FLES Program Philosophy
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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.