Living Languages: An Integrated Approach to Teaching Foreign Languages in Primary Schools

Catherine Watts, Clare Forder, Hilary Phillips, Catherine Watts, Catherine Watts

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781136675010
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Living Languages is simply bursting with practical and original ideas aimed at teachers and trainee teachers of foreign languages in primary schools. Written by a team of experienced linguists, this book will inspire and motivate the foreign language classroom and the teachers who work within it.

Living Languages comprises eight chapters and is structured around the integrated classroom, merging language learning with different aspects of the wider curriculum such as multimedia, performance, celebrations and festivals, creativity and alternative approaches to teaching languages. Downloadable resources are also included with the book containing additional teaching materials and the associated films and audio recordings which make this a fully-developed and effective teaching resource.

Over 50 real-life case studies and projects are presented, all of which have been tried and tested in the classroom with several having won recent educational awards. Ideas and activities outlined in this unique resource include:

• Languages across the curriculum helping to cement cross-curricular links and embed new languages in different contexts linking subjects such as history, science, PE and mathematics with French, German and Spanish;
• Arts and crafts projects in Languages, making and doing, including making books, creating beach huts and cooking biscuits;
• Languages, celebrations and festivals projects including the German Christmas market, Spanish Day of the Dead, celebrating Mardi Gras and the European Day of Languages among many others;
• Continuing Professional Development to inspire primary teachers to continue their individual professional development. The chapter contains concrete examples of others' experiences in this area and includes details of support organisations and practical opportunities.

Each project is explored from the teachers' perspective with practical tips, lesson plans and reflections woven throughout the text such as what to budget, how to organise the pre-event period, how to evaluate the activity and whom to contact for further advice in each case. Activities and examples throughout are given in three languages – French, German and Spanish.

Introduction

The nine projects presented in this first part straddle the curriculum, helping to cement cross-curricular links and embed new language in different contexts. Projects in this part combine, for example, history and mathematics with French, biology and science with German, and Physical Education with Spanish and French too. Ideas for filling short breaks using French throughout the day are also included, as is an exciting project which combines art with Spanish. An example of Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), where a subject is taught entirely in the foreign language, also features in this part, as the frozen continent of Antarctica is explored in Spanish and French.

Thus a wealth of ideas for cross-curricular innovation and design are presented here with many examples of different creative activities that can be carried out with your class. These may include a short play (Florence Nightingale) for example, making a mermaid’s purse (Life cycles) or creating a work of art (Drawing in Spanish), to mention just a few. All are fun, all are manageable and all will bring languages to life in your lessons!

Project 1 Fun with parachutes

Project outline

Requirements: large space, such as hall or playground

Event time: minimum of 20 minutes as part of a lesson. It is ideal for relieving stress at busy times of the school year, for example before or after SATS, or as a run up to Christmas plays. Use outdoor space in the summer when possible

Language used: French

Introduction

How can you inject an element of lively fun and enjoyment into lessons while children practise language learning skills? One very successful method is to use a parachute to play games, ideally in a large space indoors or outdoors. Just the sight of the parachute with its colourful canopy and its strange and sometimes unpredictable movement adds drama to the lesson, but the added bonuses of these games are the Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) emphasis on co-operation and team spirit and the opportunity to keep fit at the same time. Students will be using oracy skills and language learning strategies to support their active learning. Students throughout Key Stage Two enjoy these activities and quickly learn the preliminary rules of safety and suitable behaviour.

Organisation

Most primary schools have a parachute in a Physical Education (PE) cupboard or Reception Class or in use for Nurture groups. To use with a whole class you need a parachute at least six metres wide (easily available from educational supplies catalogues). From the start, teach the students to unroll and wrap up the parachute in a co-operative and sensible way, so that they begin and end the lesson in an orderly manner, rather than snatching at the handles and running wild! It is helpful to be very firm about the level of behaviour you expect from the first lesson, as students react with great excitement to the prospect of running about under or over or with the parachute. Key phrases are Déroulez le parachute and Roulez le parachute (Unravel and roll up the parachute).

Plan the order of your games carefully, so that you have the most active games in the middle of the lesson, and ensure that you start and end with quieter activities, so that you can return to the classroom with an energised but calmer class.

Students don’t necessarily need to wear their PE kit for these games, unless you choose lots of ideas involving rolling on the floor, etc. If they are in PE kit, you can involve students who have forgotten their kit or aren’t doing PE that day to hold up picture or text cards for you; call out some instructions; give out team points or praise others in the foreign language.

Starter games

Un, deux, trois champignon!

You need a way to signal the starting position of a new activity (usually with everyon...