¡Hola! ¿Cómo están?
Maria Montessori's phrase, "Sowing the seeds of interest" aptly describes the goal of Aidan's Spanish language program at the Primary and Elementary levels. We aim for enjoyment, awareness, and an eagerness to learn more. Children achieve different levels of communicative competence, depending on their individual need, personality, and learning style.
Here is a quick overview of what our students have been learning in Spanish in the Primary, Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary classes.
Primary
We are working on building social relationships, introducing forms of address, conversational patterns, and expressions of grace and courtesy. You may have already heard your child use expressions such as ¡Hola amigos!, ¡Buenos días!, ¿Cómo estás?, ¿Cómo te llamas?, Gracias, Por favor.
The children are learning the words for colors, articles in the classroom, vegetables and fruits, animals, and items of clothing. We use this vocabulary in songs and games.
The children also love to read Spanish books and listen as Spanish books are read to them.
Lower Elementary
Like the Primary classes, students continue learning conversation and expressions of grace and courtesy, which they use during Spanish lessons.
The children use the names of people, fruits, and special names of food to compose sentences while following the rules of Spanish grammar regarding feminine and masculine, and singular and plural forms. They have learned some subject pronouns and some verbs like jugar (to play), tener (to have), mirar (to look), and comprar (to buy) in the present indicative.
Students also learned about cultural topics and celebrations like El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and explored the differences and similarities between Día de los Muertos and Halloween.
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Upper Elementary
Our students worked very hard this past semester: fully embracing Spanish Heritage Month, Día de los Muertos, and learning phrases and traditions associated with the celebrations of winter holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Santa Lucia.
They also researched the geography and history of various Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico, Spain, Colombia, to name a few. In addition, they have applied what they have learned about Spanish in written compositions about the topics mentioned above.
The students identified major differences between Halloween and Día de los Muertos. In honor of these festivities, we read books and saw a video on how to make the Dead Bread. The students were able to sample Spanish bread that some children had made at home and brought to school for the class to enjoy.
In preparation for the Sweet Gum Class' Annual Poetry and Tea, students chose and memorized poems by famous Spanish poets. The students shared their memorized poems in Spanish and English with their classmates and an audience of parents, staff members and siblings.
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I look forward to continuing to sow the seeds of interest around the Spanish language and the rich tapestry of cultures, countries and traditions among our students.
I wish you the very best in 2019.
!Feliz Año Nuevo!