News Archive 2004-2005


 Spanish Students Entertain Peruvian Girls
Monday, June 13, 2005

On Monday June 13th, the students in Señor Jannke’s 4th block class had the opportunity to experience a fiesta. As part of a 4th block interning project, Cynthia Rios organized a birthday celebration that simulated what an actual 5 year old Hispanic child would have in a Spanish speaking country. The class was divided into different groups. The groups included dance/entertainment, decorations, food and games, all in Spanish style. The students spent a week preparing for this on their own. When the day finally came, everyone was ready, Daisy, Cynthia’s sister, showed up with a girl who had just come to the US from Peru. Both girls had a blast. They really enjoyed the piñata outside and the dance that the students worked hard on memorizing. They also gave it a try and danced along. The students had another challenge on the day of the fiesta; they weren’t allowed to speak in English. Whatever they needed to say had to be said in Spanish.
2004-2005 Modern Language Awards
Thursday, June 09, 2005

The World Languages and Cultures Department awarded students based on their academic excellence, enthusiasm, and outstanding achievement in world languages. The students awarded were: Chris Reilly German 4 Tom Chapman Spanish 4 Alison Belden German 1 Matt Runkle German 2 Ashley Oakley German 3 Sarah Fritz French 1 Ellie Sturm French 2 Ben Jack French 3 Erika Bardfield Spanish 1 Courtney Thomas Spanish 2 Tyler Trepod Spanish 2 Advanced Tara Stockman Spanish 3
Not all students were present.

French Club Picnic
Thursday, May 26, 2005

The French Classes put together posters adverstising a fictional picnic that they were having to raise money for a cause. In putting together this poster, they used their vocabulary for activities, food items and they needed to use authentic prices in euros to advertise their food items.
LHS Gapp Trip 2005
Thursday, May 19, 2005

   It's off to Germany this summer for eleven LHS German students! As qualifying candidates in the GAPP  (German American Partnership Program), the students will leave Ledyard on July 26th, tour the Black Forest, visiting Heidelberg and its castle, the spa city of Baden-Baden and Stuttgart, the partner city of Hartford, CT. A five-day stay in Bavaria follows with trips to München, Neu, Schwanstein and Salzburg, Austria. The students will arrive in Frankfurt/Oder in the state of Brandenburg on August 5th where they will meet their host families and begin attending classes at our partnerschool, the Sportschule FRA/O, on August 8th. Trips to Berlin, Potsdam and the Spreewald are also planned.                                                                                       On August 22nd, the students will return to Ledyard. The LHS-GAPP group is accompanied by Mr. McCauley, LHS Science teacher, Mrs. Beardon, a parent, and Frau Fromhein, German teacher and GAPP-coordinator. The GAPP is an academic student exchange program sponsored by the Goethe Institute in NYC.      On September 17th , the  LHS Gappys can look forward to welcoming their Frankfurt/O partners to Ledyard for a two-week visit.       As in the past, the success of such a student exchange lies in the understanding and insights gained and the friendships formed. The students especially look forward to applying and improving their German language skills. The memories of a GAPP trip will last a life time!

Le Sport
Tuesday, May 10, 2005

French I students studying sports and activities made posters representing their favorite sport or activity. In doing so, they learned more vocabulary which will aid them in future speaking, reading and writing assignments. They then made oral presentations to the class. A sampling of this activity can be seen on the bulletin board outside of room 215.
Language Ambush at State Capitol
Monday, May 09, 2005

Wednesday, May 4, language students, Tom Chapman, Matt Eddy and Ashley Oakley chaperoned by German Teacher Mrs. Barbara Fromhein participated in a Language Ambush at the State Capitol in Hartford. These students joined students from Stonington and Glastonbury to meet and speak to their legislators about the importance of learning a language for their careers, life and college. The students then went to various floors of the capitol building to interview legislators, lobbyists and staff members in one of four languages, French, German, Spanish and Russian. Students began by requesting to do a one minute interview to assess their ability in a specific language. There were three interview questions: How are you?, What time is it?, and Are you an American? The interviews were anonymous and the responses were graded with either an A, C or F. The students were later given a tour of the Capitol and lunched at Pastis Bistro. This language ambush took place in an effort to draw attention to the need for more Americans to be fluent in multiple languages.

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Read more about the 2005 Year of Languages Event at the State Capitol in an article by Lea Graner Kennedy.
Ashley, Matt and Tom at the State Capitol
A "Hot" Cinco de Mayo
Thursday, May 05, 2005

The Cinco de Mayo celebration in Sr. Jannke's Spanish II class was quite "hot" this year. Students taught themselves how to do a Mexican hat dance, sang a traditional Mexican folk song, and experienced the joys of Mexican food. Students added a new twist this year by organizing a jalapeño eating contest. Our champion Sam Graebner ate 4 in less than two minutes!

Students demonstrated that they understood the fact that Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day and just an excuse to have a party. Students explained the fact that a small group of Mexican soldiers ousted the French from Mexico and perhaps changed the outcome of the U.S. Civil War. They learned why we in the U.S. celebrate this important day along side of our southern neighbor.
Paris Vibrations
Friday, April 29, 2005

17 French students attended a performance at the Garde Arts Theatre in New London on Monday, April 25. The title of the performance was "Paris Vibrations". It was put on by a group called Learning On Stage. It chronicled the evolution of French music beginning with the 17th century. The performance was done by 3 women from France who actually spoke to the audience in both languages. The French students who attended were all first level students and they stated that they were able to understand several words although of course, not all. It was an enjoyable experience.

Poetry Contest 2005
Thursday, April 14, 2005

See full article and more pictures here.

Eleven students from Ledyard High School participated in a Poetry Recitation Contest sponsored by CT COLT. The contest was held at New Britain High School on Wednesday, April 13th. Students from schools all over Connecticut took part in this contest and the competition was intense. Our participants were:

Miranda Toth French 1     Emily Abbott Spanish 2
Sarah Orkney French 2     Eric Zaccaro Spanish 3
Matthew Landback French 3     Tom Chapman Spanish 4
Nicole Burns French 4     Melanie Wade Spanish 5
Alison Belden German 1     Tim Eng Native Speaker
Jeffrey Reilly German 4        

Three Ledyard High School students took home prizes from the contest.

Jeffrey Reilly     Bronze     German 4
Tom Chapman     Gold     Spanish 4
Melanie Wade     Gold     Spanish 5


All of those students who participated are to be commended on a job VERY well done! These students have been working hard all year and they all put forth an outstanding effort. We are proud of them all!

See full article and more pictures here.
School Supply Commercials
Monday, April 11, 2005

French I students created either a Powerpoint© presentation or made (on paper) a 6 slide presentation that would be a commercial for school supplies. The students created their commercials at home and then presented them to the class. This gave the students an opportunity to truly learn the vocabulary and to also make conversions from the US dollar to the Euro. This year, Mme Sylvestre decided to use the ledyard.net account for e-mail so the students could send her the presentations and she would then show them to the class. In doing so, she found out that the ledyard.net account was too small to hold but 3 presentations. Students were being denied the ability to send their presentations so they became resourceful by putting them on jump drives, CD's or just printing out their commercials. It was a learning experience for all.

Students Make Floorplans
Tuesday, March 22, 2005

French Students get to know their school better by creating floorplans in French as a way to learn and practice their school vocabulary. Students took short field trips to their respective hallways. They then drew out the floorplans and decorated them with subject related photos.
German Update
Thursday, March 17, 2005

The last LHS Parent GAPP Meeting was on Tuesday, March 15th. Frau Fromhein, the German teacher, is glad to announce that 11 LHS German students have qualified to participate in the student exchange program called GAPP ( German American Partnership Program) in the summer of 2005. The LHS GAPPYS hope to welcome their German partners to LHS in the fall '05. More exciting news regarding the '05 LHS GAPP travel group and plans will follow. The next Parent GAPP Meeting is on Tuesday, April 12th at 7:30 p.m. in Rm 216, LHS.

On Wednesday, March 16th, the German Club invited all former and present German students to an "Osterfrühstück" during activity period. From a festively decorated table, the students enjoyed freshly baked German Rolls, Black Forest Ham, Salami, real Swiss Cheese and German Mustard. They also had a taste of honey from Switzerland, blueberry marmelade from Germany and, of course, Nutella from Italy. These delicacies disappeared in no time! The students were entertained by a video depicting fascinating cultural, regional and historic scenes from the Mozart city of Salzburg, Austria. Es machte viel Spaß!

French 1 Students present projects
Tuesday, March 01, 2005

French I students made oral presentations where they stated the activities that they like and those that they don't like. These oral presentations were accompanied by posters some of which can be seen on the bulletin board outside the French room (215).
Trip To Québec 2005
Thursday, February 24, 2005

Seventeen French students from Ledyard High School participated in a trip to Québec over Presidents' Day Weekend. They had a magnificent time and can't wait for the next opportunity to go again. They toured the city and practiced their French. They went to a sugar shack and learned how maple syrup is made, had an authentic Québécois meal and danced traditional dances. On the way back to the hotel, they played Jumpstreet Idol and had a fabulous time! They next day, they participated in a British tea ceremony and then went to Village des Sports for a fun filled evening of tubing. The students will tell you that it was an experience to remember!

See more pictures...
New Website Launched
Tuesday, February 08, 2005

As you can see, we have just launched the new website for the World Languages and Cultures Department at LHS. The purpose of the site is to improve communication among teachers, students and parents. The website includes course and curriculum descriptions, as well as information about each of our teachers such as email address, phone number, biography, course policies, etc. Parents and students will be excited to know that homework is now being posted online. If a student is absent or cannot remember a detail about an assignment, all she has to do is logon and click on the Homework link. Perhaps our most exciting feature is our News page. Teachers can post images and articles about unique activities the day they happen! We encourage you all to visit our site often at www.ledyard.net/wlc, as we are always adding new and exciting information about student learning.
GAPP Meeting February 15th
Tuesday, February 08, 2005

All parents of those German language students who have already signed up for the summer 2005 GAPP trip to Germany and those who still wish to sign up are asked to attend the next Parent GAPP Meeting on Tuesday, February 15th, at 7:30pm in Rm 216, LHS.


Students Prepare for State Poetry Contest
Monday, February 07, 2005

We are ready to win again! Last year Ledyard students won 3 gold medals at the annual state poetry contest sponsored by CT COLT. This year we have a record 15 students competing on April 13th at New Britain High School. This year’s competitors include:
French I Miranda Toth
French II Sarah Orkney
French III Matthew Landback
French IV Nicole Burns
German I Alison Belden
German II Matthew Runkle
German III Ashley Oakley
German IV Jeff Reilly
Spanish I Christine Wertz
Spanish II Emily Abbott
Spanish III Eric Zaccaro
Spanish IV Tom Chapman
Spanish V Melanie Wade
Native Speaker   Timothy Eng
Native Speaker Sofia Pinero
Celebrate the Year of Languages 2005
Monday, February 07, 2005

Both the President and the Governor have declared 2005 "The Year of Languages." Join us as we participate in a nationwide endeavor to highlight the importance of language learning and cultural understanding. For more information visit www.yearoflanguages.org.
Public Service Announcement

Village des Sports 		Students go to Quebec
Monday, January 31, 2005

Seventeen students from Ledyard High School will participate in a trip to Quebec during President's Day Weekend. They will experience typical Quebecois activities, which include dancing and eating a typical Quebecois meal at the Cabane a Sucre along with taking part in a British tea ceremony. The highlight of the trip has always been the Village Des Sports where students will have the opportunity to go tubing and ice skating and to participate in a variety of other winter activities.
What Students Say About TPR-S
Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Señora Cruise advocates Total Physical Response Storytelling (TPR-S) in her Spanish classes. TPR-S is a teaching method which is designed to produce language proficiency through stories in context. She has seen major improvement in students’ work since she started enriching her lesson plans through TPR-S.

“Applying a gesture to key vocabulary was very helpful in learning words and their meanings.” -Pat

“TPR-S and reading the short novel 'Mi Propio Auto' helped me get back into the Spanish mode after a full year without Spanish.” -Brittenie

“While difficult at first, the novel became easier and more interesting. After several chapters. I started to enjoy the story more.” -Ryan

“I think the reading is perfect for us.” -Sussudio

“The book proved to me that I can understand Spanish!” -Mateo

“I like reading novels as a way to relearn my Spanish. It was a good way to get back into the groove without having to re-memorize vocabulary lists. “ -Sara

“The combination of gestures and short novels is a very good plan for our level (of Spanish).” - Ashley

French 2 Students Create Comic Strips
Tuesday, January 04, 2005

While learning expressions to discuss having had a bad day, French 2 students created comic strips depicting this bad day. They learned expressions relating to not hearing the alarm, missing the bus, forgetting homework and making excuses about their grades on their report cards. They learned to inquire how someone's day was, sympathize, and console others.
New York City Trip
Monday, December 13, 2004

Sr. Jannke took his Spanish II classes to Manhattan on December 4th and 11th. Students were able experience Spanish Harlem, authentic Mexican food, a famous Latino museum, and the dance and music of the Flamenco. Travel on Amtrak and the New York City Subway was pretty fun, too!

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El Museo del Barrio in Spanish Harlem