Preliminary Unit: Let’s Get Started (~2 weeks)

Unit Essential Questions: What is language proficiency? What procedures do I need to learn to function effectively and participate fully in class? What cues do I listen to and look for before I respond? How do I figure out meaning when words are not understood? How is the target language like and unlike English?

Unit Concepts: Units are based on proficiency targets that describe what learners can do at each level of proficiency. From the first day of class, the target language is used as the primary means of communication in the language class. There are similarities and differences between the target language and students' own language. Cognates enhance comprehension of spoken and written language. Effective communication requires cooperation, active listening, clear instructions, respect for one another clarifying questions, and proper feedback.

Unit 1: My Friends and I (~6 weeks)

Unit Essential Question: What makes me who I am?

Unit Concepts: Personal identity, including self, physical characteristics and personality descriptions are developed through experiences that occur within one’s family, one’s community, and the culture at large.

Unit 2: My School Life (~6 weeks)

Unit Essential Question: How is school an important part of my life?

Unit Concepts: School shapes one’s future as an individual, worker, and productive citizen of the United States and a contributing member of the global society. School systems reflect their cultures. Unit 3:

Unit 3: Let’s Eat! (~6 weeks)

Unit Essential Question: What role does food play in my life and in the lives of people in the target cultures?

Unit Concepts: Attitudes about food and healthy eating habits vary across cultures. (Topics that assist in the development of this understanding should include, but are not limited to: foods, shopping, eating at home or in restaurants, and wellness practices). Many products and practices related to home and community are shared across cultures; others are culture-specific.

Unit 4: Home Sweet Home (~6 weeks)

Unit Essential Question: What constitutes a home in native and target cultures?

Unit Concepts: The definitions of family and home differ from culture to culture. What is perceived as “basic needs” varies among and within cultures. Many products and practices related to home are shared across cultures; others are culture-specific. Personal identity is developed through experiences that occur within one’s home and family.

Unit 5: My Community (~6 weeks)

Unit Essential Questions: How is contemporary life influenced by my community? How is my lifestyle influenced by my community? How does a community influence the life of native and target people groups?

Unit Concepts: Personal identity is developed through experiences that occur within one’s family, one’s community, and the culture at large.

 Unit 6: Going Green (~6 weeks)

Unit Essential Questions: How do animals and habitats in my culture compare with those of the target cultures? What affects animals and their habitats at home and in the target countries? 

Unit Concepts: Attitudes about the environment and environmental practices in the home and community vary across cultures. Many products and practices related to home and community are shared across cultures; others are culture-specific. Environmental practices vary from culture to culture.