Every student at Kororoit Creek Primary School is learning French through stories and music, in a highly engaging programme called Histoires en Actions! In 2015, Grade Three to Grade Six students will study French through an adaptation of Les Trois Petits Cochons (The Three Little Pigs).

In this programme, specifically designed stories that are written in the form of plays become the focus for a range of motivating language learning experiences that help students develop confidence and competence in French as they progress through each story unit. This approach allows language development to be supported and nurtured 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 a play 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 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 progress in French this year, student learning will be differentiated through:

• active participation in class, in French only;
• in-depth study of the play;
• cooperative work within a small group while practising the play;
• cooperative work with others in the class while answering questions, both orally and in written form;
• gesture associations;
• participation in songs, dances, and games;
• completion of differentiated written work;
• teacher support.