Using Curriculum to Bring World Language Into Your Classroom
By: Beth Manners
More and more schools are adding World Language programs as early as kindergarten. Why should you consider beginning a language program in elementary school, and what options do you have?
We have all had children in our classes who have recently moved here from a foreign country. Amazingly, the young ones are speaking and sounding like Americans in no time, while their parents and older siblings struggle to learn English and speak with a heavy accent.
We are simply observing firsthand what all the studies say—it is much easier for young children to learn to speak a foreign language.
Young children have only been speaking their native language for a short time, so they are comfortable communicating in a new way. They have a language aptitude and are perfect mimics, ensuring perfect pronunciation.
Beginning language study in the early grades capitalizes on this by providing an early start for sustained study of a language. Additionally, early language learning and cultural study promotes flexibility in thinking. Kids easily accept the idea that the adjective can come after the verb without even knowing the definition of an adjective or a verb.
You may have read that early language learning boosts cognitive thinking, increases standardized test scores, improves understanding of language, and improves literacy. However, the best reason to learn another language is that it will be useful to students.
Our world is getting smaller, and many students will have opportunities to travel and speak different languages, or maybe just make some international friends in college or online. Children who begin language study at a young age are able to acquire other languages easily as they get older. They have a "knack" for it because those language-learning skills transfer to other languages.
Many options exist for adding foreign language. Immersion programs with half the week taught in the target language and half the week in English are very successful. However, many schools don't have the resources and don't want to make that kind of commitment.
FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary School) programs usually offer language instruction in the target language by a qualified teacher several times a week. Sometimes, the programs are content-based, which means vocabulary is taken from the class curriculum in other subjects. For example, if you were studying the weather in science, you would learn the weather terms in the target language.
In many schools, the classroom teacher—with the aid of audio language programs, CDS, and DVDs—can create an environment in the target language. Highly effective materials are readily available for this purpose.
This approach gives children the opportunity to hear native speakers, and if the program is interactive, they are prompted to speak/repeat in the target language. This is a solution for many schools that don't have the budget for, or cannot find, qualified teachers.
Encourage conversations.
Regardless of the option you choose, it is important that your language program is conversation-based. Middle school affords plenty of time for reading and writing; however, the critical early years should encourage children to hear and speak the target language.
Make the activities interactive and use the five senses.
It's easier to learn the word "apple" with an apple in one's hand. By touching, smelling, seeing, and tasting as children hear the word, a memorable context is created.
This approach also is fun and satisfying! For example, to learn foods, pack a picnic basket and use dramatic play to go on a picnic. Play restaurant and set the table; learn to say "please" and "thank you" in real-life situations.
Sing songs in the target language.
It is so easy to remember something when you sing it. Sing the days of the week, months of the year, and the alphabet. Add hand motions where possible; they are fun and hold children's interest while providing another cue to help remember words.
One of my favorite classroom games is to do a line dance to music, stepping to the right and to the left to learn the words "right" and "left."
Learn by doing.
To learn verbs, dance, walk, stand, sit, and run in place. Add a bit of dramatic imaginary play by "hiking" to Machu Picchu or "swimming" on the beautiful beaches in Spain. For colors, play pass-the-ball games with different-colored balls. As the children pass each ball, they must say the color in the target language.
Context is everything.
When you travel to a foreign country, learning through context is an invaluable skill. Conversation will never be exactly as you learned it. You need to be able to follow what you do understand and decipher the rest. The same is true in the classroom.
After all, children applied context to learn English, so they are quite comfortable figuring out what is going on through action and intonation; they don't need to translate word-for-word the way adults do. They are natural detectives and can easily pick out words they know and fill in the blanks through context.
Spanish DVDs are an excellent way to provide context. Take a familiar, popular movie and show it in the target language. Show the same DVD a few times, and the children will learn through context.
Short stories and dialogues read aloud or on CD are another way to provide a little immersion and have children think in the target language. Make sure the stories have interesting pictures to hold students' attention and encourage them to learn through context.
Study and celebrate holidays from the target language countries. A Mexican fiesta with lots of yummy foods, music, and dancing makes students enthusiastic about learning and creates a memorable experience.
Perform skits and little plays in the target language. Memorizing lines is excellent for fluency. You can perform for other classes, as well as for parents.
In which grade should you start? The earlier you start, the better. For young children, languages are not foreign; they are simply another language, another way to communicate. Each year that passes, children become a little more entrenched in English and a little more resistant to other languages.
What can you expect? Unless you decide to provide a complete immersion program, do not expect perfect fluency. What you can expect is a significant jumpstart on language learning. You are establishing a strong foundation for a lifetime of language and cultural learning.
As children get older, this foundation will help them work toward fluency in the target language, and it will make learning other languages easier, as well.
Beth Manners created the Classroom Spanish for Kids and Classroom French for Kids school programs, along with the award-winning Fun Spanish/Fun French CD series and the newly released Spanish in a Basket, www.bethmanners.com.
Product Roundup
Core Learning Inc.
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FACE's Principle Approach
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Rod and Staff Books
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Applying Differentiation Strategies by Shell Education
Applying Differentiation Strategies, 2nd Edition Teacher's Handbook, published by Shell Education, is a practical guide for implementing differentiated instruction. Newly updated, this powerful resource teaches you how to differentiate your lessons through content, process, and product with step-by-step instructional strategies that put differentiation into practice. A variety of strategies are included, all of which are anchored in extensive research on the importance of differentiation and addressing a variety of learning styles.
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Risas y Sonrisas Spanish Program for Kids
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Teach Me Everyday Volume 2, Celebrating the Seasons
Teach Me Tapes has released Volume 2 of its award-winning Teach Me Everyday languages learning series by Judy Mahoney. The first four languages of the newest series are available to continue the learning adventure in French, Spanish, Italian, and English. Based on the classic Teach Me More titles, these revised editions feature a new 32-page hardcover book, brilliantly illustrated by Patrick Girouard. Each book includes a delightful CD with 20 songs to sing along and learn.
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Apologia Notebooking Journals
Apologia Educational Ministries has announced the release of the new Notebooking Journals, which are designed to accompany the Young Explorer Series. Notebooking Journals are spiral bound and include narration review questions, scripture copywork, vocabulary crosswords, cut and fold miniature books, as well as additional ideas, projects, experiments, and book suggestions. Notebooking Journals are a great way for K-6 students to express what they are learning, using their own creativity.
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QualityCore from ACT
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K12 International Academy
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Inquiry Investigations Curriculum Modules from Frey
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edWorksheets.com from Remedia Publications
Remedia Publications has announced a new division of its company, edWorksheets.com, an innovative Web site that offers thousands of printable worksheet sets for teachers and parents. Educators familiar with Remedia will recognize very similar offerings that Remedia is known for, such as high-interest, low readability worksheets. Unique site features include a search engine that allows members to search by grade level, reading level, interest level, topic, or skill. Each printable is accompanied by a list of performance objectives, or skills, and an answer key.
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Read, Write & Type Online Edition from Talking Fingers
Talking Fingers offers an innovative Phonics-to-Fluency Software for Hands-on Reading and Spelling. The Talking Fingers approach is based on a simple idea: text is speech made visible. We use our mouths to talk, to make the sounds of words. We use our fingers (with a pencil or keyboard) to represent those sounds on paper. When children learn to link speech sounds with letters, they can use the alphabet code to write any word they can say. Their fingers are "talking!" Try the first eight lessons free on their Web site.
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