Day 43 - Crazy about Categorizing! - MSMS Foreign Language Teachers

This post first appeared on the Burlington Keys to Literacy Blog

Here in the MSMS Foreign Language Department, we have been using categorizing as a KTL strategy throughout the year. Categorizing requires students to use main idea skills. Students are learning level 1 vocabulary for a foreign language in middle school. It can be beneficial for students to categorize this new vocabulary in a variety of ways to help with memorization and usage.

Students enjoy the “labeling the bucket” activity in Ms. Mirabella’s class. Depending on the section of vocabulary, students can categorize their vocabulary into groups, either by topic or parts of speech. 7th grade Spanish students in Ms. Mirabella’s class were introduced to the gender of nouns recently, which operates differently than it does in English. All nouns, living or nonliving, have a gender in Spanish: masculine or feminine. Students were taught how to properly identify the gender of nouns, and even identify exceptions to the rule.

Ms. Mirabella gave each pair of students two cups (in place of buckets) and a ziploc bag filled with nouns on individual cutouts from cardstock. Each pair had to work together to put the feminine nouns into one cup and the masculine nouns into the other cup. When all pairs had completed the activity, students emptied their cups and shared their findings. Students were required to explain why they put a noun into a certain cup using the rules that were previously taught. This activity promotes collaboration and recall, and is a multisensory way to reinforce an important grammar lesson in Spanish. (Pictures below!)

Mrs. Barkley’s Spanish classes are also categorizing. Her 8A and 8B classes did a KTL lesson using bucket sorting and top down webs!

First, each student was given 2-3 Spanish words on a piece of yellow paper. They all got up and were asked to sort their vocabulary words by placing them in the correct buckets (la casa- house vocabulary, la familia- family vocabulary, verbos- verbs from their vocabulary, & extra- words from their vocabulary that didn't fit into the other 3 categories):

Then, volunteers came up to help organize all of the categories onto a Chapter 6 Vocabulary Web:

Mr. Walsh uses categorizing in his Latin classes. Both 7th and 8th grade students took part in a group activity to sort new vocabulary words in different ways. First, students were divided into two teams. Each team was given a pile of vocabulary words, which they had to sort into three piles based on parts of speech.

Once the teams agreed on their piles, the students copied their lists into three columns on the whiteboard - NOMINA (Nouns), ADIECTIVĪ (Adjectives) and VERBA (Verbs). The teams then checked each lists for any mistakes.

Finally, once the teams agreed on the parts of speech, they had one more task. The students took the nouns and adjectives and separated them by gender. The three new categories for this round were MASCULINIUM, FEMININUM and NEUTRUM.

Day 11 - MSMS New Teacher Spotlights - Mrs. Schauer, Mr. Walsh, Mrs. Eagar - MSMS Blog

These posts originally appeared on the MSMS Blog

Mrs. Rebecca Schauer

This year, Marshall Simonds Middle School gained an additional music teacher, Rebecca Schauer. Mrs. Schauer will be teaching music classes as well as piloting our brand new Strings Program. Mrs. Schauer had this to say about her background, interests, and hopes for this year:

My name is Rebecca Schauer. I’m joining the Marshall Simonds team as an Orchestra and General Music instructor after spending the past six years as the Orchestra Director for the Pentucket Regional School District. Before that, I held a one-year position teaching Orchestra at Phillips Exeter Academy. I hold a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Music Performance from Boston University and a Graduate Diploma in Music Education from the Boston Conservatory.

I am excited to usher Burlington Public Schools’ new Strings Program to Marshall Simonds Middle School. This is the age at which many students choose to distance themselves from music, unaware of the lifelong joy it can bring them. My primary goal is for all of my students to make personal meaning from the music that they hear and make. This means always accessing character and emotions while they work toward becoming fluent in the “language” of music. I also encourage my students to develop cognitive and social skills through music such as citizenship, innovative thinking and dedication to a cause greater than oneself.

I approach everything in my life wholeheartedly. Aside from playing my primary instrument, the viola, my other great passion is film and screenwriting. I have advanced in various writing competitions, judged film festivals and currently serve on the board of Harvard Square Scriptwriters. I am also a passionate cook and all-around “foodie,” as well as an avid runner who has completed two marathons.

Mr. John Walsh 

This year, Marshall Simonds Middle School has a new Latin Teacher, Mr. John Walsh. Mr. Walsh will be replacing Mr. Finnigan, who left last year to take a teaching job at Boston Latin, his Alma Mater. Mr. Finnigan teaches Latin class for teams 7B, 8B, and 8C.

Mr. Walsh had this to say about his background and hopes for the school year:

Salve! My name is John Walsh, and I’m very excited to be the new Latin teacher here at the Marshall Simonds Middle School. I began my own Latin studies as a middle-schooler in Boston and have been using it every since. After graduating high school in 2007, I went on to get a BA in History from The University of Massachusetts (go Minutemen) and an MA in Medieval and Early Modern History from the University of Kent in faraway England.

For the past two years, I was a middle school classroom aide in Brookline, where I became very fond of this age group. I’m very excited to find a school which gives its middle school students an opportunity to study the language and culture of Ancient Rome! Students in my classes will be exploring the history and culture of one of the most impressive empires every built, as well as the language that gave birth to Spanish, French, Italian and many other European languages.

I look forward to getting to know the MSMS community and the surrounding area.
Cura utvaleas!

Mrs. Sarah Eagar

When transitioning from elementary school to middle school, it’s always nice for students to see a familiar face. Many of this year’s students have already met 6A’s new Social Studies teacher, Sarah Eagar. Mrs. Eagar, formerly Ms. Hayes, taught at Burlington’s own Pine Glen Elementary before filling the opening left by Mr. Leslie’s departure. Mrs. Eagar had this to say about her background and hopes for this year:

Hello my name is Sarah Eagar and I’m very happy to be joining the 6th grade A team this year as the new Social Studies/World Geography teacher.  I was a fourth and third grade teacher at the Pine Glen Elementary School prior to moving to MSMS. After 20 years in elementary school I am super excited for this new adventure in middle school!

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Master of Arts in Education and a certificate in Educational Leadership.  Learning is my passion!

I am looking forward to teaching and learning as I travel the world with the fabulous 6th graders of MSMS!