Across the hall from Madame Cooper’s Warrenton High School French class hangs an attractive wall-size display of printed material about France: a street map of Paris, along with brochures and images of iconic places from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower that collectively invite students into another world just inside the classroom.“There’s so much in the world to learn and experience and our focus is on bringing students into that experience from every angle,” says teacher Carolyn Cooper, now in her fifth year of teaching at WHS.In another time, students would come to class, open their textbooks and recite the litany of er-ending verbs, coming away with a book-based understanding of French language basics.Today, thanks to transformed methods of classroom teaching and learning, the Internet and a new generation of students tuned into the world through their devices and social media, today’s “world language” classrooms are radically different. They are highly interactive and hands-on, emphasizing language learning through a deep and broad immersion into all things French or Spanish that result in a more robust educational experience.“We want students to be able to read, write, speak and understand at a high level,” says Cooper.Support LearningCooper’s classroom is set up for the type of interactive learning that is becoming the norm at WHS.Desks are set up in pairs to enable students to break off and practice French conversations with each other. These often kick-off the class.From that ice-breaker beginning, the rest of the hour is full-on action as Cooper orchestrates and layers one learning opportunity on top of another, taking every moment to cross-educate, engaging students in history, current affairs, culture — even weights and measures — that bring added dimension to French learning.“We want students to develop critical thinking instead of rote memorization and regurgitation,” Cooper said.Every class includes a current news feature pulled up from “France 24,” a 24-hour online French news channel accessed through the school’s protected digital network.In recent weeks, students have been following French coverage of the Syrian crisis, which has been a springboard — as all news stories are — for classroom discussion of issues, history and politics.“When France 24 reported on John Kerry’s recent visit to France, it was an opportunity to learn about our secretary of state, French politics and viewpoints,” Cooper said. “We want to provoke thought about how people in France live and relate to us and the world.”From another French language website, Cooper introduces students to French terms and phrases that they will need to know for the ACT college entrance test.A discussion of the term “cause celebre” touched on Joan d’Arc as a symbol of the concept, then jumped to a connection to Angelina Jolie as a modern-day champion of causes. Suddenly, Cooper had her students wading deeper into language and ideas and making connections.The teaching approach is a page out of the sports world and the famed St. Louis “Cardinal Way” that goes, “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I’ll remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.”The deep learning approach extends beyond the classroom. Last year, Cooper took students to the St. Louis Art Museum to see French art.“Everything was a chance to broaden horizons, from seeing Washington University students out studying on Art Hill to noticing the different cultures and ethnicities in the city,” Cooper said.She said class exercises challenge them to converse and spontaneously interact en Francais and about all things French, from classroom crepe-cooking to daily pop quizzes on meters, liters and grams in which Cooper holds up a grocery food item and has students estimate package weights using the metric system.“They’re getting really good at metrics,” said Cooper, just wrapping up a pop quiz on the weight of a box of Cocoa Puffs cereal.Trip to Paris, LondonCooper’s passion for giving students opportunities to learn through experience was what prompted planning for a trip to Paris and London next summer. Students are enthusiastic about going, she said, and have launched a fund-raising campaign through Facebook to help finance travel expenses.In addition to touring famous landmarks, the trip  — organized by educational travel company Education First — includes participating in a French Impressionism painting lesson and games like Petanque, akin to Bocce ball.Student MacKenzie Miller says she is looking forward to experiencing French food and seeing the Eiffel Tower, while Sidney Goodwin is particularly excited about French architecture in general.Cooper expects to have 12-15 people travel, and notes that anyone over the age of 14 is eligible to go.In addition to students, several parents and one grandparent have signed up for the trip, which also includes a visit to London. There will be more information at the parent-teacher conference in October.

R-III. These are kids (some of which I photographed today in front of bulletin board) who are going to London and Paris