Languages
In Middle School, students choose the language they want to pursue to fulfill their Middle School requirement—either French or Spanish. If students select the same language they studied in Lower School, they will build on that skill set. In 9th grade, students can continue to study the same language, change to the other, or study both French and Spanish.
The 6th-grade curriculum serves two constituencies in the same class. First, it introduces students new to Lake Ridge Academy to the French or Spanish language and to those cultures. Second, it continues the French or Spanish education for students emerging from the 5th-grade curriculum. Both language classes emphasize accuracy in written and oral communication, and specific attention is paid to listening comprehension and speaking. Structural contrasts and grammatical distinctions are highlighted without overtly presenting the grammar.
Topics
- The first three units of the book Discovering French/En Espanol include: The French and Spanish worlds, French and Spanish facts, names and greetings, cognates, nationalities, numbers and colors, family, days and months, seasons, time and weather, food, and body parts.
- Grammar Structures: definite and indefinite articles, gender and number agreement, French possessive adjectives, and introduction of the present tense through communicative activities
- Culture: Francophone/Hispanic worlds and caves of France/Indian cultures of Pre-Columbian
- America