Page 5 Students First MYP German students send Holiday Greetings to friends overseas Through the course of the 2018-19 school year, MYP German Williams Middle School eighth graders partner with a class in Schifferstadt in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate to learn more about one another, culture and language learning. Leading up to the days before Winter Break, Williams students created holiday greetings to send along with items that represent Florence to the students in Schifferstadt. Their German counterparts are working on e-books and digital presentations featuring German Christmas traditions to share. Williams students are in their second year of learning the German language and the students in Germany are in their third year of English. Students are comparing their likes, hobbies, shows, music and school days through their correspondences using what they are learning daily in the classroom authentically. Kayla Keith an eighth grader at Williams says, “I love this project. It’s so fun to have a friend you can send a letter to because this generation, we text- so it’s cool to send letters back and forth.” Asked why they enjoy the project, Lauren Gaskins said, “I am excited that I have the opportunity to have a German pen-pal. This project helps me get a better glimpse of German culture and the German language.” Kennedy McDowell is enjoying the opportunity to connect with fluent Germans. Mrs. Uschi Jeffcoat teaches the class in Florence and Frau Sarah Berzins teaches the class in Schifferstadt. The two have worked together in the past on similar projects. Both value the enthusiasm and the significant learning opportunity it brings to the students. Frau Berzin shares, “When I told my students about the project, they were very excited and kept asking me when the first letters would arrive. The day I brought them to school everyone was thrilled and eager to read their letter. I think that this is a hands-on project which makes our students see and understand the value of learning a foreign language and getting to know other customs and cultural habits. This way we teach them to become open-minded global citizens who share an understanding of others without forgetting about their own cultural background.” Jeffcoat particularly enjoys watching the sense of curiosity it creates among her students. Especially in how their daily lives compare. The project will continue throughout the school year incorporating traditional reading and writing paired with media and digital projects. The Realschule Plus und Fachoberschule im Paul-vonDenis Schulzentrum Schifferstadt (http://www.rsschifferstadt.de/wp/) has 793 students, 66 teachers and 30 classes. Principal of the Fachoberschule im Paul-vonDenis Schulzentrum Schifferstadt is Jochen Geeck. The city of Schifferstadt has a population of 20,000 and is the neighbor city of Speyer, which is famous for its beautiful cathedral. German students at Williams Middle are part of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB/ MYP). For more information on the MYP Programme, contact Tenika Evans-Pee at tevanspee@fsd1.org at or visit www.f1s.org/domain/1774
6 Publizr Home