Students ask, Parlez-Vous français? Mais-Oui!

A good Community Service Learning projects begin with the question, what is an authentic need in our community?  

On the small island of Harrington Harbour, Madame Monger and in the town of Chevery, Madame Nadeau-Monger understood that students living in geographically isolated, completely Anglophone communities do not always see the day to day need for French that other Anglophone students in Quebec might observe.   The two teachers asked the question, how could we change the attitude of students towards French?

This was the start of Parlez-Vous?, a collaborative project between the communities of Harrington Harbour, Chevery and Kegaska on the Lower North Shore of Quebec.  

The CLC schools wanted to show students that even though people live in English in the village(s), many speak French and use those skills for work purposes, often outside of the community. The teachers thought if the students realized that people they know, and often look up to, are bilingual, the students might have a different, more positive view on bilingualism.

The Project:

Students were asked to prepare questions they would like to ask bilingual community members.  Three classes met over the videoconference to select the best questions and picked a name for the project.  

Outside of class time, the students approached a community member to go over the questions and a second meeting to conduct the interview. After the interviews were completed, the students and teachers used Windows Movie Maker to edit everything together.

When everything was done, the students viewed the video in class and then screened the video for the community using the videoconference.

A final activity was writing thank you notes for the 'stars' (en français), and launching the videos at a community event.

What did the students learn?

Through the project, students realized that even in a close community, being bilingual is a very important asset. Students also discovered that there were a lot more bilingual people in their community than they previously thought.

Madame Monger noted that students had to go outside of their comfort zone and interact with adults in the community and also speak publicly in another language.  Producing a short film presented an opportunity to get familiar with Windows Movie Maker. Finally, the videoconference collaboration between the three schools allowed the students to get to know each other a little better, important because they will become classmates in secondary IV & V when they will all be together at Netagamiou School in Chevery.

Madame Nadeau-Monger noted that some among the greatest successes was “the look on our students faces when they saw someone they knew speaking French”.

Many thanks to the teachers, students and community members who participated in a wonderful initiative that promotes the importance of bilingualism on the Lower North Shore of Quebec.

Student Voice in a Second Language

Student voice and meaningful student involvement are important elements of Community Service Learning projects.  Student voice happens when there is a process for engaging students as partners in school improvement for the sake of education, community, and democracy.   

Madame Desjardins, a French teacher at Laurier Macdonald CLC created a space for her secondary five students to address a community and school need.  Students worked out solutions to an authentic environmental problem, all the time communicating in their second language.

Students first became aware of the problem of the urban heat island or in French, « îlots de chaleur urbains » during a presentation by the local Écoquatier.

When the students understood that an under utilized asphalt section of their schoolyard was an example of an urban heat island, an idea developed to create a student initiated green space called “Eco-Laurier”.

Every 2-3 weeks, Madame Desjardins invited community partners from Écoquartier, a youth entrepreneurship counsellor from Horizon Carrière and a local landscape architect.

The students were split into 4 different committees – Marketing, Finance, Production and Human Resources.  The students had to communicate and coordinate with each other in French.   As the space came together, the students researched the appropriate flowers and vegetation to plant and built benches.  The space was promoted with the slogan – “chill in the back of LMAC to eat your snack and just relax”.

It is not always easy for teachers to make space for students to have voice.  I asked Madame Desjardins what she learned from the experience and she replied, “I learned to let go and work without a net”.

I applaud her attitude, especially when it results in young people having a chance to gain self-confidence and address an authentic need in their community, especially while using their second language.   

Teaching Tolerance Through Music

The staff and students at Centennial Park School (CPS) in Chateauguay worked hard to put on a musical called Honk Jr!  Students in grade 4,5 and 6 were involved in the play as actors and the whole school was involved in lessons surrounding the meaning behind the play. 

CPS teacher Moira Lemme explains that Honk JR! is “based on the story of the ugly duckling, and teaches us that everyone is different in their own way... and different isn't a good thing or a bad thing - it’s just different, and if we were all the same we would live in such a boring world”.

It was noted that some students who at times struggle in academics, blew the audience away with their performance and gained a lot of confidence.  Specifically, “students directly involved [in the musical] learned that they are capable of things they had no idea of. They gained confidence and understanding that places to learn outside of the regular classroom exist and as young people, they too can give back to the community and teach lessons to the younger students”.

Partnerships

Howard S. Billings High School supported the musical by setting up the sound and lighting. Secondary students in the IB program taught the elementary students a few things about life on the stage. The musical was performed for the Chateauguay English Community Network, a group of seniors dedicated to lifelong learning, as well as the school community.

Learning Happens Everywhere

We asked Ms. Lemme  what the students learned by participating in the Community Service Learning project?  She wrote that “students learned that it is unkind to say mean things to each other, and that we can't judge people based on what they look like”.  Grade 1 teacher, and director of the play - Carol Ann Fruciano, taught students about making connections and noted that after reading a book about a “mean” character the grade one students immediately related it to Honk.  Realizing a direct expectation from the QEPs  “Connecting text to text and text to world”.

Ms. Lemme concludes by saying that “Honk Jr! was a fabulous experience for the students at CPS. The audience was blown away at the level of professionalism and performance that 9-12 year olds could create. It was A LOT of work for the teacher involved (some of us are still recovering) but it was well worth it to hear the kids say after how great they felt. One student said after his performance "Ms. Lemme, that was the greatest thing I have ever done - I didn't know I could do something that well!"”

Thank you and congratulations to everyone that was involved.   I imagine the anti-bullying message will stick in the minds of everyone involved. The leadership opportunities, and chances to shine will positively engage the students as they continue along their education path.

Centennial Park School is located in the community of Chateauguay- New Frontiers School Board