| 2005 Summer Japanese
Program
for Kindergarten and First Grade Students
IMAGES
FROM 2005 JAPANESE CLASS 
A Japanese class for elementary school children in kindergarten
and first grade was held at Iowa State University's Child
Development Laboratory School, on weekdays, July 25-29 and
August 1-2, 2005. The children's class was part of the
PK-12 Teacher Partnership Institute, which was sponsored
by the federally funded National K-12 Foreign Language Resource
Center at Iowa State University. This national institute
was designed to provide professional development in effective
teaching strategies for experienced and practicing pre-kindergarten
through 12th grade foreign language teachers and foreign
language teacher educators who serve as methods professors
at institutions of higher education.
The teacher of the children’s
class was Jessica Lee Haxhi who has been a Japanese teacher
for grades PreK-5 in Connecticut for more than ten years. She
has taught in various foreign language professional development
summer institutes and has served as the president of the National
Council of Japanese Language Teachers.
Goals of the program for children
- To develop skills in language comprehension and oral
communication through the active involvement of children
in learning experiences.
- To increase children’s global awareness and to
enhance their sensitivity to foreign and national cultures
and values.
What the children did
- Children’s curiosity and motivation to learn was
stimulated as they heard their teachers communicate with
the language in a natural and non-threatening way in the
classroom.
- Children’s confidence in their ability to communicate
with the language was enhanced as they participated
in the varied classroom activities.
- Children developed awareness of and appreciation
for diversity as they experienced the daily customs and/or
festivals of the countries where the language is spoken.
- The children followed commands given in the target language,
sang songs in Japanese, and learned culturally authentic
games. They also experienced arts, crafts, and Japanese
foods.
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