PreK Spanish
Jen, the Spanish teacher, visits the PreK on Tuesdays and Thursdays during morning play time. Jen's primary role is to visit with the kids in Spanish through engagement in their activities. She often also reads a story in Spanish that reflects a topic of study or special time of year. Jen also walks with the "Muddy Boots Club" on Fridays to continue the conversation in Spanish.
K/1 Spanish
K/1 Spanish meets for two 30 minute classes each week.
Students have been learning about greetings, friendship and colors through songs (with fun choreography), picture books and student pictures. The next topic to be discussed will be seasons!
2/3 Spanish
2/3 Spanish meets for two 45 minute classes each week. Students have been reviewing days of the week and months of the year as well as numbers in context. Practice has included, for example, using the date (and time of day) to identify the location (home or school) of students. The notion of "home," then, has helped to transition into a preliminary discussion of the home. Students have illustrated favorite rooms, created a visual dictionary and incorporated colors into descriptions. The next topic to be introduced will be furniture!
4/5 Spanish
4/5 Spanish meets for three 45 minute classes each week. At this stage, students begin to bring a binder to class! Following a review of some basic dialogues and greetings, students have extended the class conversation to favorite activities (and other action words) with a visual dictionary. These "-ar verbs" will be used later to build some sentences and will foreshadow their work next year in Middle School. In the meantime, students incorporated a few adjectives and nouns to create diamond poems in class. Students are also beginning to work on a country study using an online encyclopedia in the lab and writing prompts.
Middle School Spanish
Middle School students in Grades 6-8 receive four days of Spanish instruction each week. Scaffolding vocabulary and developing communication in the present tense are emphasized in Grades 6-7. Vocabulary is further expanded in Grade 8 with a look at the past as a highlight of the year. Speaking, listening, reading and writing are woven into daily tasks, and students will have the opportunity to work on creative dialogues and projects throughout the year to enrich their language study. Furthermore, students will have the opportunity to host students from Barcelona for a one week visit, and plan ahead for travel to this special Spanish city next year!
Spanish I
Students are beginning to establish routines and good organization practices. Students began the year working on greetings/introductions, the alphabet, the calendar, and numbers in context. Additionally, students worked in the lab on a geography activity that used "animal vocabulary," habitats, countries and writing prompts. The next topic to be introduced will be favorite activities!
Spanish II
Students began the year with a review of classroom vocabulary and grammar in context. Students reviewed nouns, adjectives and verbs with autobiographical diamond poems, and the class butterfly ("la mariposa") helped students to review prepositions of location with the verb, "estar." Additionally, students worked in the lab on a project about the architect, Gaudi. Following a discussion of the verb, "ir," students will begin a culinary exploration!
Spanish III
Students began the year with a rather comprehensive review of major topics and grammatical structures discussed last year. Like the students in Spanish II, students reviewed nouns, adjectives and verbs with autobiographical diamond poems. A series of short games using class white boards have made the review process fun! Additionally, students worked in the lab on a project in Spanish about a city of their choice in Spain. Stem-changing verbs were used to further reinforce the review process. Following a review of other stem-changing verbs, comparatives and direct object pronouns, students will begin to explore home vocabulary and commands!
