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Planning for the Future

Welcome to the first electronic newsletter of the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center!

The NFLRC recognizes that electronic communication is the most timely and cost efficient way to share information with its alumni. Each themed edition of the newsletter will have news of interest to you as a foreign language educator, a spotlight on an alumni, and materials available for you to download for a limited time. Content and subscription information is below. We hope you find this newsletter informative.

Cindy Kendall, Newsletter Editor
Marcia Rosenbusch, Director, National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center

Next issue: Assessment

Focus on Our Alumni
Mark K. Warford participated in the 2001 Technology Institute and the 2002 Action Research Institute. In this short piece Mark reflected back on the institute and how it has impacted his current and future work at the University level. Read his thoughts online here.

Summer Opportunity at the NFLRC New in 2003, Mentoring, Leadership and Change
This new institute will bring together participants of previous NFLRC institutes who have developed expertise in a) action research, b) elementary school foreign language education, c) technology, and/or d) thematic planning to synthesize their knowledge and skills in all four topic areas, to expand their perspectives on initiating and sustaining change, and to acquire research-based techniques for creating effective change through mentoring and leadership.

National Foreign Language Week is March 3 - 9, 2003
Email us at nflrc@iastate.edu and tell us how you are celebrating the week. We will compile your answers and share your successes next month.

Focus on K-12 Foreign Language Instruction at the District Level
K-12 articulation and professional development are challenging issues. FLAP (Foreign Language Assistance Program) and FLIP (Foreign Language Incentive Program) are potential funding sources to help foreign language programs K-12. For example, the Glastonbury Public Schools Foreign Language Program used their FLAP grant for K-12 curriculum development and articulation. The Glastonbury Grant Proposal is available online, as are materials and other resources developed as a result of the FLAP grant. Additional information on FLAP and FLIP grants is available at the JNCL-NCLIS website.

Elementary Foreign Language Assessment Workshop April, 2003
With support from the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center, researchers at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), in collaboration with elementary school foreign language educators, have developed two valid assessment instruments for assessing the listening comprehension and oral language proficiency skills of young learners. The Early Language Listening and Oral Proficiency Assessment (ELLOPA) is used with students in Grades preK-2 and the Student Oral Proficiency Assessment (SOPA), with students in Grades 2-6. Student performance on the developmentally appropriate and enjoyable tasks and interactions in an interview format are rated using rubrics based on the ACTFL proficiency guidelines. A two-day workshop on the ELLOPA and SOPA was held at the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in Washington DC on April 13-14, 2003. This workshop offered hands-on training in the administration and rating of both instruments. Click here for more information on the performance assessment initiative.

Technology Tip
Here is a quick way to increase the font size in your active Internet browser window! You will need a mouse with a wheel, a connection to the Internet and an active browser window. Hold the "ctrl" (control) button and scroll your wheel mouse - the font size of your browser will change as your wheel mouse turns. Thanks Cherice Montgomery for this great tip! Do you have great tip that makes your work easier? Send it to Cindy Kendall, Editor.

Focus on K-12 Instruction at the Teacher Level
For this newsletter Cherice Montgomery has agreed to share a unit of instruction with institute alumni! This material is available to download until 3/15/03. The unit is for Chapter 5 of The Little Prince. Cherice writes, "The first third is simply Chapter 5, word-for-word, but illustrated with real pictures from the web as well as drawings from the original text. The second part is a set of photos and simple information about the baobab tree. This is followed by a proverb comparing wisdom to the baobab. The final part is a poem that I found on the web, inspired by the movie, The Lion King, that happens to be all about a baobab tree. I hope you like it!" Click here to read more about Cherice's unit and download the materials!

Featured Websites of the Month
How often have you been asked, "What does the research say?" This month we send you to Caret. Caret is a moderated clearinghouse for research on technology in education. Research studies are catalogued, resulting in unique ways to search and browse for the research you seek with regard to technology use in education. Our second featured website is the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). At CAL's website, you will find research and resources specific to foreign language education. Both sites are a treasure trove of information where you will find many gems.

Product of the Month
Dell is getting rid of floppy drives! Read more at CNN. With the demise of the floppy drive in PCs, USB flash drives are going to be the portable medium of choice. These nifty little devices plug into the USB port, and serve as another data source (just like a floppy is the "a:" drive, the hard drive is "c:", and CD-Roms are often "d:"). The prices for USB flash drives are dropping. As educators, 128MB or greater would be desired, in order to store multimedia-heavy files or large files. Apple stopped putting floppy drives in Macs years ago. If you are not sure what a USB flash drive looks like, take a look at this EasyDisk.

Memories of Iowa
Do you miss Iowa State University? You can see the beautiful campus anytime from your desktop at the Iowa State University Webcam. Taken from atop the Memorial Union, perhaps you have stayed in a room with this same view. Hopefully you will return and enjoy the peacefulness of the campus again soon.

Subscription Information

You received this electronic newsletter because you are an alumni of an activity associated with the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, email us at nflrc@iastate.edu with the subject line "remove alumni connection."

This Newsletter was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education under Title VI grant #P229A020023. The publication of products and website URLs in this newsletter is provided for informational purposes only and does not imply an endorsement by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center, Iowa State University, or the positions or policies of the U. S. Department of Education.