¡Hola!
My name is Heather Fairbank; I’m the 5th - 8th grade
Spanish teacher at Assumption-St. Bridget. Since I
started teaching I have taught locally, and in Bolivia,
Ecuador, and Peru. I am excited to be co-teaching
with Mary Johnson, our Spanish intern this year! I
look forward to another great year in Spanish!
I am Mary Johnson and this year I will be the 5th- 8th
grade Spanish intern teacher here at Assumption-St.
Bridget. Currently, I am in graduate school at Seattle
Pacific University pursuing a master’s degree in
teaching with an endorsement in secondary Spanish. I
will be working with Ms. Fairbank, co-teaching
throughout this school year.
The goal of the Spanish program at ASB is that students will graduate with basic conversational and written Spanish that
is comparable to the first year of Spanish in high school. We are already encouraging this year’s 8th graders to consider
taking the Spanish entry test at their high school to pass in to Spanish II as a freshman! We use the TPRS (Teaching
Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) method, so you will see your child bringing home short stories that we
read in class and that the students wrote. Our classroom philosophy is to nurture learning while having fun in a safe
environment. We expect students to speak aloud and participate in activities; however, we never want anyone to be
uncomfortable with speaking in a new language, so we will continue to work on building confidence, taking risks, and
understanding how this helps us learn.
We are starting out the year with a review of vocab and concepts learned last year. Especially after our review in the
first few weeks, we expect students to have a working understanding of last year’s vocabulary and grammar concepts.
We re-handed out the vocab list from last year for their reference and study guide. If your child doesn’t have the list,
he/she should get it from us or copy a peer’s! The main grammar concepts that we are reviewing are gender and
number agreement; asking questions; conjugating different types of verbs for all subjects; and sentence structures,
especially those that differ from English.
This year students will continue learning more advanced sentence structures and building on the grammar concepts and
vocabulary that they know. Students will read another chapter book (El Nuevo Houdini) and write longer narratives.
They will write and perform skits and short stories; review vocab through games and music; and do many more engaging
grammar and vocabulary activities! Students will also study social justice, learn about influential Latino people, and
reflect on what we have learned through serving the people in Bolivia through VICO.
Students will be assessed orally and through writing, in both English and Spanish. This will determine their marks in the
Spanish Content area on the report card. In the standards-based grading mindset, behavior and content achievement
are graded separately. Therefore, participation, timeliness, attitude, and effort during activities will be reflected in the
Spanish Effort and Behavior area on the report card. They will regularly be given homework to practice vocabulary and
new concepts learned in class. In 8th grade, we rarely collect homework; it is up to students to stay on top of their vocab
acquisition and grammar practice.
It would be great if you could support your child in learning a new language by using new vocabulary at home. Please
contact us with any questions/concerns at <hfairbank@asbschool.org> and < mjohnson@asbschool.org>.
¡Gracias!
Heather Fairbank
hfairbank@asbschool.org
Mary Johnson
mjohnson@asbschool.org