Sharing the Gifts of Languages

Twice a month, Shelley Thornton, the Spanish teacher at Fair Grove High School, has been taking her Spanish three and four classes to the elementary to teach 2nd graders some simple Spanish as part of their curriculum. 

Last year, the Spanish classes visited a few elementary classes to share some of the language. This came with a flow of awesome feedback from the students, their parents, and the teachers; so this year they decided to continue going down and expand their trips down some more. 

“Our plan is to visit each class 1-2 times a month through the end of the school year,” explained Thornton.

When learning a foreign language there are a few different parts that you need to learn. Thornton shared, “Our Spanish program objectives include using Spanish outside of class, in interactions with others, and sharing what we know in the community. Last year, we visited a few elementary classes to teach them some basic Spanish and had great feedback from students, parents, and teachers.”

With the Spanish program’s goal of going down once to twice a month, for the rest of this school year, they have partnered with all the 2nd grade teachers to give them a chance to use their skills in a different setting and complete parts of the speaking aspect of their curriculum. 

“The elementary teachers have told us that their kids look forward to our visits and are always asking “Do we have Spanish today!?” Thornton went on to say, ”We are always working to promote a love of Spanish and learning, so this has been a fun way to remind my students how fun and exciting it can be to teach and learn a second language.”

They play language games and activities with the 2nd graders, teaching them common Spanish words. “So far we have covered greetings & introductions and numbers 0-10. By the end of the year, we hope to have taught them colors, the alphabet, animals, days of the week, and months of the year,” shared Thornton. 

Haydn Hall (12) has taken Spanish all four years of high school and explained that earning a second language can be difficult. He shared, “It feels great doing this for them and teaching them Spanish. We all really enjoy hanging out with the 2nd graders and at the end of the day it’s one of the best parts of Spanish.”

Having a fun way to use the things the Spanish students have learned gives them a chance to really understand it without being tiring. “Both the high school students and the second graders love it!” Thornton went on to say, “My students get more familiar with the vocabulary as they repeat it and teach it to the elementary kids, and some of what we do requires them to get outside of their comfort zones, act silly, and run around. We have a great time.”