World Language
- 7th Grade Mandarin
- 8th Grade Mandarin
- 7th Grade Spanish
- 8th Grade Spanish
- Proficiency Levels
- Deliberate Practice aka Homework
- Grading Policy
- Deliberate Practice Sites
- Enrichment opportunites
- Additional Resources
- Read Worthy!
7th Grade Mandarin
The 7th Grade curriculum is designed to help students have a deeper understanding of Chinese pronunciation and writing systems. Our proficiency target this year is novice high. Which means students will learn to create simple sentences about themselves and on some familiar topics. In addition, students will also learn more about Chinese traditions and modern life by doing various cultural projects.
Who Am I?
- Pinyin
- Radicals
- Personal Information
- Colors
- Family
- Culture: Chinese provinces;
My school Life
- School subjects
- School places
- Time
- Daily activities
- Culture: What school is like in China
People Around Me
- Facial features
- Hobbies
- Occupations
- Culture: Chinese New Year
The World I live in
- Weather
- Seasons
- Clothing
- Shapes
- Culture: Chinese cities
8th Grade Mandarin
Our proficiency target for 8th grade students is novice high to intermediate low. Students will develop the ability to identify the topic in short informational and fictional texts, as well as short conversations. In addition, students will also learn to create simple sentences with more added detail on familiar and everyday topics of interest.
My Life
- Radicals
- Self-Introduction
- My summer vocations
- My school
- My daily routine
- Sports I do
- Culture: Chinese modern life and Chinese sports
People Around Me
- Nationality
- Jobs
- Fruit
- Pets & Animals
- Culture: Chinese zodiac
Eating and Shopping
- General food
- Chinese food
- American food
- Order food in a Chinese restaurant
- Shop in a Chinese store
- Culture: Chinese Food Culture & Modern payment methods
My House
- House and Furniture
- Community
- Transportation
- Weather
- Culture: Chinese modern transportation
7th Grade Spanish
The 7th grade curriculum is designed to take the students on a cultural journey through Spain. Classes meet daily therefore students are consistently explosed to the target language. Students have daily opportunites to practice the four skills:reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Students will be exposed to vocabulary/grammar taught in context in the target language. Students will be taught a variety of core expressions that form the foundation of Spanish in every grade level. These mastery expressions are essential to moving forward in proficiency and they are used extensively with the purpose of giving students the language and skills they need to get their needs met in a target language culture. Authentic resources in listening and reading are embedded in each unit. The Fine Arts are also embedded throughout the curriculum including art, music, dance, and literature. History and culture will be taught in each unit as it relates to the overall theme.
Active Literacy - how to begin learning Spanish
- Cognates
- Infinitives
- Tricks to acquire vocabulary quickly
- Pronunciation
Where is Spain?
- Geography and general knowledge
- Places
- Professions
La Navidad en España
- Celebrating the holidays in Spain
Muy de Moda
- Clothing
- Adjectives
Lo Español - La cultura española
- Influencia Árabe
- La Corrida de Toros
- La familia
- El cine - Zipi y Zape
A comer
- Food
- Shopping
- Recipes
8th Grade Spanish
The 8th grade curriculum picks up where the 7th grade curriculum ended. Students will be exposed to more vocabulary/grammar and will continue their cultural journey through Spain. Authentic resources in listening and reading are embedded in each unit. Students will continue to expand on the core expressions that form the foundation of Spanish in every grade level. These mastery expressions are essential to moving forward in proficiency and they are used extensively with the purpose of giving students the language and skills they need to get their needs met in a target language culture. In 8th grade we will work on moving beyond speaking in the present to include narrating in the past. The Fine Arts are also embedded throughout the curriculum including art, music, dance, and literature. History and culture will be taught in each unit as it relates to the overall theme.
Adelante con tu aprendizaje - Moving forward with your learning
- Mastery expressions
- Active Literacy Vocabulary
- Your path to proficiency
- Tricks to acquire vocabulary
Geografía detallada de España - in-depth study of Spanish geography
- Autonomous communities
- Physical and political geography
- Historia antigua
- Cuevas de Altamira
Las Bellas Artes de España
- Literatura - Cervantes, Lorca, Juán Ramón Jimenéz,
- Arte - Picasso, Dali, Velaquéz, Goya, Miró, El Greco
- Música - Pop - Enrique, Alejandro Sanz, David Bisbal
- Genre - Flamenco, Zarzuela, Gregorian Chants, Placido Domingo
- Arquitectura - Gaudí, Roman, Byzantine, Arab
- Baile - Flamenco, Sevillana, Macarena, Sardana, Paso Doble, Bolero
Barcelona
- Olympic City
- Antonio Guadí
- Sports
- Commerce
Madrid
- La Reina Sofía
- El Prado
- La Familia Real
- La Historia
- El Metro de Madrid
- Los lugares de Interés
Segovia
- La historia
- El acueducto romano
Toledo
- La historia
- El Greco
Andalucia
- Sevilla - Semana Santa
- Córdoba - La Mezquita
- Granada - La Alhambra
Burgos
- Sitio Unesco
- El sistema educativo
- El Cid
- La Catedral
Proficiency Levels
Deliberate Practice aka Homework
Practice is an essential component to your learning. If you want to improve and grow in your proficiency you must practice. Quizlet and the other homework sites we use are designed to help you practice vocabulary. Your success will depend on how you approach the homework. Are you practicing to learn or are you going through the motions to log time and attempts? If you complete the assignments with the attitude that you want to learn, you will learn! To be truly successful, set aside 15 minutes a day for World Language practice. The online resources allow you to practice just about anywhere. If there is an APP put it on your phone. Spend 5 minutes on each activity. It is important to practice in short bursts every day. If you make practice a daily habit you will be surprised as to how quickly you learn the material.
Finding the time to practice is one of the hardest things about learning a language.
It should be one of the easiest, but with our increasingly busy lifestyles and the never-ending list of things to do, it’s often pushed to the sidelines in favor of something a little more, well, pressing.
Deliberate practice: a winning formula to learn just about anything
The reality is that you need to practice (ideally every day) in order to retain the information you’ve learned.
Stick with it
Sometimes the only thing that differentiates people who master a skill from those who don’t is the amount of time they’re willing to stick with it. When it comes to languages, people often decide they can’t understand a grammar point or pronounce a word even though they’ve only tried a few times.
Some things will probably take longer to learn than you think, but it’s worth sticking with them. You’ll be so glad you did when you can finally say them right.
Homework Policy 6/7 grade
Grading Policy
Grading for proficiency and standards based grading
According to American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language (ACTFL) “Proficiency is the ability to use language in real world situations in a spontaneous interaction and non-rehearsed context and in a manner acceptable and appropriate to native speakers of the language. Proficiency demonstrates what a language user is able to do regardless of where, when or how the language was acquired. The demonstration is independent of how the language was learned; the context may or may not be familiar; the evaluation of proficiency is not limited to the content of a particular curriculum that has been taught and learned. An assessment of proficiency determines if the language user provides sufficient evidence of all of the assessment criteria of a particular level according to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. The individual must do everything expected at a level in a sustained fashion, that is, all of the time, in order to be rated at that level.
Three Modes of communication
Interpretive
• Interpretation of what the author, speaker, or producer wants the receiver of the message to understand One-way communication with no recourse to the active negotiation of meaning with the writer, speaker, or producer
• Interpretation differs from comprehension and translation in that interpretation implies the ability to read (or listen or view) “between the lines,” including understanding from within the cultural mindset or perspective
• Reading (websites, stories, articles), listening (speeches, messages, songs), or viewing (video clips) of authentic materials
LS - Interpretive Listening (18%)
RD - Interpretive Reading (18%)
Interpersonal
• Active negotiation of meaning among individuals
• Participants observe and monitor one another to see how their meanings and intentions are being communicated • Adjustments and clarifications are made accordingly
• Speaking and listening (conversation); reading and writing (text messages or via social media)
Presentational
•Creation of messages
•One-way communication intended to facilitate interpretation by members of the other culture where no direct opportunity for the active negotiation of meaning between members of the two cultures exists
•To ensure the intended audience is successful in its interpretation, the “presenter” needs knowledge of the audience’s language and culture
• Writing (messages, articles, reports), speaking (telling a story, giving a speech, describing a poster), or visually representing (video or PowerPoint)
SP - Interpersonal /presentational Speaking (18%)
WR - Interpersonal and presentational Writing (18%)
HW - Deliberate practice aka homework (10%)
Deliberate practice refers to a special type of practice that is purposeful and systematic. While regular practice might include mindless repetitions, deliberate practice requires focused attention and is conducted with the specific goal of improving performance. - James Clear
GVC - grammar, vocabulary and culture (18%)
This category is used for assessments that don’t fall into any of the categories above. This could be a project, a culture capsule or practice of a grammar concept in isolation.
FM - Formative Assessments (0%)
Formative assessments will be given and listed under the appropriate category but are NOT factored into the grade. This allows parents and students to see the formative assessments along side the other assessments which hopefully will reflect growth. Formative assessments are practice assignments that lead up to the summative assessment.
# of assessments - there should be at least 3 assessments in each category by the end of the quarter.