UNEXPECTED: For the first time at Poly High School, French Three, French Three Honors, and AP French will be taught together in the same class.
By Kathleen Lynch, Staff Writer
This year, all three upper level French classes have been combined into the same period. This leaves the French teacher, Madame Kristin Kund, searching for new ways to incorporate themes of all three courses into one class. The majority of the class falls into either French III or French III Honors, leaving only two AP students. With just these two students, the best option lies in finding a college course for them to enroll in. According to Madame Kund, these students are in the process of researching programs through local colleges to try and find a fit. With a solution for the AP students in the works, this leaves only the honors and regular class to sort out. Since the curriculum for these classes is similar, with the only real difference being the rigor, having mixed lessons is a part of the solution Madame Kund devised. Another part of this is offering independent lessons. The real benefit here goes to the students in regular French III, who gain a deeper understanding of the French language without having to take the harder tests.
In past years, AP French and French III Honors combined and regular French III received its own class period. This allowed the French III Honors students to become accustomed to hearing French from the AP students. This combination of classes also allowed for the Honors students to be introduced to themes presented to the AP French students. With this new system, the focus on themes for the Honors class becomes more important, now that they won’t be exposed to the AP lessons. This year a special focus will have to be put on depth and complexity, in order to prepare the Honors students for their year in AP. It will be interesting to see how this French superclass unfolds.