Karin Mountain
Foreign Language
The Spanish program at St. Joseph School is designed so that Spanish language skills are taught beginning in Pre-K and culminating with students completing the equivalent of their first year of high school Spanish during middle school.
In grades Pre-K through five, the Total Physical Response (TPR) Method of Language Learning is used. The teacher presents a new vocabulary word with an action that students repeat then uses multiple vocabulary words to build a story. By acting out the vocabulary words, students are better able to understand their meaning rather than translating the word in English. This method provides the methodology through which students step outside of English, helping them use Spanish more effectively.
Sixth grade students cover the first half of Spanish I and seventh grade students cover the second half of Spanish I. A balanced approach is used which incoprorates conversational skills, listening and comprehesion, and reading and writing. Students also learn the cultural aspects of the Spanish world.
Eighth grade students take a one year accelerated Spanish I program in order to prepare them to take the Knoxville Catholic High School Spanish placement test in the spring. The goal is for the students to test out of Spanish I and begin with Spanish II during the freshman year.
The Spanish Program belongs to The American Association for Teachers of Spanish and Portugese, which sponsors the National Spanish Exam that eighth graders take in the fall. Students in grades 2-8 participate in an annual Spanish Bee, Abejita Trofeo in Español. “El Buldogisto”, the Spanish newspaper, is published annually during the Cinco de Mayo celebration.
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