Learning Art While Learning Spanish

Art in second grade is a rich, bilingual experience at Saint David's, as all the boys participate in a bilingual art class. The class incorporates the Spanish they are learning in a language immersion program that begins in the Pre-K, with the art topics they cover throughout the year.

Right now, the boys are examining masks in art, studying their various characteristics such as geometry, symmetry, abstraction, and exaggeration.

They also are learning the various uses for and symbols behind masks, and they will explore masks of non-Western cultures on an upcoming trip to the the Metropolitan Museum. There, they will use their observational drawing skills to sketch what they see. The unit will end with their creating their own tribal masks in the art studio.

Taking the teaching of Spanish into another discipline area is a strong way to reinforce and further comprehension of the target language in a natural way by drawing connections among topics the boys are exposed to in other subjects.

As global citizens our boys will need to be comfortable communicating with speakers of different languages, and sensitive to cultural differences.

Below is a brief clip of a bilingual art class on masks, and a second grade boy's initial mask drawing (note the incorporation of many of the characteristics I mentioned above).

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