Spanish flavor added to school lessons

By Mark N. Schieldrop/Independent Staff Writer

Andrea Tomlinson, the new Spanish teacher at Narragansett Elementary School, works with third-graders on Tuesday. She and other school officials credit the work of three parents, including the late School Committee member Terence Ashworth, with bringing the program to Narragansett. (Photo by Michael Derr)

NARRAGANSETT — Last week in a third-grade classroom at Narragansett Elementary School, students greeted their teacher, Andrea Tomlinson.

“Buenos Dias,” they said in unison.

A short time later, they talked about the weather.

“Esta viento hoy?” Tomlinson asked.

“Si,” they said.

“Mucho bueno.”

Third-graders talking about the weather, performing simple arithmetic and reading back phone numbers in Spanish might seem out of the ordinary.  But in Narragansett, which launched a new foreign language program at the elementary school this year, students counting backwards from 10 in Spanish is just the beginning.

For years, three parents worked hard to convince the district to launch a foreign language program at the elementary school: Chris Catanzaro, Phil Capaldi and Terence Ashworth, the School Committee member who died in November.

And now, the program is coming to fruition.

Tomlinson said that the three spent years researching the benefit of introducing youngsters to foreign languages to present a solid case to the district. They argued that in an increasingly globalized world, the importance of teaching foreign languages to students at young ages is critical. Other advanced countries start foreign language programs at the start of a student’s educational career, and American students may be at a disadvantage if they can speak only in their native tongue. “They went to School Committee meetings, Town Council meetings and put in hours and hours of research,” Tomlinson said. “They really are the basis for the program.”

For Tomlinson, teaching Spanish at the elementary level was a major goal. In fact, it was the basis of her master’s degree study. Last year, as part of her studies, she conducted a pilot program to see how the lessons could be incorporated into the school day.

“I guess they were happy with the pilot, because they decided to put it in the budget and offered me a job,” Tomlinson said. “It really is my dream job.”

Tomlinson said that she has received a “phenomenal” amount of support for the program from teachers and the administration. They not only found time slots for her to conduct lessons, they’ve taken the extra step to incorporate Spanish into the curriculum.

For example, last fall, kindergarteners were learning about the life cycle of pumpkins, so Tomlinson came up with a simple song where the students sang about the life cycle in Spanish. Additionally, they learned the sign language for the song so they could sing and sign at the same time.

“It worked really well because the students love to sing, and it incorporated what they were learning outside of the Spanish class,” Tomlinson said.

In other grades, teachers have been using Spanish in their classrooms, drawing on the lessons Tomlinson brings to their students each week. This has helped to reinforce their skills and put their increasing vocabulary into context. When Tomlinson returns each week, she spends less time refreshing and more time introducing new words and concepts.

Tomlinson said she’s aware of just one other district in Rhode Island, Foster-Glocester, that teaches foreign language at the elementary level. She has met with the teacher there and observed that program, which is split between French and Spanish lessons.

Nationally, foreign language programs in elementary schools are relatively rare. Just 15 percent of districts have such a program, Tomlinson said.

The most exciting aspect of the project, Tomlinson said, has been working with kindergartners. Every grade has been a joy to work with, she said, but the younger students have made remarkable progress, in part because she has the entire year to work with them. In the higher grades, her lessons run for just eight weeks.

By having the kindergarteners all year, Tomlinson will be able to build upon each week’s lesson. Next year, when those kindergartners begin first grade, she will be able to pick up where she left off.

“I’ll be able to start that much further ahead because they have that foundation,” she said. “I’m really excited about how they will flow from grade to grade.”

It’s like Tomlinson is tending a garden that will flourish as the years go by. Right now, she’s planting saplings and nurturing chutes in the hopes of growing tall trees in future years.

But if it weren’t for the foresight and drive of three involved parents, Tomlinson said, she wouldn’t have the opportunity to teach.

“They did so much research and put in a lot of their personal time,” she said. “Those three dads should be credited for what we have at this school. They were terrific at implementing everything.”

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