A Saturday Class with Cultural Bytes!

 

One of the best ways for kids to learn another language is to immerse themselves in the target language as much as they can. A Saturday class with Cultural Bytes is just that! My name is Samantha and I am the new FUN REPORTER for our students and parents! I will be reporting to you from the inside of our programs so you can get a closer look!

Cultural Bytes centers around creating a full language immersion setting for the students. This past Saturday I got the chance to witness it myself. The morning started off with our students being dropped off. Following CDC guidelines, their temperature was taken and sanitizer was given to each student.

“Even though some students were new to Spanish, they had so much fun doing activities…”

A Saturday Class

There was a new student that day: su nombre es Elle! Actually it was more like her second class but even though she was a fairly new student she already made a friend. Elle brought a hand written letter for a friend she had met the week before. Rosin has attended our Summer camps and Saturday classes, so it was so much easier for Elle to acclimate herself to the routines with Rosin’s help!  

Once all the kids arrived, we went up to our classroom, where we entered a space of cultural interaction solely in Spanish.  Our teachers are native Spanish speakers and only speak to the students in Spanish (or in the target language). This enables the perfect environment for the students to only hear Spanish and learn to appropriately respond in Spanish! These classes not only help build Spanish speaking skills but they also allow students to engage with the culture of the language. Familiarize and feel comfortable in a safe space to speak it as well. 

In class the students received a drawing of a national instrument from Latin America. They were instructed to color the instruments and were taught what countries those instruments were from. This was all happening while also learning the names of the colors in Spanish. We then danced to our favorite song before eating some snacks. This was so stimulating! 

 

After a recess break, the class had the opportunity to play Loteria! This is a very popular game in Latin America. It is something similar to the rules of Bingo but instead of numbers, there is a character with its name in Spanish. With this game the students were able to engage in Spanish and implement what they already knew, as well as learning new vocabulary! My favorite part was that we were playing a game that is native to many Latinamerican countries! 

 

The class ended with a craft. We made a giant lotería but with the words the students had learned throughout the Saturday classes. The challenge here was that they needed to do it solely with paper! No markers, just cutting pieces of paper. 

 

Even though some students were new to Spanish, they had so much fun doing activities, playing games and making crafts while listening and learning little by little how to communicate. This was so helpful to see in case many parents are worried about their children not understanding the target language. And for those students who already knew the language, the activities were challenging enough to make their language wheel turn! These students also get points for speaking Spanish to the teacher and among themselves! 

Overall it was an amazing experience! I cannot wait for Summer Camp to start already! I will report back soon, ¡gracias por acompañarme! ¡Nos vemos el próximo lunes!

   

#Spanishspeaking #fulllanguageimmersion #fullimmersion #games #loteria #culturalbytes #blog #Spanish #summer #Spanishforkids #dualimmersion #losangeles #glendale #camps #summercamp #saturdayclass #liveclass