In this 15-week interactive, semester-long Spanish course, we will meet as a group once per week for 45 minutes to learn Spanish. In the class students will develop the ability to understand and communicate in Spanish while reading class novels, stories, playing games and having a ton of fun! Here is what you can expect throughout the course.

Hola! Welcome to my Spanish  course. This course will be great for students that have had NO exposure to Spanish. Students will be able to read, write, speak, and listen in Spanish at a beginner level after completing this course. I also offer 1:1 private tutoring if they need extra live help. I also offer a full curriculum for Spanish 2 and 3 if you wish to continue down the path of learning Spanish.

I use Google Slides to teach this unit. Students do not have  previous knowledge of Spanish to join this class.  I teach with a focus on Comprehensible Input and not grammar since that is not how language is naturally acquired.  Comprehensible input Spanish readers are a game changer in the classroom. Leveled readers in Spanish tell captivating stories and incorporate repetition of high-frequency language making them an extremely effective way to engage students.  We will read a novel entirely in Spanish, have discussions in Spanish and play games/activities to expose students to the target language. Some fun traditional games that we will play are Tic-Tac-Toe, Connect 4, Sorry, Snakes and Ladders and Pictionary. The focus will be on developing skills in the areas of listening, speaking and reading.  

There are TWO class novels for this class.  They are called Edi El Elefante and Escape Cubano. They are perfect novels to start learning Spanish because they are filled with common repetitive phrases, structures and vocabulary words to help students acquire the language. 

Edi El Elefante Book Description- Edi is a talented elephant, but he is very small. Edi does not want to be talented or small;  he wants to be BIG! One day, Edi discovers that a small animal can solve a big problem and that being small is not so horrible after all. This book is beautifully illustrated by the author herself. It is strategically written and illustrated with only 55 unique words and 100 fully  illustrated pages! This highly comprehensible reader is absolutely perfect for beginning language learners. The exceptionally low unique word count and high frequency factor (the number of times core structures are embedded in the text) in the Comprehension-based™ reader, ‘Edi El Elefante’, make this an ideal read for very beginning Spanish students. Each page is loaded with cognates (words that are similar in English and Spanish), recycled vocabulary, and illustrations, which makes this read highly comprehensible. Enjoy the story! The more you enjoy it, the more you will acquire Spanish without even realizing it! We hope you enjoy reading your way to FLUENCY!

Escape Cubano Book Description- Inspired by a true story, El Escape Cubano, is a first-person narrative reader with 140 unique words.  In a matter of minutes, Miguel's happiness changes to gripping fear when he overhears his parents fighting about escaping from Cuba on a raft. And his dad plans to take him along. He has heard the stories about the dangerous escape: swift currents, giant waves, sharks and the pitch black nights. That is why Miguel is determined to stay in Cuba, but time is not on his side.

These will be our weekly focuses:
Class 1
Topic/Theme- Introductions, Calendar, Feelings, Weather, Numbers 1-30, South American Spanish speaking countries.

Students will learn different ways to greet each other, talk about the weather and calendar and discuss how they feel in Spanish.  Students will learn how to form Spanish numbers 1-30 by playing a fun I Spy game. Students will also learn the Spanish speaking countries and capitals of South America. 

Class 2
Topic/Theme- Colors, Central American countries.
Students will learn the Central American Spanish speaking countries and capitals.
Students will learn Spanish colors, play a colors sorry game  and also read a story about colorful cats. 

Class 3
Topic/Theme- Age, Birthdays, Numbers 32-100, Body Parts
Students will learn how to form Spanish numbers 0-100.  Number games (Bingo) will be played and students will discuss their age and birthdays in Spanish. 
Students will begin to learn body parts by reading a story about Mr. Potato head.  Students will draw their own Mr. Potato head.

Class 4
Topic/Theme- Alphabet & Body Parts
Students will learn the Spanish alphabet. A fun marching song will be used to reinforce vocabulary and a hide and seek game to help practice  pronunciation of the letters in the alphabet.   Students will continue to learn more body parts in Spanish.  Vocabulary will be reinforced through a short Spanish story called Monstruo en el Bosque.  Monster guessing game, create your monster activity will be provided.

Class 5
Topic/Theme- Descriptive adjectives, present tense verb conjugations, Edi El Elefante Novel
Students will read chapters 1-2 of the novel Edi El Elefante. Students will start to learn present tense verb conjugations.  Present tense verb structures will be reinforced during this novel. Practice vocabulary and structures in a variety of fun and engaging activities

Class 6
Topic/Theme- Edi El Elefante Novel
Students will read chapters 3-4 of the novel Edi El Elefante. Students will start to learn present tense verb conjugations.  Present tense verb structures will be reinforced during this novel. Practice vocabulary and structures in a variety of fun and engaging activities

Class 7- 
Topic/Theme- Edi El Elefante Novel
Students will read chapters 5-6 of the novel Edi El Elefante. Students will start to learn present tense verb conjugations.  Present tense verb structures will be reinforced during this novel. Practice vocabulary and structures in a variety of fun and engaging activities. 

Class 8
Students will read chapters 7-8 of the novel Edi El Elefante. Students will start to learn present tense verb conjugations.  Present tense verb structures will be reinforced during this novel. Practice vocabulary and structures in a variety of fun and engaging activities. End of the book writing assessment will be provided. 


Class 9
Topic/Theme- Escape Cubano Novel
Students will read chapters 1-2 of the novel Escape Cuban. Students will continue to practice present tense structures.Students will continue to learn present tense verb conjugations.  Present tense verb structures will be reinforced during this novel. Practice vocabulary and structures in a variety of fun and engaging activities. 

Class 10
Topic/Theme-Escape Cubano Novel
Students will read chapters 3-4 of the novel Escape Cuban. Students will continue to practice present tense structures.  Students will continue to learn present tense verb conjugations.  Present tense verb structures will be reinforced during this novel. Practice vocabulary and structures in a variety of fun and engaging activities. 

Class  11
Topic/Theme- Escape Cubano Novel     
Students will read chapters 5-6 of the novel Escape Cuban. Students will continue to practice present tense structures.Students will continue to learn present tense verb conjugations.  Present tense verb structures will be reinforced during this novel. Practice vocabulary and structures in a variety of fun and engaging activities. 

Class  12
Topic/Theme- Escape Cubano Novel     
Students will read chapter 7-8 of the novel Escape Cuban. Students will continue to practice present tense structures.Students will continue to learn present tense verb conjugations.  Present tense verb structures will be reinforced during this novel. Practice vocabulary and structures in a variety of fun and engaging activities.
Class 13
Topic/Theme-Escape Cubano Novel
Students will read chapters 9-10 of the novel Escape Cuban. Students will continue to practice present tense structures.  Students will continue to learn present tense verb conjugations.  Present tense verb structures will be reinforced during this novel. Practice vocabulary and structures in a variety of fun and engaging activities. 

Class  14
Topic/Theme- Escape Cubano Novel     
Students will read chapters 11-12 of the novel Escape Cuban. Students will continue to practice present tense structures.Students will continue to learn present tense verb conjugations.  Present tense verb structures will be reinforced during this novel. Practice vocabulary and structures in a variety of fun and engaging activities. 

Class  15
Topic/Theme- Escape Cubano Novel     
Students will read chapter 13-14  of the novel Escape Cuban. Students will continue to practice present tense structures.Students will continue to learn present tense verb conjugations.  Present tense verb structures will be reinforced during this novel. Practice vocabulary and structures in a variety of fun and engaging activities. End of the book review activities and writing assessment will be provided