Specialists' Night

I am very excited to meet with you on Wednesday evening October 14th. You can experience a Spanish Lesson just like your children learn Spanish every week!!! Here is an overview of the Spanish Classes K-5th Grade.

Spanish has become a globally spoken language. After English, Spanish is the most commonly spoken language in the United States by a large margin. According to projections by the U.S. Census Bureau, people of Hispanic origin comprise the largest and fastest growing minority population in the United States, which suggests that the Spanish language will be even more widespread in this country in the upcoming decades.

Studies show that children who learn foreign languages in elementary grades generally achieve higher scores on standardized testing. Learning a second language also can help improve the understanding of their native language. Children who study a foreign language tend to show greater cognitive development than many of their peers and have an improved self concept and sense of achievement. Young children learning new languages are generally more enthusiastic, are not as self-conscious, and are willing to imitate new sounds, sing, play, and have fun with a foreign language. This enthusiasm is highly beneficial to the learning process. Starting the learning process at a young age provides more opportunity to become fluent in and to master a second language. Learning a foreign language also fosters tolerance and appreciation of different cultures.

My main goal for OWS students participating in Spanish Class is for them to learn the basic vocabulary and sentence structures essential for everyday communication, and to get an overview of the culture. The basics and fundamentals of the Spanish language, including sounds, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, general conversation, song, and culture will be taught in progressively more challenging and advanced stages for the students. Students will be encouraged to apply their learning of the Spanish language towards topics of personal interest to help promote their progress. A general overview of the learning program and objectives for the various age levels follows below.

Kindergarten Spanish Overview:
The Kindergarten students at OWS have a total of one hour each week of Spanish. At this young age, the introduction to Spanish is accomplished with songs, movement, music, books, rhymes, and simple conversation. This introduction gives them the opportunity to become interested in and begin developing a new language. The children will be able to participate in elementary conversation including responding to simple commands and answering basic questions. Teaching the fundamentals of the Spanish alphabet, reading, and writing all begin in Kindergarten.

Spanish Overview First Grade:
First Grade students at OWS have a total of one hour a week of Spanish. Building on the basic information learned in Kindergarten, Spanish students will engage in simple conversations, recite chants and songs, and learn the days, numbers, and months in addition to other general vocabulary. The students will be able to formulate simple questions about general topics in Spanish, and give basic descriptions of objects, persons, or animals. At this level, students will have a basic understanding of reading and writing Spanish and will begin to recognize words based on context.

Second Grade Spanish Overview:
Second Grade students at OWS are introduced to a program called, “¡Viva El Español! System A” (McGraw Hill) that focuses on enriching their vocabulary, language comprehension, reading and writing, and helps the students acquire a basic understanding and appreciation of the diversity of cultures in the Spanish–speaking world. This program also teaches the children to learn and practice speaking the language and reinforces vocabulary through fun activities such as games, songs, conversations with puppets, pantomime, and role-playing activities that combine speaking skills with physical movement. This program keeps the children engaged and focused with the activities.

Third Grade Spanish Overview:
Third Graders at OWS will continue with “¡Viva El Español! System B” (McGraw Hill) which is a more complex and advanced version of the program they started in Second Grade. We will focus on more reading and writing, and different themes and topics including greetings, weather, food vocabulary, nouns and pronouns, adjectives for describing people, days of the week, months, seasons, polite expressions, the parts of the house, and commands. The students will practice short conversations when beginning the Spanish Class in pairs or in small groups, forming their own conversations about their everyday life. Starting in Third Grade the children will begin to have homework once per week to provide practice and more time with the language.

Fourth Grade Overview:
In Fourth Grade at OWS the children have forty minutes of Spanish twice a week. They continue learning with the Spanish program called “¡Viva el Español! (Hola)” (McGraw Hill). This program encourages the children to develop communicative competency in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and cultural understanding in each unit. We focus on various themes including greetings, feeling/emotions, general questions and responses, using numbers in math problems, naming classroom objects, animals, shapes, going places, school activities, infinitive verbs, seasons, describing the weather, and general sentence structure and vocabulary. This program also provides each child with a workbook that can be used throughout the year to practice writing and to help understand the language. Similar to Third Grade, the Fourth Graders will have weekly assignments, although more involved and complex.

Fifth Grade Overview:
The Fifth Graders will have Spanish classes for forty minutes twice each week. They will be introduced to a new program called, “¡Expresate! (1A).” This program is designed with lessons to focus on vocabulary, grammar, reading and activities for communication. This program gives students the opportunity to incorporate the learned vocabulary and grammar structure from each lesson learned, often working in pairs or groups. ¡Expresate! encourages students to use Spanish in everyday conversations in settings where the students will share information about themselves and take risks with language in a relaxed and non-threatening environment. The program also covers cultural aspects of the diverse Latin American countries. The Fifth Graders will be provided with a workbook targeting the concepts and grammar structure of the language. Homework will be assigned once per week to provide practice and reinforcement and more time with the language.

What's Happening in Spanish

¡Hola!

I can’t believe it is October already! The children at OWS are doing a great job learning Spanish. I am amazed by how well the Kindergarteners through Fifth Graders are connecting with the language. Thank you for having such wonderful children!

The Kindergarten class has been learning how to introduce themselves, and learning how to say, “What is your name?” (¿Comó te llamas?). They have also been singing songs to help learn vocabulary. We have been learning the days of the week, colors, numbers, and greetings. This month we will be talking about the feelings, such as Estoy feliz (I am happy), Estoy triste (I am sad), Estoy enojado/a (I am angry), and Estoy asustado/a (I am scared). We will also be learning autumn-related vocabulary words in October. This fall your child is starting an exciting adventure in Spanish! I am looking forward to continuing introduction of the new language to the kindergartners.

The First Graders have been reviewing the numbers, the days of the week, the weather, how to introduce themselves, and greeting each other. This month we will be learning autumn related vocabulary and the classroom objects. Here are some words you can practice with them: lapiz (pencil), libro (book), papel (paper), tijeras (scissors), silla (chair), borrador (eraser) and mesa (table).

The Second Graders are excited to have their own binders in Spanish, for storing their assignments. They are starting a new book ¡Viva El Espa System A. We have been spending time reviewing vocabulary in Spanish. This month we will be learning the objects in our classroom. They will be asking each other, “What is it?”(¿Qué es?) and learning more numbers and shapes.

The Third Graders have been spending time with the new book ¡Viva El Español! System C reviewing most of the vocabulary learned last year the first lessons are a review in the book. I am very impressed by how well they remember the vocabulary. I am pleased to see the Third Graders turning in their Spanish homework every Thursday. Thank you parents for helping to make this happen! This month we will be focusing on learning “What’s in our house?” (¿Qué hay en nuestra casa?) and more numbers.

The Fourth Graders have just completed the first unit in the new book they will be using this year, ¡Viva El Español! Hola. They are doing an amazing job of turning in their homework every Friday, ¡Gracias! We are starting a new unit covering the classroom objects, using plural nouns, and learning about school life in Spanish-speaking countries.

The Fifth Graders are responding well to the new Spanish text book, ¡Expresate! Chapter 1 of the book is mainly a review of the greetings, introducing themselves, numbers, the alphabet, and telling time. They have also been learning grammar with a video guide that makes the lessons easy to understand. We will be finishing Chapter 1 and preparing for an assessment at the end of the month. The Fifth graders have been doing an excellent job turning in their homework every Friday, keep up the good work!

As you may notice above the different grade levels sometimes work on similar themes or topics. The lessons instruction, vocabulary and grammar for a particular theme becomes more advanced and involved as the grade level increase.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me in person, by phone, or by email. I am looking forward to having a great year with all of the students at OWS in Spanish!

Mary Brodahl (Spanish Specialist)
mariab@ows.org

¡Hola y bienvenidos a la clase de Español! Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year. I am very excited to be teaching K-5th Grade here in my fifth year at OWS and to be part of the language learning experience as it continues forward.

To our new students at OWS I will provide a Spanish handout containing simple phrases and review vocabulary to practice at home.

In the month of September the students will be reviewing materials from last year to refresh and re-connect with the language at OWS. They will continue building new vocabulary and phrases throughout the year, and working on becoming more fluent in conversational Spanish.

This year K-2nd Grade will be taking home a list of words and simple phrases each month to practice and reinforce their new Spanish skills. I encourage you to practice these lists with your child, and in listening to them practice, you might pick up some Spanish as well. I would highly recommend this year that the Third, Fourth and Fifth Graders have a Spanish/ English Dictionary at home for reference to build more strength in the language and to help with the assignments that will be provided this year. Some good publishers to purchase a Spanish / English dictionary are Larousse, Oxford and Webster.

We will also be learning about various cultures and countries that speak Spanish through art projects, stories, videos, and more. If you are interested in giving a presentation to the students relating to the Spanish language and culture that will enhance the learning experience, please let me know.

Please feel free to contact me at any time if you would like more information about our class or other resources to supplement the classroom curriculum.

I look forward to a very exciting year of Spanish with the students of OWS!

Gracias,
Mary Brodahl, Spanish Specialist
email: mariab@ows.org

Spanish