dates
i n
t he
com m u ni t y
Young People’s Pajama Concert
Update Hopkins Public Schools
The community’s guide to the District.
Election 2013
November 2013
The Hopkins High School orchestras will perform a special concert just for children. Kid-friendly activities, followed by music; kids can wear pajamas to this free event. October 29, 5:45 p.m. Hopkins High School 2400 Lindbergh Dr., Minnetonka
Free STEM events for preschoolers & parents!
Hopkins High School Fall Musical
Join us for STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) Let’s Build events. Ages 3-5.
Join us for Little Shop of Horrors November 21, 22, 23, 7:00 p.m. November 22, 2:00 p.m. matinee Meadowbrook: November 12, 10:00 a.m. Hopkins High School Theater Glen Lake: November 12, 6:30 p.m. Times are tentative, please call Gatewood: November 14, 6:30 p.m. 952-988-4636 or visit: Tanglen: November 14, 6:30 p.m. Alice Smith: November 18, 10:00 a.m. Eisenhower: November 22, 10:00 a.m.
www.hhstheater.org
Spanish Instruction Comes to all Hopkins Elementary Schools Anticipated level of proficiency after program completion is Spanish II
Cast your vote on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Hopkins Public Schools is conducting a referendum with two ballot questions — an operating referendum levy and a capital projects levy. In addition, three seats on the Hopkins School Board are open. The seats are held by Directors Betsy Anderson, Warren Goodroad, and Susan Wootten.
XinXing students awarded for Chinese proficiency
On Oct. 3, 150 XinXing Academy students were honored at the first-annual Chinese Proficiency Award Ceremony and Reception. The event, sponsored by the Confucius Institute, recognized all students who have mastered Chinese proficiency on the 2013 Youth Chinese Test (YCT), the Hangu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) test, or the 2013 Confucius Institute Cup international writing competition. XinXing was wellrepresented at the ceremony. Those honored included 60 fifth- and sixth-grade students, 90 percent of fourth-grade students, and the entire third grade.
Language has opened Laura Levesque’s world. She is fluent in English, Spanish, and French and has been able to communicate in all 30 countries that she has traveled to. It’s that passion that propels her to teach in the Hopkins Public Schools elementary Spanish program. “I always knew I wanted to do something with language,” said Levesque. “I majored in French and Spanish in college and later went back to get my teaching degree.” Levesque is one of three Spanish teachers hired this year to implement the FLES (Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools) model into the Hopkins elementary program. This year, FLES is in kindergarten and first-grade. The program will grow a grade level each year until it reaches full implementation in sixth-grade. The style of teaching is similar to immersion in that the Spanish teachers only speak to students in Spanish. In the younger grades, teachers use gestures, familiar books, and objects to help convey meaning. What is different from immersion is the amount of time Spanish is spoken. Instead of the entire day being in Spanish, it’s 20 minutes a day, three times a week for kindergarten, and 30 minutes a day, three times a week for first-grade. Students are currently working on basic Spanish words and phrases like colors, days of the week, numbers, and greetings. Applying techniques similar to acting, Levesque and her colleagues use gestures and exaggerated expressions to help students understand meaning. Songs are often used to help with memorization. Students are absorbing the language quickly. In late October, first-graders will begin studying a health unit in Spanish.
One of the strategies for introducing students to the Spanish language is reading books that children are familiar with in Spanish.
dramatically changed and a different cognitive approach is required to learn another language.
In order for our students to reach higher levels of proficiency, we need to design and implement a well-articulated world language acquisition program starting in kindergarten that is continuous and uninterrupted.
The importance of learning a language young It’s beneficial to expose children to a new language when their minds are open. Research indicates that younger children are able to grasp language much more easily than older children. At age five, a child’s brain is able to acquire language naturally. By the age of 10, a child’s mind has
“In order for our students to reach higher levels of proficiency, we need to design and implement a well-articulated world language acquisition program starting in kindergarten that is continuous and uninterrupted,” said Lisa Sohn, world language coordinator for Hopkins Public Schools. Alignment with the secondary program According to Sohn, students who start the program this year and continue on with it through sixth-grade can expect to enter junior high with a proficiency level of Spanish II. The FLES program is complementary to the junior highs’ International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Program (MYP), which requires language acquisition and cultural proficiency. The FLES program focuses on Spanish language acquisition and the Latino culture. Much of the material is authentic, and there are cultural units on Spain, Peru, Costa Rica, and Mexico.
Strong parent support Having FLES in the elementary schools offers an option, other than immersion, for families who want their child exposed to a world language. Hopkins decided to implement the FLES program after a survey revealed that 89 percent of District parents would support Spanish see World Language inside