Each of our 5th grade Spanish students have been working diligently to create, illustrate, translate, & narrate an original story which we are bringing to you as a podcast.
The stories are an outgrowth of the textbook we use in the Spanish Language Progam at Kennard. The textbook borrows heavily from the TPR method of teaching, which is Total Physical Response begun by James Asher in the 1920’s. Basically students learn Spanish by acting it out. The textbook uses simple TPR stories in cartoon form. The podcasts are inspired by these stories.
Podcast Release Dates
We are not releasing all the podcasts at once due to the size of the project. We are releasing the podcasts based on which of the five music sound tracks the students chose to enhance their podcast.
The three release dates are as follows:
• Mexicasa - Tuesday, April 1st
• Havana & Masked Bandito - Thursday, April 3rd
• Mexican Fiesta & Swamp party -Tuesday April 8th
On the day of the release we go on-line starting at 7:00 p.m. If your student does not quite remember his or her music choice, refer to the class list on the page for their class:
Be sure to visit the website on the night of the release!
How to View the Podcasts:
To view the podcast on the website, use Quicktime
To subscribe to the podcast so that you can view it on your own computer in a larger format and move it to your iPod or other MP3 player. use iTunes.
Donations to the PTO
We would greatly appreciate your generous donations to help cover our expenses! Thank you for your support!
The Technical Advisor and Producer of the Podcasts
Our Spanish teacher at Kennard, Ms Betz, is a great Spanish teacher and is trained in working with gifted children. She is also interested in project-based learning and using technology to actively engage children’s interest. To supplement her technology skills, she worked with Mr Hanpeter on this project. Mr Hanpeter is an Education Technology Advisor working with teachers and schools in the St Louis area. He provides teachers with the technical know-how boost they need to get the project done for their students. Mr Hanpeter finds that teachers learn by doing hands-on projects just as their students do.