Cooperative learning doesn’t usually involve dressing a bear for the weather outside or dressing up in a clothing relay – unless you were a Spanish student at St.

Wednesday, March 22, 2000

Cooperative learning doesn’t usually involve dressing a bear for the weather outside or dressing up in a clothing relay – unless you were a Spanish student at St. Augustine’s Elementary School on Tuesday.

Eight pairs of Pacelli High School students taught sections of the language to St. A’s first- through fourth-graders, who have been taught this year by first-year teacher Mary Barinka. New at the school year’s start, Barinka remembers her early start with another language.

"My objective is to expose the students to the Spanish language and some of the culture," she said, "and enjoying the basics. That’s how I got my interest when I started learning Spanish in the sixth grade."

Barinka said younger kids are very receptive to learning a new language and are more apt to enjoy the learning process. Using drills in memorization and pronunciation, students learn basics of foreign language through varied repetition. The classes play constructive games, use flash cards, do worksheets and learn songs, all the while learning how to say their numbers, colors, animals, days and months in Spanish; ironically, not much longer after learning the same in English.

That’s where the Pacelli students came in.

Bri Enfield and Becky Ludvigson taught Janene Lunning’s third-grade class about clothing through flash cards, and ultimately a relay race.

After using the flash cards and the actual clothing items, the third-graders repeated the word over and over again. Then the students were placed into teams and had to find the appropriate article of clothing before the other teams. Afterward, the words were reinforced again, as the students had to show their teachers what object they had and how to say it.

Kourtney Shaw and Jordan Christensen talked to Deborah Cook’s class about sports and actions related to them. For baseball, the fourth-graders learned how to say the name of the sport and to say running. This was also done through a variety of exercises, developed completely by the students.

"Sometimes you’re more likely to learn it better if you can teach it," Christensen said.

Alecia Mai and Andrea Novak used a drill they learned during last year’s Spanish class at Pacelli. The second-grade class of Maria Mickelson were asked to dress up a bear with cling-on clothing, helping to decide what the fuzzy guy should wear depending on the weather. Upon completion of the activity, second-grader Lauren Nelson, who is in her second year of the language program, said, "It’s fun to learn new words."

Barinka said that when kids are exposed to foreign language early, they are very receptive to learning. And with a degree in Spanish stemming from a sixth-grade experience, Barinka can testify that younger students, when successful in a second language, are able to get the confidence and the background to go farther with it.

"Besides, it’s just fun; It’s cool," she said. "It gives the students something different from their normal routines and they’re very open to it."

Monday’s lessons were deemed a good experience by all those involved, not only as a way to share knowledge, but in terms of motivation for the younger students.

"It shows our students that this is something that high school kids are doing and tells them that what they are learning is very important," Barinka said.