Spanish Native Language Levels 1, 2, 3, Honors and AP Spanish Literature

I. Philosophy, Goals, and Objectives Philosophy

The curriculum was created for the purpose of addressing native language instruction as a bridge to develop language and cultural literacy in both the native language and English. Consequently, this will create an environment in which students’ background knowledge and personal experiences are valued and utilized, leading to a differentiated quality instruction based on students’ needs.

• Quality instruction should:
• Promote academic rigor through the use of higher-order thinking skills, active reasoning, and challenging tasks
• Be meaningful and challenging to students and connected to real-life situations, their lives, personal experiences) and at the appropriate level
• Incorporate all four language skills/modalities (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) Teach grammar in context
  Focus on academic language and interpreting text
  Address students’ needs
• Incorporate project-based learning and extended projects
• Use scaffolding techniques by allowing students to activate their prior knowledge and build on it. This, in turn, will allow students to make connections between past learning and new concepts
• Be student-centered, with the teacher as a facilitator

II. Language literacy should enable the reader to:

1. Develop academic language that will permit the student to excel across the disciplines
2. Use language for social and cultural interaction
3. Acquire an extensive vocabulary
4. Express ideas both orally and in writing as well as comprehend language in all of its aspects
5. Expand and improve the quality of language by being consistent and constant Distinguish the use of language according to the setting of the situation

Cultural literacy should promote:

1. Appropriate cultural elements that reflect diversity
   Activities that develop respect for the different cultural backgrounds
2. A representation of a variety of elements that focus on both the similarities and differences of all Hispanic/Latino cultures
3. Use of oral communication that is culturally appropriate to each situation Sensitivity to the different cultural backgrounds of the student in the classroom
4. The development of the necessary skills to reorganize and respond to different cultural situations and experiences

• Meeting student’s needs through:
• Making available a wide variety of resources from all Spanish-speaking countries as well as from the United States’ Spanish-speaking population
• Providing the students with the opportunity to learn different genres
• Promoting reading and writing
• Promoting oracy
• Infusing technology into daily lessons
• Teaching grammar in context
• Addressing all different styles and multiple intelligences
• Creating interdisciplinary lessons
• Personalizing instruction
• Delivering student-centered instruction
• Using flexible grouping
• Using Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives as a resource to guide instruction

Goals

In a proficiency-based Spanish Native Language program, students will be able to:

• Utilize language to strengthen interdisciplinary knowledge
• Become lifelong learners of languages and cultures
• Listen, speak, read, and write in social, academic, and career-oriented situations
• Appreciate and understand one’s native/heritage culture and build a foundation to understand other world cultures

Understand, analyze, and evaluate:

 information
 all types of media
 literary and informational texts

Respond and express oneself critically in relation to:

 information
 all types of media
 literary and informational texts

Increase the stages of text complexity through the study of the various native languages Increase college readiness through:

 writing argumentative essays
 researching different media types
 citing sources
 reading literature and informational texts

Objectives

In a proficiency-based Spanish Native Language program, the students will be able to:

• Distinguish between appropriate modes of speech in varying social settings (e.g., formal/informal interactions, business relationships, interpersonal relationships)

• Read for textual analysis, interpretation, understanding of information, and to develop sensitivity to a variety of informational texts and literary genres
• Write with a range of compositional effectiveness in consideration of Academic, Formal, and Informal audiences
• Use evidence to support their own ideas in all four language modalities
• Listen for meaning, spoken cues for specific information, conceptual understanding, and interpretation
• Use technology and digital media strategically and capably to enhance reading, speaking, listening, writing, and language use
• Identify traits of their own culture and other Hispanic/Latino and world cultures Develop a desire a lifelong interest in exploring world cultures
  Develop pride in their own culture and the study of their own language