Week #2 - Core French
If you are a Core French, French immersion or Francophone program teacher and want to deepen your teaching practices through authentic learning situations, this week is for you!
Week #2 - Core French
- When: July 10 to 14, 2023, 9:30a.m.-3:00p.m.
- Where: July 10-13, 2023 at SFU Burnaby Campus and Friday, July 14 in Vancouver
- Audience: Core French teachers from grades 5 to 12
- Cost*: $200 for BC teachers, $850 for out of province teachers.
*This fee includes:
- Breakfast on July 10
- Lunches each day and a meal in a French restaurant in Vancouver on July 14
- Participation fees for cultural activities
- Educational material
THEMES OF THE WEEK:
MONDAY, JULY 10 : EXPLORING OUR IDENTITIES AND BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY
- Special Guest Dr. Monica Tang : My professional identity as a French teacher
- Icebreaker activities and workshops around the theme "Builiding an Inclusive Community"
- Protect all of our learners : teach using inclusive language
TUESDAY, JULY 11 : DISCOVERING THE CULTURES OF LA FRANCOPHONIE : LEARNING BY DOING
- Zumba dancing in basic French
- Exotic Fruits Tasting
- Discover unit plans for Core French: sharing the unit plans developed in collaboration with Core French teachers with an A0/A1 level French with districts from Vancouver Island
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12 : MOVING FORWARD FOR OUR STUDENTS : SUPPORTING THE GROWTH OF THEIR BILINGUAL IDENTITIES
- Special Guest Dr. Monica Tang : Habits of the Effective Bilingual Person : Guidelines for Retention and Motivation of Students
- Kayak in French at Rocky Point
THURSDAY, JULY 13 : DISCOVERING THE CULTURES OF LA FRANCOPHONIE: LEARNING BY DOING
- Special guest from the Canadian francophonie: Marc-Albert Paquette, Pedagogical Advisor
- Discover outdoor learning experiences to develop French skills
FRIDAY, JULY 14 : LIVING LIFE IN FRENCH IN VANCOUVER!
- Workshop at the Museum of Vancouver: Global Citizens (Citoyens du monde)
- Order and eat lunch at the Café salade de fruits
- Share our learning: representing our learning at Vanier Park’s beach
Workshop descriptions
« My professional identity as a French teacher » presented on July 10
Teaching and working in one’s second (L2) or additional language (L+) can be challenging. It can also be highly satisfying to share the joys and pleasures of the process of learning a new language. But sometimes, we wonder:
- « Is my French good enough? »
- “Am I saying it right? Is it better to speak LESS French to my students and ensure that it’s 100% accurate, or increase the amount that they are exposed to even though it may not be correct?”
- “Do other teachers judge me for the mistakes that I (might) make?”
- “Although I say that I want to improve my own French, I would be mortified if someone corrected me in public!”
- “Do others think that my low confidence in French (in front of adults) means I’m also a bad teacher?”
This session is intended to open up an honest discussion on how we perceive our linguistic identity as French teachers as well as learn how our identities can be “negotiated”, resulting in a greater sense of confidence and legitimacy as French teachers. Monica will introduce the concept of “Four Ideal Dispositions of Bilingual people”, as a way of setting an intention and a concrete direction for the FrancoFun Week!
« Habits of the Effective Bilingual Person : Guidelines for Retention and Motivation of Students » presented on July 13
Following Monday’s session on linguistic identity, this workshop will introduce some ideas for supporting students’ identity construction as beginning/intermediate language learners. The four ideal dispositions of bilingual people will be reexamined in the context of teaching French as a second language. We will have the opportunity to take concrete examples of FSL teaching and analyze them with an Identity-focus. Doing so may help students see themselves as legitimate users of French and nurture their enjoyment and desire to continue learning!
«Bring Joy to Your Classroom: Play to develop your learners’ French skills» presented on July 13
A great way to engage your students and add joy to your classroom? Play! Get your students talking in French with a variety of easy-to-use classroom games! In this workshop, we'll discover a variety of information-sharing games that you can use straight away in your classroom!
«Liven up your Core French classrooms: Talking and creating with improvisation games» PRESENTED ON JULY 13
Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Nia Vardalos and Mike Myers are famous Canadian improvisers! What if your students were next? In this workshop, we will improvise, create characters and, above all, have lots of fun!