ST. PHILIP SCHOOLSchool Name

CONTACT MS. MARSHALL: nmarshall@spsangelway.org

It is best to contact me through my school email address above. Even if you would like for me to call you, please let me know that by email as it is difficult to reach me during school time. I will check the mail each morning and will try to check it again before I leave school. If I don't have an opportunity while at school, I will check again in the evening at home.

My philosophy on teaching World Language Spanish

Second language learning is a transferal of skills already being learned in the primary language, so I use a whole language approach through listening, speaking, reading, and writing. I believe in making learning interesting, fun, and quick. The sooner a student can use and speak the language, the more he will enjoy the learning.

Curriculum

World Language Spanish courses at St. Philip School follow the Diocesan curriculum for World Languages with additional learning and added resources to help students advance to competitive levels by the time of their entrance to high school. 5^th grade through 8^th grade students learn the Catholic prayers: Padre Nuestro, Gloria al Padre, Angel de la Guarda, Ave Maria (Our Father, Glory Be, Guardian Angel, and Hail Mary.) All students learn faith development the ANGEL WAY through learning and practicing the virtues in the classroom.

Materials and Resources

Materials used for World Language Spanish include: the Buen Viaje textbook on which our Spanish survival vocabulary is based; Voces, an online Spanish textbook with video resources; Synergy, a speed Spanish course for learning vocabulary, grammar, and translation skills; Fearless Fluency, a program for learning conversational phrases

Other resources for Spanish include: photo cards and realia for learning vocabulary and conversation practice; music videos for learning vocabulary, the tempo of spoken conversation, repetitive practice in a fun way, and listening skills; Total Physical Response (TPR) for learning commands, comprehensible input, and application of language skills; Quizlet, an online study tool to assist in learning assigned vocabulary

Intent of projects:

Projects are assigned to help students learn the Spanish language and Hispanic culture. Students then teach what they have learned to the other students through in-class presentations, PowerPoints, skits, and films.

Spanish K-5 classes

Students receive Spanish instruction one period per week. This time provides an exposure to basic Spanish in an enjoyable way through music videos, stories, and fun activities. Students learn introductions, greetings, numbers, basic survival vocabulary, and Total Physical Response (TPR.)

Spanish Level I, Grade 6

Students in Level I Spanish learn:

Introductions

Greetings

Basic “survival” vocabulary in the thematic units of: school, family, clothing, foods, body parts, animals (vocabulary is the building  block of language acquisition)

Numbers from 0 to 30

Days, months, seasons

Colors

Weather vocabulary

Names of the 21 Spanish speaking countries, their capitals, their locations on maps, mnemonic sentences and memorization techniques

Writing and translation skills

Cultural information about holidays

4 prayers in Spanish (Padre Nuestro, Gloria al Padre, Angel de la Guarda, Ave Maria)

Songs and chants to assist in language acquisition

Directional words and prepositions of place

Students do guided paragraph writing practices and original sentences writing

Projects include:

Country flags and written reports on those countries

Creation of personal picture dictionaries for use throughout middle school and high school to help students remember the survival vocabulary (the building block of language) and verb conjugations of the most common Spanish verbs learned in levels II and III

Participation in:

        Spanish Christmas program

        Spanish Christmas Mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral

        Cinco de mayo celebration

Spanish Level II, Grade 7

Students in Level II Spanish learn:

Vocabulary: places, sports, rooms of a house, home furnishing names

Descriptive adjectives

Question words

Basic conversation

Counting by 10’s to 100

Telling time

Present tense conjugations of the most common Spanish verbs

Advanced Total Physical Response (TPR)

Advanced songs for language acquisition

Student writings include:

Translation of sentences, simple stories, and simple descriptive paragraph writing

Projects include:

Students choose three projects to be completed during the school year from a list of 65+ culture project listings

Participation in:

Spanish Christmas program

Spanish Christmas Mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral

Cinco de mayo celebration

Spanish Level III, Grade 8

Students in Level III Spanish learn:

Preterite, imperfect, and future verb tenses of the most common Spanish verbs (exposure, not mastery)

Counting to 1000 by 100’s

Listening skills through conversation audio, advertisements, films

Translations of conversations, writings, advertisements, short stories

Situational conversations

Emphasis on general conversation

Student writing includes:

Simple story writing

Paragraph writing on situational topics

Projects include:

Pasaporte Project: an in-depth research project on chosen Spanish speaking country, three of its cities, things to see and do when traveling in that country, PowerPoint of travel highlights

Student-written skits

Student-written film project

Participation in:

Spanish Christmas program

Spanish Christmas Mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral

Cinco de mayo celebration

 5^th Grade Spelling:

 In-depth lessons on the six types of syllables are taught prior to beginning the spelling book and worksheets/practices are provided.

 All spelling lessons are taken from the Wonders program with additional spelling words from the book Spelling Connections.

 An in-depth lesson in Idea Chain, along with practices, is taught prior to story writing.

 Story writing prompts provide opportunity to apply learned spelling patterns and practice the concepts of good writing.

 Cursive writing is emphasized in story writing.

 Cursive handwriting is taught and practiced in conjunction with the story writing. Students are shown specific strokes to help them write letters correctly. Emphasis is on proper letter size, slant, and spacing of the writing.

Course policies:

Preparation for class: Students must come prepared to class with completed assignments, Spanish notebooks, Spanish-English dictionaries, planners, and writing materials.

 Homework: Homework is to be completed and turned in by the due date. Late work will receive a letter grade lower each day late than it would have received if turned in on time.

 Absences from class: If a student is absent from class for any reason (illness, participation in Thinking Caps or band, etc.), he must see the teacher upon return to class for any missed assignments. If the absence was due to illness, the student will receive extra time to complete the missing work or test. Students who miss class due to participation in Thinking Caps, band, or other activities must turn in their assignments on the due date and must take any tests that will be missed for an activity the day before the test is given.

 Group activities: You will be expected to be an active member of your group and/or class activities and participation points will be assessed accordingly. You will be graded as an individual; however, your group may earn points together as well.

 Class rules:

 We follow the school rules: Show respect for people and property; keep hands, feet, and objects to yourself; use kind words and actions; follow instructions the first time they are given.

 My classroom rules cover everything: Be respectful – be kind, listen to others, do not interrupt learning. Be responsible – come prepared for class with assignments completed and materials needed for class.

 Student discipline policy:

 We follow the middle school’s discipline policy found in the St. Philip handbook.