Transcript for Amazing Classrooms: Spanish Immersion

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Amazing Classrooms

Female Ayudan a tu cuerpo a crecer.

Yvette Martel VO When you walk down the hallway you could be in any Spanish speaking country.

Yvette Martel VO Y todos los partes de agua.

Yvette Martel VO So you're gonna hear Spanish throughout the building and we're in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

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Spanish Immersion

Yvette Martel VO Buenos días. Gracias. Buenos días.

Yvette Martel VO This is a Milwaukee public school that people want to get into.

Yvette Martel OC Buenos días. Buenos días.

Yvette Martel VO You wouldn’t think in Milwaukee Wisconsin that you would have a Spanish Immersion school but yes. This program has been around for almost 30 years. Language immersion is…

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Yvette Martel
Principal, Spanish Immersion

…actually immersing the students in the language, whatever the second language is. Okay.

Yvette Martel VO Pueden caminar adentro. Caminando adentro.

Yvette Martel VO/OC Students are hearing it all the time and using it, it's a different program as opposed to like a bilingual program where those students would be dominant in the other language in Spanish for example. The students that come to an immersion program are dominant in an English language and then learn a foreign language. The difference students learn by doing.

Yvette Martel VO Buenos días. Por favor levántense para jurar a la bandera.

Children VO Juro fidelidad a la bandera de los Estados Unidos de América.

Children VO And to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Yvette Martel VO Milwaukee Spanish Immersion grades are from K4 up to fifth grade.

Miriam Herrera OC Nublado. Muéstrame nublado. Muy bien.

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K4: Objects & Shapes

Yvette Martel VO When you come into K4 you are actually going to get the same curriculum that you would get in any regular school that only speaks in English.

Miriam Herrera OC/VO Van a colorear dos días soleado. ¿Por qué? ¿Por qué Michael?

Miriam Herrera OC Hoy.

Michael VO Hoy.

Miriam Herrera OC Es.

Michael Es soleado.

Miriam Herrera Soleado. Muy bien.

Miriam Herrera VO/OC Getting the response from the children from the students when you're working with them and you can see ah ha moments. Excelente. You know that…

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Miriam Herrera
K4 Teacher

…they know what you're talking about. So you see that discovery in them.

Miriam Herrera VO/OC Lunes es soleado. Puede leer. Lunes…

Yvette Martel VO/OC When you're immersed into something you just you just soak it up it just is amazing what these children understand.

Gregory Thornton OC And when you create an environment…

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Dr. Gregory Thornton
Superintendent: Milwaukee Public Schools

…that's engaging you create an environment that I think kids come away enriched. I think you're able to see some great outcomes for young people and the outcomes are apparent.

Nina Miller OC Esto no es una recta. Esto es una familia de operaciones.

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1st Grade: Vocabulary

Male With Blue Shirt VO Apple.

Nina Miller VO Una manzana. Perfecto.

Nina Miller VO/OC It makes you a better teacher…

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Awilda Aranda Nina Miller
1st Grade Teachers

…because you don’t assume things.

Awilda Aranda OC Yeah and you really have to plan with detail.

Awilda Aranda Tres. Perfecto. Excelente. ¿Cómo se parece? Nueve el punto cuando empezamos. Excelente.

Nina Miller OC El papa. El bebé. La… Eso es.

Female With Brown Hair OC ¿Por qué si dices ocho más dos es diez pero haces dos más es 12?

Nina Miller VO Porque ahí tenemos el papa, la mama y el…

Females OC Bebé.

Nina Miller …el bebé.

Michael Hoffman OC Nueve.

Adriana OC Nueve.

Michael Hoffman OC Nueve.

Michael Hoffman VO/OC Part of our graduation requirement is spending two weeks at a service site and for two weeks…

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Michael Hoffman
High School Senior

…I'm working with these first graders for the full day.

Male Voice VO You never get settled.

Michael Hoffman VO/OC But Adriana has one. Working with kids was something I liked and then sort of the Spanish aspect was something that really interested me. I was raised speaking Spanish actually both of my parents speak Spanish.

Female With White Shirt OC Bingo.

Michael Hoffman VO/OC Okay increasingly globalized world it's better for jobs and understanding culture and just educationally you learn more about other people and about the world.

Michael Hoffman OC Ya casi. No. Menos.

Female With Black Top OC ¿Doce?

Michael Hoffman OC Doce.

Awilda Aranda VO/OC I think our school does a great job of showing kids how to appreciate the differences in cultures. They're also learning that in the Hispanic culture itself there are great differences in language and food and music.

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Azucar Dance Group

Toni Fink VO/OC I am Senorita Toni Fink and I teach…

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Azucar/5th Grade Teacher

…fifth grade at this school and I'm involved in lots of other activities, one is the Azucar Dance Group. Azucar is my favorite thing because it's playtime with the kids but still teaching so it's a lot different than being in the classroom with them. This is Pasa Doble this is very the top part is not moving, your feet are moving but it's very different. It's attitude we normally say no attitude in school this is the one chance we get to to your partner. So you have to have those checkpoints though because what happens is if you don’t it looks like a bunch of people. And let me tell you boys if you don’t do this strong enough it does look kind of goofy. Because it looks like this. And this is about a bullfighter. I think the Hispanic culture is very expressive they're very touchy feely everything is very emotional very fiery and passionate and I think in the dances you can really get it out. So they learn textbook about the culture and it's it's something they can do with the culture. I mean we've all had textbooks and read and read and read and you know you do your project on the poster board and all that stuff which is fun but they can actually do something cultural with the dance. Ariana's looking good remember eye contact the whole time, last one. It's a way for them to connect to the language in a social way too. You know as they get into fourth and fifth grade it's not always as cool to be speaking in Spanish and all that, but in the music the music is cool. Nice all right back to the beginning spot, okay ready. Five six seven eight lunge, up ladies around to the front, two. It's fun and it should be fun because it's dance and it's moving but it's my way to be with the kids in a playful manner outside of the classroom and you know a little bit more informal. One two three. Nice.

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K5: Reading

Female With Frizzy Hair VO Russ.

Class VO Russ.

Female With Frizzy Hair VO En.

Class VO En.

Female With Frizzy Hair VO La.

Class VO La.

Female With Frizzy Hair VO Estación.

Class VO Estación.

Female With Frizzy Hair VO De.

Class VO De.

Female With Frizzy Hair VO Bomberos.

Class VO Bomberos.

Female With Frizzy Hair VO Russ en la estación…

Yvette Martel VO/OC Every day is a child learning new vocabulary and understanding a little bit more of the Spanish language. Understanding more and more and it's amazing when the light bulb goes on and they're looking at you and going wow I understand that now. I understand what I'm supposed to do. Or wow I'm reading and I'm reading in Spanish and I'm going home and I'm teaching my mom and dad Spanish.

Female With Frizzy Hair VO ¿Qué significa trabajar?

Class VO Work.

Female With Frizzy Hair VO Russ fue a trabajar a una estación de bomberos. Buenos días bombero.

Joandy Williams VO ¿Dónde está la ? Porque hablamos esto antes de empezar el cuento. ¿Dónde está? ¿Está al norte? A ver.

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3rd Grade: Comprehension

Joandy Williams VO You definitely do have to be animated, you do definitely have to act out a lot of things because you don’t want to revert to English when you're teaching Spanish and you want the kids to get it.

Joandy Williams VO No. Todavia no estás empujando.

Joandy Williams VO/OC For example the word arrastrar means to drag. One of the girls was rolling or pushing or shoving the dog and I'm like no that's not arrastrar…

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Joandy Williams
3rd Grade Teacher

…so I had another one of the students actually help her out to figure out what that meant. It is challenging in a way that what you plan on teaching you have to make room and time to teach both. In both languages. For example we have English weeks and we have Spanish weeks. The skills that we teach are pretty much the same they do overlap there may be some differences in the grammar that we teach.

Joandy Williams OC No se . No se ponen como un grupo juntos. No están juntos porque están…

Gregory Thornton VO/OC I think parent engagement is the insulating factor that allows this to happen. I'm of the belief if I was to say you know we're gonna pull the plug on Spanish Immersion I think the folks would be down in my office kind of knocking the doors down.

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2nd Grade: Science

Madelyn Acevedo OC/VO Se mantienen saludables. ¿Cierto o falso?

Class VO Cierto.

Madelyn Acevedo OC/VO importante para empezar…

Madelyn Acevedo VO/OC It takes dedication it takes what it's really wants you…

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Madelyn Acevedo
2nd Grade Teacher

…to do for them if you really enjoy what are you doing. I love what I'm doing I want my kids to learn what I know.

Madelyn Acevedo OC Nosotros masticamos varias veces con mucho cuidado. Y tragamos baja completamente, ¿verdad?

Alina VO/OC I think the kids understand it a little more…

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Alina
2nd Grader

…when she acts out like what where the tube is and where the stomach is and stuff.

Madelyn Acevedo OC La palabra dijerir, la palabra dijerir es cuando ya tu estás comenzando a comer tu alimento.

Nathan OC Once you learn Spanish…

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Nathan
1st Grader

…and English then it's gonna get easier connected and then you can talk two languages to two people.

Isaac OC I started coming here in K4…

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Isaac
5th Grader

…and I like that like with we get to learn how to speak Spanish because it will help us get a better job like in the future because a lot more people are speaking Spanish now.

Isaac OC Por qué la suma de los dígitos no es divisible por tres.

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5th Grade: Math

Toni Fink VO/OC Excelente. Me gusta como dijo eso.

Toni Fink VO/OC They're well rounded they're more compassionate I think having to learn about a different culture and language makes them more patient with learning because they've had to learn double.

Toni Fink VO Aquí con que número.

Class VO Uno.

Toni Fink VO Siempre van a hacer números…

Female Voice VO Primos.

Toni Fink VO …primos.

Miriam Herrera VO/OC We live in a world that is smaller than it's ever been and where can you go that they aren't speaking more than one language I mean anywhere in the world?

Gregory Thornton OC When you begin to talk about this whole issue of a global economy a global society we're positioning young people to take their place in as a participant in that economy and in the world.

John Nekich OC Basketball all right here comes the basketball group. My name is John Nekich I'm the physical education teacher here. And I also coordinate the organized recess program called S.O.A.R. It's basically a program designed to decrease…

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John Nekich
Phys Ed/S.O.A.R.

…behavior problems outside and kind of increase the the amount of physical activity that kids get.

John Nekich VO/OC We do encourage that they are involved in something. That's kind of like the overall philosophy you got to be doing something and it kind of eliminates the the digging in the sand or the sitting in the corner and the chasing and irritating others. As long as they're involved in something and they know where their area is, that's kind of the whole concept. These guys are shooting baskets here, and here the fourth and fifth graders they're gonna be setting up a game called Octopus. These are the snow shoers. Okay we have to shout it altogether. The school brings kids from many different backgrounds many different neighborhoods and different ethnicities and it's just it's just kind of a neat mix.

Victoria Seewald VO Adornar. ¿Qué quiere decir adornar? ¿Anderias?

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4th Grade: Social Studies

Anderias VO Decorar.

Victoria Seewald VO Decorar.

Victoria Seewald VO By fourth of fifth grade they're reading both English and Spanish. They're able to converse.

Female With Pink Shirt OC How?

Victoria Seewald VO ¿Cómo? Es una buena idea.

Victoria Seewald VO/OC They have to look for and understand and get deeper into the information that's there in order for them to understand it and I think that even if they weren't to continue with the language program that's a skill that…

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Victoria Seewald
4th Grade Teacher

…we all need to problem solve and to be able to look deeper at the heart of the problem and be able to solve it.

Victoria Seewald VO ¿Qué le recuerda a Don Roberto el periquito cantor? ¿De que memoria es ese periquito?

Victoria Seewald VO We've got families and parents that care about not only their children and their education but the staff and the teachers and everybody who is here. It's it really is a home.

Yvette Martel VO ¿Preguntas?

Female Voice VO No.

Yvette Martel VO OK. Excelente.

Yvette Martel VO I spend a lot of time here, not because I have to but because I like to. You have to have a passion you really have to to love the kids and love the teaching and love knowing that you're going to give the kids at Spanish Immersion a skill that's gonna take them places.

Gregory Thornton VO/OC Everybody's writing to the teacher and what are you gonna say to the teacher?

Female With Green Shirt VO That I want no homework.

Gregory Thornton OC/VO Homework's cool didn't they tell you that? I'm not gonna have to defend this one there's some givens, there's some nonnegotiables that I have and one of my nonnegotiable quality programs are not on the chopping block. Give me one thing you learned today and tell me in Spanish tell me in Spanish.

Female With Striped Shirt OC Matemáticas.

Male With Gray Shirt VO Matemáticas.

Gregory Thornton OC Okay that's all all right I got it, all right. Getting to talk about what are the skills that we want our youngsters to have for the 21st century well I see those things that mean kids working together collaborative thinking, sharing of intellectual ideas. That's what this thing is about and I see those things apparent. The important thing is I think the human support and the human participation that's here is it's unparalleled.

Isaac OC Cinco.

Male With Brown Shirt OC Habla en español.

Female With Check Shirt OC Okay.

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