The Middle School Spanish Program at Clairbourn focuses on both written and oral Spanish, along with the culture and geography of regions where Spanish is spoken. Language is one of the most important parts of any culture and we embrace the diversity and love for languages among our students and faculty at Clairbourn.
Middle School students recently completed a Reader’s Theater activity in Mrs. Drazic’s Spanish classes. Students were grouped and assigned a story to read aloud for the class. They first read the story to themselves and were asked to think about how many characters and narrators they would need. Once they selected their roles, they planned how their play would be presented. Students asked themselves: What staging should be used? What props should be incorporated? Students decided which role they would feel the most comfortable interpreting and no memorization was required. They completed a dress rehearsal to put the final touches on their performance before presenting it to the class.
Through the Reader’s Theater, our students developed fluency, increased reading comprehension, and integrated reading, writing, speaking and listening in an authentic context. Working collaboratively also allowed the students to engage in skills that are essential for interpreting information, evaluating and solving problems, and developing management skills to create a final product. At Clairbourn, we continue to create scholars and leaders geared toward life-long learning and equipped with problem-solving skills they will need to thrive in their future endeavors.
Clairbourn offers an enriching and robust language program and for the past few weeks students learned about the Dia De Los Muertos.
Our lower school students in Mrs. Rubio’s kindergarten to fifth grade classes started this unit by listening to Dia de los Muertos stories, and making flash cards of vocabulary such as pan de muerto (bread of the dead) and galleta (cookies). Students also learned new words through songs, explored the colorful Hispanic culture, and created papel picado (cut paper) to decorate their classroom. At the end of the learning journey, Lower School students got to taste the pan de muerto and decorate the skeleton cookies while calling out each color in Spanish! A third grader said, “This pan de muerto is too good! Can I have some more?”
Middle School students in Mrs. Drazic’s class read the book Tumba which takes place in Mexico during the celebration of Dia de los Muertos. Students engaged with the literature through listening, reading, writing and speaking activities, such as recording a scary ghost story and illustrating a storyboard of a traditional ‘calavera’ poem. Students also learned about the Mexican Revolution and they enjoyed drawing parallels between the colonial influence of Spain in Mexico and that of the U.S. colonial past. Students learned about the significance of calaveras (skulls), esqueletos (skeletons) and cempasúchil (marigold flowers) as they constructed an altar in the classroom using paper flowers and papel picado banners they made, and added personal elements like stuffed animals, and our favorite, Mexican candies. The best part was having Lower School students visiting the middle school altar they built!
It is wonderful to see students make their own cultural connections while learning about this tradition. At Clairbourn, we continue to celebrate the rich culture of diverse traditions!
Clairbourn football and volleyball teams competed this season against various private schools in the area including Chandler, High Point, and Poly. Our teams were excited to put all of their hard work into action!
Our flag football players made many great throws at the quarterback position helping move the ball down field, hiked the ball, blocked, and scored many touchdown by running downfield cutting hard and spinning around defenders. Our team coordinated the offense from the quarterback position, helped each other move downfield by throwing the ball through the air and driving to get the first touchdown. The highlight of the season was putting up 20 points on the score board! Each athlete on the team played their position well which gave us an opportunity to score many points. On defense, Clairbourn athletes were quick and agile pulling flags and knocking the ball out of the air. Here is what the players shared about the season:
What was the highlight from the last game against Poly? The A team made many amazing throws, catches and runs throughout the game while the B team scored multiple touchdowns!
How did players impact the games? Joshua from 8th grade impacted the game by being the quarterback with great catches and even runs. Mauricio and Aramis’ scoring touchdowns were exciting to watch!
What’s the most memorable play? At the beginning of the game, the A team was able to quickly move the ball down the field and make several touchdowns. Players from the B team stayed sharp and reacted fast when defenders came upon them and successfully passed the ball to each other.
What was the best part of this season? The game against High Point in which the A team was tied at 20/20, and the successful touchdowns for our B team from the last game were the best parts of the season.
Our Cougars from the volleyball teams showed great spirit, teamwork, and effort. Each player made rapid progress, further developed their skill, and continued to encourage teammates. Each player made many incredible serves, spikes, countless great tips at the net, and many of them dove to the balls without any hesitation to avoid letting the ball hit the ground, and had a long rally lasting several rounds. Here are what the volleyball teams wanted to share about the season!
Has the team made any improvements since the first game? Everyone was cheering for each other and we all dove for the ball trying our best. Some of us even fell on the floor a couple of times. The energy was amazing at each game.
What were some highlights you remember in the game? There were many highlights from our last game against Poly. We started out with great serves that earned us many points. Most importantly, everyone showed up with the best attitude and great sportsmanship!
What play do you remember the most? The games against Westridge and Poly were the two memorable games. As a team, we performed so strong at those two games in particular.
In what way did you use teamwork? During the game, we double clapped and cheered for each other. We were always together. Even at moments when we lost a point, we never let ourselves down and continued to support each other. We are definitely going to miss volleyball!
The seasons for both flag football and volleyball were a great success! Clairbourn teams played with energy and excitement and they did their best at each game. It is so great to see our Cougars’ dedication and commitment! We are proud of you, Cougars!
Special thank you to our biggest cheerleaders — Our Clairbourn Parents!!
