3rd Grade

Grade 3 Spanish class

Spanish

🌟Finding their voices and taking flight. Songs, stories, routines, and classroom ideas that expand communication, spark independence, and inspire students to use Spanish with confidence.

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Third Grade Overview

Students participate in several classic Spanish traditions throughout the year. From learning how to Salsa dance and tasting fried plantains (Cuba), to painting team country flag colors on their faces and playing fútbol/ soccer games outside, third graders experience culture through immersion. They begin the year with storytelling and legends from Spanish-speaking countries.

Curriculum: Scope & Sequence

Explore the articles below for an overview of each curricular category and how it connects across grade levels. Think of these as your roadmap for the year.

🎭 Storytelling: Grade 3

Story-based lessons and creative activities that help young learners build confidence through Spanish.

🌎 Culture Projects: Grade 3

Stories, songs, and cultural discoveries that help Spanish feel connected to the wider world.

The Foundation: Geography — Students review the names and locations of all 21 Spanish- speaking countries. In third grade, we focus our culture study on one region more in-depth.Later grade levels continue building on this knowledge.

✂️ Center Work: Grade 3

Read about activities designed for independent and small-group practice.

In third grade, we shift the focus in center work from student agency and dependence (“Can you help me fold this paper airplane?”) to social connections. Because students become significantly more independent at this age, the idea that they might “check in constantly” with the teacher is less likely; they do not need help with basic tasks in the same way that younger students do. However, when this happens, the linguistic interaction piece of center work is lost—which is the whole point.

To address this issue, we adjust center work slightly for older learners: third graders rotate between [teacher-selected] centers. They are given interactive games, challenges, and/or problems to solve, and work on these mini assignments together in small groups. While students lose the freedom to pick an activity of their choice, they get to lean into their strengths—collaboration, community, and socialization. The teacher floats around the room, prompting students to respond in Spanish and reminding them of relevant phrases and expressions. Everything is “game-i-fied” here: we are constantly working to “level up” and increase our use of the target language.

🎵 Daily Routines: Grade 3

See the recurring songs, greetings, and classroom routines.

  • Passwords: high-frequency words students say to enter the classroom
  • Songs: ¿Dónde está Andrés? is always a favorite
  • Storytelling: the adventures of Bart (TPRS 2.0)
  • Group Activity: thematic culture projects
  • Centers: small group work
  • Clean up/line up

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