The Spanish curriculum at SBS Community School includes pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, verb drills, and culture. The focus of instruction is on listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Classes are conducted in Spanish as much as possible encouraging students to use the language.
Pronunciation
Students are taught the letters of the alphabet and are asked to repeat the sounds of the letters as well as written words. Exercises are also done with Audio Compact Discs allowing students to hear the pronunciation of native speakers and enhance comprehension.
Grammar and Vocabulary
Proper sentence structure using capital letters and punctuation, understanding the placement of adjectives and nouns in a sentence, and the use of vocabulary words are a high priority of learning the Spanish language.
Verb Drills
Students are taught conjugations of verbs and the subject pronouns. Beginning Spanish students will learn the present indicative tenses, formal and informal commands, and some exposure to the preterit tense. More advanced students are taught positive and negative commands, the imperfect tense, and the present subjunctive tense.
Culture
There is opportunity for student creativity through cultural projects, as well as poetry, cooking, holiday celebrations, role-playing, and various interactive dialogs. Students also read written plays based on previously taught lessons reinforcing the uses of vocabulary words, verbs, and sentence structure. The purpose of the cultural projects is to learn about the differences and similarities we all have as people and to allow students to practice what they have learned in the classroom. Students are also free to share their own cultural beliefs and traditions in their own creative ways.
The Spanish language is the second most spoken language in the United States. It is a top priority to teach our students as much Spanish as possible so that they will use it in their everyday lives and will have a desire to pursue their studies in this area outside of the classroom.