Reply to Middle School Foreign Language (FCPS)

Forum Index » Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)

Reply to "Middle School Foreign Language (FCPS)"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Former WL teacher here.

Middle schools can run 3 options: 
1. Level 1 Part A as a semester course (Grade 7), Level 1 Part B as a year-long course (Grade 8). 
2. Level 1 Part A as a yr-long (7th), Level 1 B as a yr-long (8th). 
3. Level 1 as a single year course in 8th (note: I've heard that some schools offer Level 1 in Grade 7 so that they can offer Level 2 in 8th, but can't confirm).

I've taught all 3 sequences. My favorite is the yr-long each Part A and Part B--we got to do so much enrichment, lots of fun projects, etc. The semester-long Part A/year-long Part B is just the right amount of time to cover all of the requirements of the course. The single-year Level 1 is tough--it's bare-bones, teach-to-the-test, at breakneck speed.

If you have a choice, and language learning is a priority, I would recommend the two-part program, regardless of how it's divided up. Making sure your student has the foundation and fundamentals of whatever language s/he has chosen is paramount to success in the subsequent levels--everything spirals upon itself (similar to math). It is a skills-based course.

If your student prefers to sample other offerings in Grade 7, and s/he wants to just "try out" language learning, then maybe the single year Level 1 class is enough.

OP, if you have other questions, you can quote me and I'll check back. [/quote]

NP. What do you recommend for kids who have taken years of Spanish in elementary school, but languages not their strong subject. Ok to take Spanish 1 in  8th?[/quote]

That person posted 4 years ago.  I’m not a language teacher but my kid is taking the entire year in 8th next year.  My older kid did this and wasn’t strong in languages and it worked well.  It was more that we wanted them to have two electives in 7th and not have their high school transcript be only the second, harder half of the year if they took part 2. I know it goes slower since it’s spread out over a year but our thought was the full course could always be expunged if the year didn’t go well.  [/quote]

I was the person who posted that information. It is very common for students to take Level 1 in a single year. Here are my recommendations for what to take based on the individual student:

Scenario 1: Student has an aptitude for languages and wants to start "earlier" and dive deep into language learning. I would recommend Part A/B for Level 1 (in the absence of Level 1/2 both being offered at the MS level). If the student is a high performing student w/ an aptitude for languages and Level 1 AND 2 are offered, that is certainly an option. It seems like schools that have Levels 1 & 2 don't also have Part A & B (but I'm guessing based on the posts in this thread).  
Scenario 2: Student wants to take other electives in 7th grade and take the 1 year Level 1 in 8th grade. If the student is a strong student, they most likely will be successful. If the student is not a strong student, but wants to start language learning anyway, I still say go for it, just understand that the grades may not be what the parent/student want them to be, and if they aren't, a decision will have to be made whether to keep or expunge the grades upon completion of the course. 
Scenario 3: Student struggles with academics but is interested in language learning. I recommend that student takes Level 1 Part A & Part B. It is a slower pace and there is more time for extended learning, projects, remediation, etc. 
Scenario 4: Student struggles with academics and is not interested in language learning. I recommend that the student wait until 9th grade in HS to start Level 1. Students need 3 years of 1 language or 2 years each of 2 languages to graduate. Starting in 9th grade still allows the student the opportunity to fulfill the requirements. The only downside to waitiing until 9th grade can prevent students from taking a full 5 years of a language (which means the upper level AP/IB courses). [/quote]

Thank you. Should students do Spanish 1-4 before attempting AP (non-native speaker)[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics