Specialties
Spanish
Spanish is taught as a foreign language in 5th through 8th grades. The goal of our Spanish program is that students will graduate with basic conversational and written Spanish that is comparable to the first year of Spanish in high school. Graduating 8th graders who desire a challenge and are ready take the Spanish entry test at their high school to pass in to Spanish II as a freshman.
TPRS Method
The TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) method in all Spanish classes. In 5th grade, students start taking Spanish. On the first day of class, they learn actions that go along with vocabulary and how to put the new vocabulary in to sentences. Vocab is taught in context starting on day one and continues to be taught in this way throughout their middle school experience. By the end of fifth grade, students are reading and writing half-page stories with humorous characters and fun actions. Grammar concepts such as gender, number, and verb conjugations are introduced along with vocab words. Additionally, sentence structures that differ from sentence structures in English are practiced daily. As well as creating, telling, acting out, and writing stories, we play many games and listen to a variety of songs that help with vocab acquisition.
In 6th-8th grade students continue learning more advanced sentence structures and building on the grammar concepts and vocabulary that they know. In each grade level, students read a chapter book: Brandon Brown versus Yucatan in 6th and Esperanza in 7th. In 8th grade students read a variety of novels in literature circles. We also review vocab through games and music, and we do many engaging grammar and vocabulary activities. Students regularly write and perform skits and short stories in class, so look for your child bringing these home and he/she can translate for you.
Washington State K-12 World Language Learning Standards
All Washington State K-12 World Language Learning Standards from OSPI are addressed at ASB throughout the 4 years that students take Spanish.
Washington State K-12 World Language Learning Standards from OSPI and which standards go under which skills at ASB:
- Shows evidence of understanding written and spoken Spanish
1.2 Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics
4.1 Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own
5.1 Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting
- Communicates effectively through speaking and writing
1.1 Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions
1.3 Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics
3.1 Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the world language
5.1 Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting
- Demonstrates understanding of culture
2.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied
2.2 Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied
3.1 Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the world language
3.2 Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the world language and its cultures
4.2 Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own
5.1 Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting
Physical Education
Standard One: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns. This standard is the “Can Do” piece. Is the student showing the ability to perform loco-motor and non loco-motor activities as well as performing sports skills and dance steps.
Standard Two: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics related to movement and performance. This standard is the cognitive piece, the “Knows Why”. The student knows how the game works and applies (or attempts to apply) strategies and can explain what they mean to another participant.
Standard Three: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness. This standard life long learner piece, the “Will Always Do”. Does the student value fitness and activity both in and out of school. This standard is the self-starter piece where they demonstrate their readiness to play and learn.
Standard Four: The physically literate individual exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others. The student is a respectful member of the community and demonstrates sportsmanship.
Standard Five: The physically literate individual recognizes the value of physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, or social interaction. The student is a responsible member of the class and participates positively.
Library & Technology
- Anticipate and respond to the students’ need for information.
- Provide reading materials to meet the interests of all the students.
- Nurture a desire to read.
- Encourage lifelong learning.
The library is available to students and staff every school day. Kindergarten through 5th grade students have weekly scheduled library time while 6th – 8th grade students use the library resources to support their studies.
Below is the Essential Learning Curriculum adopted by the Catholic School Librarians’ Group in the Archdiocese of Seattle. In conjunction with the American Association of School Librarians Standards for the 21st Century Learner guide the information, research, and reading skills taught at ASB.Essential Learning Curriculum
To meet this standard, the student will:
- recognize that the library is a place to find information
- recognize that the catalog is an index to all materials in the library
- learn search strategies for subject, series, authors, titles
- learn electronic search strategies for keywork (include Boolean)
- understand the parts of a library record
- understand the function and use of the call number (NF +F and how it relates to physical location in the library
- recognize that different reference sources will answer different types of questions (almanac, encyclopedias,
etc.) - learn online search strategies
- understand concept of a database
To meet this standard the students will:
- locate materials from MARC records in library databases
- l earn parts of title page: author, titles, publisher and place of publication
- learn part found on versa: copyright
- understand uses for dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, almanac, encyclopedias
- locate materials by call number: Fiction, biography, mystery, Newbery, Caldecott
- know the purpose of the spine label; understand the symbols; understand the alpha concept of last names first
- use the best reference source for information purposes
- make effective choices of electronic resources for research
- use relevant websites for age appropriateness/grade level
- use different search engines for purpose of searching
- use key words for effective searching
- understand the part of the book: dedication, table of contents, bibliography, glossary, index
- scan and skim for major ideas
- understands uses for biographical and geographical dictionaries
- interpret graphic sources for information: charts, schedules, diagrams, globe, surveys, maps
- understand and use Boolean searching techniques
- understand alphabetizing concept: shelving, indexes, etc.
Essential Learning #3 Students will evaluate and extract information.
To meet this standard, the student will:
- identify and select specialized reference materials
- understand bibliography , cite author’s sources
- understand dated vs. current information
- identify authors’ bias in print and electronic sources
- distinguish between opinion and fact
- evaluate web sites according to access, design and content
- learn ethical use of information and technology
To meet this standard, the student will:
- recognize the Caldecott Award
- recognize the Newbery Award
- select materials based upon the synopsis of the book/jacket
- select books based upon
- favorite authors
- popular series
- subject matter
- recognize fiction
- recognize non-fiction
- recognize genres
- recognize books at appropriate levels/interest
- analyze non-fiction materials for current relevancy versus outdated information