World Languages at Elementary School: Engaging, Fun & Build Foundation for the Future
This fall, a World Language program was reintroduced at Harrison’s elementary schools, Parsons, Harrison Avenue, Preston, and Purchase. The World Language curriculum, aligned with the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program, is an immersive learning experience to help students build a foundation for language learning and acquisition. The district welcomes our elementary World Language teachers, Marissa Coulihan and Wendy Torres. ¡Bienvenidas!
The Elementary World Language program aims to expose students to languages other than English in a language-rich environment where the teachers and students use the target language most of the time. Early exposure to world languages builds a linguistic foundation for high proficiency at the secondary level.
Teachers develop lessons in which students are immersed in Spanish (the target language) and create a collaborative classroom environment that encourages students to learn from each other. As the program expands, other languages will be added in the coming years. The program is in all four elementary schools, and students have already learned foundational language skills. They use their new skills to talk about themselves and the world around them, speak to one another, sing, listen to music, and play games to practice.
Here’s what our classroom teachers have shared:
- At recess, the kids practice their Spanish.
- They request to go to the Spanish Google Classroom when there is downtime.
- I can’t believe the whole lesson was in Spanish and the kids knew what to do!
- It has been purely joyful to watch our students shine and excel!