How to use learning centres in primary F.S.L.?
What will we be looking at?
Investigate the benefits of
learning centres in the primary
classroom with an emphasis on French
as a Second Language. 🇫🇷
What type of play
and structure would suit
the Core French classroom?
Mis en place: What strategies
and activities can we use in the
CoreFrench classroom?
Investigate the benefits of
learning centres in the primary
classroom with an emphasis on French as a Second Language. 🇫🇷
One of the big ideas in Core French is authentic interaction: providing students with opportunities to actively engage with the language and to speak it. (Ontario Curriculum French as a Second Language Page 8)
We know that student motivation in Core French has been a barrier to success and continued engagement with the French program (Arnott, 2019)
REVUE DES SCIENCES DE L’ÉDUCATION DE MCGILL •VOL. 54 NO3 AUTOMNE 2019 519
https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/9655
Module 4 taught us the benefits of active learning and the importance of play, exploration and inquiry in instructional strategies. Primary students studying Core French would therefore benefit from learning centres which would offer them opportunities to play and interact with the French language. The hope is that this will increase student engagement and motivation when learning French as a Second Language.
“Young children actively explore their environment and the world around them through a process of
learning-based play. Play is a vehicle for learning. It provides opportunities for learning in a context in
which children are at their most receptive. Play and work are not distinct categories for young children,
and learning and doing are also inextricably linked for them.”
What type of play
and structure would suit
the Core French classroom
There are different approaches to play based learning which differ in the degree of teacher direction. Given the need to front-load vocabulary and language structures the subject of French is best suited to teacher-led, structured and objective based activities. ( A. Bautista et. al 716)
A good practice for integrating play into the classroom is to avoid framing it as play when discussing academic goals. (A. Bautista et al. 733)
Task cards are a good way to help direct learning. Students can be put in groups that rotate between tasks. Since Core French teachers often rotate between classrooms my personal recommendation is to organize the task cards and student groupings online using googleslides. This will allow you to project the groups and the tasks to the class on the whiteboard wherever you go.
Conclusion
Learning centres can help increase the yields of students in primary Core French. The effectiveness of play based learning in primary students is well documented and I hope to integrate it into my daily practice as I move forward in my career. Learning centres should be objective based with input from students for goal-setting and framed academically. Learning centres should also be planned using universal design language and the principles of backward design, which is something I hope to explore further in our Integrated Lesson Plan.
REFERENCES:
Arnott, Stephanie (2014). GIVING VOICE TO OUR CORE FRENCH STUDENTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ATTRITION AND THE DISCOURSE ON THE BENEFITS OF LEARNING FSL IN ONTARIO
https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/9655
Everything a new Kindergarten Teacher Needs to Know About….Learning-Based Play Centres
https://www.tcdsb.org/ProgramsServices/SchoolProgramsK12/Documents/New%20K%20Teacher%20Learning-Based%20Play%20Centres.pdf
Alfredo Bautista, Malikka Habib, Anthony Eng & Rebecca Bull (2019) Purposeful play during learning centre time: from curriculum to practice, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 51:5, 715-736, DOI:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220272.2019.1611928?journalCode=tcus20
Guido, Marcus (2016), 20 Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Examples
https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/differentiated-instruction-strategies-examples-download/
Bourgoin, R., & Le Bouthillier, J. (2021). Task-Based Language Learning and Beginning Language Learners: Examining Classroom-Based Small Group Learning in Grade 1 French Immersion . Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 24(2), 70–98.
https://doi.org/10.37213/cjal.2021.31378
Mis en place: What strategies
and activities can we use in the
CoreFrench classroom?
Since French teachers move from room to room there is a need to find activities that can be set-up and started quickly. Here is a look at some of the curriculum expectations in a grade 2 French classroom that can be covered with learning centres. See the "➡️"
The attached document from the TDSB offers some great ideas for learning centres that can be easily adapted to the French classroom.
Potential activities:
Colour and Shape Bingo is a great activity to do throughout the primary years since it can be increased in complexity by the addition of limited interrogative constructions as students increase their proficiency with the language.
Accommodations: who can act as a "language bridge" can be paired with students who need extra support and anchor charts should also be available at this centre.
Reading centres: Primary French classes often use stories and readings to help model pronunciation and language structures. Using scaffolding and a gradual release of responsibility, students can be given portions of the story that the class is reading or short plays to act out at learning centres.
Accommodations: Students requiring accommodations should be given the same role or lines to say rather than changing them weekly.
Attached is a website describing Barrier Games. These would be great games to practice highly structured interactions and activate prior knowledge from mathematics and patterning units. Using a scaffold approach model to students how to take turns creating a seuquence with vocabulary (numbers, animals, colours...) and to compare how well they were able to listen to and understand one another.
Accommodations: Provide anchor charts of the vocabulary being used at each station and consider limiting the amount of vocabulary according to student's familiarity with the vocabulary.
Save paper and laminate. Worksheets have their place in the French program and provide opportunities for students to independently interact with language structures through a number of activities. What I have found works great as an alternative to constantly copying and distributing the sheets is to laminate them and put them at a learning centre. Students will then have multiple opportunities to engage with the same sheet and can learn through repition and work collaboratively to complete tasks such as wordsearches or code breaking.