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Middle School World Language Program

Program Overview

The World Language program provides world-readiness by preparing students to participate in a multilingual environment that values other cultures, with the goal of developing functional proficiency in world languages. The World Language program incorporates a proficiency-based curriculum that enables students to use the world language in real life situations in an immersion setting. World Language teachers leverage the power of technology and engaging resources to meet the needs of their diverse leaders.

Middle school world language teachers offer differentiated instruction for students who have come from the elementary world language program, are heritage speakers, or beginners through tiering assignments, the station-rotation model, providing open-ended performance tasks, and through leveled target language reading groups.

Grade 7

  • Students in Grade 7 may choose French or Spanish to complete high school Level I in one year.
  • Students in Grade 7 at MVMS and MHMS may choose Chinese, French or Spanish to complete high school Level I in one year.
  • The class will meet daily for the full school year.

    • Students will have an end-of-course assessment in Grade 7.
    Students who pass the course will earn one credit towards High School graduation (Policy 8030).

Grade 8

  • Students who earned Level I world language credit in Grade 7 will continue their language study in Grade 8 to complete high school Level II.
  • If a student was not enrolled in a Level I world language course in Grade 7, they will be able to take a high school Level I world language course in Grade 8.
  • Level I and Level II world language classes will meet daily for the full school year.
  • Students will have an end-of-course assessment in Grade 8.
  • Students who pass the course will earn one credit towards High School graduation (Policy 8030).
  • In Grade 9, students have the option to continue to the next level of world language study, switch to a new language, or begin their language study at that time.
  • Students must earn a total of two credits of world language if they choose that option for their Program Choice for graduation (additional options include American Sign Language, Advanced Technology, or Career Academy).

Why Study Chinese?

One fifth of the planet speaks Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is the mother tongue of over 873 million people, making it the most widely spoken first language in the world. China has become a huge market, and business leaders are looking for people who can speak Chinese and operate successfully in a Chinese cultural context.

Why Study French?

French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. French is the official or co-official language in 26 countries. It is spoken in 53 countries, making it the most widespread language in the world. There are 77 million native speakers, plus an additional 50 million second-language speakers of French.

French I Unit Overviews

  • Unit 1: Salut, les copains! – students’ immersion in the language will begin with greetings and introductions. They will learn what to say and how to act when greeting people in different social situations. As a part of that, students will take a look at names in French. They will also name common classroom objects, and ask and tell how words are spelled.
  • Unit 2: Qu’est-ce qui te plait? – students will learn language for talking about things they like and do not like. They will also talk about how often they do an activity and how well they do something.
  • Unit 3: Comment est ta famille? – students will learn language for talking about families and describing people.
  • Unit 4: Comment est ton anne scolaire? – students will learn language for talking about classes, giving opinions, and expressing requests.
  • Unit 5: Qu’est-ce que tu fais pour t’amuser? – students will learn language for talking about places they go and things they like to do in their free time. They will also extend, accept, or decline invitations and make plans.
  • Unit 6: Qu’est-ce que tu veux manger? – students will learn language for talking about what they like to eat and placing an order in a restaurant. They will offer, accept, and refuse food. They will ask about prices and pay the check. They will also ask for and give opinions.
  • Unit 7: On fait les magasins? – students will learn language for talking about the clothes they wear and making clothing purchases. They will ask about and give prices for items. In addition, they will offer and ask for help.
  • Unit 8: On habites-tu? – students will learn language for talking about rooms in a house and the chores they do. They will ask for, give, and refuse permission to do certain things. They will also ask where something is located.
  • Unit 9: Allons en ville! – students will be able to plan out daily activities, ask for and give directions, ask for information and make requests. They will use the irregular verbs voir, savoir, and connaître in a variety of expressions in order to express needs, questions, and desires.
  • Unit 10: Enfin les vacances! – students will be able to give advice, ask and receive information, and make a variety of travel transactions, such as buying tickets and booking a hotel room. Students will communicate in both the present and past tenses and use appropriate grammatical structures to discuss travel to different cities and countries.

Why Study Spanish?

Spanish is the official language of 22 countries with about 352 million native speakers and 417 million second language speakers, primarily in Spain and Latin America.

Spanish I Unit Overviews

  • Introductory Unit: Para empezar – students’ immersion in the language will begin with greetings and introductions. They will learn what to say and how to act when greeting people in different social situations. As a part of that, students will take a look at the structure of names in Spanish. They will also name common classroom objects, and describe the day’s weather. The unit is an introduction to language learning that will help students communicate right away. The vocabulary and expressions from this unit will be recycled throughout the course with the emphasis here on recognition and limited use, not on mastery.
  • Unit 1A: ¿Qué te gusta hacer? – students will learn language for talking about things they like and do not like to do and ways to express the negative.
  • Unit 1B: Y tú, ¿cómo eres? – students will learn language for identifying personality traits and describing what people are like.
  • Unit 2A: ¿Cómo es tu día en la escuela? – students will learn language for talking about their school day, schedule, and school subjects.
  • Unit 2B: ¿Cómo es tu sala de clases? – students will learn language for talking about classroom objects and locations.
  • Unit 3A: ¿Desayuno o almuerzo? – students will learn language for talking about different foods and beverages. They will indicate what they like and don’t like for breakfast and lunch.
  • Unit 3B: ¿Qué haces para mantener la salud? – students will learn language for talking about healthy eating and health habits.
  • Unit 4A: ¿Adónde vas? – students will learn language for talking about places they go for fun. They will also learn to ask questions of others.
  • Unit 4B: ¿Quieres ir conmigo? – students will learn language for talking about places they go and things they like to do with an emphasis on sports and music. They will also extend, accept, or decline invitations.
  • Unit 5A: ¿Cómo celebras el cumpleaños? – students will learn language for talking about families and celebrations.
  • Unit 5B: ¿Vamos al restaurante? – students will learn language for describing people and things and to talk about eating in a restaurant. They will also learn about cultural differences related to eating out.
  • Unit 6A: ¿Cómo es tu dormitorio? – students will learn language for talking about their bedrooms. They will describe what is in their rooms using adjectives for color, size, and appearance.
  • Unit 6B: ¿Cómo es tu casa? – students will learn language for talking about chores. They will describe rooms in a house and different types of housing.
  • Unit 7A: ¿Cuánto cuesta? – students will learn language for talking clothing, shopping, and prices.