Foreign Language
Starting at the age of 3 and continuing throughout all grade levels, Spanish is acquired by students through communicative, participatory and culturally-based activities. Lessons are relevant, and are integrated with the school’s thematic curriculum. Activities are purposeful, with natural language use and the integration of authentic cultural situations, literature, music, realia and art.
In middle school, Spanish class is organized thematically, with each unit centering on different Latin American or Spanish folk art. Language skills are developed and practiced in a low-risk, participatory environment. Students enhance their language skills—reading, listening, writing and speaking— and develop an appreciation for Hispanic world cultures through participation in culturally and linguistically authentic situations such as El Mercado de Tesseract. In the spring, middle school students create a Mexican Mercado, based on the markets in Oaxaca, Mexico, complete with food, entertainment, and hand-made crafts and folk art for sale. Each of el Mercado’s businesses is carefully planned in advance by the seventh-grade students in their social studies business unit; artwork and authentic dance are cultivated in visual and performing arts classes. The entire school participates in the event, and all who attend must speak in Spanish and pay for their merchandise in (faux) pesos.
As students progress through middle school, Spanish classes focus on the development of oral and written fluency. Middle school course objectives are aligned with the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning and utilize Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) techniques for a fun, active and participatory way of learning language resulting in the internalization of vocabulary and grammatical structures.
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