Watch the following videos to learn more about world language acquisition at Park Forest Middle School.
What will class be like? What will we do during typical classes?
Even if you don't understand the language being used, take note of the students in the classroom and their participation.
French Video.mp47th grade students Emma, Lisel, Clara, and Maggie are retelling a story about a trick that a brother plays on his sister. They begin by telling the story from a series of pictures and switch to a question and answer sequence at the end.
In the first video, Ollie tells one of the first stories we learn in 6th grade German. Then Henry and Mathew retell a story together. Notice they do not read directly from a script. They have acquired the language skills to say what is happening in a picture without any written words.
This is a student retell based on the images you can see in the video. This story is the 3rd one we do together in class, so these students had been practicing Spanish every other day for about 6 weeks.
IMG_1426.MOVIn this sequence, 8th grade students are learning new vocabulary through associating gestures with the words they are reading and hearing. This particular histoire is about Loïs Maillou Jones, an African-American artist living in Paris during the 1940's, sous l'occupation.
This video shows how much 6th grade students can comprehend after about 4 weeks of classes in German every other day. Through active listening they are able to demonstrate understanding through commands woven into the context of a story: Dawn, a "naughty" student, who takes items from other people and puts them in the recycling bin.
This is the second day of Spanish 1 for 6th grade students. Here we are co-telling the story of La muchacha mala (The Bad Girl) using student actors, visuals, gestures, and circling (asking lots of questions to provide repetitions and assess comprehension) to immerse students in a comprehensible and engaging learning space.
Esra et Andreas.movThis story retell is about two American students finding their way around Paris. 8th grade students Andreas and Esra, are using the French structures acquired during the Interactive Storytelling video below. They also include cultural places, as well as the infamous Parisian métro in their presentation.
Watch Ollie and J.J. ask Anthony details about a picture story they learned in 6th grade German. In this video, no written scripts are used. Students have acquired the vocabulary to describe what they see without written prompts.
Fishbowl.MOVPeer interaction is an important component in our classroom. In this video, 7th grade students have a conversation about Unit topics. We practice our conversation skills with a focus on expressing opinions and making personal and academic connections.
