French Program

An Exciting New French Program For Victoria Public School!

All students in grade 4,5 and 6 learn French through a French program designed by Wendy Maxwell called, “Histoires En Action!”. This program has proven to be a revolutionary new approach to second language instruction. It is based upon the use of stories and music for the teaching of French. Specifically designed stories that have been written in the form of plays become the focus for a range of motivating language activities that help students to develop confidence and competence in the language as they progress through each story unit.

This approach allows language development to be supported within the familiar, predictable context of a story that is the focus for the unit’s work. Music is integrated with the story, and in each unit of this program, students will learn to perform the play, a song and a dance to accompany that play. The vocabulary has been carefully selected as essential for students during the initial stages of their language learning. Another component of this program is the Gesture Approach, a technique developed by Wendy Maxwell, that uses hand signs to help students learn and remember this important vocabulary found in the plays, songs and other activities. There is an equal, strong emphasis on the development of all four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) through a program that meets the needs of all language learners and their learning styles. Activities are varied, so that students have the opportunity to work individually, in partners, in small groups and as a whole class.

In order to support the work taught in class, and to ensure student success, much of the homework will consist of practicing the gestures and memorizing the play, song and dance. Students should spend a minimum of 15 minutes, 4 times per week at home working on this task. There is a student DVD that can be borrowed from the school to support the program and used at home without the need for parental assistance. You may also choose to purchase your own copy of the students disk in DVD or in VHS format. Vocabulary sheets, a copy of the play and the song will also be provided during the course of the unit to support student practice in case you do not purchase or borrow a copy of the student disk.

Please encourage your child to share with you what and how he/she is learning in French class. Establishing a link between home and school is a very important aspect of this French program. I hope you will enjoy this sharing time with your family.

For more information on the DSBN French Programs - Click Here