Storytelling in Spanish

On any given day in Claudia Ovalle's Lower School Spanish classroom, two things are almost certain to be true: Ovalle, a native of Colombia, will be speaking exclusively in Spanish to her students; and children—even the youngest in Pre-K 1 and 2—will understand most everything she says. A third thing is just as certain to be true: these young learners will be having a lot of fun. Each day, Ovalle's students enjoy experiences—completely in Spanish—that never fail to inspire smiles and laughs: interactive stories, mystery objects, card games, dancing, singing, and much more. It hardly seems like a place where the serious work of secondary language acquisition takes place.

Yet that is precisely what this is. Though they may not realize it, the Pre-K through Grade 4 students in Ovalle's classroom are surrounded by a range of carefully implemented strategies built on two related models of language acquisition. The first, Total Physical Response, or TPR, is a teaching method that marries vocabularly acquisition with sounds and movement. Developed by a psychologist, TPR emphasizes listening comprehension over grammar, and with its active and low-stress approach is especially effective with young learners.

The second model is a system of language acquisition called Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling. TPRS, as it is known, is an input-based approach to teaching language that focuses on systematic instruction of vocabulary in a highly comprehensible, personalized, and contextualized manner. Very often in TPRS, it is said that "the students themselves are the curriculum." Vocabulary structures are taught not through memorization or sheer repetition, but through question-and-answer exchanges with students, the use of physical objects such as stuffed animals and other props that can be touched, movement and music, songs and rhymes, and, finally, narrative storytelling and readings. A constant flow of language and symbols ensures that students will understand nearly every message and be able to respond successfully, whether it is with a simple 'yes' or 'no', one word, or an entire phrase or sentence. The teacher guides the heavily-scaffolded early phases of learning, gradually leading students through word groups and stories that repeatedly circle back on themselves to reinforce key concepts, but as students gain fluency and comprehension, they act more independently by retelling story moments on their own, devising and writing new narratives with classmates, and even creating videos in which they practice solo speaking.

According to Claudia Ovalle, the level of comprehension and fluency that students can achieve through TPR and TPRS, even in first and second grades, is astonishing. "For this age, the immersion these approaches offer is a totally natural way for them to learn the language. Just like an infant beginning to develop language, you start simply by talking to them, and by helping them experience daily life through conversations and gestures. Early on in the process, children may just react, but soon comes comprehension, and then speech and fluency."

Head of Lower School Sara Knox adds, "The reason we start with Spanish so early—and continue with it through ninth grade—is because it lets us do it well. It takes time to do what Claudia does in the classroom: to teach a language with depth and encourage real understanding, rather than simply offer surface-level 'exposure' to some vocabulary. With languages," Knox says, "depth really is more important than breadth."

With both a Master's degree in education and extensive training in TPRS and Montessori methods, Ovalle can draw on a wide range of tools and techniques with her Lower School learners. One of these is the morning meeting circle, used throughout Shore's Lower School as a way to introduce the day and open up discussion about anything that may be on children's minds, from dealing with a playground conflict to saying thank you for a friend's help or kindness. In Ovalle's classroom, circle time looks much the same, only in Spanish. She greets each child individually, and expects a simple greeting back; then, she asks each how he or she is doing, and again they respond with a few words or a sentence. With their classmates the center of attention, students quickly feel comfortable  speaking and listening in Spanish as a matter of routine.

"At the very beginning of the school year," recalls Sara Knox, "we may have heard kids telling homeroom teachers or parents that they didn’t understand what was being said in Spanish class, but with just a little bit of patience, we’re now seeing every grade level easily pick up meaning and readily participate in conversation. The other critical piece of this approach is how hands-on and interactive the experience is. For me," admits Knox, "as a Spanish-learning adult dropping into her class, all the learning cues, gestures, props, and other supports Claudia provides make me feel I could easily become fluent in just a short time."

Ovalle says, "The support I've found at Shore for my approach to teaching Spanish is gratifying. Everything I do is to make sure kids love learning language, and the response from children and teachers has been incredibly positive."

As the Lower School Spanish program continues to evolve, Ovalle says she hopes that culture will come to play an increasingly significant part. "As an immigrant, I am very excited to teach my culture—but that culture is not just Colombia; it is all of Latin America and all Spanish-speaking countries. I am looking forward to bringing many of these influences into projects with the art and music and drama departments." This spring, Ovalle worked with Lower School music teacher Alex Asacker to produce several Spanish-language songs for the annual World Music Concert.