What is FLES?
Foreign Language Early Start
Learning a foreign language in
elementary school is essential
to a child’s success.
Why? How?
• Language acquisition is easier at a
young age because the area for
language development in the cortex of
the brain grows up until puberty.
• Children are more eager & receptive to
learning at an earlier age, they want to
know.
• Children are curious, interested & absorb
new information.
Spanish
Language
Arts
Geography
Multicultural
Understandings
Math
Communication
Skills
Social Skills
Spanish
Art
Science
Music
Social Studies
• When children learn about cultures other than
their own, their eyes are opened to differences
which leads to acceptance.
• Children learn more about their own language
when they learn a second language.
• They develop an understanding for language
concepts which also aid in learning other
languages in the future.
•
•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
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¿Qué tiempo hace?
Hace buen tiempo.
Hace mal tiempo. Communication
Skills
Hace calor.
Está lloviendo.
Geography
Está nublado.
Está nevando. Hace frío.
Hace sol.
Hace viento.
Hace fresco.
Music
Social Skills
Spanish
Science
Math
¿ Qué tiempo hace ?
En el otoño
En el invierno
Communication
Skills
Art
_______________
Spanish
En la primavera
Science
_______________
En el verano
Spanish
Language
Arts
_______________
_______________
Ilustrado y Escrito por___________________
Social Skills
Geography
Spanish
Math
Multicultural
Understandings
Science
Social Studies
Geography
Art
Multicultural
Understandings
Spanish
Science
Spanish
Language Communication
Skills
Arts
Math
Social Skills
Communication
Skills
Spanish
Language
Arts
Social Skills
Spanish
Geography
Science
Art
Math
• Songs, gestures, games, visuals, drama &
activities motivate all children to learn a foreign
language, be creative & problem solve.
• Children’s ability to learn other subjects within
the grade level curriculum improves when
presented & reinforced in a second language.
• The interdisciplinary approach used in FLES
allows students to make connections &
construct new understandings.
• Vital listening skills are developed along with
oral communication & socialization.
Interdisciplinary FLES Instruction
Benefits of classroom teacher’s
participation in FLES lessons:
• As a role model they validate that learning a
foreign language is important.
• They set an example that listening &
participation matters.
• Teachers can learn Spanish.
• They can better support Spanish-speakers in
their classroom.
• They can follow-up “teachable moments” when
grade level content & topic stimulate interest.
• They can reinforce the content area that
compliments the curriculum to extend learning.
How Teacher Participation Has Enhanced
The FLES & Regular Class Lessons:
• When teaching numbers; 0 – 20, one more & one less,
teachers have continued the lessons in English.
• When teaching horizontal, vertical & diagonal
directions in a Bingo game, a teacher mentioned that
they were learning about directions & showed the
following at the end of the FLES class on oak tag:
6
6 + 4 = 10
Horizontal
+4
10
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l
How Teacher Participation Has Enhanced
The FLES & Regular Class Lessons:
• When playing Bingo, teachers circulate to see
which students recognize the numbers & help
guide children to find the numbers by counting
with fingers in Spanish when needed. These
observations lead to valuable insight of bilingual
& less able student achievement.
• While waiting for FLES to begin, students have
their folders out with their name cards & are
practicing from a handout stored in their folders,
with their classroom teacher.
How Teacher Participation Has Enhanced
The FLES & Regular Class Lessons:
• Teachers play FLES songs I’ve recorded on
tape to reinforce learning during circle time.
• Teachers made tape copies for their grade.
• When a map was needed to show Mexico, the
teacher supplied me with one.
• Teachers have the days’ schedule on the board
so students are empowered to keep track of
when to be ready for FLES & other subjects.
Thus little start up time is wasted while time
management skills & responsibility are
learned.
How Teacher Participation Has Enhanced
The FLES & Regular Class Lessons:
• Teacher participates in morning
greetings/sharing circle time in Spanish as well
as English, i.e. the days of the week, Today is
…, Yesterday was …, Tomorrow will be ….
• When teaching noun gender, a teacher typed &
illustrated the masculine o and the feminine a
example I drew on the board for a handout to
distribute to the children to tape into their FLES
folders.
• Teachers share what they are teaching.
How Teacher Participation Has Enhanced
The FLES & Regular Class Lessons:
• While doing a lesson displaying even numbers 0 to
12 vertically on the board, the students discovered
a pattern & that odd numbers were missing. They
mentioned the homework assignment given by the
classroom teacher the night before.
• After finishing a FLES lesson with shapes and
patterns, the teacher participated & continued the
lesson activity, elaborating in English because the
students were actively engaged.
How Teacher Participation Has Enhanced
The FLES & Regular Class Lessons:
• A teacher labeled a poster of shapes in Spanish
during a lesson on shapes & placed it on the
wall.
• A teacher wrote the frequently used stop, look,
listen, & silence words in Spanish next to the
words in English.
• Teachers extend the Thanksgiving lesson with
print shop having children illustrate foods they
like which are also healthy for you.
How Teacher Participation Has Enhanced
The FLES & Regular Class Lessons:
• After doing a unit on Columbus & the continents
in FLES, the teacher continued with the social
studies lesson because the children showed
interest in finding the continents on a map. After
a student found a map in their social studies
text book, they all pulled out their text books to
look.
• A teacher collected the folders asking the
children in Spanish to “Put it in the box.” “Ponlo en la caja.”
How Teacher Participation Has Enhanced
The FLES & Regular Class Lessons:
• Teachers participated in the science lesson on
chocolate to discover what happens to solid
chocolate in your mouth, or to powdered
chocolate when placed in a glass of water.
• Teachers sing along, move to the songs,
participate in the games & repeat in Spanish
whatever is said.
• Teachers have drawn illustrations during the
lesson.
• Teachers help hand out papers, crayons, etc. to
save instructional time.
How Teacher Participation Has Enhanced
The FLES & Regular Class Lessons:
• Teachers have followed the lessons by using
the vocabulary & song handouts made
especially for teachers who want to learn
Spanish as they participate during the lesson.
• Spanish-speaking students know, feel good,
& benefit when teachers show they try to
understand & communicate in Spanish.
Observing
Listening
Acting
Interacting
Thinking
Gesturing Speaking
FLES Process Meets:
Multiple Learning Styles
Multiple Intelligences
ADHD/ADD Learning Needs
Skill Development Needs
Applicable to:
All Grade Levels
All Content Areas
Having Fun While
Learning
Singing
Drawing
Coloring
Touching
Writing
Smiling
Laughing
Building
Reading
Teacher to Teacher FLES Goal:
• Collaborate during the FLES
lesson to promote the
highest outcomes for the
children involved in the
program.
Created by
Claire-Louise Meng
• Spanish FLES Instructor
District Wide
• Uniondale Schools
Long Island, New York
• K – 12 Spanish Instruction
Experience
• 11 Years Teaching
Experience
• Favorite Travel Location Is
The Caribbean,
Puerto Rico
01-09 -2006