Because of its successful results, AIM, created by Wendy Maxwell, is becoming more and more of a classroom tool! Essentially the teacher teaches the students with the use of gestures. These gestures are used to introduce and reinforce vocabulary and enable a French only environment. The visuals and kinesthetics props allow the vocabulary to pass directly to meaning! This allows the students to avoid the tendency to mentally translate each word back into the first language. For example when introducing or using the word "airplane" the teacher would spread their arms out like an airplane.
The picture below created by Suzanne Borel-Maisonny, shows the gestures we use to communicate a letter sound. We use these gestures in conjunction with the Aim program.
This program is to help teachers engage their students in the second language. This is not necessary for parents to learn, however, it is always nice to understand what strategies your teacher is using with your child(ren). If you want to learn more about this program click the links below!