Fifth Grade
Welcome to the Fifth Grade!
The focus of the Fifth Grade Spanish Class is to do a review of the material that has been covered over the past years. My desire is that the students would be able to incorporate Spanish in everyday conversations when the topic is one that has been previously covered. We will be reviewing previous material, expanding upon it, and using it in context. There is a lot of freedom in how we do the review, so I am looking forward to the creative projects and experiences that are planned for these students.
Fifth Grade students will be using journals this year as a way to reflect on our studies, and to have more exposure to writing in Spanish. My hope is that the notebook would a valuable tool to take with them as they continue on with their world language studies. (**Journals are kept in my classroom. Email if you would like to see your student's work in progress.) After the first of the year, 5th graders will read a beginning Spanish novel. Readers and story-telling are being implemented at the middle school and high school levels at this time. My goal is to prepare students for future language learning by exposing them to the same methods they will later encounter. I have found the literature work to be engaging for my classes at this level.
The central idea for the year is:
Knowledge of language prepares us to communicate our needs in unfamiliar situations.
We will be reviewing material learned over the years in the format of planning a trip to a foreign country. I am looking forward to seeing the students' creativity and all that they have learned as they incorporate Spanish and real-world skills.
After a time of introductions and brief review, we'll dive into the planning of our 'trip'. We will learn the numbers to 100 (and beyond, for some) and familiarize ourselves with the location of Spanish-speaking countries on a map. This is tied into and supports a unit in their 5th grade curriculum.
We will learn clothing vocabulary so that we can pack our bags. There will be an assessment over clothing and using adjectives to describe. After that, most likely early February, we will begin reading the book, "Las Aventuras de Isabela." Interacting with the novel and looking deeply at the language structures and themes will take us through to the end of the year.
Encourage your student to share with you what we are doing in class. Know that it is extremely common for students who are learning a language to be able to comprehend and participate with the class, while not being able to produce at the same level. (*yet) This is a normal part of language aquistion, and even in the 5th grade, they are still just beginning. I am pleased with their progress. They ARE learning, and I am so proud of all they accomplish.
Here's to an amazing year!
Additional vocabulary can be found under the "Vocabulary" tab. Here are a few vocabulary sets specifically for this year:
La Ropa
la falda – skirt la camisa – shirt los pantalones – pants
los zapatos – shoes los calcetines – socks la chaqueta – jacket
los jeans – jeans el vestido – dress las botas – boots
el sombrero - hat
La Plaza/La Ciudad
la ciudad-city el hospital-hospital el restaurante-restaurant
el supermercado-supermarket la iglesia-church el banco-bank
el parque-park el cine-movie theater el hotel-hotel
la escuela-school la tienda-store la playa-beach la piscina-pool
Classroom Phrases:
Yo tengo una pregunta. – I have a question.
Levanta la mano – Raise your hand
Pongan los papeles en sus carpetas. – Put the papers in your folders.
Calendar:
Days, months, numbers 1-100 (and possibly beyond), seasons
hoy, mañana, ayer – today, tomorrow, yesterday
Identifying the date – Hoy es el trece de diciembre. (December 13th)
Basics:
All colors, greetings, titles
A review of basic questions
¿Cómo te llamas? Me llamo ___________.
¿Cuántos años tienes? Tengo _______ años.
¿Cómo estás? Estoy (bien, más o menos, mal)
adiós - goodbye hasta luego - until later
gracias - thank you por favor - please