GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Curriculum Guide

Course Title: Spanish Grade 4

Subject: Spanish

Grade Level: 4

Department/School: Foreign Languages/Ridgewood Avenue

Duration: One year, meeting twice per cycle

Number of Credits: N/A

Prerequisite: None

Effective or Required: Required

Author: Alyssa DeSimone

Date Submitted: Summer 2005

Course Description

The purpose of the fourth grade Spanish program is to strengthen students’ knowledge of the Spanish language by adding new skills and referring back to and utilizing previously learned knowledge from third grade. Through stimulating and employing prior communicative and descriptive skills fostered during the preceding year, the students will begin to learn content necessary for describing their environment, such as how to express weather conditions and the many aspects of their community life. Additionally, all students will further enhance their Spanish vocabulary in learning how to identify colors, parts of the body, and various articles of clothing. Basic conversational rules and expressions of the Spanish language will be added and built upon, including formal introductions, forms of address, and courtesy words. The students will acquire and accomplish the aforementioned skills through stimulating verbal, musical, and artistic activities with their teacher and peers.

GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

WORLD LANGAUAGE MISSION STATEMENT

In a changing world of technology and multiculturalism, the world is getting smaller and the importance of multilingual abilities is becoming increasingly important. We in the World Language Department believe every individual in our school is capable of learning a foreign language to the best of their ability. Our emphasis is on communication and culture. Students will use correct syntax, grammar, and pronunciation. Included in our repertoire of activities is a study of both Francophone and Hispanic cultures. This also includes non-verbal clues common to these cultures. Students will be exposed to all forms of literature in the native language in their chosen second language, in the original form, depending on the level of study.

Students will also be exposed to the language not only through the use of the textbook but also through the use of multimedia, listening, speaking, reading, and writing activities. Native speakers will be invited and engaged whenever possible. Students will be expected to take an active role in the learning of the language since true communication is an active process. Students will be assessed in all four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Authentic assessment in real life, survival situations will be a part of all teachers’ classrooms. Available technology will be employed, working on collaborative activities within the framework of the topic.

New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards

World Language

STANDARD 7.1 (COMMUNICATION) ALL STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE IN AT LEAST ONE WORLD LANGUAGE IN ADDITION TO ENGLISH. THEY WILL USE LANGUAGE TO ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION, UNDERSTAND AND INTERPRET SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE, PRESENT INFORMATION, CONCEPTS, AND IDEAS WHILE MAKING CONNECTIONS WITH OTHER DISCIPLINES, AND COMPARE THE LANGUAGE/CULTURE STUDIED WITH THEIR OWN.

STANDARD 7.2 (CULTURE) ALL STUDENTS WILL DEMONSTRATE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE PERSPECTIVES OF A CULTURE(S) THROUGH EXPERIENCES WITH ITS PRODUCTS AND PRACTICES.

Curriculum Description

THEMATIC UNIT 1: EXPRESSING TIME AND WEATHER

Standards 7.1 & 7.2

Goal: The students will learn how to discuss and describe weather, and they will learn how to tell time by using prior knowledge of numbers and mathematical skills.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

1. Describe the weather on a given day and based on pictures. (7.1.A.4)

2. Identify the seasons of the year. (7.1.A.4)

3. Count from 31 – 100. (7.1.A.5)

4. Tell time to the hour and half hour. (7.1.A.5)

5. Recognize various times of the day. (7.1.A.5)

6. Connect seasonal differences to various geographical locations. (7.2.A.2)

7. Describe places of popularity and interest in Spanish-speaking countries. (7.2.A.1, 7.2.A.3)

8. Assign one Spanish word for each letter of the Spanish alphabet. (7.1.A.3)

Duration: One Semester

Activities

Students will:

- Describe weather conditions based on pictures and photographs.

- Create a Seasons of the Year booklet.

- Participate in counting games to learn numbers 31 –100.

- Observe and use clock visuals to learn to tell time.

- Partake in simple mathematical activities in order to establish an understanding of addition and subtraction and their relations to telling and expressing time in Spanish.

- List and describe specific activities that are done during certain times of the day.

- Observe maps to understand and reinforce the differences between different geographical weather conditions.

- Create a Spanish Alphabet Book consisting of one Spanish word for each letter of the Spanish alphabet.

THEMATIC UNIT 2: DESCRIBING IDENTITY

Standards 7.1 & 7.2

Goal: The students will learn how to discuss who they are by employing new adjectives, expressing identity, and making introductions.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

1. Utilize formal introductions properly. (7.1.A.1, 7.1.B.2)

2. Identify and describe their places of origin and the places of origin for others, as well. (7.1.A.3, 7.1.A.5)

3. Acknowledge and express various ethnic identities. (7.1.A.3)

4. Describe physical characteristics by using a variety of new vocabulary. (7.1.A.3, 7.1.C.2)

5. Apply the appropriate forms of masculine and feminine adjectives when describing themselves and others. (7.1.A.7)

6. Spell their names. (7.1.A.7)

7. Understand and describe the ancient civilization of Peru and its effect on modern life. (7.2.A.1, 7.2.C.1)

8. Research an assigned Spanish-speaking country and highlight factual, cultural, and tourist components. (7.1.A.5, 7.1.B.4, 7.1.C.4, 7.2.A.2)

Duration of time: One Semester

Activities

Students will:

- Role play with each other and the teacher using formal introductions.

- Describe their place (and their family’s place) of origin and learn their classmates’ places of origin through sharing known details.

- Create self-portrait artwork and use physical description adjectives to label and describe themselves to others.

- Utilize masculine and feminine adjectives when describing themselves, classmates and others on a daily basis.

- Spell their names aloud, to themselves, in small groups, and to the teacher using appropriate Spanish letters, sounds, and accents.

- Create a travel brochure on an assigned Spanish-speaking country and present it to the class.

THEMATIC UNIT 3: EXPERIENCING AND DESCRIBING COMMUNITY LIFE

Standards 7.1 & 7.2

Goal: The students will learn how to discuss people and places around town by understanding how to express places of common interest, discovering different professions, and extending conversational introductions and courtesy words.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

1. Learn and utilize a new selection of courtesy words. (7.1.B.2)

2. Locate and identify familiar places and places of interest around town. (7.1.A.3)

3. Distinguish between familiar and formal forms of address. (7.1.A.1, 7.2.B.1)

4. Cite common professions. (7.1.A.3, 7.1.B.6)

5. Understand the cultural tradition of bullfighting. (7.2.A.3)

6. Comprehend the cultural traditions of various culinary dishes from Spanish-speaking countries. (7.1.C.4, 7.2.A.1, 7.2.C.3)

Duration of time: One Semester

Activities

Students will:

- Use courtesy words in the classroom, in the school, and at home.

- Label pictures of familiar places around town.

- Create dialogues in groups based on certain given scenarios in order to distinguish between formal and familiar forms of address.

- Use profession titles to describe friends’ and families’ occupations.

- Create portrait entitled “Mi trabajo ideal” (My Ideal Job).

- Prepare a typical food or drink from a Spanish-speaking area.

THEMATIC UNIT 4: DESCRIBING AND MEETING OUR PERSONAL NEEDS

Standards 7.1 & 7.2

Goal: The students will learn how to say and describe basic personal needs while including new vocabulary such as various parts of the body and articles of clothing.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

1. Express hunger and thirst using the verb tener (“to have”). (7.1.B.3, 7.1.B.4)

2. Identify parts of the body. (7.1.A.3)

3. Identify various articles of clothing. (7.2.A.3)

4. Describe the color of clothing (while reinforcing proper adjective placement for nouns). (7.1.C.2, 7.1.A.7)

5. Understand the different kinds of traditional forms of Hispanic dress. (7.2.A.3)

6. Understand what it is like to learn a second language and move to a new country. (7.2.A.1, 7.2.A.2, 7.2.B.1, 7.2.C.3)

Duration of time: One Semester

Activities

Students will:

- Use the verb tener, meaning “to have” (conjugated appropriately when needed) to express thirst and hunger.

- Draw themselves in self-portrait form and label their body parts.

- Learn “Cabeza, hombres, rodillas y dedos de pie” song (Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes).

- Describe their own and their classmates’ clothing.

- Identify articles of clothing based on photographs.

- Dress a toy animal with clothing based on given instructions from the teacher.

- Use magnetic clothing on the chalkboard to dress a figure.

- Use knowledge of colors and attach them correctly (as adjectives) to nouns when describing clothing.

- Observe pictures of traditional Hispanic dress.

- Interview a Spanish-speaking individual to learn more about learning a second language, living in a new country, and learning/adopting a new culture.

Texts, Resources, and/or Literature

8. Internet and Professional Workshops