The following is a letter from Stoddert’s world language teacher for all parents and students…

Dear Parents/Guardians, and Students,

Welcome back to our Spanish lessons! I look forward to working with all my students and support them as they face the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. I believe that by all of us working together we can make this a very successful year.

For all new parents and students my name is Ana Lucia Villarraga, Spanish teacher. All our students have 45 minutes of Spanish instruction once a week. During the lessons the students engage in multiple learning activities like but not limited to learning and singing songs, dancing, listening to stories, role playing, describing, playing games that involve new vocabulary and math concepts, acting out simple dialogues, reciting poems, reading short stories, integrating other subjects and technology to the target language, team work, and many other activities and strategies all related to a second language acquisition. Our students also get an insight into the Hispanic Culture and actively participate in cultural events related to the language.

Parents, to help your child retain and maintain the information they learn in the Spanish classroom, encourage him/her to practice some Spanish at home by singing songs, completing the homework, writing flash cards with vocabulary words and pictures, reciting verses, playing games in Spanish, expressing things with Spanish words, phrases, or sentences according to his/her age and grade, watching programs for children in the Spanish Language channels; exploring websites intended for Spanish language acquisition like Linguazone.com, Quia.com…

HOMEWORK
The students from 1st to 5th grade will either have homework to complete or a review practice weekly.

MATERIALS REQUIRED FOR THE CLASS
*Pencil, eraser, some paper to take notes, and a folder to file the subject work; the students must bring these materials to all Spanish lessons. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade classes will have a Spanish workbook to complete assignments and practice here in class.

I am looking forward to work with you and your child and have a school year full of engaging and learning experiences for our students.
Sincerely,

Ana Lucia Villarraga
World Language Teacher