Fifth Grade Spanish

   Instructor:  Elizabeth Morgan

   Email:  emorgan@woodlawnschool.org

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Synopsis & Integrated Pieces:

This year in Spanish, students discover how today’s Latino populations descend from a variety of indigenous cultures. Studying the pre-Columbian culture & civilizations throughout Latin America is a significant unit integrated with Language Arts, Social Studies, and Art as Latin America is a large component of the 5th Grade Standard Course of Study.  In Spanish, students examine Incan Life by looking at their foods, housing, artifacts, myths & legends. The Kuna Indian population of Panama is studied with emphasis on their traditional dress - students create their own Mola as a final product. The Aymara Indians of Bolivia are also studied with emphasis on their housing & water transportation.

Other projects include a study of Latino Liberty Leaders and in the spring, a unit on the natural wonders of Latin America & how they relate to Magic Realism.

Fifth Grade students build a vocabulary foundation around categories that include family, food, parts of the home, clothing, body & descriptive/comparative adjectives while learning how to ask and answer basic questions related to each unit. Key phrases and commands are taught throughout the year and a number of cognates are continuously presented as well. Students at this level begin to do more reading comprehension activities - learning to focus on cognate knowledge as they interpret what they read.

In grammar, students are introduced to the basics, including the gender of words, some verbs and personal pronouns. Students will be able to converse about daily things such as time, day, date, weather, and carry on with basic conversational greetings.

5th graders should expect to have homework.  By the end of 5th grade Spanish, students must be able to conduct a basic introductory conversation using proper word order.

Students will be able to read at grade level with ease.  

Questions to consider:

• What is the role of Pre-Columbian cultures in today’s societies of Latin America?
• How do geographical characteristics affect a community?
• Why is Spanish the official language of 19 countries in Latin America?
• How does where I live influence what I wear, what I eat or the kind of house I live in? 

Thematic Units:

Freedom Leaders of Latin America - Benito Juarez, Jose de San Martin & Simon Bolivar & how they shaped the 'New World'

The New World vs. the Indigenous World

Native Foods of Latin America

The Kuna - clothing, la Mola

The Aymara - housing, the Totora Plant

The Inca, Aztec & Maya - daily life