Cold Spring Harbor Schools FLES  Program Philosophy

(Foreign Language in the Elementary School)

Borrowed from and created by Jessica Haxhi, FLES teacher

We want our students to:

• love studying a foreign language.
• love learning Spanish.
• develop a range of skills necessary for becoming proficient in any foreign language, such as looking for clues, interpreting words in context, and dealing with “foreign" situations.
• develop good communication skills for any situation, such as listening carefully. 
• feel comfortable speaking in Spanish, to native speakers, non-native speakers, and their friends.                     
• have a sense of the concept of culture in general and Spanish culture in particular.                                         
• develop their knowledge of their own culture and language through learning about another language.                   
• want to learn more about Spanish-speaking countries and Spanish-speaking people.

We have to remember:

• that our students are young children.
• that our student has formal Spanish instruction two times a week for 30 minutes.
• that any activity we create must be interesting and comprehensible for our students. 

Therefore, we:

• speak Spanish about 90% of the class time.
• establish a friendly, low-stress, yet disciplined classroom so that everyone has a safe environment in which to learn.
• encourage students to use Spanish whenever possible.
• give our students hints if they have trouble remembering a word.
• create units that are age-appropriate and fun, with a strong beginning, middle, and end (like a story!)
• create lessons that incorporate language, culture, comparisons, and subject area content.
• introduce students to a variety of cultural games, items, crafts, songs, holidays, and customs.                                  
• give students an opportunity to use what they learn outside the classroom, through homework challenges, take-home projects, and a comprehensive website.