Spanish
Gulf Shores Elementary School is among a handful of public elementary schools in Alabama with a World Language program- truly innovative and wave-making!
At GSES, all students (PreK-5th grades) learn Spanish as a World Language through the Enrichment Program. Classes include Spanish language lessons and practice, as well as culture, geography, history, music and art. Spanish classes incorporate technology into the lessons where appropriate, and Spanish, Music, Art, Library and STEAM regularly coordinate lessons and activities in order to provide students with a deeper understanding of topics.
Below is a list of how we implement Spanish into our school:
- Spanish Program
- Sociedad Hispancia de Amistad
- Morning Announcements in Spanish
- San Jordi
- Multilingual Library
- Embedding content areas in language learning
- Enrichment Collaboration
We are so proud of our Spanish as a World Language Program at GSES! Classes include Spanish language lessons and practice, as well as culture, geography, history, music and art.
Some highlights of the GSES Spanish Program include:
- Sociedad Hispánica de Amistad, Capítulo Don Quijote (Spanish Club, Don Quijote Chapter)- a nationally recognized interest club and honor society for elementary students of Spanish.
- Morning Announcements in Spanish- each morning, a member of the Sociedad Hispánica de Amistad shares the habit of the day in Spanish over morning announcements.
- San Jordi/ Día del Libro/ Premio Cervantes- This three-in-one Spanish holiday falls on April 23rd. Each year at the GSCS Earth Day celebration (held on April 22nd) the Sociedad Hispánica de Amistad and GSES Spanish Teacher recreate the Spanish traditions of giving a book and a rose, and holding a continuous reading of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quijote de la Mancha. Ten dozen roses donated by City of Gulf Shores.
- Multilingual Library- The GSES Spanish Department, through funding from GSES PTSO and Baldwin EMC Starlight Grant, is currently building a Multilingual Library! Most books are in Spanish, the language all students are studying, but many are offered in other home languages of GSES students (currently Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Czech, Vietnamese, and Chinese). This project is designed to encourage students to read in Spanish and in their home languages (as well as in English), thereby facilitating not only bilingualism, but biliteracy as well. Gulf Shores High School students may earn the Seal of Biliteracy on their high school diploma.
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Embedding content areas in language learning- Spanish classes often reinforce key concepts from content areas. For example, students enjoy listening to and reading a story in Spanish, and then review English Language Arts standards on text features. Or, students study current events about the volcanic eruption in La Palma, Spain, and then review landforms (Science standard).