How to Teach Second-Grade Spanish

Learning Spanish can be made into a fun and exciting experience, which is crucial when you are teaching kids. Second grade is a special grade. Most students fall somewhere between six and eight years old. Being an educator, I know that this age range is considered to be a window of opportunity for language development. Children tend to absorb the language at an easier rate. If you are planning on teaching Spanish to second-grade students, follow the steps below.

Things You'll Need

• Spanish labels for objects in the classroom
• Tape or wall charts
• Sentence strips
• Markers
• Pens
• Whiteboard
• Dry erase markers
• Eraser
• Assessment tools

Instructions

1. Label objects in the room. Use the Spanish word translation to label them. Label all you can, from the light switch to the teacher's desk. This will help the children get a visual reading of each object. At least three times a week, take time to say the words and have the children point to the corresponding object. Second-grade students started reading in first grade, so you are basically teaching them sight word recognition, in Spanish.

2. Teach the students the Spanish alphabet. They need to be able to say the correct pronunciation of each Spanish letter. Put small words together and have the children sound them out. Use words that correspond to concrete objects. This will help students keep a visual object in their minds to compare with the Spanish word. Feel free to write the English word and Spanish translation side by side, with a picture of the object posted as well.

3. Teach students some basic Spanish phrases, and post them where they can be seen easily. Put the English translation next to them. Some good examples are: "Good morning," "Hello," Good-bye," "Good night," "What is the date?" and "What is your name?" Use these phrases every day for review. You can add more phrases as the year progresses. Break students up into groups and have them practice talking to each other using the Spanish phrases.

4. Teach them two verbs. Two good ones to start with are "jugar" and "quierer," which are "play" and "want" in Spanish. Second graders will relate to these two words. Tell them that the end of these two words change according to the subject in the sentence.

5. Use the Spanish vocabulary and phrases they have learned to start creating sentences. Write the English equivalent with each Spanish sentence. Keep the sentences basic and simple. Avoid teaching complete verb conjugation at this stage. Simply place the verb in its correct form and point out how the verb changes depending on the subject. Using yo, el/ella and ellos/ellas forms are the best verb conjugations to use when teaching Spanish to the second graders. They should be familiar reading sentences with I, he/she and them.

Tips & Warnings

• Assess often by using a variety of tools. Quizzes, games and projects are great assessment tools.

• Watch your special needs students. If they are having a hard time going back and forth between the two languages, give them computer time, or a fun worksheet to do. Both still need to contain Spanish language skills, but they can be at a much easier level.

References

• Education World lessons
• EdSitement lessons and information