Spanish

Vernon offers Spanish to Grades 7-8, increasing both class time and rigor throughout the span of the elementary school years. Our Spanish teacher is Tina Hargaden.  His email address is chargaden@pps.net.

Preparing our students for high school level language acquisition courses and authentic and meaningful use is a priority. The ability to communicate in more than one language is essential to the concept of an education that promotes intercultural understanding and is central to Vernon’s mission.

The study of Spanish in middle school provides students with the opportunity to develop insights into the features, processes and craft of language and the concept of culture, and to realize that there are diverse ways of living, behaving and viewing the world. Students are assessed through 4 Language Acquisition criteria to help them develop their Spanish skills. 

• Criterion A: Comprehending spoken and visual text. Students interpret and construct meaning from spoken and visual texts to understand how images presented with oral text interplay to convey ideas, values and attitudes.
• Criterion B: Comprehending written and visual text. Students construct meaning and interpret written and visual text to understand how images presented with written text interplay to convey ideas, values and attitudes.
• Criterion C: Communicating in response to spoken and/or written and/or visual text. Students develop their communication skills by interacting on a range of topics of personal, local and global interest and significance, and responding to spoken, written and visual text in the target language.
• Criterion D: Using language in spoken and/or written form. Students recognize and use language suitable to the audience and purpose (for example, home, classroom, formal and informal, social, academic contexts). Students apply their understanding of linguistic and literary concepts to develop a variety of structures, strategies and techniques.