My brainstorm about the conversational French class
Overview
I would like to organize a conversational French class to children (Ages 5-9) in the Riverside Park, in Kamloops during July and August because Bell et al. (2014) reported that students participating in outdoor-orientation programs improved in self-esteem, self-efficacy, and connecting and communicating with peers. Likewise, Hattie et al. (1997) reported that students participating in adventure education improved most in leadership decision making, conscientiousness, a sense of independence, emotional stability, and knowledge related to academic learning outcomes. My curriculum topic is about salutations and expression of different emotions such happy/ sad, introduce some new words and phrases about body parts, animals and outdoor activities! I will use these vocabularies in an outdoor learning environment for children.(e.g. on the grass, or yoga mat) The purpose of this course is to learn, practice, do outdoor activities and use French in a fun-filled outdoor setting and build understanding between Anglophones and Francophones through an exchange of language and culture. In addition, meditation practice can help children regulate their emotion. As children progress, emotions continue to play an important role in learning in elementary school. According to Blair (2002), preschool-age children’s emotionality and their ability to regulate emotions and behaviors is a vital maker of school readiness.
Course planning
Day 1: We’ll introduce ourselves and pets (dog, cat or other animals) to the group & the teacher (in English) and share what we know about the French language. We’ll learn how to ask “What is your name?” and respond with “My name is..” & “how are you?” “I’m doing very well/ I’m okay / I’m happy / sad.” My key questions can be: What is the main difference when we say hello and good-bye in French and in English? I want to encourage children to express bravely their real emotions when they see beautiful scenery and let them ask their classmates why he or she is happy / sad. We’ll listen to a new song and discuss its meaning on the grass.
Day 2: We’ll review our song and salutations, emotion vocabulary from yesterday and then learn how to share which pets they like; they will also learn which type of pets others like. We’ll read a short story in French & review. I can ask children about their sweet or funny story with their pet.
Day 3: We’ll review our song and short story from yesterday and then learn how to share what type of sports/activities we like and which sports/activities others like. I will review part of the story to assess which words children remember and which words they forget. The question can be “would you please say three different outdoor activities they like or they do not like and explain why.
Day 4: We will make up our own class story using the new words we’ve learned, for example, introduction of your peer or introduction of their own hobby or classmate’s hobby. Each student will receive a copy of the French story so they can show friends and family. Outdoor meditation practice: On the grass in the Riverside Park, I will teach children basic yoga poses, breathing techniques and vocabularies of body parts to help them regulate their emotion and focus on their physical and mental health.
My reflection about inquiry-based pedagogy
In China, we rarely have outdoor education because students are used to listening to the teacher because teachers and parents pay much more attention to children’s grades, individual success rather than cooperation, collective success or their wellbeing in learning process. They are the center of teaching and the lords of all the sources. Students did what they were told to. Friesen et al. (2003) say in the past, when children read, they were accompanied by their parents or siblings, but now they sit on their own chairs and work hard with textbooks which can provide organized units of work and give students all the same plans and same lessons. “Learning has been reduced to what they do in school, living is what they do in the real world”, I was impressed with this sentence in this article, children has lost their interests of learning when they go to school, I want to design my French course in order to let students gain a meaningful and unforgettable learning journey outside schools. They can explore something in the natural park instead of memorizing the boring French vocabularies. According to McTighe and Wiggins (2013), they stated some viewpoints about the importance of inquiry. First of all, inquiry is a main goal of education, because students can become more engaged and curious about what they learn by asking good questions.
In my conversational French class, we focus on questioning and communication with peers and teachers. Children will learn about conversing with another person about what they like to do, and how they feel. They will also learn the simple phrases in the story outside of school. They have been trained to look for patterns to solve problems or bravely ask questions and connect the knowledge with outside world like children do in Forest School in Canada. They spend a half day or full day studying and playing in forest, grass, playgrounds or any other outdoor places, they can get in touch closely with the nature, they are even encouraged to get dirty and wet in nature, take care of living animals, observe the weather in order to learn a wide range of practical and meaningful skills. In my opinion, this kind of playing and studying can release their stress and improve their collaboration, critical thinking and creativity competences.
BC’s New Curriculum – Français Langue Seconde – Immersion 2
My course design is guided by BC’s curriculum:- Creating and Communicating- Express ideas, emotions and personal experiences using visual and gestural elements- Interact spontaneously with peers using complete sentences- Read a simple text with fluency- Ask questions in order to enhance understanding and deepen knowledge- Write short texts that follow the rules of sentence structure and connect ideas in a logical fashion https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/fral/2