To: All first, primary and middle schools For: Head teachers, MFL Co-ordinators
Dear All, Welcome to the latest primary MFL newsletter. There are lots of exciting things happening both locally and nationally. Here are just a few of them! region is large and one or two people ended up in schools near the Belgian border!
CONTACT SEMINAR Just before half-term, Steve Jones and myself, accompanied by colleagues from ten Worcestershire schools travelled to Reims, France for a contact seminar, the aim of which was to make links with partner schools and plan a joint project. We left County Hall at 6.00 a.m. and made our way by bus to London where we picked up the Eurostar to Paris and from there, the TGV to Reims. Our first evening was spent getting to know our French counterparts over an informal buffet and great fun was had trying to explain the traditional foods we had all taken with us. The following day began with a meeting where Steve explained our education system to the French and then Magali Censier, the international development officer from Reims explained the French system to us. Next, we discussed in greater detail the aims of the seminar before everyone left with their partner teachers for their schools. The Champagne-Ardennes
Everyone came back really excited and the next day, our last one, saw all the teachers mixing together with a real sense of friendship and of strong links having been made. Two representatives from the British Council came along and explained how the projects could be developed and what assistance could be provided. Then, all too quickly, it was time to leave and return home but with a sense of excitement about the future and everyone eager to share with their colleagues in school all that they had experienced and all that they had planned.
If your school is interested in linking up with a French school, please let me know. There will be another contact seminar next March with the French contingent coming over to Worcester and we are looking for schools to take part.
CHRISTMAS IS COMING! How about doing some of these activities suggested by Nigel Pearson from CILT and from Jan Lewandowski who recently spoke at an ELLRSG? (See article by Alison Clarke) Seasonal songs. Children greatly enjoy their singing, quickly learn new tunes and lyrics and hugely enjoy presenting these either during an assembly or as part of a presentation for parents in a concert. Those teachers who feel less musically inclined may choose to use DVDs or CDs when working with the children. There is a great range of songs for each language, (both traditional and modern) and if you are lucky enough to have a native speaker in the school community or a FLA they might like to suggest a few! You may consider putting on a simple Nativity play in your chosen language. The Young Pathfinder number 6 “Let’s Join In!” has a short script children can easily access, adapt or use and they would very much enjoy performing this. Using ICT children could produce a programme for parents and guests with the new language. Also, why not invite your local secondary school or even ask if some Y7 children might like to rehearse the script with your class. If you wish to make a Christmas card the Young Pathfinder 2 “Games And Fun Activities” offers an instructional text. Many major cities in Europe have wonderful Christmas marketsfrequently these have dedicated websites and webcams that together with image websites will enable children to actually see the kind of festivities on offer. This can lead to much interesting discussion! Have an Advent calendar in the classroom; the children will share the excitement as day-by-day new windows are opened. Such resources also are very useful for revisiting the day and date! There are a number of excellent child friendly calendars for the children to access. One excellent example is on the German Voyage website www.thevoyage.com There are also many Advent calendars and other Christmas resources for French on:
http://jt44.free.fr/
There is a German Christmas market in Birmingham. Why not organise a visit or do some of the activities from the education pack on the city’s Grid for Learning? http://www.services.bgfl.org/services/ market/activity_packs.htm We all know the way to a child’s heart (and enhanced learning) is their stomach! Having of course considered the health and safety aspects, why not let your class try seasonal delicacies such as alcohol free Glühwein or similar specialty? If your school has a link with a partner school abroad it can be amazingly interesting to compare celebrations and exchange cards. Children in this country could write and illustrate an account of their celebrations both in school and at home. DEVELOPING INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING Comenius WM & CILT are holding the above Primary Modern Foreign Languages event on Thursday, 11 December at Finstall, Bromsgrove. This is a one-day course to look in depth at the concept of Intercultural
Understanding in the primary school. The course provides an opportunity for all involved in teaching primary languages to explore the learning objectives and teaching activities in the Key Stage 2 Framework for languages. Information for this has already been sent out to schools. If you have not received this, please contact me as soon as possible – my email address is at the end of this newsletter - and I’ll send you the details. JAN LEWANDOWSKI’S RSG SESSION 12 NOVEMBER – ON WINTER FESTIVALS….. Alison Clarke, ELLRSG co-ordinator for Worcestershire writes: “I kicked off the session with a brief presentation and some pair activity on poems and finger rhymes linked to the KS2 Framework and to the evening's seasonal theme. There was a warm welcome back for Jan, following her festivals session last year. Supported by her excellent and encyclopaedic handout (keep in a safe place for future years!)Jan took us through a gamut of songs, games, rhymes and creative but straightforward, practical activities. The emphasis was on ease of preparation for the teacher, though always with language building opportunities in mind. She focussed mainly on French, as the language taught by most people in the room, though offered plenty of websites and cultural insights for Spanish, Italian, German and Polish. The evening culminated in a hilarious performance by the group of 'Tchic et tchac'- a rhyme for aspiring skiers, and with prizes all round. Feedback from the group was 'excellent'.”
(A list of all the year’s ELLRSG meetings is attached.) LINGUABAT CHALLENGE Examples of Linguabat Challenges received from children from across the UK to celebrate the European Day of Languages are now available to view on CILT’s EDL pages. To read about the linguistic adventures of Gulzig the greedy bat, Pipistrello the sporty bat, Kung Fu the clever bat, and Wobbie Williams the celebrity bat, visit our Linguabat Challenge page: www.cilt.org.uk/edl/linguabat/LinguaBat _entries_08.htm The Linguabat Challenge asks pupils to invent a story about a bat who travels the world collecting words from all the countries that he or she visits. CILT received over 400 Linguabat challenges to celebrate the European Day of Languages on 26 September, but the challenge is open all year, and can be used as a fun class activity to get pupils thinking about languages of the world. Every child who sends in their Linguabat challenge to CILT receives a certificate, and a selection of the best entries are displayed on the CILT website. The EDL pages have also been updated with information about some of the fantastic activities which went on in schools this September. For some ideas for next year’s European Day of Languages, or for languages celebrations throughout the year, visit www.cilt.org.uk/edl/activities_examples _schools.htm PRIMARY LANGUAGES SHOW I can now confirm that next year's show will take place on 6-7 March 2009, in Liverpool. For further information see the website: http://www.cilt.org.uk/pls/index.htm
CILT PRIMARY LANGUAGE COURSES Anyone teaching French and Spanish in primary schools who is interested in going on one of CILT’s primary courses abroad next summer should apply for British Council funding by 16 January 2009. There are three courses abroad for primary teachers between May and August next year. For Spanish, teachers can attend the course in Tordesillas from 24-30 May, while teachers of French can choose between two courses in Lille, one from 26 July-1 August and the other from 16-22 August. Primary courses abroad offer a lively mix of language classes with native speakers, and practical teaching workshops on topics including songs, literacy and number games, puppets and story telling. Teachers also work on an ICT project, giving you the chance to create your own resources to take back to the UK. The courses are suitable for teachers with all levels of language skills, from complete beginners to fluent speakers of the language. Teachers can apply for funding from the British Council to contribute to the course fee, subsistence and travel costs. The deadline for funding for these three courses is 16 January 2009. To find out more about CILT’s training opportunities abroad, visit www.cilt.org.uk/cpd/abroad.htm FROM THE ELL FORUM A brilliant site: www.monjtquotidien.com Every day you can watch a news programme in French: you can use this
site for Gifted and Talented children, use it for the classroom as "Global comprehension" since there are DVDs and pictures to help understand the gist of it and also use it in the classroom for bilingual children English/French, asking them for instance to watch the programme and talk about it/write about it. Good crosscurricular opportunity too! And it's free!
PRIMARY FRENCH IS FUN : NEW
RESOURCES AND NEW EDITION Many of you will already be familiar with Primary French is Fun 1: Let's Begin, our pack for interactive whiteboard that helps take children through the first half of KS2, making French fun every step of the way. To support teachers delivering the new QCA scheme of work, BBC Active has launched some exciting new resources to use away from the whiteboard: the colourful pupil book and photocopiable teacher's book use the same fun characters and lively approach, and are designed around both the Framework for Languages and the new QCA scheme of work. The interactive whiteboard pack has also been revised, with audio-visual examples of all the language covered. There are additional activities on pocket money, time, the life cycle of the bean, and transport as well as stories on Jack and the Beanstalk, and the Four Friends. Every activity on the disk has also been tagged to the QCA scheme of work, as well as the Framework for Languages, so you can instantly find the relevant activity to support the objective being taught. You can download FREE sample pages of the above books at:
www.bbcactive.com/schoolshop by following the links on the homepage. hleigh@worcestershire.gov. HELP! I have lost two DVDs: one is called “Pigloo” and has four animations with penguins singing songs on it and the other is “L’Enfant Au Grelot”. If you have these, can you let me know, please? Thanks! AND FINALLY … Returning to the subject of Christmas, if you want any easy song for your children to sing in the Carol Service, here’s one to the tune of “John Brown’s Body”. If there’s anyone who can translate it into Spanish or German, please send me a copy so that I can pass it on to anyone who would like it.
Marie et Joseph sont allés à Bethléhem Marie et Joseph sont allés à Bethléhem Marie et Joseph sont allés à Bethléhem Allé, alléluia !
Alléluia, gloire à Dieu, La paix aux hommes Alléluia, gloire à Dieu, La paix aux hommes Alléluia, gloire à Dieu, La paix aux hommes Allé, alléluia !
Dans l’étable, leur enfant, Jésus, est né …. Les bergers sont allés pour adorer Jésus … Les trois mages sont allés pour offrir les cadeaux …