Kids in K-5 learn to speak Spanish

She stands in front of her class and says "mira" and "escucha" while pointing to her eyes and ears.

And, almost instantly, the students turn around in their chairs and look intently at Ortega.

Ortega's class at Ventana Vista Elementary School is part of the Catalina Foothills School District's new Elementary Spanish Program, which provides instruction to all students in kindergarten through fifth grade throughout the district.

The foreign-language program is part of the district's 21st-century learning initiative, intended to prepare students for the future by promoting global awareness, cultural competence, creative thinking and other skills.

The Spanish classes started at the beginning of this school year.

All students spend 30 minutes each day learning how to count, tell time and greet each other in Spanish.

Students in first through fifth grades attend class Mondays through Fridays, while kindergarten students learn Spanish four days a week.

Ortega teaches Spanish to second-, third- and fifth-graders at the school.

She uses a combination of music and hand signals, flash cards and other visual aids to teach students how to say the Spanish words for colors, shapes and classroom objects.

Class usually begins with a Spanish greeting song.

"It's easier to teach a language with music because they're in tune and it sticks with them," Ortega said. "The first thing is to immediately engage them."

Ortega taught one of her third-grade classes how to say the names of colors in Spanish last week with a song called "Rojo Café."

Rojo means red, while café means brown.

"These are songs that kids are singing at home. It just sticks with them," she said.

Spanish teachers integrate other subjects into the curriculum, such as math and social studies, she said.

Ortega's students did a project earlier this year in which they learned about different Spanish-speaking countries.

When asked where people speak Spanish, "Everyone said Mexico," she said. "They were shocked at how many (other) countries speak Spanish."

Most of Ortega's students already see the value of learning a foreign language.

"If you learn Spanish, you get a better job and you can speak to a lot of friends," said third-grader Brooke Nelson, 8.

Brooke has learned how to greet her friends in Spanish, as well as how to say the names of the days of the week, she said.

Brooke was surprised when she found out she would be learning Spanish this year.

"I thought you could pay and go for a class. I never knew they could do it in school," she said.

Ty Goode, 9, has learned how to tell time and to name different classroom objects in Spanish.

"La ventana, the window," Ty said, pointing to one of the classroom's windows.

Ty had trouble with some words when the class started, he said. "I couldn't pronounce some of the words, like how you say 'desk,' " he said.

Ty has no trouble pronouncing it now. "El pupitre," he said, which means a child's desk.

The impact of the Spanish program has reached out of the classroom and spread around the school and the community, said Principal Kim Boling.

"There is definitely more of a cultural awareness amongst students in regards to Spanish-speaking countries around the world," Boling wrote in an e-mail. "You can hear it in classrooms, in the lunchroom, on the playground and, according to parents, at home."

Some parents agree that the program has had an impact in their homes.

"They do come home and sing the songs," said parent Diane Nelson, speaking of her daughter Brooke and her two other children, who attend first and fifth grades at Ventana Vista.

Diane and her husband, Shaughn, are satisfied with the program but wish the district could have kept some other foreign-language programs.

"We both agree that it's sad other languages were dropped," Shaughn Nelson said. "The option to choose seems more limited."

The school district previously offered French to middle-school students, but incoming students were not offered French this year, said Mary Jo Conery, assistant superintendent for 21st-century learning.

French was never offered in elementary schools, Conery said.

Still, the Nelsons said their children will benefit from the Spanish program.

"I think it's wonderful that they're getting it into the grade level," Diane Nelson said.