Four-Week High School Credit Program Syllabus Waldsee - Concordia Language Villages Accredited by AdvancEd

Course Title: One year of German High School Language Study

Levels: Beginner through advanced—customized to student needs and personal or academic goals. Class size by level ranges from 4–8 students. The overall ratio of teachers and counseling staff to villagers is 1 to 3.

Teachers: Teachers and administrators in the Concordia Language Villages Credit Programs have strong backgrounds in teaching language and culture, as well as other domains. They include both native speakers of German and Americans with extensive experience in German-speaking countries. Most are primary or secondary school teachers, practicing teachers in their own country, or have an M.A. or Ph.D. qualifying them to be instructors.

Program Credits: One year of high school credit. Level determined by proficiency assessment upon arrival.

Accreditation Details: Concordia Language Villages is accredited by AdvancEd, a non-partisan accreditation body with over 100 years’ experience. Our program meets or exceeds the guidelines for foreign language credit established by departments of education across each of the 50 U.S. states by achieving 190 high-quality instructional hours over the course of four weeks.

Learning Objectives: This intensive program meets a variety of objectives related to linguistic proficiency, cultural competency, and positive engagement in local and global communities. The course is designed to advance the Concordia Language Villages mission and meet the World-Readiness Standards of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. It supports high school students’ learning needs in public and private schools, homeschooling environments, International Baccalaureate diploma programs, language immersion schools, and those seeking alternative learning environments and credentials, such as the Seal of Biliteracy and Global Education Achievement Certificate.

All high school credit instruction serves broader institutional goals such as the Concordia Language Villages mission of inspiring courageous global citizens. A courageous global citizen lives responsibly by: ● Appreciating and seeking to understand diverse cultural perspectives; ● Communicating with confidence and cultural sensitivity in multiple languages; ● Respecting human dignity and cultivating compassion; ● Engaging critically and creatively with issues that transcend boundaries; and ● Advancing a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world for all.

Concordia Language Villages’ programs meet all of the objectives of the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards for Language Learning. For a summary of our program’s alignment with the national standards, please visit our website.

Curriculum and Instruction: The Four-Week High School Credit Program in German consists of 190 hours of direct instruction and language and culture practice. A typical day includes, at a minimum, 8.5 hours of direct instruction, development of comprehension skills, conversation, and a wide range of structured activities in the target language. Villagers carry what they learn in their courses into the other areas of the Village, where they are immersed and surrounded by a large number of proficient speakers and opportunities to practice, apply and extend their learning.

For information about the broader philosophy of learning in the Concordia Language Villages, visit our description of the CLVway.

As an extension of Waldsee‘s core curriculum, the credit program emphasizes active learning, drawing on all of the resources that Waldsee has to offer, including our rich natural surroundings, a variety of indoor and outdoor arts and sporting activities, and Village life.

The curriculum focuses on four “Waldsee Goals”: to create a safe, positive and caring environment that motivates participants to use the German language; to learn more about German-speaking cultures; to better understand themselves and relate to others; and to be responsible citizens in our global society.

Villagers engage the German language using a theme-based curriculum that melds cultural content with grammar. The program emphasizes learning in social situations and natural settings, like going to the Laden (store), ordering food at the Waldsee Café, or producing our own Seifenoper (soap opera) for the rest of the village. Our Village is our classroom.

The following is a list of key elements of curriculum and instruction featured specifically in the intensive Four-Week High School Credit Program: ● Small credit program classes of 4–8 villagers and an overall ratio of one (target language proficient) staff member to three villagers ● Project-based learning (individual and thematic) ● Linguistic and cultural immersion in a simulated “Village,” in which villagers use the target language as the primary language of communication ● Exploration of global issues and themes relevant to people in German-speaking countries ● Opportunity for villagers to reflect on their learning and set and fulfill personal goals ● Interaction with a variety of global perspectives and cultural beliefs ● A supportive learning community in a positive, residential atmosphere that fosters confidence and collaboration ● Character development through leadership and stewardship opportunities, living in a community, taking risks, and playing in the target language ● Hands-on experiential learning and language practice in simulated and real situations ● Interdisciplinary, content-based instruction in the areas of natural and social sciences, arts and humanities ● Learning in nature and about our natural world ● Engagement with culturally-authentic products and practices

Evaluation: Both formative and summative assessments are used with an emphasis on performance and proficiency. Credit villagers begin with several placement evaluations and have frequent opportunities to demonstrate their language and culture learning through activity-based assessment tools, as well as more traditional quizzes and tests. Each credit villager also completes a comprehensive multimedia portfolio documenting his or her own learning and progress at the Village.

Final Evaluations include: ● Final grade based on multiple areas of assessment (see below) ● Descriptions of villager proficiency and skills in three modes of communication: interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive. Individuals can compare these descriptions to common proficiency scales such as ACTFL, Common European Framework, or College Board Continuum.

Grading Criteria (subject to change): Portfolio And Reflection (5% of final grade) Villagers projects and all other major components of the portfolio. As an introduction to the reader, they include a self- reflection on their entire time in Waldsee. They describe their unique identity as a language and culture learner before the session and reflect on how they have changed and grown during the session. They highlight the most meaningful parts of their experience.

Village Participation (25-40% of final grade) In Waldsee, villagers are engaged in learning throughout the day. It is their responsibility to document how they choose to participate in Village life and what they learn from it. They have weekly goals and meetings with their teacher to discuss their progress.

In addition to their four formal class periods each day, students participate in German in a variety of activities with their fellow villagers. In any given session, these may include soccer, volleyball, field handball, fencing, chess, cooking and baking, environmental projects, photography, dance, frisbee, canoeing, card and board games, and many arts activities from German-speaking countries.

Waldsee features cuisine authentic to German-speaking countries and encourage credit villagers to use their German actively at mealtimes to learn and practice culturally appropriate norms and language structures, and to engage informally in conversation with fellow villagers and staff, including at “German only” tables.

Villagers participate in a variety of evening programs that help them use their German actively in ways that also help them learn and appreciate cultural norms, practices, and perspectives from German-speaking countries. Programs range from festivals and field games to cabin activities and cross-cultural simulations. On some nights, they use that time as study time to review or work on long-term projects.

Villagers are encouraged to take advantage of a variety of incentive tracks to get to “100% German.” These include pledging to speak German the entire day; participating in “German only” tables at mealtimes; practicing their German by acting as waiters at the Waldsee Cafe; and becoming a Waldsee Mensch by completing a number of community service tasks.

Projects (30-50% of final grade) Villagers complete five (5) projects in order to meet the four Waldsee goals. These might include using German to make a poster based on what they learn in class, planning a vacation to , writing an essay, making a film or recording, or engaging in historical role-playing exercises. Three of the projects must be connected to themes that are addressed in their leveled classes. Two projects must be in conjunction with their Arbeitsgruppen (AG), which are mixed-level interest groups.

Journal, Class Participation, and Assignments (20-25% of final grade) All other in-class work and assignments completed throughout the session is included in villager portfolios, including drafts of work that demonstrate growth. Villagers also be keep a journal (Tagebuch). This is a chance for to practice writing on a regular basis. The content and specific guidelines for the Tagebuch are at the discretion of the individual teacher.

Tardiness Although there is no set percentage for tardiness, villagers’ grades are affected if they are consistently late to class.

Grade Scale: A+ 100 and up B+ 87-89 C+ 77-79 F <59 A 94-99 B 83-86 C 70-76 A- 90-93 B- 80-82 D 60-69

Program Options: Waldsee offers several high school credit-bearing programs that all employ the same philosophies of learning, grading criteria, and engagement in life at Language Village outlined above. The classic program is broad and covers a wide swath of subject areas and interests, while four additional programs allow villagers to delve more deeply into specific content areas with variations on course and assessment goals.

Classic Credit Program - Leveled courses are theme-based, blending cultural content with grammar lessons. Throughout the four weeks, villagers delve into a wide swath of themes in the areas of German society, German history, and the environment. The program focuses on learning in natural situations that one would encounter in a German- speaking country and understanding those cultures.

Credit Abroad - The German High School Credit Abroad program is offered in partnership with Xperitas (xperitas.org), an educational travel company of distinction. For two weeks, villagers participate fully in the High School Credit Program at Waldsee. For the final two weeks, participants and teachers travel to Germany for family stays, cultural excursions, and continued coursework. The Credit Abroad Programs are for students ages 16-18 who have completed at least one year of high school language study (preference given to two years or more). die Grüne Welle Credit - Taking full advantage of Waldsee’s natural setting, villagers focus in environmental science, conservation, energy, chemistry, forestry, and German cultural perspectives on sustainable living. Villagers get to plan and go on a one-week canoe trip down the Mississippi and across the great Northern landscape; camp and sleep in/outside of a tent; build fires and cook over them; enjoy the sunsets as the loons call out in the distance; learn about plants and animals; and discover how the people of the German-speaking world relate to nature and use environmentally sustainable practices —all in German. Villagers also carry out experiments and learn about sustainable living in the Waldsee BioHaus, North America’s first certified —a building designed to use 85 percent less energy than a comparable American building. der Märchenwald Credit - Waldsee takes participants back in time to experience a unique combination of the Middle Ages and theater. The only program to come complete with its own storyline, der Märchenwald challenges its participants to create a kingdom from a path through the woods, a theater in a forest clearing, and authentic medieval persons in themselves. The result is a combination of language, history, arts and crafts, music, creative writing, literature, ongoing role-playing, tons of teamwork, and, finally, a formal knighting ceremony.

STEM-D Credit - Villagers in this program create a portfolio of projects that develop their skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math - all in German. Hands-on projects are the key, geared to a villager’s own level and background, both in German and in each of the STEM skill areas. Villagers conduct experiments in the Waldsee BioHaus, North America’s first certified passive house—a building designed to use 85 percent less energy than a comparable American building.

Program Policies: Receiving Credit: Credit for the program will be granted upon completion of all 190 required hours (the entire four-week course) as well as a passing grade in all categories of the Village-specific grading policy.

Transferring Credit to Schools: School districts decide whether or not to accept transfer credit and how to list that credit on a villager’s school record. Many schools accept full credit for work done at Concordia Language Villages. Some schools, however, may accept half credit, advancement in language studies or notation of the work on the student’s high school transcript. Others may administer a placement exam to determine an appropriate course level upon returning to the school’s language program. It is a parent or guardian’s responsibility to speak with the villager’s principal or other school officials to determine what will be required in order for the credit to be transferred prior to their session. Villagers may include Concordia Language Villages transcripts in college application materials if the credits are not transferred to the villager’s school.

Language Levels: On the first full day of the credit session, villagers are placed into learning groups based on their language ability and credit expectations. These groupings allow villagers to learn with peers possessing similar skills and needs near their proficiency level to achieve one year’s worth or more of progress. Concordia Language Villages welcomes and accommodates learners of any proficiency level (including true beginners) and individualizes an approach to support their increased proficiency and mastery.

Matching School Language Class: Although villagers will learn the same amount of language at the Village as they would in a year at school, it may not be the same content; every school is different. If your school prefers that the Concordia Language Villages curriculum match closely with its curriculum, please have your villager bring a copy of that curriculum or syllabus to the Village and share it with the credit facilitator and teacher. We can try to incorporate particular aspects of individual schools’ syllabi into the Language Villages classes or provide individualized extra help, but this has to be requested by parents. We cannot guarantee matching a school course exactly. Please note that curricula for Village classes cannot be furnished ahead of time, as it is determined during the session based on the abilities of the class group.

Credit Appeals Process: Before the close of the credit session, all credit villagers should know their final grade and generally will sign a document that attests that they earned the grade indicated. To appeal a grade, a villager must submit a written request, co-signed by a parent or guardian, to Concordia Language Villages, stating the rationale for the appeal, before October 1 of the year following the summer session.

For more policies regarding behavior, participation, etc., please see the Parent Handbook.

Program Documentation: Following successful completion of the course, Concordia Language Villages will provide (to villagers’ schools or parents): ● Official transcript for one year of high school credit ● Syllabus of specific Language Village selected ● Proof of Concordia Language Villages’ accreditation ● Copy of curriculum specific to leveled class ● Final Evaluation

Villagers in the course also return to their home or school with a portfolio demonstrating competencies and proficiency as designed by their specific Language Village.

A report, emailed or mailed to parents at mid-session, includes the villager’s grade to date. The grade, of course, may change before the end of the session.

Final documentation is mailed from the administrative office in Moorhead, Minn., not from the Village, and takes several weeks to process. At the parent’s request, an evaluation and transcript of the villager’s work will also be sent to his or her school at the end of the summer.