Spanish Updates at Aidan

¡Hola! ¿Cómo están?

In her famous book, The Absorbent Mind, Maria Montessori said, "Everything you say to your child is absorbed, cataloged and remembered.” Did you know that Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the world? There are many benefits to learning a second language, including enjoying a broader range of books, media, and other language-critical experiences. In turn, these experiences also help expose young children to a broader range of thoughts, ideas, and perspectives. 

The way I teach my language lessons and material is uniquely structured to help children learn Spanish as naturally as they learn their native language. At the same time, this also helps students develop superior cognitive skills and a wide range of verbal skills. 

It is an absolute pleasure to work with the children of Aidan Montessori School and incredibly rewarding to teach them a bit about my native language. Here’s what is happening in our Spanish classes at the Primary, Lower Elementary, and Upper Elementary levels!

PRIMARY CLASSES: 

In the Primary environment, the children have been working on the Spanish vocabulary for greetings and farewells. We also talk about how old they are, what they like, and what their favorite color is. Students are learning the names of colors, animals, fruits, and food. We practice and reinforce the vocabulary we learn through games and songs—and the children especially enjoy reading books together in Spanish.
 

LOWER ELEMENTARY:

At the beginning of each class, we practice the date, sing, greet each other, and ask where various students are. This daily practice encourages repetition, which is an essential tool when learning a second language. Students enjoy learning poems and songs, and we often play games that reinforce the vocabulary they are learning. 

Lower Elementary students utilize Spanish workbooks in which they write and read. Students work independently with assistance from myself and their peers as needed. They practice vocabulary, verbs, and prepositions they have learned by composing sentences. These sentences are read aloud and translated from Spanish to English and vice-versa. Most recently, students worked on an animal project, in which they selected their favorite animal and used the vocabulary they learned to create sentences about this animal. 

Currently, the Lower Elementary children are working on a mini play called “El Color de los Pájaros.” Each student plays the part of a specific bird and will memorize their lines. At the end of the school year, the students will present this play.

UPPER ELEMENTARY:

At this time of the year, our Upper Elementary students are now confident and comfortable working with the conjugations of regular verbs ending in -ar, -er, and -ir. Similar to Lower Elementary, the children work on grammar points like prepositions, adjectives, verbs, and apply their new knowledge by forming sentences and paragraphs, which builds strong writing and reading skills. 

For our upcoming spring project, the Upper Elementary students each selected an individual country where Spanish is the dominant language. They will research different aspects of the country’s geography, government, and culture; the food, people, religion, other languages, and more. At the conclusion of their exploration, they will write a summary about the country they selected and will design a “diorama” highlighting the special features of their selected country. These dioramas will be displayed at the Evening of the Arts on Friday, May 6 and we hope you can check them out. 

Sinceramente,

Señora López

Spanish Teacher