Glendale Unified School District offers dual immersion in seven languages begining in kindergarten. Students who to continue in the dual language immersion program for middle school take a language arts class in their target language as an elective. Students in Spanish dual immersion also take a history course in Spanish.
Two of the district’s dual immersion pathways lead to Roosevelt Middle School: German and Spanish. Dual language immersion classes are taught by fully-biliterate, credentialed teachers. Students are expected to be at medium to advanced proficiency in their target language when entering middle school courses.
GERMAN
Our German course, taught by Ms. Janet Goldsbury, builds upon students’ existing German listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. The course emphasizes readings and discussions of historical texts, novels, informational texts and biographies also focused on formal aspects of the language, such as more complex syntax. Students learn about German culture through various experiences, such as cultural portfolios and research presentations. Students’ projects also include formal essay writing and digital media projects in their target language.
Students in the German program may take the “Deutsches Sprachdiplom” (DSD1) exam if they are age-qualified. Passing the DSD1, which corresponds to Level B1 of the “Common European Framework of Reference” (CEFR) for languages, provides proof of German language proficiency and yields advantages when applying to study in Germany.
SPANISH
Our language and culture Spanish class is taught by Ms. Laura Valenzuela. The course is the analytical and interpretative study of the Spanish literature that is addressed in the “Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera” (DELE) examination. This course also emphasizes the study of Hispanic history. Particular emphasis is given to the significant philosophical, political, social, and cultural movements that molded or influenced the literature of Hispanic authors. Students at this level write advanced paragraphs, five paragraph essays, and outlines. Students are also required to give formal speeches, oral presentations, and participate in debates in Spanish.
Students in the Spanish dual language immersion program also take a grade-level history course taught entirely in Spanish by our teacher, Ms. Sandra Garcia. Students learn how social, cultural, political, technological, geographical, and religious outcomes have shaped the world (in 7th grade) and the United States (in 8th grade). Students learn the ways in which archaeologists and historians uncover the past. They also learn how to study patterns of behavior, historical trends, and ever-growing global interactions. Students refine their ability to read primary and secondary sources through the eyes of a historian, as well as to apply critical thinking to analyze, summarize, categorize, compare, apply, and evaluate historical data. They write about their findings in clear and convincing ways, express facts and opinions orally, and use technology appropriately to present information in Spanish.
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