Curriculum and IB Connections
CURRICULUM:
As much as possible, connections are made to grade level IB PYP planners. During the 2017 – 2018 academic year, the following connections will be made to the grade level trans-disciplinary themes and lines of inquiry:
WHO WE ARE – Quienes somos
WHERE WE ARE IN PLACE & TIME – Donde estamos en lugar y tiempo
HOW WE EXPRESS OURSELVES – Como nos expresamos
Grade 1: Various customs, traditions, and celebrations
Grade 4: Cultural celebrations
HOW THE WORLD WORKS – Como trabaja el mundo
HOW WE ORGANIZE OURSELVES – Como nos organizamos
SHARING THE PLANET – Compartimos el planeta
On Wednesdays, Spanish classes have focused the learning experiences on Spanish/Hispanic cultural traditions & celebrations. In September, students will be given a brief overview of early Mexican history, discuss the legend associated with the Mexican flag, and how Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16) is celebrated today.
In October and November, we will explore the Day of the Dead (Los Días de los Muertos, Oct. 30 to Nov. 2) celebrations. Students & staff will have the opportunity to remember their deceased loved ones (family members, friends &/or pets).
During the month of December, the six “Fiestas Navideñas” will be introduced and compared to students’ own traditions. We will also look at two traditionally American celebrations with a Spanish perspective. For Thanksgiving, we will use Spanish phrases to say what we are grateful for.
In February, students will create Valentine’s Day cards using common Spanish phrases.
Additionally, there will be ongoing Spanish concepts that will be integrated throughout the year.
• Review of Spanish alphabet, vowels, and phonemes and to build spelling skills
• Review of greetings, introductions, expressing how I feel
• Calendar words: saying and writing days of the week, and months
• Classroom words: receiving directions, classroom object words, locations of objects
• Asking and responding to questions in Spanish
• Describing people, animals, places, and things – expanding my list of Spanish adjectives
• Saying and writing numbers up to 100
• Expressing preferences (likes & dislikes)
• Describing my actions using present tense verbs
• Reading basic Spanish books & writing basic Spanish sentences independently
EXPECTATIONS AND ASSESSMENTS
Throughout the year we will discuss how we can demonstrate the IB PYP Learner Profile and Attitudes during Spanish and how these skills help us learn. Students are expected to demonstrate a positive attitude, cooperative learning skills and a willingness to experiment with a new language.
Students are assessed through direct observation of oral, written and visual work during all group activities, through individual, one-on-one oral assessments of key vocabulary and through self-assessment of project work and classroom participation. Your child’s progress will be reported to you four times this year via report cards.