Spanish

 

Spanish at Deira International School

Learning a foreign language provides an opening to other cultures. A high-quality languages education fosters students’ curiosity and deepens their understanding of the world. The teaching enables students to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It also provides opportunities for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read in the original language. Language teaching provides the foundation for learning further languages, equipping pupils to study and work in other countries. It is also a way to foster community and understanding between people of all nationalities. It is a concrete action that all of us can take to move towards a more just and open-minded mentality which is essential in an international school.  

The learning of a foreign language provides indeed a valuable educational, social and cultural experience for students. It helps them to develop communication skills including key skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing and extends their knowledge of how language works. It gives students a new perspective on the world, encouraging them to understand their own cultures and those of others.  

We have designed our Key Stage 3 curriculum in order to give students the best foundation and tools to be able to converse in a different language. Being in an international setting, students are exposed to different languages and cultures, which is an advantage for language learning. 

Please click on the arrow for a detailed breakdown:

Curriculum Intention  

Students are taught how to: 

1. Read and pronounce the Spanish alphabet

2. Use personal pronouns 

3. Give simple opinions

4. Describe 

5. Use the present tense regular verbs 

6. Use the immediate future tense

7. Negate verbs

By the end of Year 9, students will be able to: 

1. Read and write in Spanish

2. Conjugate all regular and key irregular verbs in the present

3. Give information about themselves, their families and school

These are the foundation skills of Spanish – at this stage, students need to be able to construct simple accurate sentences and reflect on syntax making links with English or their native language and with the French they learnt in Year 7 (both are derived from Latin). We offer an accelerated course for students in Year 8 who wish to start a new language. They use their knowledge of French to cope with the challenges of Spanish.  

Students are developing their communication skills at KS3. This is a Life Skill that students will take beyond DIS giving them the ability to communicate in a foreign language. From KS3, students are exposed to the IB Learner Profile – displayed in MFL classroom in French / Spanish – teachers support students developing these qualities.   

Some examples of IB profile approaches: 

Reflective: reflection done after each written assessment with a clear individual target to act upon. 

Communicator: a variety of speaking / conversations / role-plays undertaken in lessons. 

Open-minded: discovering French and French-speaking culture and traditions. 

Curriculum Implementation  

1. Redraftingtoimprovewriting– using teacher’s feedback and successcriteria to improve writing and speaking skills.  

2. Authentic project – students draw + describe their family and classroom – digital learning.

3. Flipped learning – use of Education Perfect for independent learning of topic vocabulary.  

4. Investigating links between romance languages – students have learnt French at KS2 and in Year 7 – how are the two languages linked? What are their similarities and differences?

5. Researching- usingreferencematerials – online and offline reference materials to apply learnt grammar rules to new language. 

Grammar is the most challenging element of language learning. It is taught through the enquiry based approached along with questioning. 

Assessment  

At the end of Term 1, students are assessed on their productive skills of speaking and writing. At the end of Term 2 and Term 3, students are assessed on all 4 skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. 

Listening: students complete the listening assessment on Education Perfect in examination conditions. They answer a range of multiple-choice questions on the topics covered in the Term.  

Speaking: students independently prepare a presentation on questions given by the teacher and record it on Flipgrid. They are not allowed to read from a script. 

Reading: students complete the reading assessment on Education Perfect in examination conditions. They answer a range of multiple-choice questions on the topics covered in the Term. 

Writing:  Students respond to a range of questions on the topics covered in the Term. The assessment is handwritten and uploaded on OneNote. 

Wider Curriculum 

Outdoor opportunity:  

Cervantes Institute: watching a Spanish movie in the original version. 

Cross-curricular link: 

Maths: counting, mental arithmetic, telling the time, using money, calculating change 

Drama: role play conversation: introductions 

Geography: European countries and capital / cardinal points.  

Curriculum Impact  

Term 1:  

1. To give a basic personal information about themselves, including their names, age and birthdays 

2. To use a range of different regular verbs in the present tense accurately to describe what they do immediately after school and adapt this in various contexts. They will develop a sound knowledge of singular pronouns making links with English and their own native language.

3. To enquire about the formation of negative sentences to describe what they and others do not have in their school bags.

4. Students will be able to pronounce phonics accurately understanding and applying the rules around pronunciation and therefore would be understood by a Spanish native speaker. 

5. To ask and give information about the contents of their school bags using the key verb tener

Term 2:  

1. Students will reinforce the description skills seen in Term 1 to accurately describe their town and will learn how to justify opinions. 

2. Students will be able to use the main irregular verbs tenerand ser to give information about their timetables and teachers. 

3. Students be able to conjugate regular verbs in the present tense, transferring patterns to newly encountered verbs.

4. Students will use their knowledge of numbers and use of quererto ask and pay for food at the canteen. 

5. Students will reinforce their knowledge on how to give opinions and how to justify them in different contexts, school subjects, teachers and timetable. 

Term 3:  

1. Students will be able to describe themselves and their family members.

2. To accurately and fluently conjugate tenerand ser in the present tense. 

3. Conjugate regular AR, IR and ER verbs in the present tense.

4. To understand and apply the rules of adjectival agreements.

Curriculum Intention  

Students are taught how to: 

1. Make links between personal pronouns and more complex subjects of the sentence

2. Use present, past and future tenses

3. Use complex opinions followed by a variety of justifications

4. Use irregular verbs for 3 tenses

By the end of Year 9, students will be able to: 

1. Use negative structures and idiomatic expressions

2. Talk about a range of topics including 4 tenses

3. Develop spontaneous speech

At this stage, students are building up skills over the last year that would enable to achieve a strong grade B low grade A at IGCSE. They are working on developing all four languages skills of speaking, reading, listening, and writing.   

Students are developing their communication skills at KS3. This is a Life Skill that students will take beyond DIS giving them the ability to communicate in a foreign language. From KS3, students are exposed to the IB Learner Profile – displayed in MFL classroom in French / Spanish – teachers support students developing these qualities.    

Some examples of IB profile approaches: 

Reflective: reflection done after each written assessment with a clear individual target to act upon. 

Communicator: a variety of speaking / conversations / role-plays undertaken in lessons. 

Open-minded: discovering French and French-speaking culture and tradition. 

Curriculum Implementation  

1. Presenting– usecreativity to describe a recent visit to the cinema. 

2. Reasoningand deducting- use of existing knowledge of the present tense of reflexive verbs and the preterite tense to work out how to describe daily routine in the past.  

3. Modelling- making links with English to reflect on how Direct Object Pronouns are used in Spanish. 

4. Debating about the importance of learning languages.

5. Redrafttoimprovewriting– using teacher’s feedback and SuccessCriteria to improve writing and speaking skills. 

Grammar is the most challenging element of language learning. It is taught through the enquiry based approached along with questioning. 

Assessment  

At the end of Term 1, students are assessed on the productive skills of speaking and writing. At the end of Term 2 and Term 3, students are assessed on all 4 skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. 

Listening: students complete the listening assessment on Education Perfect in examination conditions. They answer a range of multiple-choice questions on the topics covered in the Term.  

Speaking: students independently prepare a presentation on questions given by the teacher and record it on Flipgrid. They are not allowed to read from a script. 

Reading: students complete the reading assessment on Education Perfect in examination conditions. They answer a range of multiple-choice questions on the topics covered in the Term. 

Writing:  Students respond to a range of questions on the topics covered in the Term. The assessment is handwritten and uploaded on OneNote. 

Wider Curriculum 

Outdoor opportunity: 

Cervantes Institute: watching a Spanish movie in the original version. 

Cross-curricular link: 

Science: describing injuries, symptoms, debating on the importance of keeping healthy.  

Drama: role play conversation: at the doctor’s office 

Curriculum Impact  

Term 1:  

1. To reinforce their knowledge of the near future tense to talk about when they are going to go to the cinema and what they are going to watch.

2. To learn the conditional tense so they can talk about where they would like to do at the weekend.  

3. To accurately use a wider range of structures such as comparative and superlative to describe what they or others like to watch on TV. 

4. To compare movies and TV programmesjustifying their opinions. 

Term 2:  

1. To learn how to use the preterit tense with regular and irregular verbs to describe past holidays, where they went, stayed and who they went with.

2. To talk about the importance of learning about Spanish speaking countries using complex connectives to develop ideas. 

Term 3:  

1. To describe symptoms and talk about illness; to take part in role play conversation at the doctor’s office using ser and estarexpressions accurately.  

2. To reinforce their knowledge of the preterit tense to describe past injuries accurately. 

3. To describe their lifestyle and to use a range of complex negative sentences to discuss / give advice on what to do to keep healthy and why it is important to lead a healthy lifestyle. 

At the end of KS3, students would say that they find learning a language challenging as it is often quite different from their native language. A challenge that is rewarding. They would take pride on their ability to communicate in French or Spanish.  

Unit / Block of workKey Episodes / QuestionsAdditional DetailLength of time.Possible Symbol?Learner Attribute(s)
1.1
Introductions
Introducing oneselfGrammar:
Asking and answering questions
Intonation
Pronunciation of Spanish letters (h, ll, v)
4 lessonsWaving HandRisk-Taker
Asking someone’s name
Saying where you live
Practising a dialogue with your classmates
TOK: What are the benefits of speaking other languages?
1.2
Birthdays
Asking and giving agesGrammar:
Numbers 1-31
Key verb TENER, first 3 pronouns
Pronunciation – c, ñ, j, g, z
8 lessonsBirthday cakeCommunicator
Finding personal information from texts to complete a table
Asking and giving birthdays and dates
Listening for key information from a recording
Writing an introductory email about yourself
1.3
The Alphabet
Reading and writing the Spanish alphabetGrammar:
Accents and diacritics
Spanish phonology
4 lessonsABCOpen-Minded
Authentic pronunciation of Spanish
TOK: Why do different cultures have different names?
1.4
The Spanish-speaking world
Learning about Spanish-speaking countriesGrammar:
IR verbs, full paradigm
Use of “usted” to show respect
2 lessonsMap of Latin AmericaInquirer
Conjugating regular -ir verbs
Using cognates to decode unfamiliar words
TOK: Why are some Spanish and English words similar?
1.5
In my school bag
Talking about what’s in my school bagGrammar:
TENER full paradigm
Grammatical gender and articles
Conjunctions
4 lessonsA  bagThinker
Understanding the indefinite article
Conducting a survey to find information 
Listening for information from a text with negatives
1.6
In the classroom
Talking about the classroomGrammar:
Singular and plural nouns
Predictable spelling changes
Impersonal verbs – HABER / HAY
4 lessonsA tableKnowledgeable
Understanding the definite article
Making Spanish words plural
Writing an extended text about your classroom
2.1
School Subjects
Talking about school subjects Grammar:
AR verbs, full paradigm. Me gusta/n
Capitalisation and punctuaction in Spanish vs English
Adjectival agreements
4 lessonsSubject iconsCommunicator
Using the -AR verb ESTUDIAR
Giving and justifying opinions about subjects
Learning the days of the week
2.2 My TeachersDescribing your teachersGrammar:
Adjectival agreement
intensifiers
SER, full paradigm
4 lessonsTeacher pointing to a boardBalanced
Using adjectives to give information about people
Using intensifiers to improve your sentences
Indicating possession / relationship between nouns
2.3 My TimetablesTalking about your timetableGrammar:
Time
Prepositions
2 lessonsA clockReflective
Asking and telling the time
Differences between Spanish and UAE schools
Extended writing about your shool day and opinions on school
2.4 At the canteenTaking about food and drinkGrammar:
Regular verbs – full paradigms
Quantifiers
Numbers
4 lessonsAn appleCaring
Asking for services
Use of money
Numbers to 100
3.1 My FamilyTalking about my family membersGrammar:
TENER – full paradigms
Possessive adjectives
Se llama/a
4 lessonsA familyOpen-Minded
Giving ages and birthdays of other people
Spanish naming conventions
Talking about other’s families
3.2 PetsTalking about petsGrammar:
Plurals – regular and plural
Adjectival agreements
4 lessonsA dog / catInquirer
Describing with colours
Indicating possession
Describing nouns with multiple adjectives
3.3 What are they like?Describing physical traitsGrammar:
SER full paradigm
Spanish pronunciation – vowel sounds
Extending sentences with negatives and conjuctions
4 lessonsA faceReflective
Describing hair and eye colour
Talking about personalities
Extended writing about your family and pets
3.4 Next WeekendTalking about plans for the weekendGrammar:
Near future
Key verb IR
Me gusta + infinitive
4 lessonsSat / /Sun calendar pageRisk-Taker
Talking about free time actvities
Expressing likes and dislikes 
Giving extended reasons
4.1 We live in EuropeWhere you liveGrammar:   
CountriesNoun/Adjective agreement  Open-Minded
Describing your areaVerbs to decribe the weather   
Adding detail to sentencesRevise the near future tense   
4.2 What’s your house like?Talking about your houseGrammar:   
Writing longer passagesConnectives   
Rooms of the house    
Adjectival agreements    
4.3. What do you do?Activities in the houseGrammar:   
Stem-changing verbsirregular present tense     
conjugation     
4.4 In my roomDescribing the bedroomGrammar:   
Using prepositionsadverbs of place   
Household Items    
4.5 Daily RoutineReflexive verbsGrammar:
reflexive verbs
   
Daily routineadverbs of time   
Sequencing    
Adverbs of Time    
5.1 My Free TimeFree time activitiesGrammar:   
Salir and Hacerirregular present tense     
a +elarticles    
Days of the week (review)    
5.2 What time is it?Telling the timeGrammar:   
ir full paradigmnumbers    
Asking questions    
5.3 What do you like to do?Sports vocabularyGrammar:
verbs to express opinion
   
Pronunciationverbs like gustar   
Me gusta + infinitiveJustification of opinions   
Opinion phrases    
5.4 Next Weekend (review)Talking about plans for the weekendGrammar:   
Talking about free time actvitiesNear future tense revision   
Expressing likes and dislikes     
Giving extended reasons    
Unit / Block of workKey Episodes / QuestionsAdditional DetailPossible Symbol?Learner Attribute(s)
1. Leisure and entertainment
1.1. Discussing what is on television1.1.1. Talking about television programmesGiving opinions using adjectives
Using “me gusta” vs”me gustan”
Justifying opinions using “porque”, “ya que”…
TV / screenCommunicator
1.1.2. Describing films and TV programme preferences
1.1.3. Giving opinions using adjectives
1.2. Talking about films1.2.1. Describing a recent visit to the cinemaUsing comparatives ¨más ..que¨. ¨menos .. que¨
Using superlatives ¨mejor¨, ¨peor¨, ¨mayor¨, ¨menor¨
Applying adjective agreements
Video-recording CameraOpen- minded
1.2.2. Movie genres
1.2.3. Talking about movies 
1.3. Going out1.3.1. Inviting someone to go outUsing prepositions and articles (a + el , de + el)
Using the full paradigm of “poder” and “querer”
Differentiating between “tener” and “tener que”
ParkBalanced
1.3.2. Entertainment Places  
1.3.3. Adding expressions to your spoken Spanish
2. Holidays
2.1. Describing past holidays2.1.1. Talking about visiting different countries Using the preterite (simple past tense)
Using irregular preterite “ser” and ” estar”
Using time expressions
Using complex adjectives
MapReflective
2.1.2. Spanish speaking countries and capitals
2.1.3. Talking about holiday destinations and forms of  transportation
2.2. Describing what you did on the holidays2.2.1. Holiday activitiesUsing the preterite of -AR verbs
Reflecting on pronunciation misconception 
Beach waveKnowledgeable
2.2.2. Describing your ideal holiday 
2.2.3. Hispanic monuments
2.3. Giving a detailed presentation about holidays2.3.1.  Good and bad holidaysUsing the near future tense : “ir + a + infinitive”
Revising interrogatives
Using past, future and present markers
HotelRisk-takers
2.3.2. Describing the hotel
2.3.3. Creating a poster about Spanish-Speaking countries
3. Food and Beverages
3.1. Talking about mealtimes 3.1.1. What do you have for breakfast?Using complex negatives
Linking sentences using connectives
Using prepositions : al, a la, a los, a las
Revising the time
DishThinker
3.1.2. What do you have for lunch?
3.1.3. What do you have for dinner?
3.2. Shopping for food3.2.1.  Currency and food productsUsing high numbers
Using the preterit of -IR and -ER verbs
Vegetables and FruitsInquirer
3.2.2. Fruits and Vegetables
3.2.3. At the supermarket
3.3. Eating at a restaurant3.3.1. Starters, main dish and dessertDifferentiating between ¨tú¨ and ¨usted¨ (formal vs informal)
Expressing opinion about food and dishes
Using irregular verbs that follow the same pattern as ‘gustar’ 
Fork, Knife and a plateOpen-minded
3.3.2. Food and Culture
3.3.3. Restaurant role play
4. Clothes and Shopping     
4.1 ClothesTaking about clothesUnos/unas (some)T-shirtKonwledgeable
SubculturesAdjectival agreement
Colours 
Adjectival agreements 
4.2 School UniformTalking about school uniformDemonstrative pronounsTiePrincipled
Comparing clothesComparative adjectives
  
  
4.3 Which is best?Using superlativesSuperlative and absolute superlativeThumbs UpBalanced
Introducing the iGCSE Role Play 
Shopping and Money 
4.4 We’re going to visit Argentina! Talking about a future tripUse of present and near future tenses together Open-minded
What I am going to do and what I will wearUse of subjunctive and simple futureArgentina 
 Asking questions
  
4.5 Shopping in BarcelonaDiffent types of shopsUsing three tenses togetherShopping bagRisk-taker
Ask and say what can be bought thereTime phrases
Role Plays – GCSE Speaking Exam  
  
5. Health and Wellbwing    
5.1 It hurts!Naming body partsUsted / ustedes and formal registerStethescopeCommunicator
Asking how long something has been a problemUsing me duele / me duelen
Informing others about health issues 
5.2 At the pharmacyDescribing specific symptonsUsing tener and estar ro talk about health problemsBandage / plasterOpen-minded
Suggesting remedies and curesTime expressions
Saying how long a cure should be take n for 
  
5.3 Do you eat healthily?Naming healthy and unhealthy foodsDirect object pronounsAppleReflective
Talking about frequency of food consumptionComplex reasoning
Explaining why foods are healthy or unhealthyConnectives
  
5.4 Healthy Lifestyles Informing others about lifestlye choicesDeber + infinitiveBalanced scalesBalanced
Giving advice on how to be more healthyModal Verbs
 Para + infinitive