Thread: WI: Students study Social Studies in Spanish

WED., FEB 11, 2009
Wisconsin State Journal Logo
MON., FEB 9, 2009 - 12:07 PM
Waunakee parents in 'an uproar' over teaching social studies in Spanish
Gena Kittner
608-252-6139
gkittner@madison.com

Being taught about famous people and events in Wisconsin history in Spanish is not how some Waunakee parents want their fourth-graders learning social studies at school.

"We as parents have been in such an uproar over this," said Keith Wilke about the district’s elementary language program in which students learn Spanish by having the language integrated into social studies lessons for 30 minutes three days a week in first through fourth grades. "They’re force-fed Spanish."

This is the third year for the program, which has added one grade a year since 2006 and is designed to continue until fifth grade.
Links
• Waunakee School District
• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction World Language Program information

"A fair amount of (social studies instruction) has been in Spanish," said Wilke, who has a daughter in fourth grade. "The kids are to the point where they don’t understand it."

Concerns over teaching more complex topics in Spanish isn’t a surprise to district leaders and a meeting Thursday has been set to address those issues.

"We realized the area that we were going to have the most concern ... was the fourth grade," said Randy Guttenberg, district superintendent, who also said that administrators have monitored the fourth-grade program all year. "The content in social studies becomes more complex at that point."

Topics covered during social studies in the younger grades, such as community and family structure, fit well with learning a language, he said.

But once students start tackling more specialized topics such as Wisconsin history — including information about landforms — adding a foreign language to the mix can make learning more challenging.

Research shows teaching a language within the context of a subject students are studying is an effective way for children to learn, Guttenberg said. However, few districts have language programs in the elementary grades so there weren’t many schools on which to base the program, he said.

While some parents object to the program, they do support teaching the subjects separately.

"We would love to see them fit it in," parent Jean Magnes said of teaching Spanish, but "people are furious" with the current model.

Magnes, who has two daughters in the Waunakee district — one in sixth grade who hasn’t participated in the language program and one in fourth who has — said "there is a tremendous difference in learning from one child to another."

"I’m seeing my (younger) child lose significant education in social studies because of this immersion."

Magnes said because of how the subject has been taught, students aren’t learning Spanish or history.

"They don’t enjoy (Spanish), don’t speak it," she said.

District leaders said it’s too early to determine how the program will change and if it will be combined with a different academic subject, such as science.

"I think right now we’re looking at all options," Guttenberg said. The challenge is "trying to find how does this work in our schedule," he said. "What is the right balance as far as foreign language instruction (is concerned) ... and how does that impact curriculum such as social studies?"

Some parents were particularly upset that some Arboretum Elementary students — including one fourth-grade class — were shown parts of President Barack Obama’s inauguration on a Spanish-language television channel.

The purpose was to show students how big events in the United States, such as the presidential inauguration, are covered in a different country, Principal Sheila Weihert said. The students also were to listen for words they recognized, she said.

Elizabeth Kluesner said her second-grader "loves it," however she agreed it would be best to teach Spanish as its own subject.

"Our major concern is we don’t want to see the language component lost in the (elementary) curriculum," she said.

Learning a language early is critical for college placement and will enhance learning the language in high school, she said.

"We hope they can find a better way to integrate it during the day."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The Wauankee School District will hold a parent forum regarding its elementary world language program. The meeting will review the program’s history and allow time for public comment.

WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/i ... tid=437383

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Original story in "Other Topics" forum:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-145782.html