In fifth grade, we “level up” our Spanish skills, working towards a Novice High speaking level. Building on the foundation we’ve established in previous years, we make deeper connections to enhance our understanding. For example, we explore cognates and false cognates in both Spanish and English—learning to spot them and realizing that some only make sense with time. (Trust me, you don’t want to be telling everyone you’re “embarazada” when you mean to say you’re embarrassed!). Our vocabulary expands as we learn about family members, with characters from Coco guiding our understanding. Since we’ve already learned the 21 Spanish-speaking countries and their capitals in fourth grade, we use this knowledge to kick off the year with our Manía Musical song competition during Hispanic Heritage Month. As part of our growing language skills, our "persona especial" (special person) interviews become more complex, giving us the opportunity to practice more advanced speaking. We continue to enjoy authentic Spanish games like la pirinola and the hand game chocolate. This year, our focus countries are Honduras and Spain, which are tied to the two chapter books we read: Laritza and Berto, y sus buenas ideas (Berto, and His Good Ideas) (see descriptions below). Along the way, we’ll dive into the tragic story of Selena Quintanilla to deepen our understanding of Laritza and explore Madrid, Spain, to see how Berto’s good ideas come to life.

And that’s just the beginning—there’s so much more to explore! To see how the FLES curriculum connects to the classroom, check out the details below.

At the heart of our FLES Spanish program is a strong commitment to literacy-based language learning. Grounded in the research of language acquisition expert Stephen Krashen, we believe that compelling, comprehensible input—especially through reading—is one of the most powerful tools for language development. Reading provides students with repeated exposure to vocabulary, grammatical structures, and cultural context in a meaningful and memorable way. By engaging with rich and age-appropriate texts, students build both confidence and fluency as they internalize language naturally. This is why our curriculum includes carefully chosen chapter books and stories that support both linguistic growth and cultural understanding.

The FLES Spanish program is designed to teach students practical, usable language, which is always a top priority. At the same time, we aim to make meaningful connections to classroom content when it aligns with students’ linguistic levels. Our goal is to support classroom teachers while still ensuring that students are acquiring real, functional Spanish. To do this, the FLES educators at Chickering and Pine Hill have carefully reviewed the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for each grade level and identified areas where we can authentically reinforce and enrich content. The Google Document linked below is regularly updated to reflect curriculum shifts and evolving student needs—because, well… kids!