Spanish for Kids

Gr 3—10—A family from the United States is planning to host Javier, an exchange student from Spain. Seven lessons follow the experiences of both the family and Javier as they prepare for and work together to make the boy's visit a success. Each seven-minute lesson centers on a particular topic—food, geography, clothing, etc.—and the approach is total immersion. A conversation between family members or Javier and his host family introduce the topic of each lesson. One excellent aspect of this approach is that the Americans speak Latin American Spanish and Javier and his sister speak European Spanish, giving students the opportunity to hear similarities and differences in both dialects. The conversational segments are followed by vocabulary exercises in which words and phrases from the conversations are presented by showing a picture, hearing the pronunciation in Spanish, and seeing the word or phrase written in both Spanish and English. Lessons are completed with a song containing the words introduced. Games that allow students to match pictures to words provide additional support. This is most suitable for intermediate level students since some previous knowledge of Spanish is necessary.—Ann Welton, Helen B. Stafford Elementary, School, Tacoma, WA