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Status

Open

Estimated Completion Time

9-10 Weeks

Overview

Elementary Spanish is an exploratory introduction to the Spanish culture and language. Students will learn the target language in a story-based framework, providing a fun and positive experience within the learning. Each lesson is taught through an engaging, authentic story that gives students an opportunity to see and hear the language in context. Students will learn foundational skills in listening and speaking in the early levels, and will add Spanish literacy skills beginning in Level 2. The courses provide audio and visual stimuli for all learning types and ample opportunities to hear, speak, read, write, and record the language. This suite also provides strategically-based reviews of past learning. Each course is built on connections to an authentic culture of a specific Spanish-speaking region through the arts, celebrations, and traditions of the culture, leading students on the path to becoming global citizens. Courses provide a natural progression of learning through the following language acquisition stages:

  • Preproduction
  • Early Production
  • Speech emergence
  • Intermediate fluency

Please view the Elementary Parents’ Survival Guide: The First Four Weeks of Online Learning for guidance on helping your student in the transition to online learning.

Course Requirements

All levels of Spanish require independent reading skills. We recommend students begin Spanish sometime during grades 2 or 3, depending on their reading level. Those who are not yet reading independently can take the course, provided an adult is available to read material to the student.

To achieve success, students are expected to submit work in each course weekly. Students can learn at their own pace; however, “any pace” still means that students must make progress in the course every week. To measure learning, students complete self-checks, practice lessons, multiple choice questions, projects, discussion-based assessments, and discussions. Students and families are expected to maintain regular contact with teachers because, when teachers, students, and parents work together, students are successful.

Required Materials – Please view the list of materials before registering.

Major Topics and Concepts

Module One

  • Greetings, introductions, and goodbyes
  • Peruvian culture
  • Vowels a, e , i, o, and u
  • Peruvian animals
  • Family members
  • Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks

Module Two

  • Whales
  • The ocean
  • Sea animals
  • Months of the year
  • Seasons
  • Express plurals
  • Picnic words
  • Possession using mi and tu
  • Numbers one to fifty
  • Letters m, s, p, l, b, t, n, and ñ and their syllables

Module Three

  • Peru
  • Independence Day
  • False cognates
  • People in my Community
  • No one and nobody
  • Directional words
  • Land and sky
  • Nazca lines
  • Asking and answering simple questions, including where is and have you seen
  • Letters c, g, j, d, r, rr, h, and f and their syllables

Module Four

  • Machu Picchu
  • Places people live
  • Filling out a form
  • Rhyming and poetry
  • Landforms
  • Clear and dark
  • Time on the hour
  • Greeting people at different times of the day
  • Letters v, y, k, x, w, and z and their syllables

Credits .5

Competencies

Pre-Requisites

None

Attend a virtual open house

We offer regular online open house webinars where VLACS staff members provide parents and students with an overview of our programs and answer questions about online learning.