Junior World Languages

 "Sage Habla Espanol"

Beginning in the 2009-2010 school year, Sage will be offering Spanish instruction to all students.  By focusing on simply one language in modern language classes, The Sage School will be better able to meet the needs of its academically gifted learners, as well as more closely adhere to our core vales. Offering one foreign language allows us to create a community of language learners, enhance academic rigor, enrich depth and flexibility of content, and increase flexibility of pacing and grouping. 

What this means is that learning Spanish as a second language will become an integral part of the Sage experience, or la experiencia Sage.  Our initiative to incorporate Spanish language and culture into the whole-school community is off and running and has numerous possibilities! 

Here is a snapshot of things to come this year:

• An in-house, whole school bilingual presentation of a Zapotec legend from Mexico
  
• A “Caught Using Spanish” program involving teachers and students
  
• Classroom teachers sitting in on Spanish classes with students in an effort to improve their own language skills
  
• After-school leisure activities centered around Spanish language or heritage
  
• Cross-disciplinary lessons, infusing culture and heritage into students’ non-language classes (examples: Latino civil rights movement studies in Humanities, choreography of José Limón in Dance and Movement, etc.) 
  
• Student-written articles or puzzles in the Junior Newspaper, in Spanish or centering around Hispanic themes

Philosophy

The teaching of language at The Sage School seeks to remind students about the primary reason behind the development of language: communication.  Language classes at Sage are meant to encourage this communication.  At Sage, we aim not just to have students acquire the knowledge of a language, but to see its applicability to the real world.  Sage seeks both to educate students and to promote students’ enjoyment of and success with foreign language.  We feel that the pleasure gleaned from experiencing success (i.e. “getting it right”), directly results in the further enjoyment of one’s language studies.  Such enjoyment translates into increased commitment to learning, curiosity about the culture, and a greater willingness to speak (i.e. practice and communicate) in the target language. 

Sage students will gain essential communication skills in a language other than English, while at the same time developing a curiosity about, and a respect for, the world and its people.  We aim to create global citizens. 

In The Classroom: The Sage Way

At the Junior level, progress is more moderate as meetings happen twice a week. A typical class will commence with students fielding questions about the weather, themselves or their families and progress into a more formal lesson regarding basic elements of the target language. Repetition and hands-on activities are more essential for this age group and as such, students are frequently generating posters or culturally based hands-on projects. There is often significant discussion about the target culture, as well.

Goals 

• Students will be able to mimic simple words or phrases
• Ability to mimic pronunciation of modeled language
• Ability to apply learned pronunciation rules of the target language to new words
• Ability to retain, recognize, and verbalize vocabulary words that are readily utilized or studied in class
• Ability to retain, recognize, and verbalize short phrases used frequently in class
• Students will comprehend simple questions with frequently used phrases and to answer appropriately in the target language
  • Students at the upper prime level should be able to do basic analysis of these sentences to identify simple patterns
• Ability to recognize, understand, and apply (sometimes with prompting) simple linguistic patterns (ex: gender rules, adjective placement, basic negative constructions)
• Ability to read simple words or short phrases in the target language
• Students will develop a comfort level with hearing and responding to a spoken language that is not native to them
• Students will be able to confidently provide short answers in the target language and build confidence in taking risks with spoken language
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge in verbal formats
• Students will be able to handle the ambiguity of hearing more spoken language, despite not always understanding everything
• Ability to use context clues (in language, gestures, and affect) to decipher words or phrases they may not immediately understand
• Students will develop the ability to actively listen to others (teachers and peers) when they are speaking in the target language
  • Active listening requires consciously analyzing language, and especially repeating it to one’s self when it is heard/used.  Some students resist developing this habit of mind, as they are not accustomed to consciously analyzing English when hearing it. 
• Ability to identify and create properly structured questions in the target language
• Ability to hear or read a question and to restructure the words to form an appropriate answer in a complete sentence
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge in both verbal and written formats
• Ability to translate known pronunciation rules into written language (general spelling rules)
• Students will develop an understanding of verb conjugation at an early level in the junior sequence, and will consistently and accurately use simple conjugations accurately at an upper level in the junior sequence. 
• Students will deal with a larger, age-appropriate level of vocabulary
• Ability to comprehend information in the target language in both written and aural formats
• Students will begin to take structured notes in class on new content
• Students will be able to retain and apply information from class discussions; i.e. content that is not always presented on handouts or packets, but is consistently utilized in class by the student and others (importance of active listening)
• Ability to keep track of and manage classroom materials and homework
• Ability to express independent thoughts, relay information, and make requests in the target language
  • i.e. mid-sequence and upper-level junior students will use the language for their own devices, not simply responding to instructor’s questions or prompts

Content

The vocabulary, grammar, and culture listed below are general frameworks for content taught at Sage.  Due to the flexible nature of our curriculum, teachers are able to tailor the content to meet the needs and interests of the students in each class, each year.  Not all students will master the more advanced grammar concepts listed during their cycle at Sage, while others may surpass the skills detailed below.  Likewise, the vocabulary taught to students will vary year to year, reflecting the interests of the students and the intent of the instructor.  The details listed below are provided in order to give the reader an overview of a “typical” language learning experience at Sage, though not one that is locked-in.  Due to class activities, some differentiated instruction techniques, and challenging classes, most Sage students have the opportunity to pursue language instruction at a level that suits their learning style.