The second year of the Maple Valley Schools Spanish pilot program saw third and fourth graders continue learning the language. Third graders learned songs, dances, and body parts from Argentina and Mexico. Fourth graders covered additional topics and used their passports to visit Cuba, Mexico, and Colombia, improving their reading comprehension. Students enjoyed learning dances like the cumbia and ranchera and looking forward to further Spanish study in the future.

1. WLES Maple Valley Schools Pilot Program Year Two 2007 2008 Sra. Mindy Otto, Maestra de español Coach Tony & Don Chemo Rodriguez Cultural Consultants

2. 2007-2008 was the second year elementary students at Maple Valley Schools got the chance to learn Spanish. The 3 rd graders were exposed to the basics like…

3. Program Year One

4. Third graders used passports to travel to the Spanish-speaking countries of Argentina and Mexico

5. We learned the jarocho song “La Bamba” and Don Chemo taught us the dance to go with it!

6. We learned a few songs from Argentina like “Los Elefantes,” and “El Gallo Pinto.” We used some traditional instruments like maracas to go with the song.

7. We had a great time learning out body parts. We are great at “Simon Dice,” and the song “Cabeza, hombros, rodillas, pies.”

8. The Fourth graders continued to learn a lot this year in Spanish. Some topics they covered were…

10. We used our passports to travel to the Spanish-speaking countries of Cuba, Mexico, and Colombia.

11. We have gotten really good at reading and understanding Spanish this year!

12. We like to tell Señora Otto the answers! It’s really exciting when we know what she is saying.

13. We learned quite a few dances from Don Chemo this year. Here, we are doing the Cumbia.

14. These couples are dancing a ranchera for our Tex-Mex style song, “Lluvia de Estrellas” from Mexico. These girls are practicing the moves that a girl performs during the Cumbia.

15. We have really enjoyed learning Spanish this year and can’t wait until next year when we can learn even more. We are also excited to travel with our passports to more Spanish-speaking countries all over the world!