Spanish

OBJECTIVE:

The initiative of introducing our children to the vast, global community, and the languages they speak, is a true investment in the futures of not only our own students, but the futures of the entire generation. We hope that with this new program, our students will become true global learners with a Spanish curriculum that follows the 5 ACTFL Standards: Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. Students at Turner Intermediate will learn how to use Spanish through interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational communication activities to function in a variety of settings and situations. Students will demonstrate cultural competence by identifying practices, products, and perspectives of cultures in many of the 20+ Spanish-speaking countries in the world. Topics in the Spanish classroom will correlate with other classes and subjects so that students can connect their Spanish knowledge to their other disciplines, especially by comparing their own language and culture while developing an appreciation for Spanish. It is our hope that students will be able to participate, communicate, and interact in multilingual and multicultural communities within Wilkinsburg and around the world. 

DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR STUDENTS WILL LEARN:

1.

All About Me- Greetings, respect words, What is culture?, interrogative words (with questions such as ¿Cómo te llamas? ¿Cuántos años tienes?), Numbers 1-100, family dynamics

2.

Mexican Culture- Mexico, Day of Dead, colors, & practices, products, perspectives of Mexican culture

3.

Art Appreciation- School supplies, art vocabulary, Frida Khalo/Diego Rivera, music, dance, most used Spanish verbs 

4.

Body and Health- Body parts, clothes, healthy vs. unhealthy habits

5.

Food and Nutrition- food (diets and popular aliments), expressing likes and dislikes, food-based dietary guidelines in USA vs. Spain

WHAT CHILDREN WILL LEARN BY THE END OF THE YEAR:

Our goal, by the end of this year, is for our students to be able to converse in full sentences spread over a variety of topics. Students at Turner Intermediate should be in a performance range in the Novice level according to ACTFL Performance Descriptors for Language Learners. The main objective is influencing an attitude of lifelong learning by showing students the opportunities that foreign languages can provide.