Fall is full of holidays like Dia de los muertos, Octoberfest, La Toussaint (All Saints Day), and the Moon Festival. While celebrations are not the extent of our cultural experiences, they do help us understand the practices and perspectives of other cultures! Immersion News and Important Dates!
Happy Fall everyone! This school year is already 1/4 of the way through!
Just a few quick updates and reminders as we end our first quarter and begin the second....
Immersion Program Highlights
Elementary
At MES, 5th grade immersion students are taking part in an exchange with a level 4 & 5 French class from LHS. Read our Voices From the Field blog for more info and pictures. DES German immersion students celebrated German-American heritage week this month with a visit from Ankë Bar, German author and illustrator. You can see pictures below and view her website here.
Middle
At PHMS immersion students have been selling “homemade” piñatas during lunch to raise money for victims of Hurricane Irma. Ms. Hughes says, "The students worked hard on these piñatas and were so eager to give back it was inspiring." They will also celebrate Day of the Dead this week by eating the traditional bread eaten by our Spanish speaking countries of study.
High
This month, WKHS immersion year 3 students wrapped up filming a Zombie movie just in time to conduct a mock UN conference discussing North Korea. (Talk about range and flexibility with language!) Each student was an ambassador to a different country and came prepared with their opening statement to deliver and ready to defend, negotiate, and collaborate their country’s stance on the issues regarding what to do about North Korea’s growing threat to the world. Year 2 students drafted a business letter to a company or organization to ask about their needs and offering their bilingual services. Year 1 students have been working on planning an imaginary trip to Spain (hopefully it will become reality one day.) As a fun October twist, they created comic strip stories about a monster visiting one of the attractions in the region of Spain they are researching. Also, from LHS Immersion, Mrs. Bausch has registered her class on DonorsChoose.org, an amazing website where individuals can contribute to public schools projects. She asks: "Please spread the word about our class project Take It Outside! (and contribute if you can)." https://www.donorschoose.org/we-teach/4893452 Did you know...?
Why Global and Cultural Competencies Matter -Celebrating International Education Week (IEW)!
The Department of Education — in collaboration with the Title VI National and Language Resource Centers for international and foreign language education at The George Washington University, Georgetown University and Howard University — are holding a workshop for K-12 teachers and administrators wishing to help their students develop the global and cultural competencies critical for success in the 21st century. The workshop will take place on Monday, November 13th, 1:00-4:00pm, at the U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC. International Education Week (IEW), November 13-17, 2017, is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of State is part of our efforts to promote programs that help U.S. students and teachers develop the language skills and global competencies critical for success in the 21st century. For more detailed information, check out this short clip: |