Academic year: 2025/2026
Course Objectives: Listening, speaking, writing, role-playing, and group activities are designed to instruct, reinforce, and connect language skills.
Spanish 2H: Speakers are advanced and can easily and confidently handle many communicative tasks. They participate actively in most informal and some formal exchanges on a variety of concrete topics relating to work, school, home, and leisure activities, as well as to events of current, public, and personal interest or individual relevance. Advanced-Mid speakers demonstrate the ability to narrate and describe in all major time frames (past, present, and future) by providing a full account, with good control of aspects, as they adapt flexibility to the demands of the conversation.
Spanish 2M: Intermediate mid-speakers can handle uncomplicated communicative tasks by creating with the language in straightforward social situations. Writers can meet some limited practical writing needs. They can create statements and formulate questions based on familiar material. Listeners can understand information from sentence-length speech, one utterance at a time in basic personal and social contacts through comprehension often uneven. Readers can understand information from the simplest connected text dealing with a limited number of personal and social needs although there may be frequent misunderstandings.
Schedule for 2025-2026
HR - Room 107
1st - CPT
2nd - Spanish 2M- Room 107
3rd - Spanish 2M- Room 107
4th - Spanish 2M- Room 107
5th - Lunch
6th - Prep
7th - Spanish 2H- Room 107
8th - Spanish 2H- Room 107
9th - First Flr. Ext. B
Grading System: Students will be evaluated as follows: (Tests - 30%, Quizzes- 10%
Projects - 20%, Homework - 20%, Class Participation - 20%)
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Estimados padres/guardianes:
Es un placer darle la bienvenida a mi clase de español en este nuevo curso escolar 2025-26. Mi nombre es Carmen Guerra y seré la maestra de español impartiendo los niveles 2M y 2H. El 2M es un nivel intermedio donde tienen que poder comunicarse en el idioma español. El 2H es un curso de honores donde se puede continuar el próximo año en otros cursos de clases de honores o más avanzadas. Estoy muy ansiosa por trabajar con los estudiantes y espero tener una excelente experiencia educacional durante este año escolar.
En la clase estudiarán el lenguaje y cultura hispana. Los estudiantes tendrán que entrar con su código a "Google Classroom" donde encontrarán sus tareas, proyectos, textos literarios y no literarios, exámenes y material para ayudarles a tener un año productivo. Además de estos deberes escolares, tendrán trabajos en grupos, reportes sobre diferentes temas y otras variedades de experiencias educativas. Es indispensable que el estudiante tenga su ordenador completamente cargado la noche antes de asistir a clases.
El sistema de evaluación se basará en: Exámenes -30%, Exámenes cortos-10%,
Proyectos - 20%, Tareas - 20%, Participación en clase - 20%.
Estoy entusiasmada por tener la opotunidad de conocerlos en la "Noche de regreso a clases", el día 23 de septiembre del 2025, para poder trabajar juntos y asegurarnos que su hijo/a tenga un exítoso año escolar. Si necesitan comunicarse conmigo me pueden enviar un correo electrónico a [email protected].
Atentamente,
Sra. Carmen E. Guerra
Maestra de español 2M/2H
Memorial High School, WNY, NJ
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Dear Parents and Guardians:
I am writing to introduce myself and describe some of the activities/procedures that your child will be participating in during this school year, 2025-26.
My name is Carmen Guerra, and I will be teaching levels 2M/2H. The 2M level is for students who already have a working knowledge of the target language. The 2H level is for honor students, who will be moving on to another honors class or a more advanced Spanish class the following year. I am looking forward to working with this year’s students and for them to have an excellent educational experience.
Our class will be studying the Spanish language and culture. Students will log in to their Google Classroom to find the homework, projects, and tests, and to find useful websites, as a study guide. In addition to these assignments, students will be working on group activities, research reports, and other activities to provide them with a variety of educational experiences. The students must bring their laptops completely charged to school the following day.
Students will be evaluated as follows: Tests - 30%, Quizzes- 10%,
Projects - 20%, Homework - 20% and Class Participation - 20%
I’m excited for the opportunity to get to know you at our "Back to School Night, on September 23, 2025, to work together, and to be sure that your child will have a successful, productive school year. If you need to contact me, please feel free to email me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Ms. Carmen E. Guerra
Spanish Teacher of 2M/2H
Memorial High School, WNY, NJ
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El Día Internacional de la Lengua Materna es una celebración anual que se conmemora en todo el mundo el 21 de febrero para promover la concienciación sobre la diversidad lingüística y cultural y fomentar el multilingüismo. Fue anunciado por primera vez por la UNESCO el 17 de noviembre de 1999 y reconocido formalmente por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas en 2002.
Nuestra lengua materna es mucho más que palabras y gramática. Es el primer sonido que escuchamos al nacer, la forma en que aprendemos a nombrar nuestras emociones y el vehículo principal de nuestras tradiciones culturales.
Mantener viva la lengua materna es asegurar que esa sabiduría siga existiendo. Es una conexión emocional que permite mantener lazos fuertes con la familia y construir una comunidad más sólida.
Desarrollo cognitivo: Los estudios demuestran que los niños que aprenden en su lengua materna tienen un mejor desempeño escolar. Además, el multilingüismo fomenta la flexibilidad mental y la creatividad.
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International Mother Language Day is an annual celebration observed worldwide on February 21st to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and to encourage multilingualism. It was first announced by UNESCO on November 17, 1999, and formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002.
Our mother tongue is much more than just words and grammar. It is the first sound we hear at birth, the way we learn to name our emotions, and the primary vehicle of our cultural traditions.
Keeping our mother tongue alive ensures this wisdom endures. It is an emotional connection that allows us to maintain strong ties with our family and build a stronger community.
Cognitive development: Studies show that children who learn in their mother tongue perform better in school. Furthermore, multilingualism fosters mental flexibility and creativity.
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¿Cómo empezó el Mes de la Historia Afroamericana?
Fue Carter G. Woodson, fundador de la Asociación para el Estudio de la Historia Afroamericana, a quien se le ocurrió por primera vez la idea de la celebración que se convirtió en el Mes de la Historia Afroamericana.
A Woodson, hijo de esclavos de Virginia recientemente liberados, que obtuvo un doctorado en historia en Harvard, se le ocurrió originalmente la idea de la Semana de la Historia Negra para alentar a los estadounidenses negros a interesarse más en su propia historia y herencia.
A él le preocupaba que a los niños negros no se les enseñara sobre los logros de sus antepasados en las escuelas estadounidenses a principios del siglo XX.
"Si una raza no tiene historia, si no tiene una tradición que valga la pena, se convierte en un factor insignificante en el pensamiento del mundo y corre peligro de ser exterminada", dijo Woodson.
It was Carter G. Woodson, the "father of Black history," who first set out in 1926 to designate a time to promote and educate people about Black history and culture, according to W. Marvin Dulaney. He is
"Woodson's goal from the very beginning was to make the celebration of Black history in the field of history a 'serious area of study,' " said Albert Broussard, a professor of Afro-American history at Texas A&M University.
The idea eventually grew in acceptance, and by the late 1960s, Negro History Week had evolved into what is now known as Black History Month. Protests around racial injustice, inequality, and anti-imperialism that were occurring in many parts of the U.S. were pivotal to the change.
a historian and the president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).
Woodson envisioned a weeklong celebration to encourage the coordinated teaching of Black history in public schools. He designated the second week of February as Negro History Week and galvanized fellow historians through the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which he founded in 1915. (ASNLH later became ASALH.)
The idea wasn't to place limitations but really to focus and broaden the nation's consciousness.
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La historia de San Valentín de Roma
Según la tradición, San Valentín de Roma fue un sacerdote romano que acompañaba espiritualmente a los cristianos que habían caído presos en las persecuciones contra los practicantes de esta fe y les ayudaba a prepararse para el martirio y la muerte.
Otra versión cuenta que se trataba de un sacerdote que, pese a que las autoridades romanas prohibían contraer matrimonio a los jóvenes soldados, por considerar que serían mejores combatientes si no tenían ataduras familiares, se dedicaba a casar a las parejas en secreto según el rito católico.
Cuando fue descubierto, Valentín fue sometido a martirio y finalmente decapitado.
Una última (y poco creíble) versión cuenta que el sacerdote Valentín fue apresado y se enamoró de la hija de su carcelero, a la que dedicó una apasionada carta de amor que firmaba como “de tu Valentín”, lo que se convertiría en el origen de la tradición de enviar las cartas y postales de amor que intercambian los enamorados cada 14 de febrero.
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Every February 14, across the United States and in many places around the world, loved ones exchange candy, flowers, and gifts, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint, and where did our present-day traditions come from?
The history of Valentine’s Day—and the story of its patron saint—is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? The legends are numerous.
The most commonly accepted story begins in Rome, during the third century, at a time when persecution of Christians was running rampant. Emperor Claudius II declared that young men could not marry because single men made better soldiers.
A priest named Valentine thought this was unfair and married young lovers in secret. This did not go unnoticed by Claudius, who ordered the priest to be imprisoned and executed. While in prison, Valentine helped his jailer’s daughter with her sickness. Before his execution, he sent her a note signed “From your Valentine,” an expression still in use today. It is said his sentence was carried out on February 14, 270 AD. Father Valentine, the friend of sweethearts, became a martyr to love and the sanctity of marriage.
Another legend is that Valentine, whose ministry was to help Christians escape persecution, was killed for helping Christians escape from Roman prisons. To “remind them of God’s love and to encourage them to remain faithful Christians,” Saint Valentine is said to have cut hearts from parchment, giving them to soldiers and persecuted Christians, a possible origin of the widespread use of hearts on Saint Valentine’s Day.
Many believe that Valentine’s Day is observed in honor of Valentine’s death and was originally a Pagan Festival. But others believe that it was the Christians who placed St. Valentine’s Day in the middle of February to Christianize the Pagan Lupercalia festival, which occurred on February 15th, which was a fertility celebration.