¡Bienvenidos a la clase de español!

INTRODUCTION

Foreign languages provide that extra spark on a job application. As people in this country become more and more involved in foreign trade, tourism, and international cooperative venture, the number of jobs open to those who can offer fluency in a foreign language in addition to some other skill will increase. College and universities require for their admission two years of high school foreign language studies, and for many careers certain languages are a must.

High School students who take Spanish I and II for credit must pass the course (average at 70 or above) for the semester in order to receive a high school credit. The final exam counts 20% of the final course.

Eighth grade students who take Spanish I for High School credit must pass the course (average at 70 or above) and take and pass the district’s end-of-course (EOC) exam. Per Board policy, the district EOC exam score counts 20% of the final course grade.

TEXTBOOK/PROGRAM

“Total Physical Response Storytelling” is a wonderful tool that facilitates learning Spanish. This program also known as TPRS is used with the textbooks Bienvenidos! (Spanish I) and A Bordo! (Spanish II).

Generally, the text is used to reinforce the grammar that is used in TPRS and meet curriculum standards.

ABOUT TPRS

Total Physical Response Storytelling (TPRS) is a method for teaching foreign languages that was invented by Blaine Ray, a Spanish teacher in Bakersfield, California, in 1990. Concerned that his students were disinterested in the unexciting process of learning a language from a textbook, he began to use James Asher's Total Physical Response to teach Spanish. Asher says that students acquire their second languages as they acquired their first languages. Our students learn as babies learn. Therefore, we should not expect them to produce the language before they have had an ample amount of time to listen to it. Blaine experienced great success, and the students began to be excited about his class.

He found that changing from commands to the third person singular allowed him to tell stories, a long-term memory technique. He found that asking the students to act out the parts of the characters in the stories preserved the highly effective physical element that had been so powerful in Classical TPR. As the technique was developed over the years, it became an all-encompassing method and methodology. The method combines Dr. James Asher's Total Physical Response (TPR) with Dr. Stephen Krashen's language acquisition strategies, allowing us to teach grammar, reading and writing along with vocabulary.

CURRICULUM

LEVEL ONE

Grammar: subject pronouns, articles, noun plurals, contractions, adjective agreement, regular verbs, commands, interrogatives, ownership subject pronouns, tú versus usted, gustar, regular verbs, commands, irregular verbs, idioms with tener, interroragives, ser vs. estar, telling time, demonstrative pronouns, object pronouns

SKILLS/STANDARDS

§ Comprehend the spoken language

§ Communicate orally

§ Read authentic material

§ Write effectively for selected purposes

§ Distinguish the similarities and differences of language and culture

LEVEL TWO