MA Standards consider how learning experiences are designed that will enable their students to develop language skills in conjunction with the skills reflected in the core ideas and performance expectations of the 5 C’s (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, Communities, ACTFL 2012) in the Interpretive, Interpersonal, Presentational and Intercultural Practices in Domain 1 (communication, Domain 2 (linguistic cultures practices) and Domain 3 (life-long learning practices)

FL4K provides opportunities to compare, connect, and communicate through cultural contexts and offers ideas for teachers and students on how to interact with local and international communities.

In Interpretive Communication students understand, interpret, and analyze what is heard, read, or viewed on a variety of topics. In the interpretive mode of communication, students exercise age and developmentally appropriate reading, viewing, and listening skills across a variety of genres as they engage with a text. Text includes both fiction and nonfiction, poems, songs, dramatic performances, emails, posts on social media, photographs, paintings, dances, or any other cultural artifact that transmits meaning.

Students demonstrate understanding of messages, main ideas, supporting details in written, spoken texts on a variety of topics in the target language. Students Interact and negotiate meaning in spontaneous spoken or written conversations to share information, reactions, ideas, feelings, opinions, and perspectives. In the interpersonal communication mode, students exercise reading, viewing, listening, writing, and speaking skills to seek, convey, and/or exchange information and negotiate the meaning of messages in synchronous conversations. Students exercise cultural understanding and social skills to effectively exchange information.

MA guiding principles of an effective WL program:

Guiding Principle #1:

Effective world language programs invite, include, support, and benefit all students.

Guiding Principle #2:

Effective world language programs lift up all students and empower them to act with cultural competence and critical consciousness.

FL4K provides opportunities for collaboration, promoting leadership, critical thinking and problem solving, decision-making, developing technology and media literacy skills, encouraging accountability and responsibility, and developing interculturality and global citizenship. Aligns with ACTFL 21st Century World Readiness Standards.

FL4K includes differentiation at all levels to meet learner needs/abilities. Content is diverse representing many cultures/ethnicities/genders.

Guiding Principle #3:

Effective world language programs produce high levels of linguistic and cultural proficiency in one or more world languages in their students.

Guiding Principle #4:

Effective world language programs are communicative and support meaningful, authentic, and affirming interactions in the target language

FL4K provides an engaging and fun language acquisition and intercultural awareness program possible for today’s student so that they can communicate naturally and spontaneously, including Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational skill-building with a complete video program interwoven with an intercultural curriculum, reading program, hands-on activities, online practice questions, and games specifically designed to build oral proficiency.

• Students use the target language in conversations to engage with others and build connections through empathy, respect, and understanding.

• Students use the target language to participate and negotiate meaning in conversations to share information.

• Students present information, concepts, ideas, feelings, opinions, and perspectives to inform, explain, persuade, and narrate on a variety of topics using appropriate media and adapting to various audiences of listeners, readers, or viewers.

• In the presentational mode of communication, students employ writing, physical gestures and/or speaking skills to plan and prepare communications for a specific audience. Students employ their knowledge of culture and their audience to communicate messages that will be wellreceived by their listeners, readers, or viewers.

Guiding Principle #5

Effective world language programs measure linguistic proficiency

FL4K fosters an acquisition process that is research-based, spiraling and recursive, and aligned to appropriate proficiency targets that are designed to ultimately enable learners to attain Novice-High level proficiency or above. Proficiency targets should lead to a student feeling comfortable and confident with the target language in order to achieve the skills necessary to obtain the Seal of Biliteracy.

Guiding Principle #6:

Effective world language programs foster risk-taking and mistake-making toward growth in linguistic and cultural proficiency.

FL4K provides opportunities for practice, and retakes that allow students to improve their scores/proficiency over time in all modes. Feedback is positive and brings students back to the original source where the content was learned with visuals included to enhance understanding.

Guiding Principle #7:

Effective world language programs deliver meaningful, relevant, and cross-disciplinary content to motivate students to acquire the language and build proficiency.

FL4K includes cultural comparisons, reflection questions, polls, and opportunities for critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making regarding the following topics: geography and climate, citizens, languages, sites of interest, transportation, animals, food, lodging, nature, adventures, contemporary topics, and the arts. Games designed for the WL classroom foster student/peer/class collaboration.

Guiding Principle #8:

Effective world language programs differentiate instruction and content, so that they are accessible, rigorous, and appropriate for all students.

FL4K:

FL4K offers Can-Do Statements with built-in recording features for students to provide evidence of what they can do as they progress on a continuum of proficiency according to skill in an interwoven language and culture program with a seven-level intercultural curriculum for differentiation including heritage speakers. Teachers can readily see student results on all activities, readily assign differentiated levels on activities and provide both oral/written feedback to students.

Guiding Principle #9:

Effective world language programs connect students to their peers in the classroom, their community, and speakers of the target language throughout the world.

FL4K is designed to reflect the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements Proficiency Benchmarks: Learners identify and investigate some typical products related to everyday life in the target culture(s) and in the learners’ own culture. They begin to infer perspectives (attitudes, values, beliefs, the way a native speaker living in the target culture interprets meaning) of the target culture society. Communities, animals and their habitats, technology, geography, climate, fine and performing arts. Learners recognize and identify a few typical practices of the target culture. FL4K presents products, practices, and perspectives of 11 Hispanic cultures with opportunities for investigation and interaction.

Guiding Principle #10:

Effective world language programs promote social and emotional growth. While all courses promote students’ social and emotional progress, world language programs have a unique opportunity to focus on how students communicate and how they manage themselves.

FL4K cultivates cultural understanding and awareness of what it means to be a global citizen. FL4K encourages students to examine not only the words they are producing, but also the unspoken communications and contexts that accompany the language. This program encourages positive relationship-building as it promotes communicative activities inside and outside of the classroom that allow students to learn about themselves, their peers, and their community. FL4K promotes perseverance as students are expected to sustain the target language. Students think critically about their own cultural context as they participate in new cultural scenarios.