co+LABOR=Great)
· Lindsey Gallagher, past Spanish teacher now Global Studies teacher at Piedmont MS, volunteers to help anyone with learning to use the software called Windows Movie Maker. Movie Maker permits editing and combing visuals, text, audio recordings, music, etc. Email Lindsey Gallagher if interested.
· Rachele Shelton, Spanish 1 teacher at Weddington HS, has shared this link to her first Voice Thread for her students https://voicethread.com/share/3359292/ . She has three slides with questions and model answers. Students answer each slide orally.
· Paul Cummings, Spanish 1 and 2 teacher at Union County Early College, shares his student projects for Chapter 1 in his Moodle course http://moodlehigh.ucps.k12.nc.us/course/view.php?id=34863 . Aside from serving as an online portfolio of student achievement for Standard 3 (Presentational Communication – Writing), these student projects support the NC World Languages Essential Standards thread “Connections to Other Disciplines” and the clarifying objectives NL.COD.3.2 Use single words and simple, memorized phrases to name common objects and actions related to other disciplines. And NL.COD.3.3 Use readily available technology tools and digital literacy skills to present in the target language. Enjoy the student projects below for Spanish 1 – Capítulo 2B (School subjects, classroom objects and prepositions of location)
Professional Development
· October 11 -13, 2012 Fall FLANC Conference in Winston-Salem, (Foreign Language Association of North Carolina. Hotel/Embassy Suites, Winston-Salem. Visit www.flanc.org for details. An Early Bird discount is available for the Friday – Saturday conference to all members who register before Sept 1st! Conference fees for non-members and those who pay after September 1 are $140. FLANC offers reduced rates for full-time Students ($60), Retired teachers ($60) and First Year Teachers ($60). The Friday and Saturday Conference offers hourly “sessions” on many topics for one conference fee. Thursday, Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, there are three and six hour pre-conference and post-conference workshops for an additional fee. “Workshop” details are at http://www.flanc.org/?sec=conference Register today! Can’t get a sub? To attend just Saturday, the fee is only $75.00. There are special room rates for FLANC 2012 to support our traveling members. Rooms can be booked directly with the Marriott Winston-Salem by calling 1-800-320-0934 or for Embassy Suites by calling 1-800-696-6107. Please mention “FLANC” to obtain the special event room rate of $133.00/night (single or double occupancy at the Marriott) or $153/night (single or double occupancy at the Embassy Suites). ROOM BLOCK HELD until September 16, 2012 – Book EARLY!
· October 22-23 TPRS workshop in Raleigh/ Durham October 22-23, 2013 Raleigh/Durham, NC
Cost: $269.00 Hotel option - Sleep Inn, 5208 New Page Road (I-40 & Page Road), Durham, NC 27709, (919) 993-3393, Sleeping room is $74.99 + tax per night; Speaker: Von Ray has taught with TPRS and presented for many years. He has presented in over 30 states and other foreign countries. Learn how to teach with TPRS! The workshop has an introduction to TPRS, a demonstration and extensive practice. You will practice lesson planning, circling, TPRS extended readings, reading and discussing the novels. There is also extensive group practice in teaching a story as well as grading and classroom management in a TPRS classroom. Time: 08:00 am EST to 03:00 pm ES You can register online at http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?432106#Sessions
Cost: $269.00 Hotel option - Sleep Inn, 5208 New Page Road (I-40 & Page Road), Durham, NC 27709, (919) 993-3393, Sleeping room is $74.99 + tax per night; Speaker: Von Ray has taught with TPRS and presented for many years. He has presented in over 30 states and other foreign countries. Learn how to teach with TPRS! The workshop has an introduction to TPRS, a demonstration and extensive practice. You will practice lesson planning, circling, TPRS extended readings, reading and discussing the novels. There is also extensive group practice in teaching a story as well as grading and classroom management in a TPRS classroom. Time: 08:00 am EST to 03:00 pm ES You can register online at http://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?432106#Sessions
Events
· September 15 – October 15 Hispanic Heritage Month
o Waldhorn Restaurant of Charlotte will celebrate Oktoberfest Sept. 21-21, 28-29; October 5-6 and 12-13 http://www.waldhorn.us/oktoberfest.htm
· Saturday, September 29 UNC Charlotte International Festival 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. The festival is centered around booths arranged in colorful marketplace style representing thecultures of about 50 nations. The booths are staffed by UNC Charlotte international students and members of Charlotte's international community and feature art, crafts and costumes from each participating country. Many booths offer international food for sale. Free. http://ifest.uncc.edu/
· Saturday, September 29, 2012 Hola Charlotte Celebration - the first annual ‘Hola Charlotte 2012’ festival coming to Uptown. Hosted by the Mint Museum, the event will take place inside the museum as well as outside on the Levine Ave. of the Arts, adjacent to Tryon Street. http://www.lawanc.org/site/index.php/2012/08/08/sept-29-hola-charlotte-celebration/
September 30 Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival http://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/mid-autumn-festival.htm Send greeting cards, purchase moon cakes, remember loved ones far away.
· October 1 – National Day – People’s Republic of China National Day is celebrated to commemorate the founding of the People’s Republic China in 1949. It is celebrated throughout mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau with a variety of government festivities, including fireworks and concerts. Public places, such as Tiananmen Square, are decorated in a festive theme. Portraits of revered leaders, such as Mao Zedong, are publicly displayed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China
o October 3: Day of German Unity/Tag der deutschen Einheit http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/dayunity.htm
o You can follow American Association of Teachers of German on Facebook.
· October 12 Día de la raza = Día de las Américas = Columbus Day
· Sunday, October 14, 2012 noon – 8:00 p.m. Latin American Festival –Symphony Park, South Park Mall, 4400 Sharon Road, Charlotte, NC 28211. Musicians: Rumba Stage this year is the iconic, multi-platinum band from Spain, JarabeDePalo; Latin Grammy award-winning Venezuelan funk band, Los Amigos Invisibles! http://www.latinamericancoalition.org/festivallatinoamericano/about
· November 12 – 16 International Education Week http://iew.state.gov/ is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S Dept. of State and US Dept of Educaiton.
· Runs through April 28, 2013 Al Norte al Norte: Latino Life in North Carolina Images of North Carolina’s diverse and growing Latino community by Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer José Galvez showing work, worship, protest, and celebration. http://ncmuseumofhistory.org/latino/index.html
Tech Tools
· UCPS Tech Tools for Teachers (and their attributes) Find out who old students must be to use certain sites. These tech tools are approved and promoted in UCPS. https://techtools.ucps.k12.nc.us/
· Looking for Online Portfolios for Your Students?
o Try http://www.wix.com This site permits free websites to those 13 and above. Students can upload assignments throughout the semester to showcase what they CAN DO in the language. Teachers can grade the projects if desired. Thanks to Paul Cummings for this tip. His students are using wix.com
o You may have heard that www.weebly.com sites are blocked in UCPS for student access to teacher weeblys and for student creations in weeblys.
· Jessica Garner, DPI Consultant for Race to the Top for Region 6,
o shares her tech tools on this page http://region6pd.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/Technology+Tools
§ Glogster - A free online service that allows students to create electronic "posters." Multimedia objects can be embedded into these posters. Accounts that allow student management are not free. http://edu.glogster.com/
§ iPadio - Free site that allows students to send messages with their cell phones. Great for a world language classroom. Also allows the instructor to "follow" their students' channels to easily hear latest voice blogs. http://www.ipadio.com/
§ Yodio - Use your cell phone to create voice blogs and share messages. Great for world language classrooms! http://www.yodio.com/
o shares her favorite sites on Delicious, a bookmarking tool online for marking sites you want to return to frequently. http://www.delicious.com/jessica.garner
· Discovery Education which includes Discovery Streaming. The website is http://app.discoveryeducation.com/. Through this website you are able to access full length videos by subject area and grade level. Not only are videos available, you also have access to curriculum resources, pre-made teacher guides, and much more. You can search by curriculum standards along with the option of an advanced search. Go ahead and add it to your favorites, I'm sure this will become a frequently visited site.Once you are at the website, you will need to create your own account. On the main screen you will need to choose the Passcode / New User tab and enter 778E-3ADB which will allow you to create your own user account through the Union County Public Schools account.
· Can’t log into online translators? Go to www.wordreference.com UCPS has some sites blocked and encourages students and teachers to refer to this site. Includes part of speech, colloquial speech, words in a sentence, tense markers and links of reference.
Global Studies
· October 24-25 World View’ 2012 Global Ed Symposium for K-12 Educators “Global Issues, Global Solutions”. Co-sponsored by the NC State Board of Education, Department of Public Instruction and the School of Education, UNC at Chapel Hill. This program is designed for K-12 administrators and teachers in all disciplines and educators will leave the program with strategies for helping their students learn about and with the world. This symposium offers general and concurrent sessions examining the world’s most pressing challenges and resources for integrating global themes across the curriculum. There will also be support for school-based teams to create an Action Plan for adding a global dimension to school and district initiatives. CEU credits offered. Registration open. Cost (NC Educators): Registration is $175 per person. A team of 4 is $600 (save $100). A team is comprised of 4 or more individuals from a school or district. Only $150 for each additional team member. For more information please call 919/962-9264 or visit worldview.unc.edu Guest Speaker – Ed Gragert – iearn-USA “Moving from Awarenesss to Competence: Students Taking Action Globally.” Other sessions may include: The Environment, The Global Financial Crisis, Global Health Challenges, Migration, Human Rights Economic Development, Water, Peace and Conflict, Global in Common Core & Essential Standards
· Culturegrams – database on countries http://www.culturegrams.com/ World, Kids, States, and Provinces editions, plus a worldwide photo gallery, unlimited printing rights, and much more. Resource from UCPS Media Center resources specialist Jackie Simpson.
· World Affairs Council of Charlotte is hosting the 2012 Joint WorldQuest / Academic WorldQuest competition on Tuesday, November 13th at the Westin Charlotte (6 p.m. – 9:15 p.m.) Like last year, WorldQuest will be played together alongside high school groups who will compete in Academic WorldQuest. Last year’s program is available on YouTube (short highlights): http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ESvEiNLItzg Larry Sprinkle, Weather Anchor for WCNC will be the celebrity host once again.
Date: Tuesday, November 13th, 2012
Location: Westin Charlotte (601 S. College St.)
Time: 6:00 p.m. (Dinner – Light Spaghetti Dinner); 6:45 p.m. (WorldQuest & Academic WorldQuest Begins)
Registration Due: November 7th, 2012
Early Registration Info (Before Oct. 19): $45 per person or $360 per team
Regular Registration (After October 19): $55 per person and $440 per team
Regular Registration (After October 19): $55 per person and $440 per team
· Categories for AWQ 2012 are:
· Great Decisions 2012 (*played by high school teams competing in AWQ 2012)
· World Flags
· History of Italy
· Geography of Australia
· Elections
· Bon Appétit (Foods of the World)
· Cuban Missile Crisis: 50th Anniversary
· Current Events
· If you are intending to participate or planning on putting a team together, please shoot an e-mail as soon as possible to Charlotte Klopp (cklopp@worldaffairscharlotte.org ) so that she can hold a space for you. Tel: 704-687-7762 www.worldaffairscharlotte.org Follow them on Twitter (@charlotteworld) Become a fan of the WACC on Facebook Join the WACC group on LinkedIn Read their blog
UCPS Point of Pride
· NC State Superintendent recently recognized 28 high schools in our state that posted a 100 percent graduation rate in 2012, the 11 school districts with the highest graduate rates and 35 schools that earned top graduation rates based on the 9th grade cohort size. http://www.ncpublicschools.org/newsroom/news/2012-13/20120919-01 UCPS was had the highest graduation rate among ‘large’ school districts (large = greater than 2,000 students in their cohort)! Marvin Ridge, Weddington and Central Academy all earned honors for their graduation rate for schools of their size!
DPI
· SAT Results are posted online for North Carolina. NC and Nationwide scores decrease. http://www.ncpublicschools.org/newsroom/news/2012-13/20120924-01 Sixty-eight percent of North Carolina high school seniors in 2012, or 63,271 students, took the SAT college admissions exam and had an average combined score of 997 (Critical Reading and Math), according to The College Board’s annual SAT report released today. These average scores show a dip from 2011 when the average combined score was 1,001 in North Carolina. The national average score also decreased from 1,011 in 2011 to 1,010 in 2012. North Carolina seniors posted an average Math score of 506, and an average Critical Reading score of 491. The average Writing score for North Carolina’s Class of 2012 was 472. These scores were two points lower in each tested area when compared to the performance of the Class of 2011. The 10-year trend in SAT scores shows the nation declining by 8 points in Critical Reading and 2 points in Math. In North Carolina, Critical Reading scores are 2 points lower than in 2002 and Math scores are one point higher. The SAT has set a Benchmark of 1550 (combination of Critical Reading, Mathematics and Writing) as the score indicating a 65 percent likelihood that students will achieve a B grade point average or higher during their first year of college. Using this Benchmark, 38 percent of North Carolina’s Class of 2012 achieved the Benchmark of 1550. This is the first year that The College Board has set and reported scores against a Benchmark.
· NCDPI staff have been synthesizing and researching the answers to a multitude of questions received from READY meetings earlier this year, along with a number of questions that have been submitted via our website and e-mail. The categories posted on the READY website thus far are Accountability, Assessments and Educator Effectiveness. These FAQs may be found at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/ready/faq/.
French Resources
· An online audio dictionary is a great help in French. How does one pronounce all the silent letters? Find out online… even verb conjugations include an audio file. http://audiofrench.com
· Justin Bieber interview in French http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsErSGA7TFs (Thanks to Kristen Mouritsen’s Moodle page at http://moodlehigh.ucps.k12.nc.us/course/view.php?id=34971
Spanish Resources
· The National Register of Historic Places lists many properties significant for Hispanic Heritage. They take the opportunity of Hispanic Heritage Month to highlight just some of the properties that exemplify the contributions of Hispanic culture and achievement. http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/hispanic/index.htm
· The National Football League is recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month with scheduled events across the nation including simultaneous broadcasting in Spanish.
o On Saturday, September 29, Telemundo will air a NFL Hispanic Heritage Month special, Fútbol Americano Celebrando la Herencia Hispana, at 2:00 PM/1:00 PM Central in select markets highlighting the NFL's Hispanic players.
o Carolina Panthers celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month during their September 20 game. Astrid Chirinos, Executive Director of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce of Charlotte, took part in the coin toss. The invocation was provided by Pastor Luis Tejera of Hickory Grove Baptist Church with a national anthem performance by Leydy Bonilla. The Panthers honored Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, President and CEO of El Centro Hispano, with the NFL Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award at the game. On September 22, the team hosted a Fútbol Americano Fiesta in partnership with the YMCA.
o National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC – 10 percent of the collection comes from Mexico and Central America, 11 percent from South America, and 6 percent from the Caribbean. Overall, 55 percent of the collection is archaeological, 43 percent ethnographic, and 2 percent modern and contemporary arts. Of interest is the Taino exhibit, http://nmai.si.edu/home/ One can search their online archives by country, artist, etc. http://www.nmai.si.edu/searchcollections/places.aspx
· Word Play is a fun game for practicing Spanish. Audio files are played and students have to find the correct meaning in the opposite language before a falling tile hits the bottom. The site practices English to Spanish and Spanish to English. It includes matching pictures to audio files and typing the translation you hear in the opposite language. Free! http://www.wordplay.com
Are you creating a classroom library? Santillana has an exhaustive online catalogue. Many resources are for native speakers. http://www.santillanausa.com/catalogs/santillana-usa-k12-catalog/spanish-as-a-world-language/espanol-santillana.html
