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Teaching Foreign Languages K-12: A Library of Classroom Practices

View & Analyze the Video

As you reflect on these questions, write down your responses or discuss them as a group.

Before You Watch
Respond to the following questions:

  • What kinds of activities are appropriate for teaching a foreign language to pre-readers?
  • What principles guide instruction in immersion/partial immersion programs?
  • What teaching techniques are essential in the early grades?
  • What student characteristics must be taken into account in the early grades?

Watch the Video

As you watch “Chicken Pox,” take notes on Mr. Scott’s instructional strategies, particularly how he introduces new vocabulary and assesses student comprehension. Write down what you find interesting, surprising, or especially important about the teaching and learning in this lesson.

Reflect on the Video
Review your notes, and then respond to the following questions:

  • Which approaches does Mr. Scott use to facilitate both learning a new language and learning kindergarten skills?
  • How does Mr. Scott assess student comprehension during the different activities: storytelling, singing a song, and labeling the parts of the body?
  • How would you describe the balance between teacher talk and student talk in the classroom?

Look Closer

Take a second look at Mr. Scott’s class to focus on specific teaching strategies. Use the video images below to locate where to begin viewing.


Video Segment: Storytelling

You’ll find this segment approximately 5 minutes and 30 seconds after the video starts. Watch for about 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Mr. Scott uses the children’s book Arthur a la varicelle to talk about a common childhood illness with his students.

  • What language strategies does Mr. Scott use to convey the story?
  • When do students use French, and when do they use English? How do they decide which language to use?

Video Segment: Learning the Parts of the Body

You’ll find this segment approximately 13 minutes and 30 seconds after the video starts. Watch for about 4 minutes.

Mr. Scott reviews the parts of the body by drawing a picture of a person based on input from students.

  • As Mr. Scott draws a picture of a person, what kinds of information do students contribute? How do they respond?
  • How does Mr. Scott develop word recognition skills during the activity? Where else in the lesson does he use recognition of written text?
  • What content are students learning as they develop their language skills?
  • How does Mr. Scott develop students’ social skills, so that they learn to work together in the classroom?

Series Directory

Teaching Foreign Languages K-12: A Library of Classroom Practices

Credits

Produced by WGBH Educational Foundation with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. 2003. 2016.
  • Closed Captioning
  • ISBN: 1-57680-731-2

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