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Immersion Classes

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Foreign Language Classes at the Elementary Schools Recommended for Watertown

A task force visited programs in other towns and recommends having a class where students are taught in a foreign tongue.

  A group of Watertown teachers visited schools in the area which offer foreign language classes for elementary school students, and they like what they saw. The Elementary World Language Task Force recommended to the School Committee that Watertown start an immersion class at one of the elementary schools in the fall of 2014. Other districts, including Holliston, Milton and Millis, offer one or both of two options for foreign language instruction, said Judy Powers, an English as a Second Language teacher at Watertown Middle School.  While FLES reaches every student in a school, Powers said the students do not develop the same fluency they do in an immersion program. The program would also require hiring an extra teacher. An immersion …

WaterInfo

2:37 pm on Friday, January 11, 2013

I would love to see an immersion program but I do see some issues with it: a) what if there are more students that want to go into immersion that spots available? How are they chosen(raffle?). b) If we do choose FELS than at what expense of time for other curriculum? (I would like to see more time spent on Math and Science right now in Elementary school(not more homework:>). c) Mark Sideris is …   more ›

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Watertown May Add Foreign Language Classes to the Elementary Schools [Poll]

A task force looked into two types of programs, one where students are taught entirely in the foreign tongue and one where they get 20 minutes of instruction each day.

Watertown’s elementary school students may be learning a new tongue in a couple years with school officials exploring options for teaching a foreign language to youngsters. The World Language Task Force studied two types of programs currently offered in other districts. One is an immersion program where the students speak the foreign language during the entire school day. Another option is known as FLES ­– Foreign Language in Elementary Schools – where a teacher comes into the classroom for 20 minutes at a time and speaks and teaches the language. A number of districts have immersion programs, including Holliston, Millis, Framingham and Milton, said Rob Stergis, Watertown’s ESL and Foreign Language coordinator. Judy Powers, an English as …

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