Seventh Grade - Students begin the first part of their Spanish 1 study. Following a Comprehensible Input (CI) approach, students focus on new high frequency structures, the SWEET 16+. They become more proficient in the language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students at this level read their next two Spanish novels and engage in meaningful discussions to follow-up each chapter. Students become increasingly more comfortable with class discussions based on higher order thinking questions in a student-led classroom environment. Students work with the SOMOS Curriculum and many other CI resources that encourage a natural approach to second language learning. Students meet four times a week for 50 minutes.
Eighth Grade - Students complete the second part of their Spanish 1 study at the end of their 8th grade. This opportunity allows students to earn high school credit for Spanish 1 and makes them eligible to continue with Spanish 2 at the high school level. Even though this level continues to focus in the present tense primarily, students are not sheltered from other tenses, but general vocabulary is sheltered to keep the comprehensible factor always a priority. Students continue to focus on the SWEET 16+ verbs, allowing them to quickly build fluency, laying down a foundation of the most often used words in the Spanish language. Students at this level read at least 2 more books. Students present a much higher level of proficiency in the many areas of second language acquisition. Students work with the SOMOS Curriculum and many other CI resources that encourage a natural approach to second language learning, as well as Yabla. Students meet five times a week for 50 minutes.