How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century - Guilderland ...

This is evident, for example, when students:
• Exchange simple greetings and answer questions about self and family.
• Listen to various media broadcasts and answer questions about main ideas.
• Speak in complete sentences, using present tense and, occasionally, markers for past
and future tenses.
• Ask for information or directions.
• Discuss classroom activities with a peer.
• Use appropriate body language and gestures to supplement the spoken word.
Standard 2: Cultural Understanding
Effective communication involves meanings that go beyond words and require an
understanding of perceptions, gestures, folklore, and family and community dynamics. All of
these elements can affect whether and how well a message is received.
Students can:
• Use some key cultural traits of the societies in which the target language is spoken.
This is evident, for example, when students:
• Recognize cultural patterns and traditions of the target cultures in the target
language;
• Understand the cultural implications of the spoken language and the dynamics of
social interaction; and
• Correctly use and interpret cultural manifestations, such as gestures accompanying
greeting and leave taking and the appropriate distance to maintain.
Questionnaires will be provided to students, parents, teachers and administrators to obtain
feedback about the FLES Program near the end of each school year. The end-of-year survey will
then allow us to measure any observable changes in attitude over time.
Timeline for Implementation of FLES
Spring, 2004
May, 2004
May, September, 2004
October, 2004
November, 2004
December, 2004
January 6, 2005
Form a planning committee composed of teachers, Board of Education
member, supervisor, principals and parents.
FLES Committee meets and establishes a goal and timeline for
implementation of the program. Implementing Successful FLES
Programs by Dr. Elaine Margarita is used as a resource.
FLES Committee reviews research and approaches for integrating
language and culture into the elementary program.
FLES Committee members visit four successful FLES programs and
report back to the committee.
FLES Committee selects Spanish as the language to be taught K-5 and
agrees on a tentative schedule.
FLES Subcommittee writes the FLES Proposal.
FLES Committee meets to review FLES Proposal.
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