Sonrisas Elementary Spanish Blog
Posts tagged age-appropriate language learning
Creating Rich, Engaging Contexts for Young Language Learners
Feb 27th
At Sonrisas Spanish Schoolwe talk a lot about creating rich, fun, and engaging contexts for children learning language. It is one of the reasons we are advocates for using authentic children’s Spanish literature which so naturally does the job of giving students a rich and engaging language-learning experience. It is also why we have always had success with the structure of the Sonrisas lessons—Circle Time, Story Time and Art Time. These three segments of our classes create a diverse context in which students engage with Spanish in rich, meaningful activities. We believe that creating these types of contexts for young language learners not only makes lessons more fun for them, but it also gives them a more authentic language-learning experience. So if our students are learning about colors, they sing and play games about colors, they read about colors, and they create art projects that focus on colors.
The findings in a study published last year in the May issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, seem to reaffirm this idea. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University found that language learners make a best guess about a new word’s meaning based on the context in which they initially encounter it, and hold onto the meaning unless it is clearly found to be wrong. This suggests that language learners benefit more from encountering vocabulary in rich, engaging contexts rather than from trying to learn them from repetitive excercises such as worksheets or flashcards. It also suggests that the use of abstract media such as videos or computer programs does not help children learn language at all—something we have written about a lot in this blog. Click here to read more about the study.
Creating rich and engaging contexts for your young language learners is not difficult. It is simply a matter of putting the language in the context of the things that children already love to do—play, music, stories, art, drama, etc. If you can do this while giving your students useful language to learn and use in these contexts, then your students will learn, and they will have fun while they are doing it.
The Benefits of Early Language Learning
Jan 26th
This is an excellent article by Kathleen M. Marcos from The ERIC Review, 6(1), 2-5. It reaffirms the importance of the work we are doing teaching preschool and elementary Spanish to young children.
Second Language Learning: Everyone Can Benefit
Kathleen M. Marcos*
The 1990s have been a decade of renewed interest in language learning. As always, political and economic concerns play a major role in the nation’s perception of the value of learning a second language (Met and Galloway, 1992). In addition, there is now a growing appreciation of the role that multilingual individuals can play in an increasingly diverse society, and there is also a greater understanding of the academic and cognitive benefits that may accrue from learning other languages. During the past five years in particular, researchers, policymakers, educators, employers, parents, and the media have reexamined the advantages of foreign language learning.
In 1989, a presidential resolution declaring the 1990s the “decade of the brain” was announced. An increased level of research on brain development has been under way throughout the 1990s. Some of this research has analyzed the effect of language acquisition on the brain. The results of these studies have generated media interest in how early learning experiences— including first and second language acquisition—promote cognitive development. Newsweek magazine, for example, devoted a special edition to the critical first three years of a child’s life and indicated that there is a window of opportunity for second language learning that begins when a child is one year of age (Lach, 1997). A recent article in Time magazine suggested that foreign languages should be taught to children as early as possible (Nash, 1997). And the television newsmagazine Dateline NBC aired a segment on first and second language acquisition in November 1997.
This article summarizes findings from numerous sources on the benefits of studying second languages and offers suggestions to parents and educators for encouraging language learning at home and at school. (A detailed list of ways to foster a language-proficient society appears in “Putting It All Together: Fostering a Language- Proficient Society” on page 70 of the ERIC Review, from which this article is reprinted.)
Benefits of Second Language Learning
Personal Benefits
An obvious advantage of knowing more than one language is having expanded access to people and resources. Individuals who speak and read more than one language have the ability to communicate with more people, read more literature, and benefit more fully from travel to other countries. Introducing students to alternative ways of expressing themselves and to different cultures gives greater depth to their understanding of human experience by fostering an appreciation for the customs and achievements of people beyond their own communities. Ultimately, knowing a second language can also give people a competitive advantage in the work force by opening up additional job opportunities (Villano, 1996).
Cognitive Benefits
Some research suggests that students who receive second language instruction are more creative and better at solving complex problems than those who do not (Bamford and Mizokawa, 1991). Other studies suggest that persons with full proficiency in more than one language (bilinguals) outperform similar monolingual persons on both verbal and nonverbal tests of intelligence, which raises the question of whether ability in more than one language enables individuals to achieve greater intellectual flexibility (Bruck, Lambert, and Tucker, 1974; Hakuta, 1986; Weatherford, 1986).
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Is Earlier Always Better?
Although people can learn languages at any age, some studies suggest that children who learn a language before adolescence are more likely than older learners to attain native-like pronunciation (Harley, 1986; Patkowski, 1990). A number of researchers have found that children have an innate ability to acquire the rules of any language, and that this ability diminishes by adulthood (Curtiss, 1995; Johnson and Newport, 1989). Older language students should take heart, however, in the results of other studies that report that although young children acquire pronunciation easily, they are not particularly efficient learners of vocabulary or other aspects of language structure (Genesee, 1978; Swain and Lapkin, 1989). Of course, the more years devoted to learning a language and the more opportunities available to use it in everyday situations, the greater the proficiency achieved (Curtain, 1997). |
Academic Benefits
Parents and educators sometimes express concern that learning a second language will have a detrimental effect on students’ reading and verbal abilities in English. However, several studies suggest the opposite. For example, a recent study of the reading ability of 134 four- and five-year-old children found that bilingual children understood better than monolingual children the general symbolic representation of print (Bialystok, 1997). Another study analyzed achievement test data of students in Fairfax County, Virginia, who had participated for five years in immersion—the most intensive type of foreign language program. The study concluded that those students scored as well as or better than all comparison groups on achievement tests and that they remained high academic achievers throughout their schooling (Thomas, Collier, and Abbott, 1993). Finally, a study conducted in Louisiana in the 1980s showed that regardless of race, sex, or academic level, students who received daily instruction in a foreign language (taught as a separate subject rather than through immersion) outperformed those who did not receive such instruction on the third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade language arts sections of Louisiana’s Basic Skills Tests (Rafferty, 1986). Numerous other studies have also shown a positive relationship between foreign language study and English language arts achievement (Barik and Swain, 1975; Genesee, 1987; Swain, 1981). All of these results suggest that second language study helps enhance English and other academic skills.Some studies have found that students who learn foreign languages score statistically higher on standardized college entrance exams than those who do not. For example, the College Entrance Examination Board reported that students who had averaged four or more years of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) than those who had studied four or more years of any other subject (College Entrance Examination Board, 1992; Cooper, 1987). These findings, which were consistent with College Board profiles for previous years (College Entrance Examination Board, 1982; Solomon, 1984) and with the work of Eddy (1981), suggest that studying a second language for a number of years may contribute to higher SAT scores. (1)
Societal Benefits
Bilingualism and multilingualism have many benefits to society. Americans who are fluent in more than one language can enhance America’s economic competitiveness abroad, maintain its political and security interests, and work to promote an understanding of cultural diversity within the United States. For example, international trade specialists, overseas media correspondents, diplomats, airline employees, and national security personnel need to be familiar with other languages and cultures to do their jobs well. Teachers, healthcare providers, customer service representatives, and law enforcement personnel also serve their constituencies more effectively when they can reach across languages and cultures. Developing the language abilities of the students now in school will improve the effectiveness of the work force later.
Getting Started At School
Parents who are interested in enrolling their children in elementary school foreign language programs should first inquire about existing programs in the school district. If the neighborhood school does not offer foreign language instruction, it is possible that immersion programs or language-focused schools exist elsewhere in the school district. Enrollment information will be available at individual schools or at district administrative offices. If there are no foreign language schools or programs offered in the school district, then private language classes may be the only option. Although second language classes are not always readily available, many r esources exist to help parents and educators establish a program in their school or school district. (2)
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Second Language Learning and Children With Special Needs
The accompanying article points out the many benefits of studying a second language. Parents and teachers of children with learning disabilities or giftedness may have a special interest in how their children acquire a second language. Learning Disabilities. Generally speaking, students with learning disabilities can learn a second language and enjoy the many personal benefits of familiarity with a second language and culture (Baker, 1995). One important study of learning-disabled children taking a foreign language reported that students of average and below-average IQ performed as well as students of above-average IQ on oral production and interpersonal communication tasks (Genesee, 1976). Special multisensory techniques that emphasize the direct and explicit teaching of speech sounds through drill cards and reading, writing, and speaking exercises can facilitate the language learning of special student populations (Schneider, 1996; Sparks and others, 1991). Some speech pathologists and pediatricians may discourage early foreign language learning, particularly when a child is diagnosed with dyslexia, aphasia, or a hearing impairment or scores low on tests of intelligence (Baker, 1995). A language specialist should be consulted before a child with a severe learning disability begins a second language program, but many students with learning disabilities can and do benefit from second language learning experiences. Giftedness. Because linguistically gifted students are particularly good candidates for attaining native or near-native proficiency in other languages, some educators have advocated offering foreign language instruction early in childhood to fully develop that potential (Brickman, 1988). Typically highly verbal and with advanced vocabularies, these students ideally should be taught using curricula specially geared to their innate strengths, such as strong language, conceptualization, socialization, and productivity traits (Allen, 1992). Early exposure to second languages and cultures will help parents and teachers identify those children likely to exhibit strong language aptitude. |
At Home
Long before their children begin school, parents can begin to facilitate second language learning. Children can learn elements of a second language from a babysitter, a nanny, a family member, or a friend; they can also attend a multilingual preschool or a preschool with a language program. If a child has a number of positive experiences with another language, he or she can become quite receptive to learning other languages.Throughout the school years, parents can show their children that the ability to speak a second language is valued by encouraging an interest in other languages and cultures. Parents can show their respect for other cultures and ways of speaking by inviting people who speak other languages into their homes and by attending cultural events featuring music, dance, or food from other countries. They can also provide their children with books, videos, and similar materials in other languages, and they can send their children to foreign language camps.To supplement language classes, parents of older children might also wish to explore the possibility of enrolling them in international exchange programs.< Students normally live abroad with a host family, which provides them with a safe and sheltered environment where they can practice their language skills. These experiences offer valuable opportunities to complement second language study with firsthand exploration of a different culture.
Conclusion
Research has shown that second language study offers many benefits to students in terms of improved communicative ability, cognitive development, cultural awareness, and job opportunities. Society as a whole also profits economically, politically, and socially when its citizens can communicate< with and appreciate people from other countries and cultures. Parents and educators would be wise to take advantage of the many available opportunities and resources for second language learning for the benefit of children coming of age in the 21st century.
References
Allen, L. Q. 1992. “Foreign Language Curriculum for the Gifted.” Gifted Child Today 15 (6): 12–15.
Baker, C. 1995. A Parents’ and Teachers’ Guide to Bilingualism. United Kingdom:
Multilingual Matters.Bamford, K. W., and D. T. Mizokawa. 1991. “Additive-Bilingual (Immersion) Education: Cognitive and Language
Development.” Language Learning 41 (3): 413–429.Barik, H. C., and M. Swain. 1975. Bilingual Education Project: Evaluation of the 1974– 75 French Immersion Program in Grades 2–4, Ottawa Board of Education and Carleton Board of Education. Toronto: Ontario Institute of Studies in Education. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 121 056.Bialystok, E. 1997. “Effects of Bilingualism and Biliteracy on Children’s Emergent Concepts of Print.” Developmental Psychology 30 (3): 429–440.Brickman, W. W. 1988. “The Multilingual Development of the Gifted.” Roeper Review< 10 (4): 247–250.Bruck, M., W. E. Lambert, and R. Tucker. 1974. “Bilingual Schooling Through the Elementary Grades: The St. Lambert Project at Grade Seven.” Language Learning 24 (2): 183–204.College Entrance Examination Board. 1992. College-Bound Seniors. 1992 Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers. National Report. New York: Author. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 351 352.College Entrance Examination Board. 1982. Profiles, College-Bound Seniors, 1981. New York: Author. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 223 708.Cooper, T. C. 1987. “Foreign Language Study and SAT-Verbal Scores.” Modern Language Journal 71 (4): 381–387. Curtain, H. 1997. Early Start Language Programs. Unpublished paper. Madison, WI: Author.Curtain, H., and C. A. Pesola. 1994. Languages and Children: Making the Match. Second edition. White Plains, NY: Longman.Curtiss, S. (speaker). 1995. Gray Matters: The Developing Brain. Final script of radio broadcast. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Public Radio Association.de Lopez, M., N. Lawrence, and M. Montalvo. 1990. “Local Advocacy for Second Language Education: A Case Study in New Mexico.” ERIC Digest. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. Document Reproduction Service No. ED 327 067.Eddy, P. A. 1981. The Effect of Foreign Language Study in High School on Verbal Ability as Measured by the Scholastic Aptitude Test—Verbal Final Report. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 196 312.Genesee, F. 1987. Learning Through Two Languages. Cambridge, MA: Newbury House.Genesee, F. 1978. “Is There an Optimal Age for Starting Second Language Instruction?” McGill Journal of Education 13 (2): 145–154.Genesee, F. 1976. “The Role of Intelligence in Second Language Learning.” Language Learning 26 (2): 267–280.Hakuta, K. 1986. Cognitive Development of Bilingual Children. Los Angeles: University of California, Center for Language Education and Research. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 278 260.Harley, B. 1986. Age in Second Language Acquisition. San Diego, CA: College Hill Press.Johnson, J. S., and E. L. Newport. 1989. “Critical Period Effects in Second Language Learning: The Influence of Maturational State on the Acquisition of English as a Second Language.” Cognitive Psychology 21 (1): 60–99.Lach, J. Spring/Summer 1997. “Cultivating the Mind.” Newsweek Special Issue: Your Child—From Birth to Three 38–39.Lipton, G. 1995. Focus on FLES*: Planning and Implementing FLES* (Foreign Language in Elementary Schools) Programs. Baltimore, MD: National FLES* Institute.Met., M., and V. Galloway. 1992. “Research in Foreign Language Curriculum.” In P. Jackson, ed., Topics and Issues Within Curriculum Categories. New York: Macmillan.Nash, J. M. February 3, 1997. “Fertile Minds.” Time 149 (5): 49–56.Patkowski, M. S. 1990. “Age and Accent in a Second Language: A Reply to James Emil Flege.” Applied Linguistics 11 (1): 73–90.Rafferty, E. A. 1986. Second Language Study and Basic Skills in Louisiana. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State Department of Education. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 283 360.Schneider, E. 1996. “Teaching Foreign Languages to At-Risk Learners.” ERIC Digest. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 402 788.Solomon, A. 1984. Profiles, College-Bound Seniors, 1984. New York: College Entrance Examination Board. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 253 157.Sparks, R. L., and others. 1991. “Use of an Orton-Gillingham Approach To Teach a Foreign Language to Dyslexic/Learning- Disabled Students: Explicit Teaching of Phonology in a Second Language.” Annals of Dyslexia 41: 96–118.Swain, M., 1981. “Early French Immersion Later On.” Journal of Multicultural Development 2 (1): 1–23.Swain, M. and S. Lapkin. 1989. “Canadian Immersion and Adult Second Language Teaching: What’s the Connection?” Modern Language Journal 73 (2): 150–159.Thomas, W. P., V. P. Collier, and M. Abbott. 1993. “Academic Achievement Through Japanese, Spanish, or French: The First Two Years of Partial Immersion.” Modern Language Journal 77 (2): 170–180.Villano, D. April 1996. “Heads Up: Time To Go Bilingual?” Smartkid 1 (4): 45–49. Weatherford, H. J. 1986. “Personal Benefits of Foreign Language Study.” ERIC Digest. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 276 305.
Notes
* Kathleen M. Marcos is an information associate at the ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, D.C. She serves as both Acquisitions Coordinator and Information Technology Associate for the clearinghouse and is a frequent contributor to ERIC publications. She is a fluent speaker of Spanish and is also proficient in French.
(1) Although the College Board studies show a correlation between studying a foreign language and achieving higher scores on the SAT, it is difficult to prove causality. It may be that the SAT scores of students who take several years of a foreign language are also influenced by other variables, such as their socioeconomic class, the educational level of their parents, or the resources available in their secondary school.
(2) Suggestions on advocating for second language study, developing a coherent rationale, and establishing a school program can be found in Curtain and Pesola (1994); de Lopez, Lawrence, and Montalvo (1990); and Lipton (1995).
Reprinted from Marcos, K. M. (1998, Fall). Second language learning: Everyone can benefit. The ERIC Review, 6(1), 2-5.
Sonrisas Spanish School creates, publishes, and sells preschool and elementary Spanish curriculum and Spanish music for children. The Sonrisas Spanish School Curriculum can be used to teach Spanish to children at the preschool and elementary level, as well as home school Spanish. The Sonrisas Curriculum consists of fun, effective, standards-based lessons for the most effective language-learning experience for kids—one based on human-to-human interaction.
Shared Reading in the Preschool and Elementary Spanish Class
May 11th
What is shared reading?
At Sonrisas Spanish School, when we read stories during our preschool and elementary Spanish classes, we use a form of storytelling that is commonly called “shared reading” in the educational world. In her book Invitations, Regie Routman defines shared reading as “any rewarding reading situation in which a learner—or group of learners—sees the text, observes the expert reading it with fluency and expression, and is invited to read along.” The atmosphere during shared reading is relaxed and social with an emphasis on enjoying and appreciating the text. In shared reading, students learn high-frequency words and conventions of print naturally, without boring drill. Sharing stories in this manner serves as an effective foundation for reading and writing Spanish. Preschool and elementary Spanish students often begin reading in Spanish in our classes with very little formal reading instruction.
What does shared reading look like?
Have students gather together, preferably on the floor. Make sure that each student has a clear view of the book. Begin by introducing the book. This is your opportunity to “hook” students by piquing their curiosity and enthusiasm. As you begin to read the story, engage students in the reading process by asking questions and using the pictures to review previously learned vocabulary. For example: You can point to different characters in the story and ask, “¿Cómo se llama?” and “¿Cómo está?” You can point to different images and ask, “¿De qué color es el/la ___?” When the story includes repetition or predictable text, encourage students to join in and participate in the storytelling.
As with all activities in Spanish class, there should be no pressure for students to perform. When asking questions, address the entire group or ask for volunteers. Try not to single out any student who may feel uncomfortable speaking. If you feel the need to engage a particularly quiet child or to check a student’s understanding, perhaps you could ask her, in Spanish, to point to a picture.
Pacing is very important during shared reading: Keep the story flowing and keep opportunities for questions and answers simple. Often, the themes in the stories lend themselves to many teaching moments. Choose one or two concepts to teach in the story and save the rest for another lesson.
Sonrisas Spanish School creates, publishes, and sells preschool and elementary Spanish curriculum and Spanish music for children. The Sonrisas Spanish School Curriculum can be used to teach Spanish to children at the preschool and elementary level, as well as home school Spanish. The Sonrisas Curriculum consists of fun, effective, standards-based lessons for the most effective language-learning experience for kids—one based on human-to-human interaction.
Using the Theory of Multiple Intelligences in the Preschool and Elementary Spanish Classroom
Apr 13th
For the greater part of the twentieth century, most psychologists and educators believed that a student’s intelligence could be measured in a standard test known as the Intelligence Quotient, or IQ test. This test consists of taking individuals out of their natural learning environment, asking them to do isolated tasks that they have never done before, and then assessing their performance in this setting.
In the 1980s, Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner challenged this definition of intelligence and the validity of the IQ test. Gardner suggested that intelligence could more accurately be measured in the context of one’s individual life experiences. Based on this theory, Gardner created a means of mapping human abilities into seven categories, or intelligences. This was later expanded to nine intelligences. In Gardner’s explanation of the intelligences, he broadens the traditional definition of intelligence to encompass nine distinct areas of intelligence, most of which are not reflected in the traditional IQ test. In doing so, he recognizes the fact that while an individual may not perform well on a traditional IQ test, this does not necessarily mean that this person is not intelligent in another manner that was not reflected in the test.
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences has proven to be a useful tool for educators. Recognizing the presence of these intelligences in students helps a teacher focus on a student’s strengths; further, teaching with these intelligences in mind can provide students with a much richer, more effective educational experience.
The lessons presented in the Sonrisas Spanish School curricula speak to Gardner’s intelligences by incorporating activities that inform each. Designing lessons for the language class that target the intelligences helps set up each child for success. The diversity of activities not only serves to keep students from getting bored; it also ensures that each student, at one time or another, is engaged with the concepts presented in the lesson.
Following is an explanation of each of the nine intelligences and how each is targeted in the Sonrisas Preschool and Elementary Spanish lessons. We outline them briefly in order to place them within the context of the Sonrisas classroom; however, we strongly encourage all parents and teachers to learn more about the theory of multiple intelligences. There are fascinating, in-depth books available on the subject. In particular, we recommend Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong (ASCD, 1994).
Next week we will go into more detail about how to target the multiple intelligences in the elementary Spanish classroom.
LINGUISTIC INTELLIGENCE
Linguistic intelligence is the capacity to use words, both written and spoken, effectively. Obviously, this is the intelligence that we strive to develop in our Spanish classes. According to Thomas Armstrong in Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, development of this intelligence explodes in early childhood. This, in part, explains children’s natural propensity for learning a foreign language. Children with strong linguistic intelligence have particular sensitivities to the sounds, structure, meaning, and function of words and language. Reading, writing, telling and hearing stories, and playing word games in Spanish are activities that we incorporate into our lessons which directly make use of students’ linguistic intelligence. These activities develop and strengthen this intelligence and provide students with skills that they will employ for the rest of their lives.
BODILY/KINESTHETIC INTELLIGENCE
Bodily/kinesthetic intelligence is a strong ability to use one’s whole body to express ideas. Perhaps every teacher has had the delightful experience of watching a student with a well-developed kinesthetic intelligence. In a traditional classroom, this student is often the one who appears to be bouncing off the walls, fidgety, having a difficult time staying seated in a chair, and when asked to sit, often taps his hands and feet compulsively. Rather than walk, he prefers to skip, run, or hop from place to place. Students with a well-developed bodily/kinesthetic intelligence enjoy dancing, gesturing, building, touching, and marching. These students often excel in tactile crafts and drama. In our experience in the classroom, we have been amazed at how quickly a kinesthetically intelligent student can memorize a Spanish song or poem, or grasp a Spanish concept, if the song or concept is accompanied by gesture, clapping, marching, or dancing. Furthermore, we have watched these students come to an almost miraculous focus when they are engaged in activities such as sculpting, building, or manipulating objects.
MUSICAL INTELLIGENCE
Musical intelligence is best expressed as a sensitivity to rhythm and as the capacity to perceive, discriminate, transform, and express musical forms. Of the intelligences, it is the earliest to develop. Any parent who has sung lullabies to his or her infant and watched the infant’s response has witnessed this budding musical intelligence. Children with a strong musical intelligence love singing and listening to music. They quickly learn melodies, possess strong singing voices, often tap their hands and feet, and move rhythmically. Music has proven to be an indispensable tool in second-language acquisition in early childhood and has, in many ways, become the foundation for teaching Spanish in our curriculum. We use music to introduce the phonetics of Spanish; through rhyme and melody, students not only begin to pronounce Spanish words correctly, but also link words and phrases together meaningfully. By teaching our students music from different Spanish cultures, we are allowing them to use their musical intelligence as a window into the cultures represented.
INTERPERSONAL INTELLIGENCE
Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to perceive and make distinctions between the moods, intentions, motivations, and feelings of others. Developed in the first three years of life, this intelligence is best expressed as a remarkable sensitivity to facial expressions, voice, and gesture. There is a direct and crucial relationship between the development of interpersonal intelligence and the attachment and bonding that a child and parent experience. As children grow, they yearn for relationships with others; children with well-developed interpersonal intelligence often enjoy leading, organizing, relating, manipulating, socializing, teaching other children, and engaging in group activities. Our experience has shown that students who excel in these areas become natural models for other students, and that based on the group dynamics of a class, students often learn much more quickly from each other than from the teacher. Given the strong impact of this intelligence on a classroom setting, it becomes evident that students tend to learn a second language more efficiently in a comfortable social setting rather than with videos, audio CDs, or computer programs. By engaging students in group activities, we capitalize on a child’s natural desire for bonding and relationship with others in order to teach language.
INTRAPERSONAL INTELLIGENCE
Intrapersonal intelligence manifests as self-knowledge and the ability to act adaptively on the basis of inner awareness, including a capacity for self-discipline, self-understanding, and self-esteem. Like interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence is developed in the first three years of life. Children with a well-developed intrapersonal intelligence enjoy quiet time and dreaming, and do well when left alone to engage in self-directed activities. In our experience, students with strong intrapersonal intelligences love art time and crave such self-directed activities. In the Sonrisas classroom, students enjoy independent, hands-on projects that give them a manipulative related to the vocabulary and concepts of that lesson.
SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE
Spatial intelligence is the ability to perceive the visual-spatial world accurately. This intelligence is expressed through designing, drawing, and visualizing. Students who excel in this intelligence exhibit sensitivity to color, line, shape, form, space, and the relationships among them. They often have vivid imaginations that they employ during visual presentations, well-illustrated stories, art activities, and free drawing. In our experience in the Sonrisas classroom, we have seen students with strong spatial intelligences build Spanish skills effectively during games and activities that involve visual aids, such as puppets, drawings, and stories, in which they glean meaning with very little prior knowledge of the vocabulary.
MATHEMATICAL INTELLIGENCE
Mathematical intelligence is the capacity to use numbers effectively and to reason well. It manifests itself through sensitivity to logical patterns and relationships. Although this intelligence does not peak until early adulthood, the relationship between language and mathematical intelligence is worth noting. In early childhood, for instance, this relationship can be expressed in Spanish class through rhythm and rhyme. In addition, students can build vocabulary and conceptual skills in the context of mathematical processes, such as counting, sequencing, and geometry. Theoretically, language follows predictable patterns—it is a code that, once deciphered, makes communication
possible. Students who have highly developed mathematical intelligence are often the ones to discover these patterns; they begin to conjugate verbs and to use modifiers in their language. Although in our experience this is rarely the case in preschool and early elementary age children, developing the inverse of this relationship can be an effective tool in the language classroom: By learning a second language using the intelligences that are developing naturally in early childhood, young students set a foundation for strong mathematical skills later in life.
NATURALIST INTELLIGENCE
Naturalist intelligence is the ability to discriminate among living things as well as a sensitivity to other features of the natural world. In the Spanish language classroom, students who identify strongly with their naturalist intelligence enjoy studying about the flora and fauna, the climate, and the geography of Spanish-speaking countries. A study of Costa Rica, for example, is enriched by learning about the plants and animals of the tropical rainforests. And part of what makes the study of Argentina so fun for students is looking at a country in the southern hemisphere, similar to the United States in distance from the equator, and understanding what this means in terms of the seasons, plants, and animals of Argentina. When we take imaginary trips to each of the countries in this curriculum, we talk about the location of each country in relation to the United States as well as the geographic borders. Are they accessible by land or sea or both? How far away are these countries? When it is daytime in the United States, is it daytime or nighttime in the country we are studying? These are all concepts that address the naturalist intelligence.
EXISTENTIAL INTELLIGENCE
Existential intelligence is the propensity to pose and ponder questions about life, death, and ultimate realities. Although the cultural study of each country in this curriculum doesn’t directly deal with existential matters, many of the cultural traditions of the countries we study here are directly related to the religious and indigenous beliefs of the countries’ inhabitants. Las Posadas and el Día de los Muertos are both cultural experiences that meld Catholic traditions with indigenous beliefs. La gauchada is an indigenous Argentine custom. In these lessons, we talk about the study of language as a window into the soul of the culture. When students learn about and experience cultural traditions rooted in the religious rituals of the people, they are developing their existential intelligence.
Sonrisas Spanish School creates, publishes and sells preschool and elementary Spanish curriculum and Spanish music for children. The Sonrisas curriculum can be used to teach preschool, elementary and home school Spanish. Currently, our Spanish language curriculum for kids is being used nationwide to teach Spanish to children.
The Waldorf Foreign Language Approach in Preschool and Elementary Spanish
Mar 8th
A third methodology that has informed the Sonrisas curriculum has perhaps made the strongest impact on us as teachers and on our students who are acquiring language. Unlike TPR or NA, the Waldorf foreign language approach is not an ESL technique. It is a carefully designed approach to foreign language instruction and acquisition.
Rudolf Steiner started the first Waldorf School in Germany in the 1920s. Among other things, Steiner offered very specific guidelines for teaching foreign languages, guidelines that are to this day implemented in Waldorf schools throughout the world.
Like NA, the Waldorf approach is based on the idea that the primary purpose of foreign language acquisition is to develop the ability to communicate. Foreign language study also raises one’s social conscience and cultivates an interest in and respect for others. In fact, the Waldorf School sees foreign language study as a window into the soul of another culture. Because the manner in which we think is expressed through the languages that we speak, we nurture a cultural understanding of other peoples through acquiring their languages.
This concept struck a chord with us when we thought about our own experiences learning Spanish. The very nature of the way the Spanish language is constructed and expresses the world is very different from that of the English language. In the Spanish language, we reflected, words seem to flow together with no verbal punctuation between them. There is even a tense—the subjunctive—that infuses verbs with emotion. Taking these ideas to the next level, when children are exposed to another language, they are building much more than linguistic agility. Their minds are opening to a very different way of thinking about and seeing the world. Being continually mindful of this openness is important, we believe, when choosing what we teach and how we present it in our classroom.
Central to the Waldorf foreign language approach is the recognition that in the first grade, the imitative and memory capacities of children are still strong and spontaneous. Because children at this age are ripe for acquiring foreign languages, Steiner advocated that two foreign languages, from two separate origins, be introduced in the first grade. Further, during the first three years of foreign language instruction, all learning should occur within an oral context through verse, song, activities involving rhythm, dramatizations, and situational dialogues. Through these activities, students learn vocabulary and language concepts. The thematic content of the curriculum is grounded in children’s everyday experience, i.e., through nature, colors, the body, clothing, food, the home and family, numbers, etc.
The structure and flow of the Waldorf classroom can perhaps best be described as a well-orchestrated concert. The teacher leads students through a wide range of activities in a relatively short period of time. In each lesson, students are given adequate room and opportunity to move their bodies, alternating sitting with physical activity of some kind. After an initial greeting, the class enters an oral segment that emphasizes a lively, rhythmic pace. This portion of the class may include song, recitation, counting, Q&A, and dancing; it brings the class together and puts students in a receptive mood for the next activity in which new material is introduced. In the Waldorf classroom, teachers introduce this new material using a basket or “special box” with objects that represent the new content. Following this “lesson,” students actively engage in a project or activity that they can complete without help from the teacher. The lesson closes much like it began, through singing, recitation of verses, etc.
During the first three years of foreign language instruction, there is a gradual shift in emphasis from receptive to productive use of the language, ensuring that students have plenty of time to absorb the language before they are asked to produce it. In the Waldorf classroom, repetition is imperative to successful absorption of the language.
Though much of the Waldorf foreign language approach complements TPR and NA techniques, there is one quality that differs significantly. While NA focuses on comprehensible input, through which students acquire language as they understand its meaning, in the Waldorf classroom students learn extensive poems and verses by heart before they completely understand the content of these poems. This is not to say that in each lesson students do not also learn through comprehensible input. The idea of introducing substantial and often complex verse and poetry, however, is based on the belief that until the age of six or seven, children relate less to meaning and more to sound. To put this another way, children relate to emotional content long before they relate to intellectual content. Although children may not fully grasp the meaning of the poem, they can become familiar with the language on an emotional level through the sound of the poem.
In our classrooms, we see this emotional reception to the language demonstrated over and over again. Our students learn beautiful poems that come to life for them through the beauty of the sound and through accompanying gestures. Teachers need not worry about choosing poetry that is thematically simple so that students understand each word they’re reciting. It’s more important that the poetry reflect the richness and beauty of that language. Young children possess flexible tongues and strong imitative skills. One can see these strengths at work in any young child who loves to listen to verse and nursery rhymes. Although he may have little idea of what the individual words mean, he has a clear understanding of the emotional content of the words, evident through his intonation and gesture.
The Sonrisas classroomresembles the Waldorf classroom in many respects. As in the Waldorf classroom, songs, poems, games, and drama are central to our lessons, as is the focus on rhythm. Also like Waldorf lessons, Sonrisas lessons begin with a lively oral segment that involves singing, dancing, and playing, followed by the introduction of new material. However, while Waldorf lessons use a visual aid such as a basket, Sonrisas lessons rely primarily on well-illustrated books to introduce new material. In both approaches, the third segment of each lesson consists of a hands-on independent project that involves the new material that’s just been introduced.
Sonrisas Spanish School creates, publishes and sells preschool and elementary Spanish curriculum and Spanish music for children. The Sonrisas curriculum can be used to teach preschool, elementary and home school Spanish. Currently, our Spanish language curriculum for kids is being used nationwide to teach Spanish to children.
The Natural Approach in Preschool and Elementary Spanish
Mar 1st
The Natural Approach (NA), the second ESL methodology we adopted and modified for our Sonrisas Spanish School curricula, was developed by a pair of applied linguists, Dr. Stephen Krashen and Spanish teacher Tracy Terrell. NA is based on the premise that the study of foreign language can be taught and learned in two distinct ways: through acquisition or through learning. Acquisition requires a focus on meaning; learning, on the other hand, requires a focus on form, i.e., on grammar. According to NA, children learn language only through acquisition.
Dr. Krashen regards communication as a function of language; that is, communication takes place only when messages are comprehended. Further, Krashen believes, comprehension of language precedes its production: Speaking will emerge naturally and inevitably after a silent period of active listening. A comprehension-based approach, NA focuses on “comprehensible input.” When students are exposed to this input in low-anxiety contexts, acquisition is inevitable. In order to control anxiety levels in the learner, one does not demand a premature production of language, and one does not correct any errors in speech except when they compromise meaning. In the NA classroom, the teacher’s role is to allow students multiple opportunities to understand language through the use of multiple strategies. These include visual aids, actions, gestures, photographs, and illustrations—all of which are well-suited for preschool and elementary Spanish lessons.
NA and TPR are obvious complements to each other in the foreign language classroom; in fact, TPR is one of the strategies used in an NA classroom. Both methodologies are predicated on the belief that learners can acquire a second language most effectively using methods similar to the way they acquired their first language.
At Sonrisas Spanish School, we help students acquire language by providing comprehensible input in Spanish using gestures, illustration, everyday objects, and artwork. We avoid translation, and we teach grammar only in the context of oral communication—never through isolated academic exercises. We don’t give tests and we don’t ask an individual student to perform unless he or she wants to. We believe that students thrive in our preschool and elementary classes because the environment is fun and free of anxiety—students don’t feel any pressure to speak Spanish before they are ready.
Preschool and elementary Spanish and the neurology of the bilingual brain
Feb 15th
The following is an excerpt from the introduction to the Sonrisas Spanish School curriculum. It illustrates the importance and benefits of learning a second language at an early age.
In November of 1965, the respected Canadian neurologist Dr. Wilder Penfield published a paper in the scientific journal Brain that discussed his research on language acquisition in the human brain. Penfield discovered that a large area of brain cortex is uncommitted at birth. As a child grows, language and perception become the functions of this area. For language, this area of uncommitted cortex serves as the part of the brain that allows one to retain vocabulary and remember how to use it. For perception, this area of the brain allows one to remember the past and interpret the present. Discussing the development of the cortex, Penfield writes:
“Before a child begins to speak and to perceive, the uncommitted cortex is a blank slate on which nothing has been written. In the ensuing years, much is written, and the writing is normally never erased. After the general age of 10 or 12 the general functional connections have been established and fixed for the speech cortex. After that the speech center cannot be transferred to the cortex of the lesser side and set up all over again. This “non-dominant” area that might have been used for speech is now fully occupied with the business of perception.”
Given his findings about neurological development, Penfield advocates for what he calls the “mother’s method” for teaching second languages to children. In three or four years, a mother may teach her child only a few hundred words of the child’s first language, but even this will serve to develop the functional connections of the speech cortex. Penfield suggests that when a child hears a second language and learns to use a few hundred words in that language, his uncommitted cortex is conditioned to continue study of that language well beyond his childhood years. An educator can implement Penfield’s mother’s method by simply giving the child an age-appropriate experience in the second language. The child then begins to use this second language naturally, just as she would begin to use the first language her mother taught her. The child can even carry out her normal daily activities in the target language.
Penfield suggests that educators use the mother’s method when teaching a foreign language and also begin this method before children reach the age of eight. A child, he explains, cannot learn language in the “classical method,” that is, through grammar, word lists, and translation. Using the mother’s method for acquiring a second language, however, the child becomes a “language genius,” because this method is tightly connected to the neurological development taking place in the child’s brain.
Penfield also poses that because of the “switch mechanism” that is developed in the bilingual child, a person who is bilingual has a greater capacity to learn a third language as an adult—those who are bilingual are able to switch off the mother tongue more easily and learn the new language directly. Furthermore, he suggests that even a limited familiarity with additional languages in the first decade of life equips the child with a more efficient brain. He cites a study conducted under Professor W. E. Lambert at McGill University that concluded that bilingual ten-year-old children scored higher on intelligence tests than unilingual children of the same age. A second study by the same department found that bilingual university students scored higher than unilingual students in both verbal and nonverbal tests.
Penfield’s discoveries were confirmed decades later by a study published in 1997 in the scientific journal Nature. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging techniques at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, researchers were able to map brain activity in healthy, bilingual adults. They discovered that the brains of adults who learned two languages in early childhood stored the two languages in the same area of the brain, while bilingual adults who learned their second language in adolescence used a separate, adjacent region of the brain to store the non-native language. This finding suggests that the age at which one acquires language may be a significant factor in determining the functional organization of this area of the human brain.
At Sonrisas Spanish School, we teach Spanish to children ages two through twelve. Our experience has shown us that the younger the student, the more quickly and efficiently he acquires the second language and retains it. In fact, we believe the success of our students is due primarily to the approach of the Sonrisas curriculum, which closely resembles Penfield’s mother’s method. These very young students are learning English and Spanish simultaneously, their brains eager and open. At Sonrisas Spanish School, we engage in typical children’s activities—songs, games, stories, and art projects—in Spanish. Like Dr. Penfield, we believe that providing second language instruction during these tender, special years puts students at a tremendous advantage in developing language skills and acquiring language proficiency, no matter what the language, throughout their lives.
An elementary Spanish game my 7 through 13 year old students love
Jan 20th
Try this game to reinforce the phrase “yo tengo.”
Write this phrase on the board:
Estoy viajando a México y en mi maleta yo tengo…
Go around the class and have each student add an item to the suitcase. The last student will have to remember each item in the correct order.
If you are teaching the Sonrisas Spanish School Cultural Lessons, you can change the country to match the lesson and play it at the beginning of each imaginary journey.
Sonrisas Spanish School creates, publishes and sells preschool and elementary Spanish curriculum and Spanish songs and music for children. The Sonrisas Spanish School curriculum can be used to teach preschool, elementary and home school Spanish. Currently, our Spanish language curriculum for kids is being used nationwide by preschools and elementary schools to teach Spanish to children.Age-appropriate lesssons
Jul 29th
Now that it’s summer and I am on vacation from teaching Spanish, I have some time to reflect on my students and their language learning. I taught a group of 1st and 2nd graders last year for nine months, and I feel pretty strongly that they received their most effective learning through the songs and games we played. They were able to develop strong listening skills and shift quickly into an all Spanish environment, and roll with it when they might not have understood every word. On the other hand, my fifth and sixth grade group learned most effectively through culture and drama. They are just old enough that singing and playing games in Spanish makes many of them slightly self-conscious which makes it harder to stay engaged linguistically. However, when I got them to act they complained when class was over because they were having so much fun. They made up their own play at the end of the year, and it was amazing. The dialogue was genuinely funny. I brought my first and second graders to the performance, and they laughed and laughed at the jokes. It was amazing to see them repeating the funny lines in Spanish to each other and laugh all over again.
