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.

Feed your Body, Feed your Heart, Feed your Soul

When Marguerite Cox started her latest Community Based Service Learning project (CBSL) with Primary Cycles 1, 2 and 3 at Netagamiou School the idea was to create a cookbook which would present the history of food in the community of Chevery, Quebec. However, her project quickly grew into so much more, due to the enthusiasm of her students and their desire to give back to their community, and even, communities abroad.

Called Feed Your Body, Feed Your Heart, Feed Your Soul, Marguerite’s CBSL project integrated Social Studies and Language Arts. It took place after school for students interested in participating. The students were asked to find old-fashioned recipes from their community to include in a cookbook. Marguerite and her 18 students then decided to bake some of the goodies and occasionally open a small bakery.

During the process, the students shared stories about the friends and loved ones who had provided them the cookbook recipes, which led to the idea to transform the cookbook into a memory book. The book would include photos, stories, and of course, the recipes.

From there, the student’s wanted to do something good with the money they had made from selling the treats and book. They sent money to the victims of Philippines Typhoon Haiyan (2014) and helped fund a student through the Hilde Back scholarship in Kenya. Their final funding project will be helping endangered elephants in Kenya. The students also gave back to their own community by spending time with seniors, sharing their baked goods and telling stories.

Marguerite describes the project as a great success. “The students learned so much, I am having trouble putting it into words,” she writes, “Leadership, mentoring, cooking, safety in the kitchen, compassion, writing, storytelling, listening skills and most of all, they learned that it takes a team to make it all happen.”

Stacey's Adventures in Chevery

Stacey's Adventures in Chevery

Netagamiou School

Marguerite Cox

In the small community of Chevery, on Quebec’s Lower North Shore, students in Ms. Cox’s Pre K, Kindergarten and Primary Cycle 1 class created a book about a baby emperor penguin plush toy named Stacey who came to the class looking for adventures. Each student took Stacey home, and took pictures of an adventure with their parents.

The creation of a student-authored book met a need in the community because there is a lack of local literary activities. There is no bookstore and the library is only open sporadically. Ms. Cox felt people need access to books for early-readers and the children need to realize the importance of books and become active in their community.

  
The book of adventures was written in the third person and publishing using blurb.ca.  The project was woven through English and Science and Technology competencies. 

Once completed, a copy of the book will remain in the Netagamiou School/Municipal Library and Centre régional de services aux bibliothèques publiques (C.R.S.B.P.) de la Côte-Nord. Ms. Cox and her students also made a community presentation at the local Salon des Livres in June 2013the classroom, and available for loan to all students in the school library and the Biblioteque Cote Nord. Ms. Cox and her students also made a community presentation at the local Salon des Livres in May 2013.

For more information on the project, click here.