Sonrisas Elementary Spanish Blog
Posts tagged elementary spanish
Remember to Look at the Big Picture
Apr 22nd
Teaching preschool and elementary Spanish is a journey. We always want the best for our students, and our expectations reflect that. It is important to realize that second language acquisition is a long-term endeavor. Your students’ success in Spanish class depends not so much on each individual lesson, but rather on the experience of being in a Spanish class with an effective teacher through the grades. Goals are achieved over time. Through repetition, structure, routine, the use of Spanish consistently, and implementation of effective curriculum, your students will learn Spanish.
Sonrisas Spanish School creates, publishes, and sells preschool and elementary Spanish curriculum and Spanish music for children. The Sonrisas Curriculum consists of fun, standards-based lessons for the most effective language-learning experience for kids—one based on human-to-human interaction.
Finding Quality Spanish Storybooks—Let Us Do the Work for You
May 17th
Authentic, quality Spanish literature is one of the most important components of any Spanish class. We have written frequently in this blog about the benefits of reading in the foreign language classroom. A difficulty that exists for many teachers is finding quality Spanish storybooks. It is not enough just to have books in Spanish. They must be effective teaching tools—effective at engaging students with the content of the lessons. Many teachers not only have trouble finding the right sources for effective books, but they also have trouble finding the time to do all the searching. That’s where the Sonrisas Bookstore comes in—we’ve done the work for you. We have been selecting books throughout our sixteen years of teaching Spanish, and you can be assured that if it is in our bookstore, it is a quality Spanish storybook.
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. Sonrisas is a proud member of both Nnell and ACTFL.
Sonrisas Spanish School—The Experts in Children’s Spanish Literature
May 10th
When we first began to develop Spanish curriculum for preschool and elementary students, we knew that we wanted to make literature a major component of our lessons. We always felt like if we could find a great book then we could teach a great lesson. We spent countless hours in the library sifting through the children’s Spanish books section and searching for quality literature on the internet. Whenever we found a book that we thought would be good, we would create a lesson around it, try it in the classroom and then assess its effectiveness. Eventually we got to the point where we could tell if the book was going to work or not before we used it in a lesson. Our experience in the classroom led us to search for certain types of books: the familiar, traditional tale, books with engaging illustrations, poem and verse-based books, books with repitition, and the occasional informational book.
Now, after sixteen years of teaching Spanish to preschool and elementary students, we consider ourselves to be experts in children’s Spanish literature. We have been at it long enough to know what quality children’s Spanish literature looks like. All of the books we choose create the opportunity for students to connect with the content of the lesson. The books in the Storybook sets that accompany the Sonrisas curriculum have been carefully chosen for their creativity, their authenticity, and their effectiveness in engaging young Spanish learners. We are now proud to be offering all of our titles for sale individually in the Sonrisas Bookstore. It is truly a joyful experience to share a Spanish story with students and watch them “get it”. We want our customers to know that when they buy their children’s Spanish literature from Sonrisas, they can feel confident in the expertise that lies behind the selection of titles from which they choose.
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.
Engaging the Imagination Through the Senses in Your Preschool and Elementary Spanish Class – Part 4
Jan 23rd
We continue with our series on engaging the imagination through the senses. In this post: SEE, SMELL AND TASTE.
To engage the visual imaginations of your preschool and elementary Spanish students, you can use books, photographs, puppets, maps, globes, and artwork. When teaching the seasons, for example, you can bring in pieces of colorful construction paper, hold one up, and say, “Yo veo el color anaranjado. ¿Cuál es la estación?” Again, before each lesson you can ask yourself, “What visual input can I give my students to support this lesson? How can I incorporate an experience of color into this lesson?”
We can all relate to the experience of an olfactory memory. The scent of your grandmother’s perfume on a stranger propels you into her living room; the fragrance of a gardenia takes you back to tropical vacation you once took; the smell of apples takes you to a fall apple-picking harvest. The smells trigger the memories. If you can give your preschool and elementary Spanish students the opportunity to smell and taste, the experience is etched into the memory. When teaching ¿Qué sucede en la primavera? in Sonrisas Level II, for example, you can bring in flowers for students to smell. When teaching ¿Qué te gusta? in Sonrisas Level I, you can bring in different foods for students to taste. When teaching El Día de Los Muertos in Sonrisas Level I, you can burn incense, bring in marigolds, and share pan de muertos. Each of these experiences of smelling and tasting in the context of learning the language will engage students’ imaginations through their senses.
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.
Engaging the Imagination Through the Senses in Your Preschool and Elementary Spanish Class—Part 1
Nov 9th
In this series we will discuss the importance of engaging the imagination for preschool and elementary Spanish, and we will look at different ways to do this.
Engaging the imagination through the senses is a methodology that can make teaching and learning preschool and elementary Spanish almost effortless. At Sonrisas Spanish School, we value the depth of human-to-human communication that a teacher provides in language learning, and we believe that this type of learning is much more effective than media-based programs. We believe that it’s only through the human interaction of a teacher guiding students through a linguistic journey that all of the senses are used in order to engage the imagination.
The senses provide a window between ourselves and the world around us. We want our students to experience Spanish as opposed to just learn Spanish. We use the senses to create this experience. It may be helpful for you to think of yourself—not as a “Spanish teacher”—but rather as a guide taking your students into a Spanish language experience. If you think of your time with your students as an adventure or a journey as opposed to a lesson, you are more likely activate your students’ senses. If each activity is designed with an eye towards sensory experiences, the journey comes to life in students’ imaginations. In subsequent posts we will discuss how to use the different senses to engage the imagination.
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.
The Benefits of Reading Children’s Spanish Literature in Your Elementary Spanish Class—Part 4
Nov 1st
We continue with our discussion of the benefits of reading children’s Spanish literature in the elementary Spanish class:
Many children’s Spanish books provide opportunities for students to gain an understanding of the relationship between the practices, products, and perspectives of Spanish-speaking cultures. Not only can a book draw students into the target language experience, it also can expose students to the target culture. A book that is not only for Spanish speakers, but also about a Spanish-speaking culture, provides a perfect avenue to address the standards for Culture which state that students gain knowledge and understanding of other cultures. This can be done not only through illustrations but also through conventions of speech that are presented in an authentic way in the literature.
In summary of this series on using children’s Spanish literature in your elementary Spanish class: when you read children’s Spanish literature to your class, your lessons become authentic, dynamic, and most important, engaging. Children love it when adults read good books to them, so reading children’s Spanish literature is not just effective methodology—it’s enjoyable.
Sonrisas Spanish Schoolcreates, 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.
The Benefits of Reading Children’s Spanish Literature in Your Elementary Spanish Class—Part 3
Oct 17th
We continue with our discussion of the benefits of reading children’s Spanish literature in the elementary Spanish class:
Reading books provides the opportunity for review of previously taught material. An authentic children’s book (as opposed to a “reader” that has been written to teach a specific topic) usually has multilayered themes within it. For example, we recommend the book A comer, about a family in Spain, for several of the Sonrisas lessons. The book covers the seven days of the week and family vocabulary, so through shared reading, you can review and reinforce that vocabulary each time you read the book even if you are reading it to teach a different theme.
Reading books provides an opportunity for you to check for understanding. As you review previously taught material through reading, you are also checking for understanding. As you are reading, if you realize that students are not understanding review questions, you can incorporate a relevant review activity into your next 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.
Getting Excited About Our New Preschool and Elementary Curricula
Jun 9th
We are getting very excited about our new curricula that is almost ready for release. I wanted to post a blog to let everyone know about the new curricula—what is new and improved. Both of our new curricula are part of Sonrisas Spanish School: A Preschool and Elementary Curriculum. The new curricula are Sonrisas Level I and Sonrisas Level II.
Sonrisas Level I is a complete revision of our previous Sonrisas Spanish School: An Early Childhood Spanish Language Curriculum. It is for beginner level preschool and elementary Spanish. Some of the changes to the curriculum include: new lessons, a new format for the lesson plans, new content in the introduction, an articulated scope and sequence, new authentic assessment rubrics, and new standards correlation.
We kept most of the lessons from the previous curriculum but added new ones to round out the scope of the curriculum and include some more early grade themes such as calendar, seasons, and weather. The new lesson plan format includes the lesson overview page that gives a communication objective for the lesson along with performance guidelines to achieve the objective. New procedure pages provide detailed directions as to how to implement the lessons. We have kept the same art project procedure pages that tell you what to do for each art project and the home report pages that you can photocopy to send home for parents. Along with the new lesson content, we have added new sections to our introduction including How To Be an Effective Teacher Using the Sonrisas Spanish School Curriculum. We have also expanded the Methodology Behind the Sonrisas Spanish School Curriculum section to provide a more in-depth picture of how we developed the curriculum. I am very excited about the new articulated scope and sequence. It will give focus and direction to the teachers using the curriculum. We have also developed new assessment rubrics for the curriculum. The assessment rubrics utilize the communication objectives and performance guidelines in the lessons to measure how well students are achieving the objectives. Their performance is measured in the rubrics as “meets expectations,” “does not meet expectations,” or “exceeds expectations.” The format and detail of the assessments will be a useful tool for teachers for assessing their students progress and providing feedback. Our curriculum always taught to the standards, we just didn’t reflect that in the presentation of the lessons. Now, with Level I and Level II, every lesson includes standards correlation on the procedure pages so that teachers can see exactly which standards are being covered in the lessons.
Sonrisas Level II is the next level in the Sonrisas Spanish School Curriculum. It is for intermediate level elementary Spanish. Level II includes all new lessons, the same user-friendly lesson plan format and in-depth introduction as Level I, an articulated scope and sequence, and assessment rubrics. The lessons in Level II begin to put more of an emphasis on reading and writing in Spanish and the presentational mode of communication. Level II also includes two plays in Spanish that teachers can use to provide a fun performance experience for their students.
To see samples of the lessons, scope and sequence, and assessment rubrics, visit our websiteand go to the curriculum pages and click on the “view sample” buttons. Next week I will go into more detail about the scope and sequence of the Sonrisas Spanish School Curriculum.
Sonrisas Spanish Schoolcreates, 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.
