Annenberg’s September 2012 Curriculum Focus Is Foreign Languages

From http://www.learner.org/about/news/updates/september12.html

This month’s curriculum focus at Annenberg Learner is foreign languages. Here are some example resources to help you stay in the target language:

Tap into students’ interests and provide activities to explore those interests in the target language. In the Teaching Foreign Languages Library, program 5, “Mapping Planet Earth,” teacher Stephanie Appel says, “When you’re trying to decide what to teach as a world language teacher, you really need to think about what subjects catch the interest of your students. Why not steal the energy they get from learning those topics?” She uses visuals and physical movement to get her second graders talking about science and geography.

Watch as ACTFL’s 2012 Teacher of the Year Yo Azama’s class uses familiar and new vocabulary to learn Japanese regions and landmarks. Students visibly enjoy the assortment of activities and feel comfortable talking with each other in program 23, “Promoting Attractions of Japan.”

In program 6, Debra Terry’s fifth-grade, first-year French students talk about what is important to them -- their families and homes. They start the unit by cutting pictures of families from magazines while using vocabulary about relatives with each other. As the unit progresses, watch Ms. Terry use pictures and classroom objects to aid students’ understanding of French and to help them communicate with each other at this basic level.

Access these and more resources at http://www.learner.org/about/news/updates/september12.html (scroll down for foreign languages).