Several Mill Road Elementary School classes on Tuesday were treated to a lesson in Spanish, courtesy of Red Hook High School students.
The ninth-grade honors Spanish class, taught by Liz Lowney, visited the Mill Road STEAM Innovation Center Tuesday to teach Spanish vocabulary in small groups. Lowney also brought along a taste of Linden Avenue Middle School’s Latin Culture Fair; half of the STEAM room was transformed into an immersive experience highlighting the bioluminescent bays of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, which was a part of this year’s fair.
The bioluminescent bay room helped inspire the lesson. The students – Lucy Wilson’s third-grade class, Karlee Gillard’s fourth graders, and fifth graders in Jenna Pierce and Lisa Lloyd’s classes – first met with the ninth graders, who used flashcards, screens and other games to teach marine- and Puerto Rico-themed Spanish vocabulary. One group used a manatee to teach body parts. Then, the students moved to the blacklight side of the STEAM room to experience the neon bay and learn more directly from Lowney.
“The students did the majority of the planning independently, without me even being in the room. They’re just doing amazing,” Lowney said, noting some were using “teacher speak” in delivering their lessons. “The way they’re interacting with the kids is so amazing to me.”
Lowney noted, being able to give a lesson in Spanish vocabulary shows the students’ expert preparation of the subject, and praised their confidence.
“Marine animal vocabulary never comes up in our textbook,” the teacher laughed, “But, now it’s a thing they’ve added to their repertoire.”
The high schoolers seemed to enjoy the experience as much as the younger students. During downtime they relished the chance to experiment with the STEAM room’s various educational toys, they looked to reconnect with former teachers, and some even asked to go out for a recess period.
The bioluminescent display, STEAM teacher Sybil Bell said, will remain for a couple more days this week to allow other Mill Road students a chance to experience it. And, she said, she noted the terminology and vocabulary Lowney was teaching to pass along that lesson, too.