Spanish (Sra. James)
Welcome to Spanish! And a very special welcome to students who are new to Mater Dolorosa School. We are looking forward to meeting you.
Although our class time is limited, students make a surprising amount of progress in our Spanish program. The emphasis during class time will continue to be on communication, both spoken and written. By the end of their tenure at MDS, it is my expectation that students will have an understanding of where Spanish is spoken in the world as well as proficiency in basic conversational Spanish.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of participation and active engagement in all classroom activities. My goal is to communicate in the classroom in Spanish 90% of our time together. This is a lofty goal but one our students are ready to embrace.
A note to new students: My expectation of you is that you focus on me, my spoken Spanish and my visuals. Additionally, I expect you to participate in group work and repetition. I will not require you to speak Spanish individually until you are ready. Usually it takes about six weeks to get to that point.
Although I do not assign written homework, middle school students are encouraged to study for quizzes. I almost always send an email reminder to parents, post quiz dates on FACTS and give students a study guide. I hope you and they find this helpful.
A few of the topic we cover in Spanish are the following:
K – colors, numbers 1-10 and conversations with Pedro and Roberto
Grade 1 – Shapes and their colors
Grade 2 – Fruit/likes and dislikes
Grade 3 – the tens and math symbols
Grade 4 – the days of the week and soon…months and seasons
Grade 5 – the Spanish-speaking world and weather
Grade 6 – months/seasons/ weather expressions
Grade 7 – review of greetings/responses and regular AR/ER/IR verbs
Grade 8 – Irregular verbs and their special uses
I will provide supplies for K-4 students.
Grades 5-8 should bring a sharpened pencil to class every day. Last year I supplied pencils…I would prefer that students in middle school bring their own!
Donations of classroom supplies are welcomed and much appreciated. They include:
Sharpened pencils
Crayola colored pencils
Kleenex tissues…always needed!
Copy paper
I am looking forward to meeting you all at open houses this year and to teaching your children.
Sra. Andrea James