Spanish Teacher: 1st to 8th Grade

The Spanish curriculum builds upon the belief that students’ language learning should be a positive, non-threatening process, similar to the way children acquire their first language. Within our classroom, students learn not only language and pronunciation skills, but also learning strategies that will aid them as they continue their studies in later years. Our approach is meant to foster spontaneous and meaningful communication among students, interest and enthusiasm for Spanish-speaking cultures, and empathy for the people living within those cultures. We frequently use a process known as TPRS – Teaching Proficiency Through Reading and Storytelling. This method emphasizes the importance of repetition of “comprehensible input” — listening and reading that is understood by the learner –as a way to more effectively acquire language.

  

Our curriculum weaves lessons related to geography, daily life, history, politics, music, art, and struggles for peace and social justice within the Spanish-speaking world.  The intense focus on these themes as seen through the lens of human rights and social justice is both progressive and potentially transformative; cultivating compassionate, culturally proficient, and geographically knowledgeable global citizens who have the power to become positive change agents. Each year, within a four-year cycle, we focus on a different part of the world where Spanish is spoken: 1) Spain 2) Mexico, Central America & the Spanish-Speaking Caribbean, 3) South America, and 4) The LatinX Community in the U.S.A.