Ms. Schuler's Classroom

This is my 3rd year at Treynor High School teaching Spanish. Once again, I will be teaching Spanish 1 and 2 and the 7th grade Exploratory. I'm looking forward to working with the kids again this year and seeing how their language learning grows this year!

There is a change this year as we switch to a new curriculum called SOMOS. The focus will be on comprehensible input, which means that students will be learning the language and key vocabulary and grammar concepts by reading and listening to a variety of items. (That's the comprehensible input portion of the curriculum.) All stories, songs, and activities were specifically chosen to develop a learner's language ability and help them produce the language as well through speaking and writing. (The comprehensible input leads to output.) Here is a Parent Information Letter from Martina Bex (the creator of the SOMOS curriculum) to explain the basic structure we'll have in class. In addition to the class stories, we'll be completing a variety of different activities to practice target vocabulary and grammar structures.

A basic overview of a unit begins with introducing the vocabulary. The units have 3 or 4 key words or phrases that will be the foundation of the unit. We look at the translations, practice using the vocabulary in sentences, and several other activities to help practice the vocabulary. Then we create a story as a class to see practical applications for the vocabulary. Depending on the unit, there is usually a video we watch where I describe what's going on as they watch the visuals or there's a song that helps practice the vocabulary as well. Then, there is a cultural element for the students to learn about. There are several small assessments for the units, and after 3 or 4 units, we'll have a larger assessment.

Everything in the units is specifically chosen to give practice for the key vocabulary structures. Once we move on from a unit, students are still exposed to previous vocabulary in our stories and cultural readings. The purpose is to build a strong foundation for Spanish and then use that knowledge to build on top of it. 

Hopefully, this gives you a good idea about what to expect this year! I'm very excited for this switch, and I know the kids are going to love the stories, songs, and cultural focuses!