Customer Reviews

Languages and Children: Making the Match : Foreign Language Instruction for an Early Start Grades K-8

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Terrific resource for parents, teachers, and school districts interested in beginning a foreign language program in the elementary schools. Written by a thoroughly knowledgeable author who has taught foreign languages in the Milwaukee foreign language magnet schools for over 20 years. Also she is an experienced consultant to school districts all over the United States who are interested in starting a viable foreign language program for young learners. Her practical advice is invaluable for school districts as well as parents and teachers who want to support such a program. So few school districts offer foreign language learning in the elementary schools that there are not many resources available to assist school districts in setting up programs. This is the only comprehensive book on this subject.

Chapters are included on the following topics:

Rationale, History, and Program Models

1. Making the Case for Early Foreign Language Programs 2. Learning from the Past to Enhance the Present and the Future. 3. Selecting and Developing a Program Model

Theoretical Foundations, Language, Content, and Culture

4. Building Programs on a Solid Foundation: From Theory to Practice 5. Learning from the Experiences of Immersion Programs 6. Language, Culture, and Curriculum Interact: Creating an Environment for Communication 7. Language, Culture, and Curriculum Interact: Drawing on the Whole Curriculum 8. Language, Culture, and Curriculum Interact: Experiencing Culture in the Classroom

Planning, Assessment, and Teachers

9. Making it Happen: Planning Curriculum and Day to Day Instruction 10. Using Assessment to Help Students and Programs Grow 11. Preparing Teachers for Early Language Programs

Early Foreign Language Programs

12. Implementing Programs: Budgets, Staffing, and Other Practical Issues 13. Stocking the Foreign Language Classroom with Materials and Resources 14. Bringing Language to Life: Choosing and Creating Classroom Activities

Appendixes - 7 appendixes with almost 100 pages of practical, useful information for the foreign language teacher.

This book will provide you with a thorough grounding in early foreign language learning. Good luck with your new program!

About 1/3 of this book is theory. Then it get into the ideas. Ideas are shown in different languages, even Asian languages. The clothespin matching game was a hit. If you make more than one, buy a bunch of colored markers and make each theme, like winter clothing, tener expressions, etc a different color for easy cleanup of the clothespins. The next game I will make is the yarn board game. While this book is billed for K-8th, there are ideas even adults would enjoy.