SPANISH
IMMERSION
news
Noche de Cultura is almost here
For the past few months we’ve been working hard at preparing for our
Noche de Cultura, which is happening this Thursday, April 6 from 57pm in the gym. Our goal is to expose students and their families to a
variety of aspects of Mexican culture in a fun, hands-on way. We want
to connect the immersion language with one of the cultures it
represents. Because of our proximity to Mexico, there are lots of things
we know about Mexico. But Mexico is big and has tremendous diversity
we don’t often hear about.
All of RCS is experiencing a bit about Mexico this week—Mrs. Kouwe
has planned art lessons that incorporate a different Mexican-themed
project for all K-5 students! Maestra Gonzalez, who teaches K-5
Spanish in the afternoons, is also teaching her students about
Mexico
z
this week. Our immersion teachers have incorporated Mexico in their
lessons as well!
APRIL 2017
expect language
empower students
embrace culture
With all the preparations that an event like this takes, many hands
have already made the work lighter—in fact, 25 different parents have
already volunteered their time or materials toward making our event
successful! And that was yet another one of my goals—seeing parents
come together and support our program in a tangible way. And it’s a
way that doesn’t require any Spanish speaking.
Hope to see you and your family there!
Julie In’t Hout
Director of Spanish Immersion Program
Upcoming Dates:
April 6: Noche de Cultura :: MÉXICO; 5-7pm in the gym May 5: Holland Festival prep—Minimum Day
April 13: Friendship Games—Minimum Day
May 6: Holland Festival
April 14 & 17: NO SCHOOL (Good Friday and Easter)
May 13: Family Field Trip to Olvera Street
April 20: Parent Charla: 3:20-4:00pm in the library
Mark your calendars for our Olvera Street family field trip
Overview: We have a field trip planned for the whole family to head to Olvera Street on Saturday, May 13.
We will see the historic (and maybe a little touristy) nature of the area, the plaza, original buildings, shops
and stands, and other landmarks in the area. We have created a scavenger hunt for families to complete
together to help them look at all there is to see. Students must be accompanied by an adult.
Travel: We will be riding the Metrolink all together from San Bernardino to Union Station. Weekend tickets
are $10 per person 6 and over (under 6 is free) and are roundtrip, good for the whole day, anywhere! Once
we get to Union Station, Olvera Street is only a couple of blocks away.
Time: We are still working on the exact times, but we plan to leave in the morning and arrive back at the
San Bernardino Metrolink Station in the afternoon.
Food: Pack snacks and/or a lunch, or feel free to grab lunch at a local restaurant with your family.
Changing signs
Velocidad summer camp dates announced
Have you seen some subtle
changes around our campus?
A few months ago we began
adding Spanish to many of
the signs around here. The
gym, bathrooms, lunch lineup, kitchen, library, even Mr.
Johnson’s office all has new
signs. Check them out!
Our immersion teachers have already begun making plans for a fun and
engaging summer camp for students. We realize it’s hard continuing to
immerse students in Spanish when they’re on break, so our camp is
designed to help with that.
There will be two different weeks our Spanish camp is offered: June 2630 and July 24-28.
Brochures with detailed information will be available on Thursday at
our Noche de Cultura and will be sent home with each student on
Friday.
Spring aalpas in Kindergarten – 2nd grade
The add.a.lingua performance assessment (aalpa) is a tool we use to measure progress surrounding
students’ abilities to engage in language learning activities across the interpretive (reading or listening),
interpersonal (spontaneous oral communication), and presentational (oral or written) modes of
communication. This assessment aligns to RCS and state standards, and is a way to explore the impact of
classroom instruction at the classroom level, articulation within the grade level, and over time as the
program grows. From this assessment, teachers and students will collaboratively set language learning
targets around reading, writing, speaking and listening skills in Spanish. As the aalpa assessment window
closes, individual student learning goals/targets will be shared with parents via classroom communication
channels.
The aalpa will be administered in Kindergarten through 2nd grade in the next couple of weeks.