Spanish is offered by grade level for 4, 5, 6 ,7 ,8 grades. In each course, students will develop the core language skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking through the modes of communication (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational). Each course integrates culture throughout lessons.
Our approach is not for students to memorize long vocabulary lists with no connection on how to incorporate them in conversations, but for students to understand meaning in the language so they can have conversations about real situations.
The most important goal is to prepare our students for high school Spanish and to instill the love for the language resulting in Spanish fluency and proficiency.
Spanish 4th, 5th and 6th grade
The goal of this course is to introduce the Spanish language with cultural understanding. The main focus is for students to acquire Spanish through high frequency words and content that empowers them to pursue higher levels of the language. Similar to how babies acquire their first language, students “listen” to stories and use targeted vocabulary in conversations related to different topics relevant to their lives and traditions/ holidays in Spanish-speaking countries.
Some topics included in this level are:
- Answer questions related to the calendar: What day is today? What day is tomorrow? What is today’s date?
- Answer questions or talk about the weekly weather and how it affects us. What season is it? Is it unusually hot or cold for the current season? Did it snow so much that we had a snow day?
- Answer questions about feelings and emotions. Why do we feel this way? Are we excited because there is a school play coming?
- Talk about foods we like and dislike. Learn about new foods and recipes from Spanish speaking countries.
- Talk about our families. What are their names? Do you have siblings? Do you have a big family or a small family?
Spanish 7th and 8th grade
Similar to the goals for grades 4th through 6th, 7th and 8th graders acquire Spanish through high frequency verbs and words related to them and their lives as included in High School Spanish I. Not only can we talk about the weather, calendar, birthdays, and seasons but students learn the following topics:
- Describe ourselves and others based on physical characteristics and personality traits.
- Talk and write about activities, hobbies, and after school activities.
- Discuss where we are from and discover more about the culture in all 21 Spanish-speaking countries.
Students start using short chapter books in Spanish to expand their knowledge of the language. Traditions, holidays, and culture are reinforced through content as part of every lesson.