Beyond Words

The World Languages Department is bridging not just cultures, but also grades, ages, and subjects at St. Anne’s-Belfield with new cross-divisional programming. 

“Interdisciplinary is my dream,” says Dr. Isabelle Reeves, P. ’21, Upper School French teacher and World Languages department chair. Reeves’ passion for interdisciplinary learning inspires her to evolve lesson plans each year, incorporating current events into her classes. “It’s not just about the grammar,” Dr. Reeves says, “I want my students to understand the Francophone world.” This has presented opportunities to explore food, field trips, and other hands-on learning opportunities in the past. This year, it led them to the Belfield Campus.

While our curriculum is made up of distinct courses, teachers at St. Anne’s are identifying overlaps in learning objectives, skills, and concepts that provide opportunities to come together. For example, both Upper School French classes and Middle School History classes study the French colonization of Africa. Both courses require critical thinking, research, and written and verbal presentation of content. Instructors from the Upper and Middle Schools have pinpointed these alignments and leveraged them to create cross-divisional experiences.

 

AP French Students Teach Grade 8 Humanities Students

Cross-divisional programming began when Middle School Humanities Teacher William Sbach, P. ’35 reached out to Dr. Reeves to discuss collaborating on his unit about the colonization of Africa. “​​I want students to learn the history that helps us understand how we got to the world we have today,” Mr. Sbach says. Students learn the content and practice their research and presentation skills in the unit, but Mr. Sbach also focuses on building self-awareness and advocacy. “These histories are great examples of how people can live the consequences of decisions that were made by others before their time.”

Dr. Reeves also teaches about colonization. “AP French is really a humanities class in a target language,” explains Dr. Reeves. When Mr. Sbach came to Dr. Reeves asking if there was an opportunity for overlap in their colonization units, the learning objectives for Mr. Sbach’s class became the rubric for Dr. Reeves’ students’ research papers. 

Mr. Sbach’s Grade 8 students had been studying the colonization of Ghana, Kenya, and other African nations. Dr. Reeves’ seniors wrote in French about the colonization of Morocco, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast. Then, they translated their work to English and presented it to the students of Mr. Sbach’s history class. “My hope for the eighth graders was that they could use the tools they’ve been developing to think about places they didn’t know at all,” says Mr. Sbach. 

“I loved seeing the poise and confidence in my students while they presented,” remembers Dr. Reeves. A rich discussion about the ways in which histories were similar and different ensued, and both Dr. Reeves and Mr. Sbach are excited to grow this collaboration in the future. 

While this is the first example of two distinct divisions joining together, St. Anne’s classes have been un-siloed by grade, level, and age all year, with teachers finding alignments in the curriculum and using them as connection to each other and to the community. 

 

While Americans Are Watching a Groundhog, the French Have Crêpes

Most everyone loves food, which makes it a natural entry point to culture. Karine Boulle, P. ’19, French teacher in the Middle School, used that to her class’ advantage on Feb. 2 to teach her students about La Chandeleur, or Candlemas, a French-Catholic tradition that is celebrated by eating crepes. Whether or not you flip the crepe without dropping it determines your prosperity for the year. Students enjoyed cranking out crepes in the classroom, and Dr. Reeves had her own class celebrating in the Food Lab in the newly-renovated Randolph Hall. 

 

MS and US Spanish Students Learn About Day of the Dead

Earlier in the year, students took part of the Day of the Dead celebration in Spanish classrooms across the Middle and Upper School. Under the direction of US Spanish Teacher Dr. Paloma Visscher-Gingerich, Honors Spanish 3 students made altars in commemoration of this important Latino tradition. Upper School students shared the significance of the Day of the Dead celebration and of the altars through short videos that were shown during both Upper School and Middle School community meetings.

In their videos, which were made in English, students invited the broader school community to stop by the altars to learn more. Each altar had a QR code which explained the significance of the displays in greater detail in both English and Spanish. Visitors were offered the opportunity to add a personal message or memento from their deceased loved ones. Middle School Spanish students visited these altars with their teachers and added beautiful handmade paper flowers as well as significant messages to their loved ones.

This celebration of life culminated on Nov. 5 with a Day of the Dead workshop for Middle School students and their parents/guardians in the Lourie Learning Center. In this workshop, attendees learned about the celebration, visited the altars in the Upper School, and enjoyed traditional tamales and pan de muerto made by one of our families.

"This was a multifaceted experience in which students shared a beautiful Latino tradition with the broader school community," says Dr. Visscher-Gingerich. "English and Spanish were used with the purpose of reaching everyone."

World language classes are about exploring a culture, not just grammar and syntax. St. Anne’s students are learning how to celebrate, advocate, and build connections in modern languages.