The Massapequa School District has been recognized with the Hahn Outstanding FLES Program Award from the New York State Association for Language Teachers. The district’s Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools program, which launched in the 2016-2017 school year, provides twice-weekly Spanish instruction to third, fourth and fifth graders across the six elementary schools.
FLES teacher Alexis Porcelli submitted the application for the award, which she worked on with colleagues Stacy Incardona and Julianne Masterson. Ms. Porcelli said that they decided to submit for the award because the program is now well established in the district and the feedback from middle school world language teachers has been very positive about the benefits it provides.
The application included the history of the program, an overview of the curriculum, examples of student work, letters from parents and a recording of a FLES lesson, which came from a fourth grade class at McKenna Elementary School.
Third graders learn vocabulary for animals, colors, feelings, greetings, numbers and personal identification. In fourth grade, the focus in on the four seasons, as well as activities, food and clothing. Fifth grade delves into community places, personality descriptions, physical traits and professions. Throughout all three grades, students develop conversation skills, so they can form full sentences, listen to others, understand and respond. They explore the culture of Spanish-speaking countries in every grade as well.
“Giving students an early exposure to language and allowing them to build confidence at such a young age sets them up for success and creates conversational fluency in language,” Ms. Porcelli said. “The goal is that they’re able to be proficient, especially in speaking and conversations.”
Each grade also has a culminating project. In third grade, students make “All About Me” passports, in fourth grade they do a digital booklet on the seasons and in fifth grade they create an album to describe family members, friends, pets, celebrities and fictional characters.
The FLES program is designed to maximize interaction among students so they develop Spanish fluency through conversation. Ms. Porcelli said the teachers want them to have a positive experience with language so it becomes a lifelong interest.
While a majority of students continue on with Spanish in middle school, there is still strong enrollment in French, German and Mandarin Chinese. Ms. Porcelli said that even if students take one of those three languages in sixth grade, just having the experience of learning a new language in elementary school helps them greatly.
The Hahn Outstanding FLES Program Award is another feather in the cap for a world language program that has received many accolades over the years.
“We’re really excited about it,” Ms. Porcelli said. “We’ve worked really hard to build the program and we’re really proud to be recognized for it.”