Curriculum

The Immersive Experiential Curriculum of International School of Louisiana (ISL) uses State of Louisiana Department of Education Standards as a framework around which to build experiences for students to demonstrate mastery of skills. The question that we must ask with each decision we make in regard to curriculum is, “Does this fulfill the mission and vision of ISL’s language immersion program?” not simply is this a good resource, is this successful at another school, or in another country. Every choice we make must be in furtherance of ISL’s goal to:

• provide a challenging education
• language immersion
• international awareness
• the celebration of diversity and community responsibility

What is immersion?

Immersion is defined as a method of instruction in which the school curriculum is taught through the medium of a language (often called a Target Language or L2) other than the dominant or native language (often referred to as L1, in this case English) of students and/or community.

The Target Language (L2) is the vehicle for content instruction; it is not the subject of instruction. Children learn the Target Language (L2) naturally, through everyday conversation and classroom instruction. FAQs about Immersion

ISL’s Immersion Progression:

• In kindergarten and 1st grade students spend, approximately 90% of daily instruction in the Target Language (only enrichment activities such as P.E., art, and music may take place in English. When possible these classes are conducted in the Target Language).
• In grades 2-5, students spend, approximately 80% of their daily instructional time the in the target language. Math, Science, Social Studies, are all taught in the Target Language, as well as Target Language Arts. English Language Arts is added for 60 minutes a day.
• In middle School, approximately 25% of a student’s time is spent in the immersion language. ISL increases the amount of time students spend in English. English is the language of instruction for Social Studies and Science. This is a shift from Lower School. Mathematics remains a subject taught in the Target Language (French or Spanish). Students take both Target Language Arts and English Language Arts in equal amounts. Additionally, Middle School students begin a three year sequence of a critical language (such as Mandarin). Taken together this means that 35% of a student’s day is spent in a language other than English*.