Eighth Grade Spanish
Course Description
Eighth-grade Spanish as a Second Language is an interactive course designed to provide a rich learning environment with a social justice emphasis where students experience and connect language and culture with real-world life. By practicing different language learning techniques, students select their learning system to apply and review grammar skills in various oral and written exercises and projects. Literacy skill components include listening, verbal, reading comprehension, and writing. This course connects multicultural activities with the preparation for the Day of the Dead, the Spanish Poetry Contest, and general cultural and language preparation for Puerto Rico's trip.
As an essential component of this course, students explore and learn different concepts, such as immigration, racism, morality, and courage, through cultural and language activities. Every unit of study is reinforced with technology resources and by completing pairs and group projects.
Educational videos, games, melodies, and acting reinforce each cultural and language unit. At the end of eighth grade, students have functional proficiency by practicing and improving their thinking process in the target language. In addition, students should be able to apply Spanish vocabulary in oral and written presentations, employ grammar skills in the present, past, and future tenses, participate in conversations, read, tell stories, and write summaries in Spanish.
Units of Study:
Unit 1: Immigration
What is immigration? Why do people immigrate?
Students will review 7th-grade grammar skills by reading a TPR book, "El viaje de su vida," and practicing vocabulary and grammar in diverse written and oral exercises. In addition, stories connected with the natural world and our community will cover the immigration unit.
Unit 2: Racism
What can you do individually to avoid racism?
Students will explore the concept of racism by making language and cultural observations on real-life stories of people from different cultural backgrounds. Approach the racism concept by reading newspaper articles related to racism situations happening in the community. Students will practice the present tense in other written and oral exercises on grammar.
Unit 3: The Day of the Dead in the Mexican Culture: Comparing Cultures
What represents the Day of The Dead in Mexican Culture?
This unit focuses on an ancient indigenous Mexican holiday, and it aims to enrich cultural appreciation, values, and traditions from other cultures. Students also make linguistic and cultural observations by interacting directly with hands-on activities while preparing for the Day of the Dead ceremony. While training with cultural activities, students are connected with language by learning and practicing grammar in diverse written and oral exercises.
Unit 4: Morality
What is morality?
Students study the concept of morality by reflecting on respect for diverse cultural backgrounds, where caring and citizenship are essential values in this process. In terms of grammar, students are introduced to using and applying regular verbs in the past tense by reading brief stories related to morality and learning how to apply connective words and reflexive pronouns in oral and written exercises.
Unit 5: Courage
What is courage? How do you express your courage?
Students engage in brainstorming activities describing the concept of courage and expressing these main ideas on diverse projects, such as reflecting on Frida Kahlo's paintings. In grammar, students exercise regular and irregular verbs in the past tense, adjectives, and reflexive pronouns in stories related to courage.
Unit 6: Poetry Experience and Contest
How do I perform a poem in front of an audience?
Students engage in hands-on activities by selecting a Spanish-language poem, understanding vocabulary, developing reading comprehension in poetic or figurative language, memorizing the poem, and practicing how to recite a poem in front of the group. These activities promote the ability to search for and plan a written project individually and in teamwork.
Unit 7: Puerto Rico Research Project
How do I present an oral presentation of my research project in front of the group?
Students engage in hands-on activities by preparing an oral presentation related to Puerto Rico. The presentation will be based on a research project written in teams by selecting a topic related to Puerto Rico's history, costumes, culture, and traditions. Students will develop the skills of presenting a subject with proper Spanish pronunciation and applying a wide variety of new vocabulary.