Each student whose class is participating in the club is issued a passport at the start of the school year. The passport has a page for each month listing the countries or locations to be learned that month. The passports are the same for all grades and students, There are five levels for each month, and the student can decide how many levels to study. Note that the levels are inclusive: if a student wants to study at level three, they need to study levels one and two also. Levels by Month. The studying happens at home – it’s not part of the classroom curriculum.

Each month the student receives a paper copy of a world map marked with the locations for the month. The names and pronunciations are on the back.

Once a month, there is a Passport check day. Each participating class comes to the Passport check room for 5-10 minutes, bringing their passports with them. The Passport check room has 10-15 passport check desks with volunteer passport checkers, and each desk has a blank world map. When a check desk is open, the checker raises his hand to signal the next student in line. Starting at level one, the checker asks the student if they studied the level, and if so, asks them to point out each location at the level. The students must pass a level in order to go on to the next one. In kindergarten and first grade, the students are coached through level one, so that they all pass level one. In first grade, students are allowed to miss one country per level, and still pass the level (the checker would tell them the location and then keep coming back to it till the student remembers). The checker uses a highlighter on the passport to highlight the locations the student knows. If a student passes the entire level, the checker puts an ink stamp next to that level in the passport. If a student passes all five levels, the checker rings a bell and announces it to the room.

If the student passes any levels, they then take their passport to the Postage Stamp Desk. There they can pick a stamp for each level they passed, and it is pasted onto the Visa side of their passport page. The stamps are an assortment from the countries for the month.

Back in class, the passports are put away or collected by the teacher. The teachers hand out the study map for the next month.

Once or twice a month there is a make-up day with just one passport check desk open at lunchtime. Students who were absent on check day or who want to be retested can come. Regular passport days are only for testing the current month’s countries.

Want to be a passport checker or help in some other way, contact Emily.