Spanish classes in the Lower School are about more than just memorizing words and phrases. “The goal is to create comprehension in context,” says World Language teacher Rosalba Santander-Cervantes.

Each week, students in Kindergarten-Grade 5 are introduced to a different topic through the lens of a Spanish-speaking country. The bi-weekly lessons cover 21 countries over the course of the year, along with conversational dialogue in Spanish. Each lesson uses a balanced-based approach that practices reading, writing, listening, and speaking, culminating in a creative project to reinforce the topics.

This week, fifth grade students created information brochures about Paraguay. Each student used research they completed earlier in the week to highlight interesting facts about the geography, flora, fauna, and cultural diversity of the country.

In their study of Peru, Kindergarten students are focusing on where people live in a community. Beginning with the home (casa), students drew images of houses and collaboratively suggested what might surround a house. With each suggestion, Santander-Cervantes drew the details around a house on the SMART board and wrote the Spanish vocabulary for each item as children embellished their own illustrations.

Second grade students illustrated maps of the Dominican Republic denoting significant geographical features in Spanish. The lesson helped students better understand the location of the country in a global context and set a foundation for later discussion of what it means to be a global citizen.

Working in pairs, fourth grade reviewed vocabulary before putting their knowledge to the test in an online game of “The Floor is Lava.” In the game, each student used their Chromebook to translate Spanish vocabulary and answer facts about Argentina. Each successful translation allowed the students to increase the height of a shared platform above a pool of lava that rose incrementally.

The study of Chile began in first grade with an examination of the Moai statues on Easter Island. After learning about the ancient structures, students painted their own. Next week students will continue their studies learning about Chilean culture in the modern world.