Thematic Free Range Learning

Matt,

I am writing to tell you about how wonderfully the English to Spanish work is coming. There are many fun parts to this program. My kids are now very excited about the last fifteen minutes of our day. This is obviously when we do the language program with the parts of the house worksheets. Let me start from the beginning. We used to finish with Grammar at the end of the day. Now we learn Spanish. I start by handing out one of the pictures of the parts of the house, and then the kids color it. As they are coloring, I asked them to try to enunciate the words on the paper. This is my favorite time of day because now that we have been doing this for a few weeks, the kids are really getting into it. They not only enjoy coloring the page, but they love to roll their tongues when they say the parts of the house. It sounds like I have room full of sewing machines working at full throttle. I give them time to color the page and predict how the word will be said. I bring up the part of the program where it is correctly enunciated for us and we listen to it a few times through, practicing it each time. Then we review the other words we have learned. The kids each have a binder that they put their coloring sheets into. Some kids have even taken the binders off of the shelf during the day to practice on their own.

I already have had 4th grade parents talk about how they want their children in my class next year so they can begin to learn Spanish. I ask parents how they heard I was teaching Spanish and they say that their children have friends in my classroom and that they love it. The word is spreading.

As the union rep in my building, I have recommended fellow teachers try this program. I realize that most teachers feel overwhelmed with the required curriculum; this program is an exciting, easy way to teach something interesting that is not required. I do not feel like I have one more thing to teach. Teaching Spanish has been fun and this program gives me a way to be excited about something at the end of the day and learn something new myself. Everything is user friendly and has really changed the last 15 minutes of the school day. No longer do I have worn out kids, dreading the last assignment of the day. Now they have a worn out teacher, looking to have a siesta on el sofa when he gets home.

Brett Smith
5th grade teacher / LEA union rep
Linden Elementary