By NANCY HILER
More than halfway through the academic year, reviews and results appear to be excelente from both sides of the school desk.
"It's very enjoyable," Vincent Cerati, 11, said of the 40-minute block of Spanish that he and his fellow sixth-graders throughout the school district receive once every six days. Jafri teaches more than 400 students -- all 18 sixth-grade classes in the district, including four classes at Saw Mill Road, three each at Martin Avenue, Park Avenue, Newbridge Road and Jacob Gunther, and two at John Dinkelmeyer.
"Ms. Jafri makes it fun and easy to do," Vincent added. "She makes activities enjoyable."
During one recent Spanish lesson in Elisse Arnell's class at Saw Mill Road School, the children broke into groups assigned by color rojo, verdeor azuland were asked to pick a number out of a paper bag, representing a date. "Tell the date in a full sentence," Jafri prodded.
Hoy es Viernes, cinco de Enero," a child from the rojo group said, meaning, "Today is Friday, the fifth of January."
Jafri then asked that, one at a time, a representative from each group use the numbers they picked to count their way to the date on a calendar. Excelente," Jafri commented after each task was completed, awarding a point each time. At the end of the lesson, the groups' scores were tied.
"It's fun," said Thomas George Jr., 11, after he finished counting the days on the calendar in front of the class. "We know months, years, days, the alphabet, and we can talk to each other in Spanish sometimes now."
"The kids are loving it," Jafri said, "and I've seen terrific progress." She set out with an ambitious curriculum for the relatively limited time she spends with the students. It covers greetings, the alphabet, counting to 100, colors, the concepts of gender, subject pronouns and verb forms in Spanish grammar, as well as basic vocabulary ranging from classroom and home objects to weather conditions. The students knew 78 words by winter holiday break.
To keep the motivation and momentum going, Jafri gives quizzes periodically and provides packets of homework materials for the children to complete between sessions. "It adds to the continuity of classes, helps them to take it seriously when they have to do in-between work," she explained.
Adolescent learning
When asked about studies that show that the earlier children learn foreign language, the better, and whether she thinks sixth grade is optimal, Jafri replied, "I was concerned that sixth-graders would be resistant, but they were receptive and enthusiastic." Of the progress they have made, she added, "They are doing so well. They picked it up very fast; you'd be surprised. They are learning a lot -- vocabulary, their accent, their willingness to speak. It's wonderful."
"Sixth grade is by no means too late" to learn a foreign language, said Tillie McNamara, Jafri's district program mentor, who runs North Bellmore's gifted program, Alpha. McNamara said that it's important for children to be exposed to certain types of learning at certain points in their brain development, because studies have indicated that if they aren't exposed to certain things until after adolescence, they may lose the ability to learn them. "It is not yet use-it-or-lose-it" for this age group, McNamara explained. "There is a rapid burst of cognitive growth during adolescence, which makes this such an important time for learning, including learning a language."
"I learned Spanish around the same age myself," Jafri pointed out -- one of three languages in which she is fluent, including her native Urdu or Hindi. She was born in Pakistan and during her high school years lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Jafri came to teaching after a career in banking, beginning in general elementary education positions in Port Washington and Albertson, and then tutoring English, Spanish and social studies at Mepham High School. Later she was an English as Second Language tutor at Nassau Community College while student-teaching at Bayview Avenue Elementary School in Freeport and earning her teaching certification.
The pilot program's progress
Back in the classroom, the results of her labors quickly became evident. Nearly all of the children raised their hands, volunteering to say the words in a crossword puzzle and in a "fill in the blanks" homework assignment they were going over.
"Learning a different language is important," another sixth-grader, Haylee Solomon, 12, said enthusiastically. "In the world and in America, lots of people are speaking Spanish. Knowing the language can help solve problems and conflicts."
Salud" one child called out when another child sneezed.
Que tal," said Jafri, praising the child for remembering the Spanish word that translates loosely into "good health and God bless," and not confusing it with saludos which was a topic of discussion when the class went over various greetings.
"Senora [Jafri] is so good with the kids," commented Arnell. "She brought all the different learning styles in, including music, drawing pictures and so on, utilizing multiple intelligences so they succeed. My favorite part is singing the alphabet.
"Most of these children had no idea about any of this," Arnell continued. "Now they use sentences, have small conversations back and forth in Spanish ..." And the work is preparing them for middle school, where foreign-language study is part of the two-year course of study.
Neighboring elementary schools in the Bellmore, Merrick and North Merrick school districts, which feed into the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, also offer some form of foreign language study. In Bellmore, Spanish is taught in grades one to six, and in North Merrick it is offered to students as an after-school elective. In Merrick, a sixth-grade Spanish pilot program started at the same time as North Bellmore's. Funded by a state grant this year, the Merrick program is slated to expand to grades three to six in 2007-08.
In North Bellmore, the hope expressed by administrators during last year's budget workshops was to expand the program gradually, moving one grade lower every year (into fifth grade for the upcoming school year, for example), assuming funding was sufficient. "The original plan indicated a review of the pilot before moving forward to expand it," district Superintendent Dominic Mucci said during this year's budget workshops. "No expansion of the program is planned for 2007-08. The funding is at the same level."
When it comes to measuring the pilot program's progress, McNamara says she has seen what she calls real learning. "An authentic assessment means speaking, writing, interaction and making connections, all of which is evident," McNamara said.
"I come across the kids in town," Jafri. "They greet me in Spanish, and they speak Spanish among themselves. The kids light up. They're excited about it."
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