Foreign Language - Sophomore
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE 1 (439)
Grades 9-11: Level 2
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisites: Teacher and guidance recommendation.
This course will introduce students to the target language and culture. Emphasis will be on interpersonal communication and cultural awareness. The students will recognize practiced or memorized words, phrases, and simple sentences in texts that are spoken and written. Students will learn to communicate at the novice low proficiency level by using simple grammatical structures and a variety of practiced or memorized words, phrases, simple sentences, and questions. The course will follow the themes of the level 1 language course that include greetings, farewells, counting, calendar, likes and dislikes, clothing, colors, and foods. Culturally, students will be introduced to the geography, people, history, customs and traditions of the target language culture. Students will investigate, explain and reflect on the similarities and differences of these cultures with their own.
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE 2 (440)
Grades 10-12: Level 2
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisites: Successful completion of Language and Culture 1. Teacher and guidance recommendation.
This course is a continuation of Language and Culture 1. The students will continue to work at novice levels of proficiency in interpersonal communication and cultural awareness. The students will work to increase their novice proficiency level through recognition of practiced or memorized words, phrases and simple sentences in texts that are spoken and written. Students will continue to develop their speaking proficiency and create more written communication at this level through novice level grammar. The course will continue to follow themes from the level 1 language course such as description, family, sports, and leisure activities. Specific cultural investigations will continue to enhance student awareness of the target language culture. Students will continue to investigate, explain and reflect on the similarities and differences of these cultures with their own.
French
FRENCH 1 (401)
Grades 9-11: Level 2
(Year) 1.5 credits
This introductory course is for students who are beginning their study of French and for those coming into high school that would like to strengthen their basic skills. Students will begin the adventure of learning French using authentic materials such as videos, articles, readings, songs and websites of the French-speaking world. Through communicatively based activities, with a strong focus on speaking, students in French 1 build the vocabulary and acquire the language functions that are used in everyday conversation. The themes of identity, leisure activities, family, school, a balanced lifestyle, food, fashion and friendship provide a lens through which to explore our own cultural practices and perspectives as well as those of people in the French-speaking world. Students will work to improve their proficiency in speaking, reading, listening and writing to attain a Novice Mid proficiency level. Throughout the year, students will use the language skills that they acquire to do meaningful, relevant, real-world tasks. This course is conducted in French.
FRENCH 2 HONORS (406)
Grades 9-12
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: B+ or higher in the first year of the language, teacher recommendation
In this fast-paced course, students will be moving from the Novice towards the Intermediate Low level of linguistic proficiency. It is suitable for highly motivated students who are able to easily and quickly assimilate new vocabulary and structures. Students will develop their proficiency in interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational communication, following the world-readiness standards outlined in the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. This course is taught in French.
FRENCH 2 (405)
Grades 9-12
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: Successful completion of the first year of language, teacher recommendation
In this course students will be moving from the Novice towards the Intermediate Low level of linguistic proficiency. Students will learn to become proficient in interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive communication in both spoken and written form. They will learn to express more complex ideas, as well as how to talk about the past and the future. They will develop their intercultural skills by expanding their knowledge of French-speaking cultures through the exploration of products, practices, and points of view from those cultures.
FRENCH 3 HONORS (410)
Grades 10-11
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: B or higher in 406 and and B+ or higher in 405 and teacher recommendation.
Moving to Intermediate Mid proficiency level this course is for motivated, independent students who will maximize effort, ability, and reflection to build upon a strong language and culture foundation. Students will become more confident and precise in their interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills through various communicative reading, listening, writing and speaking activities almost exclusively in French. We focus on increasing proficiency through interpreting texts, both written and audio. Using our online materials, Notre Histoire, students read and create many stories. They will listen to and interpret interviews, discuss cultural products, see and use vocabulary in context. Units covered in French 3 such as, Contemporary Life: Travel and Pastimes,Families and Communities: Family Structures, and Beauty and Aesthetics: Fashion and Design The Notre Histoire materials are aligned with our state curriculum frameworks, as well as ACTFL ( American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages) standards. Students in the Honors level will often have different, more complex and open ended assignments than students in Level 2
FRENCH 3 (409)
Grades: 10-11
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: Successful completion of 405 and teacher recommendation.
Moving from Novice High to Intermediate Low in this course, students continue to develop their skills to communicate effectively in French, analyze authentic texts and interact with cultural understanding. Through the units, students will improve their proficiency in speaking, reading, listening and writing. Students strengthen their abilities to participate in spontaneous conversations, retell stories and use complex sentences and strings of sentences to share their opinions, ideas and emotions. Course materials include various authentic media and text from our online materials, Notre Histoire. Units in this course include Contemporary Life: Travel and Pastimes,Families and Communities: Family Structures, and Beauty and Aesthetics: Fashion and Design The Notre Histoire materials are aligned with our state curriculum frameworks, as well as ACTFL ( American Council of Teaching Foreign Languages) standards.
German
GERMAN 1 (441)
Grades 9-11 Level 2/Honors
(Year) Credits: 1.50
This course is the first step of getting to know the exciting world of German language and culture. German 1 students will build the vocabulary and acquire the language functions that are used in everyday conversation through various modes of communication, such as interpersonal (person-to-person speaking or writing), interpretive (listening and reading) and presentational (one-way speaking and writing) with a strong focus on speaking. Students will be working with authentic German resources such as videos, articles, readings, songs and websites. The themes of greetings, numbers, classroom objects, likes and dislikes, leisure activities, descriptions, family, school subjects, days of the week and time provide a lens through which to explore our own cultural practices and aspects and those of the German-speaking world. By engaging in German through speaking, reading, listening and writing, students will aim to attain a Novice Mid proficiency level.
GERMAN 2 LEVEL 2 (445)
GERMAN 2 HONORS (446)
Grades 9-12
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: B or higher in German 1 or German 1 8th Grade, B+ or higher in German 1 8th Grade Advanced and teacher recommendation.
In German 2 students will build proficiency in three levels of communication: interpersonal (person-to-person speaking or writing), interpretive (listening and reading), and presentational (one-way speaking and writing). Students will acquire 21st century literacy skills through reading, writing, listening, speaking and viewing German resources. Themes include: numbers, leisure activities, seasons and months of the year, food and drink items, family, school subjects and supplies, clothing, household chores and time expressions. They will continue to ask and answer questions, retell stories, and interpret text. They will begin to use more complex sentences in their language in order to share their opinions, offer recommendations/suggestions to others, and persuade others of their ideas. Additionally, students will continue to investigate the products, practices and perspectives of German-speaking cultures. By engaging in German through speaking, reading, listening and writing, students will aim to attain a Novice High proficiency level.
GERMAN 3 LEVEL 2 (449)
GERMAN 3 HONORS (450)
Grades 9-12
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: B or higher in German 2, B+ or higher in German 2 Honors and teacher recommendation.
This course is for motivated, independent students who will maximize effort, ability, and reflection to build upon a strong language and culture foundation. Students will become more confident and precise in their presentational, interpersonal, interpretive and intercultural skills through various communicative reading, listening, writing and speaking activities almost exclusively in German. Vocabulary and language functions are acquired in context from the following thematic units: children’s stories, Grimm fairy tales, detective short stories and a novel. Through the units, students will improve memory capacity, develop sentence structure and syntax, make comparisons to the English language and learn more about German culture and the cultures of German speaking countries. The writing exercises range from paragraph writing of summaries to creating a children’s story or fairytale into opinion pieces in the format of an essay. Furthermore they will review and expand basic vocabulary, review and practice the present tense, past participle and the conversational past and learn the simple past through reading, practice answering and asking questions. Students will be able to report past events in speaking and writing. In each unit, students will use the language skills that they acquire to do meaningful, relevant, real-world tasks. This course is taught primarily in German. Students will work towards an Intermediate Low proficiency level if taking level 2 and Intermediate Mid proficiency level if taking at the Honors level.
GERMAN 4 LEVEL 2 (453)
GERMAN 4 HONORS (454)
Grades 10-12
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: B or higher in German 3, B+ or higher in German 3 Honors and teacher recommendation.
This course is for students who are ready to substantially improve their presentational, interpersonal, interpretive and intercultural communication skills. It provides an increased opportunity for idiomatic usage and self-expression, both oral and written. A great variety of selections are introduced in this course, such as: short stories, plays, and original German film. In fact, German film in the context of the discussions of modern German life are an integral part of this course. Students will develop profound knowledge and understanding of German language and culture through the lens of history. This class is mainly conducted in German. Students will work towards an Intermediate Mid proficiency level if taking level 2 and Intermediate High proficiency level if taking at the Honors level.
Spanish
SPANISH 1 (421)
Grades 9-11
(Year) Credits: 1.50
This course is designed for students who wish to begin to study the Spanish language. Students will engage in all four skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Students will learn thematic vocabulary, grammatical concepts, rules of pronunciation, and communicative skills. This class is taught progressively in Spanish. Students will begin the adventure of learning Spanish through communicatively based activities, with a strong focus on speaking, students will build the vocabulary and acquire the language functions that are used in everyday conversation.
Themes in this course include socially-appropriate greetings and farewells, the calendar, school supplies and classroom vocabulary, everyday leisure activities, food, and family descriptions. Students will be able to express likes and dislikes,learn how to ask questions, describe self and others using many common present tense verbs, including: ser, estar, tener, regular -ar, -er and -ir verbs. Students will explore the grammatical topics of noun-adjective agreement, definite and indefinite articles, the concept of gender of nouns (singular and plural), and telling time.
These themes provide a lens through which to explore our own cultural practices and perspectives as well as those of people in the Spanish-speaking world. Students will work to improve their proficiency in three modes of communication: interpersonal (person-to-person speaking or writing), interpretive (listening and reading) and presentational (one-way speaking and writing) to attain a Novice Mid proficiency level. Students will investigate the products, practices and perspectives of Spanish-speaking cultures.
SPANISH 2 HONORS (426)
Grades 9-12
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: Successful completion of Spanish 1/1Adv outstanding performance and teacher recommendation.
In this fast-paced course students will continue to improve their overall language proficiency skills, and develop a more complex vocabulary. Students will be expected to incorporate varied sentence structures and be able to exchange information about themselves and others. This course provides an emphasis on interpersonal communication, interpretive reading and listening, as well as presentational communication. Students will interact with a variety of authentic texts and audio. Themes include: shopping and clothing, leisure activities, travel and getting around town, restaurant and foods, family, sports, planning a party, and household chores. Additionally, students will explore the traditions, practices, and perspectives of the Spanish speaking world. The majority of instruction is in the target language. Students will work toward an Intermediate Low proficiency level.
SPANISH 2 (425)
Grades: 9-12 Level 2
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: Successful completion of Spanish 1
In this course students will continue to improve their overall language proficiency skills, develop a more complex vocabulary, explore varied sentence structures and be able to exchange information about themselves and others. This course provides an emphasis on interpersonal communication, interpretive reading and listening, as well as presentational communication. Themes include: shopping and clothing, leisure activities, travel and getting around town, restaurant and foods, family, sports, planning a party, and household chores. Additionally, students will explore the traditions, practices, and perspectives of the Spanish speaking world. Students will work toward Novice High proficiency.
SPANISH 3 HONORS (430)
Grades 10-12
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: B or better in Spanish 2 Honors and teacher recommendation
Building on skills that were introduced in Honors Spanish II, this course will challenge students of proven linguistic ability to expand their understanding of language and culture and the precision with which they are able to speak about the present and past. A variety of engaging themes -- including travel preparations & planning a vacation, health and well-being, clothing, shopping and personal needs, art, myths and legends, and personal narratives -- will expand students’ vocabulary and push them to improve their interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills. Students should expect to interact with authentic resources of all types, including a short story, and to be assessed regularly on all four skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). This course is taught primarily in Spanish. Students will work toward an Intermediate Mid proficiency level.
SPANISH 3 (429)
Grades 10-12
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: B or better in Spanish 2 and teacher recommendation
Building on skills that were introduced in Spanish II, students will continue to expand their understanding of language and culture and the ability to speak and write in both the present and past. They will begin to use more complex sentences in their language in order to share their opinions, offer recommendations/suggestions to others, and persuade others of their ideas. A variety of engaging themes -- including travel preparations & planning a vacation, health and well-being, clothing, shopping and personal needs, art, myths and legends, and personal narratives -- will expand students’ vocabulary and push them to improve their interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills. Students should expect to interact with authentic resources of all types, including a short story, and to be assessed regularly on all four skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). Much of this course is taught in Spanish. Students will work toward an Intermediate Low proficiency level.
SPANISH 4 HONORS (434)
Grades 10-12
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: B or better in Spanish 3 Honors and teacher recommendation
This course is for students of proven linguistic ability who can speak and write in Spanish effectively. In this intensive and engaging course, students will aim to achieve an Intermediate High level of linguistic proficiency. Students will dramatically increase their vocabulary and master a variety of advanced grammatical structures. Students will make intercultural comparisons as they explore contemporary themes such as: Nature and environment, science and technology, family and society, and travel and tourism. A variety of authentic sources will be analyzed and discussed, and students will be assessed in the areas of interpersonal speaking and writing, interpretive listening and reading, and presentational speaking and writing. This course will prepare students for the Spanish Advanced Placement course. The course is taught exclusively in Spanish.
SPANISH 4 (433)
Grades 10-12
(Year) Credits: 1.50
Prerequisite: C or higher in Spanish 3 and teacher recommendation
Students will work to improve their proficiency in interpersonal speaking and writing, interpreting text and audio, and presenting information using practiced or memorized words or phrases and relying upon visual aids. In this course, students will aim to achieve an Intermediate Mid level of linguistic proficiency. Students will increase their vocabulary and learn a variety of advanced grammatical structures. Students will make intercultural comparisons as they explore contemporary themes such as: Nature and environment, science and technology, family and society, and travel and tourism. Students will be introduced to a variety of authentic sources to be able to compare and contrast their culture with the cultures of the Spanish speaking world. Students will be assessed in the areas of interpersonal speaking and writing, interpretive listening and reading, and presentational speaking and writing. This class is primarily taught in Spanish.