HOW do we teach languages at Bank Street?

• The message must be meaningful: we give students language in a context that makes it meaningful, often focusing on:

• the students’ own experiences

• cultural curricula about the countries that speak the target language

HOW do we teach languages at Bank Street?

• We offer students concrete experiences: hands-on projects that involve the student both in language and culture. For example the 11’s making flags and maps of Spanish speaking countries

HOW do we teach languages at Bank Street?

• Many different methods and channels: what works for one student does not work for the next. We are conscious of different learning styles. We strongly rely on visuals but also require writing and homework assignments that reinforce the material learned.

• We use many different language learning methodologies from TPR (total physical response) to Grammar Translation (in the 13s)

HOW do we teach languages at Bank Street?

• Immersion in the language: Although we only have 160 minutes a week to expose students to the target language, we do our best to present instruction and require classroom communication to be in Spanish or in French. Sometimes, the students may even have assignments in which they must use the target language outside of class.

HOW do we teach languages at Bank Street?

• We lower the affective filter: In other words, we create a safe environment for children to understand and produce a new language. Students are encouraged to speak in every class and have many opportunities to do so during each.

11/12s

12/13s

13/14s

Los 11/12

meet 4 times a week for 40 minutes each class

review and expand on the Spanish they’ve learned throughout the Lower and Middle Schools

have regular quizzes to assess learning

have many opportunities to speak and write in Spanish during class, as well as for homework

El trabajo de los 11/12

Los 12/13

meet 4 times a week for 40 minutes each class

have regular quizzes to assess learning of vocabulary, phrases and grammar, as well as midterm and final exams

are introduced to formalized grammar (ie. conjugating verbs)

use the grammar they learning (abstract concepts) in meaningful and concrete ways

Ejemplos del trabajo de los 12/13

Ejemplos del trabajo de los 12/13

• Inventing and conjugating an imaginary verb

• Making a scrapbook about their summer experiences

• Making a website about a Spanish city

Los 13/14

meet 4 times a week for 40 minutes each class

continue their study of formalized grammar, as well as cultural studies

have weekly quizzes, as well as midterm and final exams, and projects

are given opportunities to use their expanded knowledge of Spanish to further their fluency as well as reading and writing skills

keep journals in the second part of the year

13s Hispanic/Latino people unit

Examples of 13/14s Spanish work

Students have researched various important Spanish speakers

They are now creating a skit imagining they are the people they’ve learned about.