World Language Essential Skills

Essential skills are the MINIMUM that we expect ALL students to attain by the end of their respective world language course.  The values we should be looking for in the essential skills are: Endurance (they have value beyond this year), Leverage (They have value beyond this class), and Readiness (they will need this for school next year). The essential skills should be what we are teaching and assessing. We will go beyond these in our classrooms.

Communication
Students will:

• Provide information by answering a few simple questions on very familiar topics, using practiced or memorized words and phrases, with the help of gestures or visuals.
• Identify memorized or familiar words when they are supported by visuals in informational and/or fictional texts (in written texts).
• Understand memorized or familiar words when they are supported by gestures or visuals in conversation (in conversations and discussions).
• Introduce myself and express my likes and dislikes.

Culture
Students will:

• Communicate with others from the target culture in familiar everyday situations, using memorized language and showing basic cultural awareness.
• Use appropriate rehearsed behaviors and recognize some obviously inappropriate behaviors in familiar and everyday situations.
• Identify some typical products related to familiar everyday life in my own and other cultures.
• Identify some typical practices related to familiar everyday life in my own and other cultures.

Connections
Students will:

• Access and evaluate basic information and perspectives that are available through the target language and its cultures with guidance and support from the teacher.
• Connect content from other disciplines to the target language.

Comparisons
Students will:

• Identify differences and similarities between my community and cultures of the target language.
• Recognize the differences and similarities between my native language and through my learning of the target language.