It is hard to believe we are approaching the end of 2017-18! This year has been very busy and we have learned and grown a lot together. As the year comes to a close our students will be taking the STAMP test. This online proficiency assessment allows us to see how our students are doing in 4 communication skills, reading, listening, writing and speaking. This is not a test where students have to memorize facts or study for it per se. This assessment is interactive and students respond to prompts in a communicative manner, using skills they have learned throughout the year. This assessment helps us track how well we are progressing towards our language goals and also helps us in assuring rater reliability with our teachers. The more language your child can use, the more details they can provide and the more they can share information, the higher they will rate. Please encourage your child to show what they know! We sometimes find that our immersion students are so “to the point” getting across a message, that they don’t show how well they are capable of communicating and describing. For example, when you ask your child about their day, do they ever say “fine” or “okay” instead of giving you lots of detail about their day? We find that they sometimes respond very effectively and to the point, which is okay in some cases, but this type of response will not show their true ability to communicate in another language on this assessment. We know they can do SO MUCH, but we need to them to use lots of details and expand their thinking when they respond! We wish everyone good luck!! We know they will do great! Immersion Program UpdatesElementary Updates Registration is still open for rising 5 year old kindergartners to register for kindergarten and immersion in Lexington One! Please be sure to visit our registration page for more information! Parent information sessions were held in February. If you are interested in learning more about the registration process or have questions you can check out the information below, or contact the registrar, Harriet Cotterman, at [email protected] . CLICK HERE FOR THE PARENT BROCHURE! CLICK HERE TO REACH MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON DUAL LANGUAGE IMMERSION REGISTRATION! Middle School Updates As we are nearing the end of the year, parents of middle school students will receive a letter, notifying you of your child’s current status in their course and what their projected placement will be for next year based on this year’s performance. Their final ratings will convert to numerical grades at the end of the year. The conversion scale can be found here. If you have questions about your child’s performance in class, or placement for next year please feel free to contact your teacher or reach out to us at central services (Dawn Samples [email protected] or Ryan Pool [email protected]). We will be happy to help! High School Updates As we are preparing for our rising senior immersion classes, we are planning to recognize them as immersion graduates! It is hard to believe they are graduating! We will be sharing more information with you soon as our plans are coming together. We are working together across sites to continue planning for experiences for our students outside the immersion classroom! We have students who will be traveling abroad this summer to Spain and France to study! We also are working to connect more with classrooms abroad so our students will be able to communicate with students in other countries to collaborate and learn together! If your child or your family is traveling abroad this summer or have exchanges or encounters with native speakers, please share your experience with us! You can share your travel pics with us via twitter @LOWLT, #lex1worldlanguagesrock or with us on our Facebook page. If you want to share with us directly please email us (Dawn Samples [email protected] or Liza Speece, [email protected].) We would love to share your summer language experiences! Immersion Program HighlightsElementary GPS: Sra. Sancho, 2nd grade immersion at GPS shared the following exciting activities. She says, "I did a skype conference with second graders from a Costa Rican school named Escuela Jenaro Bonilla, both countries' students were very excited and communicated fluently in Spanish. Each student got a chance to answer a question and ask a question about their schools, country celebrations, favorite subject, etc. It was an enriched cultural exchange activity, and also allowed my students to practice in a real life Spanish conversation. Another activity was during science Topic Matter: Solids, liquids, and gases. We made a mix of liquid and solids by making the recipe of a traditional sweet treat of my countries' culture named cajeta (a mix condensed milk and coconut flakes). It was an enriched science standard-cultural exchange that they truly enjoyed. DES Our DES immersion teachers joined PASCH teachers from across the United States and Canada to attend a German and STEM workshop at the Goethe-Institut in Washington from March 23 to March 25. They brainstormed ways to integrate STEM disciplines such as math, physics, biology and chemistry into their German lessons and collaborate with their colleagues. Cheers to our team for being a part of such a strongly supported international organization--your work with PASCH helps our German immersion students receive excellent instruction each day. Click here to see the entire link. Middle CSMS is planning an 8 day trip to the Dominican Republic in June 2018. They will travel across the Dominican Republic, a cultural journey into the local communities of the northern coast. Immersed in the local heritage, they will gain insight into the issues impacting children today. Working together with local non-profits and community members, students will build sustainable solutions to the educational, social and economic challenges they face. Service Project Themes -Access to Education -Youth Development -Generational Poverty The trip is open to students from GHS, WKHS (9th grade) and CSMS (8th and 6th) High I recently visited an immersion class at WKHS because Sra. Domenech had invited a Spanish speaking assistant commander of a local police force to speak to her classes about the importance of bilingualism. The following conversation says it better than I can: Immersion student A: "Does an applicant have an advantage for getting a job if they speak another language?" Lieutenant: "Yes. When we receive applications, we separate them into qualified candidates and unqualified candidates. For those who are qualified, we begin to rank them, and for those who speak Spanish, we move them to the top of the list. In fact, for those who speak Spanish, and also read Spanish, that's great. But those who can speak, read and write, that's even better!" I interrupted here, "Can you please repeat that and share it with every student in every school!?!" Sometimes kids don't believe us because we're just their parents or just their teachers. But when an assistant commander of a local police force comes and speaks in Spanish to your students and tells them that they have an advantage...it makes a little bit more of an impact. Kudos to Sra. Domenech for emphasizing the usefulness of bilingualism in the workforce to all of her students. LHS is planning an 11 day trip to Málaga, Spain during the summer of 2019. Contact Ms. Latham at [email protected] for more information. Did you know...?Download the PDF version here.
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