Descripción del curso

Course Description:

This Spanish course is designed to develop students’ communicative skills by using the target language to make real connections with members of the Spanish-speaking world, with an emphasis on the country of Colombia. The language objectives in this course focus on providing students with opportunities to both apply and extend their prior knowledge of thematic vocabulary in the target language as they get to know, among many others, a former Colombian teacher and her family. Students will broaden their awareness, acceptance and understanding of cultural perspectives, products, and practices in Spanish-speaking countries.

This course is designed to foster communication between the sixth grade students of Summit and their Colombian peers through the completion of six Integrated Performance Assessments, or IPAs. These summative assessments incorporate the three modes of communication: the interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes, placing the primary emphasis of instruction on the context and purpose for communication. Each unit of study engages students in language acquisition activities that have real-life connections. These summative assessments promote authentic and relevant experiences with the Spanish language by providing opportunities for LCJSMS students to communicate with their peers in the target language and make connections with their global peers on topics such as personal likes and dislikes, hobbies, school days and schedules, favorite foods, cultural foods, seasonal clothing and points of interest for travel. These six Integrated Performance Assessments allow the students to showcase their knowledge of Spanish, require students to interpret and respond to real life experiences and conversation, while gaining a deeper understanding of another culture.

This course is designed to accommodate varying levels of language proficiency as defined by the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages. The course is aligned to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for World Language 7.1. During the year, emphasis will be on developing language skills with interdisciplinary connections to social studies, science, math, health and technology skills that include (but are not limited to): knowledge of geographical locations, cultural influences, weather patterns, military time, healthy eating habits, and the metric system.