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Curriculum- Fourth Grade

Students in fourth grade experience 90-100% immersion in the target language. The first semester is spent preparing for a theatrical performance presented entirely in Spanish for the community. Fourth graders work tirelessly to memorize lines and later perfect their pronunciation, intonation, and expression in the target language, thereby making the presentation comprehensible to and enjoyable for non-Spanish-speaking and Spanish-speaking audience members alike.

Students spend the second semester preparing for Middle School Spanish, touching on more advanced grammatical concepts and focusing their attention on the written word. If time permits, they may read a short TPRS novel in Spanish. The year culminates with a Spanish soccer unit, where fourth graders travel outside to play fútbol. Common expressions and instinctive linguistic responses are pre-taught, so that the games are experienced completely in the target language. Students rotate acting as “sports announcers” on the side, attempting to narrate the action as it happens.

Sprinkled throughout the year are various Culture Projects; these lessons focus on amazing and beautiful aspects of the Spanish-speaking world (landforms, monuments, traditions, etc.), and knit together the Lower School Spanish experience. Last but not least, fourth graders master the names and locations of all of the 21 Spanish-speaking countries on a gigantic floor map. They have the opportunity to participate in an All-School Map Competition at the end of the year and obviously want to walk away with the gold.