World Language Programs
Intermediate District 287 offers up to five levels of various languages for credit to mature, highly motivated, independent students in grades 9 through 12. Students learn language and culture via two-way interactive cable television, or in a traditional classroom with an itinerant teacher, with some options available for online learning. Instructors are either native speakers or have had many years of teaching experience. Both the instructor and the curriculum are provided through Intermediate District 287's World Language Department.
Course Offerings
American Sign Language
Students are instructed in the basics for communication with deaf individuals, including receptive and expressive readiness activities, sign vocabulary, basic rules of grammar, finger spelling, conversational behaviors, and aspects of Deaf Culture.
Location:
Eden Prairie High School
Chinese
Students are taught to speak, read, write and understand the spoken word of the official Mandarin Chinese language. Students become acquainted with contemporary Chinese life and the contributions of Chinese culture. Students participate in dramatizations, discussions and narrations; develop advanced conversational skills in small-group settings; read contemporary short stories and newspaper articles; and write descriptive passages, summaries, reviews and letters.
Locations:
Orono High School
Mound-Westonka High School
Online Interactive TV option through Northern Star Online
Japanese
Japanese courses include the four basic skills of speaking, listening, writing and reading, focusing on modern colloquial Japanese. Students learn to identify the differences and similarities between English and Japanese and to understand ways of thinking and behaviors different from their own. They also learn to understand broader cultural aspects of Japan through various readings in English, some materials in Japanese literature, short stories and articles from magazines and advanced conversational skills in small-group settings, and comprehension of Japanese through films, TV, and radio programs.
Locations:
Armstrong High School
Cooper High School
Edina High School
Shakopee High School