The Spanish Curriculum

The Spanish curriculum can be divided into specific components of study including listening, speaking, reading, writing, and culture. The overarching goal of the program is to assist students to become effective communicators in the target language. A secondary goal is to help students become knowledgeable about Latin countries, culture, and customs in which the language is spoken. Ultimately, the goal is for students to develop and gain fluency in all basic skills and to cultivate an understanding of simple stories, sentences and words.

In the area of listening skills, students are encouraged to comprehend and respond to the language spoken by a variety of sources such as native speakers, tapes, cd’s, music, songs, videos, and radio. Students are encouraged to participate with total physical response, gestures, facial expressions and commands. Students are taught in Spanish for all but grammar, explanations, instructions, and cultural lessons.

In the area of speaking skills, students are encouraged to speak in Spanish to the teacher, guest speakers and classmates. Students have conversations and dialogues with partners and the teacher about everyday activities. Additionally, students are encouraged to use gestures, puppets and visual aids to assist them in the development of Spanish speaking skills.

Students read from a variety of sources such as books, stories, newspaper, magazines, menus, paragraphs, worksheets, picture dictionaries, and books with audiocassettes about familiar topics. Students write in Spanish for a variety of purposes about familiar topics. They are encouraged to write short paragraphs, sentences, dialogues, and reports about Latin American countries.

Students have a better understanding of Latin American history, geography, culture, and customs. They learn songs, dances, arts and crafts, and they taste typical foods. Students are also encouraged to critically think about similarities and differences between the United States and Spanish speaking countries.

PRE-KINDERGARTEN AND KINDERGARTEN

Concepts covered in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten include: simple greetings and goodbyes, numbers, colors, classroom vocabulary, family members, fruits, and holidays/seasonal vocabulary.

FIRST GRADE

Concepts covered in first grade include all those covered in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten as well as calendar vocabulary, birthday/age, parts of the body, transportations, table settings, cognates, the alphabet, weather/seasons, telephone numbers/names, and fruits and vegetables. Additionally, students are introduced to pronouns (he/she) and they study three countries (Mexico, Chile, and Spain).

SECOND GRADE

The second grade curriculum reinforces the concepts, skills, and vocabulary taught in Pre Kindergarten through first grade. New concepts and vocabulary include verbs such as “to be” and “to have”, pronouns such as “I,” “you,” “he,” and “she,” gender of nouns, adjectives, and city vocabulary. Students are also introduced to oral tests/homework and words searches. Additionally, students continue strengthening their understanding of the culture of Mexico, Spain and Chile while adding Argentina and Cuba.

THIRD GRADE

The third grade curriculum further reinforces concepts, skills, and vocabulary taught in the earlier grades. Additional concepts include: continued varied use of verbs such as “ser,” “estar,” and “tener,” prepositions, professions, feelings, personalities, synonyms/antonyms, advanced translations, possessive adjectives, definitive articles, pronouns, grammar rules, and appreciation for similarities and differences between the United States and Latin America.

FOURTH GRADE

New concepts covered in fourth grade include: an extension of grammar skills, additional pronouns, regular verbs such as “Ar,” “Er,” and “Ir,” and present and past tense forms/rules. Students also learn ho to read, write, and translate advanced paragraphs in Spanish. Additionally, students use the computer for research projects including reports about different countries as well as famous personalities.

FIFTH GRADE

Fifth grade serves as a culminating year for the Spanish program. Concepts, skills, and vocabulary taught in the previous years is reviewed and reinforced. Students have a firm understanding and comprehension of different nouns, articles, adjectives, cognates, and gender uses. Additionally, they are comfortable using all pronouns and forms of different verbs covered in the program. Students are capable of advanced translations and have a firm foundation for entering a Spanish program at the middle school level.