Pip - Final

PIP – Kira Barnowski

PROFESSIONAL INQUIRY PROJECT LEARNING COMMONS FRENCH IMMERSION RE-DEISGN

Kira Barnowski UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE April 2019

Kira Barnowski - PIP

Learning Commons French Immersion Re-Design

Table of Contents Part I – Description of Professional Inquiry Project Part II – Survey Data & Rationale’s Part III – French Book & Series Collection Part IV – Classroom Libraries Part V – Resources Part VI – Conclusion Part VII – Appendix

pg. 2 pg. 3 pg. 9 pg. 10 pg. 11 pg. 12 pg. 13

1

Kira Barnowski - PIP

Part I – Description of Professional Inquiry Project When first hearing of my placement at A.E. Bowers in a French Immersion Grade 5 class, I knew right away that I wanted to incorporate French Immersion (FI) teaching into my PIP somehow. It wasn’t until I arrived at the school in January that the pieces fell into place perfectly. A.E. Bowers had only recently become a dual-track school and was still adjusting to having French Immersion in the school. Since the FI program had only been there for 2 years, the resources in their Learning Commons(library) were limited & not properly organized to support the FI students. Within the first few weeks of my practicum, there was a meeting amongst the FI staff, admin & the Learning Commons coordinator Jessica, to discuss the Learning Commons French Re-design. Not only was there no official French section in the Learning Commons, but the French books within were minimal and poor quality. Many of the books came from another FI school in the area when they made the change, but many of them were much too challenging for our students. The problem with French books and all French resources for that matter, is that they often come from France or Quebec, and are therefore too challenging and don’t match with our French standards here in Alberta. This is the problem I often hear from FI teachers, and it showed true within the Learning Commons, as they found it challenging to find any books to match their student’s needs. After that meeting, I thought that it was the perfect opportunity for me to step in. The current Learning Commons coordinator, Jessica, doesn’t speak French and therefore has a hard time sorting the books, and knowing which ones are good quality or not. I decided to help her find good quality books for our desired grade levels K-5 and sort them into categories. She has been organizing the Learning Commons books by topic rather than author, but therefore found that difficult to do with French books as she couldn’t read to understand what they were about. I wanted to help her know what the good books are, what they’re about, which grade level they’re intended for and also classify them on a Metis Classification guide that she was using. (see Appendix A). Before I started to really dive into searching for books, I wanted to get the opinions of the FI staff members at the school. They’ve obviously been working within the school longer than me and know more about the FI resources, so I wanted their input. I sent out a survey asking various questions to get a better idea of the situation (see Part II). The survey confirmed some of the issues already discussed, but also provided me with some insight into what the FI staff would like. Since they would be the ones benefiting the most from this Learning Commons Re-design, it was important to me to place their recommendations with high priority.

2

Kira Barnowski - PIP

Part II – Survey Data & Rationale’s: Information about the school & staff: There were 14 respondents to the survey after I left it open for 5 school days. A.E.Bowers has a daily news bulletin sent to teachers every morning, so I inquired about having the survey link and a little description of the survey posted in there. There are only 10 French Immersion teachers at the school. However, there are many that still speak French, or work with the French Immersion students. This is why I left the survey open to all staff members - I wanted all of their inputs. I decided to keep the survey results anonymous to allow any staff member to discuss the matter at hand with honesty. Question #1 :

Rational: This question was important, as I wanted to know if there was a specific grade level that materials were considered more lacking and/or poor quality. I could track each set of

3

Kira Barnowski - PIP answers and associate certain answers to a specific grade level, which would really tell me if a certain grade was lacking more than the others.

Question #2:

Rational: I wanted to know which of the respondents actually taught French Immersion or FSL(French as a Second Language) students(non-FI students start studying FSL in Grade 4). I assumed that they would be the ones to know the most about the French resources in the Learning Commons. I also wanted to hear from non-French staff members to see if they also identified an issue with quality French resources, or if they were unaware.

4

Kira Barnowski - PIP Question #3:

Rational: As I predicted, the respondents thought the quantity of the French materials is lacking. This isn’t a surprise, after all this is the reason the school is doing a Learning Commons redesign in the first place. I assume all the people who answered “unsure” were those who didn’t teach FI or FSL and therefore had no experience with the French materials in the Learning Commons.

5

Kira Barnowski - PIP Question #4:

Rational: Again, this isn’t surprising. I’ve heard from multiple teachers and in our Learning Commons Re-design meeting, that the current materials in the Learning Commons aren’t good quality and were often too advanced for our learner levels. The quality of books in the Learning Commons are too challenging, as they often come from Quebec or France, and therefore are more advanced than our desired levels. Again, I assume those who answered “unsure” were non FI or FSL staff who really were not sure of the quality of these books.

6

Kira Barnowski - PIP Question #5: Is there a specific book, author, book series, company, book topic, subscription…etc. that you would like to see brought into the Learning Commons? 

    

think the books look great (wonderful pictures, etc.) but they do not appeal to students. Many of the French books are way too complex for elementary readers and are not current (new does not mean current and appealing to kids) and students prefer to take out the English books instead. Many of the French books that my son brings home in French are not always appropriate either - one time he brought home a book that described how students with Down Syndrome are retarded -- not exactly politically correct nor appropriate. Magic Tree House books in French! Clifford the big red dog in French. More books about plants and animals that are real not comic Annie Broccoli, Dominique Demers...several other French Cdn children's authors. check the google doc Unsure

Rational: This was the most important question of the survey and was my main purpose of delivering it. I knew that there was a need for good quality French books. The part I didn’t know, was which books, authors, series…etc. are considered “good” and desired within the learning commons. After all, the reason for the Learning Commons Re-design is to change and adapt the current French book situation. It is the staff(primarily the FI & FSL teachers) who will be using the Learning Commons after it is done so it is important that their needs are met and satisfied. They will be the ones using these resources and should therefore have their say on which materials they would like to see. The response that says “check the google doc” is referring to a Google Drive document that was created during the Learning Commons Re-design meeting and is shared with all the French Immersion staff. The doc talks about the current state/organizational method of the Learning Commons in general, the next steps for the re-design, the desired outcome, and a list of desired books, series, authors…etc. I have included a screenshot of the Wishlist within the google doc below. I took the recommendations from this list & the survey results and was sure to include those within my spreadsheet.

7

Kira Barnowski - PIP

Question #6: Anything you would like me to take into consideration when researching/recommending materials?  I think that it is important for French Immersion teachers to have say into what books are purchased for the library. I think they know what they are talking about! I find it really awful that my son has to bring home photocopied books for Home Reading. We need more books at all levels for the Learning Commons and classrooms and we need to invest in our students. They might cost more but this needs to be a priority.  Interest level and reading level  Separate French and English books in the learning commons French on one side English on the other  Various levels of French books...  french vocab that is used, relevance, diversity of main characters, high interest-low vocab books  A good mix of fiction and non-fiction in French, high interest , low vocab books  Not specifically! Thanks Rational: I included this question as a comment section, to allow any teachers to notify me if I’ve missed anything important, or they simply just have something else to add. From personal experience when completing surveys, I often found that there wasn’t a section for me to tell them something, that wasn’t necessarily asking directly in the questions. I have this question to do that – to notify me if there is anything worth mentioning. I like the first answers from question #5 & #6, as they provide lengthy detail. However, by the way it is written, it almost seems like it was written from a parent, instead of a staff member. I assume it is a staff member that also has a student at A.E.Bowers, because this survey shouldn’t have been accessible to parents, unless somebody shared the survey link. Overall, the survey gave me a better understanding as to what the staff within the school would like to happen from the Learning Commons Re-design. It kick started my book researching and lead me in the right direction.

8

Kira Barnowski - PIP

Part III – French Book & Series Collection Here are the books & series I chose to share with Jessica. Although there are many more than this, these are the ones that are highly recognized for either the book or the author. I chose to organize them by author but in the Google Sheets document, each column can be organized if desired. For example, if somebody wanted to know which books would be good for Grade 2, they could organize that column numerically which will provide them with an easy, organization of all the Grade 2 books. I also included the Metis Classification image to help sort the books into topics. Some books fit into multiple categories, for which I included more than one, or, I chose the topic that seemed like the best fit. Here is the link to the Google Sheets : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vfFfnJXN8Swv5UymewTLVBvfbHXDMRHYxe6J Er30tkU/edit?usp=sharing Here is an example of the spreadsheet: Author

Name of Book/Series

Grade level

About the book

Metis Classification

Antony, Steve

Merci, M. Panda

K

Mr Panda has surprise presents for his friends. As they unwrap them, the reader discovers that some gifts are too big, some are to

K

High on energy and imagination, this ode to self-esteem encourages kids to appreciate everything about themselves--inside and o

Second Category

Beaumont, Karen Moi, je m’aime!

Benton, Jim

Cinq Chaussettes qui puent: 1,2,3,4,5

Bergeron, Luice Sur le toît du monde

Bland, Nick

Le Roi Salami

In Five Stinky Socks, one silly monster searches his house for his five super stinky socks!

3 Tom dreams of Everest, the highest mountain in the world. But at school, no book talks about it. Nobody knows how cold it is, how

K,1,2

This humorous book with whimsical illust rations is about a King (a pig) who doesn’t understand why his subjects (some sheep) don

Boisvert, Jocelyn Les héros de ma classe

4 Fabien barely slept as he was playing video games all night while his parents were gone. But now, he is paying the price. He is so ti

Bright, Rachel

1 Sometimes change comes along whether we like it or not . . . but if you let it, change can be the making of you.

Le Koala qui ne voulait pas

Brisset Des Nos, Elizabeth Les croquins

K, 1, 2

The book, fully illustrated, presents ten short stories; those of ten personified fruits and vegetables. Originat ing from Mexico, Alge

Byrne, Richard

Enquête chez les craies

K

The young chalks are busy but someone keeps stealing their drawings…Mrs. Red calls Sergeant Blue to investigate but when the c

Carle, Eric Lili Chartrand,

La Fait Des Trous FanChenille Fan et leQui monster de Noël

1,2 1,2,3,4

Follows progress of a hungry little as heinisruins going through the world, and he has a lot is ofall things Fanfan isthe a little mischevious ghost. He caterpillar lives in a caslte and loves scaring visitors. But, Fanfan alonegoing in thison. big castle an

Chartrand, Lili

Le myst ère de la souris 7

1,2,3,4

Cerise loves mystères. Her faithful friend Octavie, a very smart spider, accompagnies her through all her investigations. Budding d

Chartrand, Lili

Les brocolis zombis

1,2,3,4

Balthazar is very greedy. He dreams of a world he can eat! In t his book, he finds himself at Gouluville, a kingdom of gourmet childr

Chartrand, Lili

Fanfan au bal des fantômes

1,2,3,4

Fanfan is all excited! In the corner of his castle, He found a silly object that made some music. As soon as Lulu and his dog Freddy a

Chartrand, Lili

Le myst ère du patati patata

1,2,3,4

Cerise loves mystères. Her faithful friend Octavie, a very smart spider, accompagnies her through all her investigations. Budding d

9

Kira Barnowski - PIP

Part IV – Classroom Libraries This section is intended to provide teachers with some ideas for individual classroom library development. During a staff meeting in March, some of the teachers shared their experience at Calgary Reads, a location that takes a unique approach on a typical library environment. After this meeting & listening to the discussion, I thought that the teachers might appreciate some resources to help adapt & grow their classroom libraries. This could be especially applicable for FI classes; to help entice potentially stubborn readers to not only be interested in reading, but especially reading in French. Another idea was the concept of a rotating library, that essentially had a series of similar themed books and rotated throughout all the classes within the school for a period of time. I loved this idea and thought I would help make it a reality at A.E. Bowers and provide some ideas. I’ve included some links to some great classroom library ideas:   



Calgary Reads – A house turned library in Calgary that takes a unique approach to reading. This “library” is full of unique, themed nooks & crannies to encourage a fun, learning and reading environment. https://calgaryreads.com/ Scholastic – This is an article I found that shares some good points on how to create an effective, engaging classroom library. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blogposts/juan-gonzales/17-18/how-to-build-a-classroom-library/ Scholastic – Another article from scholastic that shares some unique classroom library ideas. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/mary-blow/8-library-makeoverideas/ Reading Rockets – An article sharing a teacher’s classroom library and the tips & tricks to making it a positive environment. http://www.readingrockets.org/article/creatingclassroom-library

10

Kira Barnowski - PIP

Part V – Resources There are so many great French books out there, so here are some methods to finding them! I have included links to great websites & resources for quality, French materials as well as some information for parents of the FI program. Giffard, S., Balas Kaplan, R., Still, J., & Dolloff, A. (2012, May). Metis Schedules. Retrieved March, 2019, from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxtZXRpc2lub m92YXRpb25zfGd4OjY1ZTViMTAyZDRhNjAzNjA French Immersion books from Indigo – https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/kids/books/french-immersion/ Croque-mitaine series of books for Grades 4 & 5 – https://pearsonerpi.com/en/primaire/litteratie/croque-mitaine MAXI Rat de Bibliothèque series of books for Grades 3,4,5 – https://pearsonerpi.com/en/primaire/litteratie/maxi-rat-de-bibliotheque MINI Rat de Bibliothèque series of books for Grade 1 https://pearsonerpi.com/en/primaire/litteratie/mini-rat-de-bibliotheque Rat de Bibliothèque series of books for Grades 1,2,3 & 4 https://pearsonerpi.com/en/primaire/litteratie/rat-de-bibliotheque1 La courte echelle – French book recommendations by grade level/age https://www.groupecourteechelle.com/la-courte-echelle/en/catalog/beginning-readers/ French Immersion books organized by Reading Levels – https://www.readinga-z.com/worldlanguages/french/leveled-books/ List of Canadian French Immersion book recommendations https://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/cmarchive/vol19no1/frenchimmersion.html Les Libraries – Great collection of French books for all age levels https://www.leslibraires.ca/categorie/jeunesse-JEU/?view=couvertures Canadian Parents for French Alberta – Resource to help parents of the FI program https://ab.cpf.ca/resources/for-parents/

11

Kira Barnowski - PIP

Part VI – PIP Conclusion As I began researching French books and talking amongst teachings at my school, I soon realized there are a lot of great French resources. Although our school might not have them, they are definitely out there! It was difficult for me to choose which ones to put into the Google spreadsheet to share with Jessica, as there seemed to be so many. This led me to focus on the highly recognized books, well-known/popular authors & well known book series. When first discussing the Learning Commons Re-design with the A.E. Bowers French Immersion team, the main concern seemed to be lack of French books, and the poor quality of the books we do have. Although I don’t have the capability to buy the books myself, I can help the team decide which books are worth bringing in. This proved itself harder said than done as I wasn’t able to physically read most of these books and therefore was unable to truly grasp the difficulty of the book. Many of the French books come from France or Quebec, which are often too challenging for us anglophones. Some of the websites I found listed both a Quebec recommended age group, and a “Canada” recommended age group, which was great! If the website didn’t offer this step, I had to see where the books were coming from, and make a judgement call as to if the recommended age group would be appropriate here in Alberta. This project deemed more challenging than I intended/planed. As I am new to the teaching profession in general but especially within the FI program, I didn’t have any prior knowledge/understanding of the expectations. I did my own FI education in Ontario, which has a much different curriculum than Alberta. Not only that, but we we’re more exposed to the French language than here in Alberta, and therefore might produce a higher and/or different level of French speakers. That being said, I came into this practicum not knowing the true level of French speakers within Alberta and therefore found it hard to be a “judge” as to which level best match our students. Especially as I have been working with Grade 5 students, which hardly gives me an idea of how the Grade 1’s are doing, for example. That being said, I did my best to make a personal judgement call and organize these books the best I could into appropriate grade levels & topic areas. Obviously, there are much more books that meet quality standards that should be considered for our Learning Commons, than those I included in the spreadsheet. Hopefully, however, I have provided enough other resources to make the searching & sorting of books easier for the staff at A.E. Bowers. The FI program within A.E. Bowers is so new and full of possibility. I hope these resources helps Jessica & the staff to truly immersion, the French Immersion program into the school and create their envisioned goal.

12

E Animals

Cooking Drawing Lego

Dancing Music Writing

Baseball Hockey Soccer

G Making Stuff

H Arts

I Sports

Cats Dogs Horses

1.Aquatic 2.Birds 3.Bugs 4.Reptiles

D Nature

F Pets

Biomes Environment Seasons Weather

5.Mammals 6.Prehist (Dino)

Magnets Measurements Space

Construction Inventions Transportation

C Science

B Machines

A Facts/Concepts

Guinness Records ABC’s 123”s

X Classics

Christmas Halloween Religion Fables Fairy Mythology Poetry Rhymes Mother Goose Junie B. Jones Dork Diaries Captain Underpants

O Traditions

P Tales

Q Verse

R Humor

X Sci-fi

X Realistic

X Historical

X Fantasy

X Author Collections

V Graphic

U Scary

T Adventure

S Mystery

French Spanish Grammar

Countries

(Mummies, Wars)

History

Culture Provinces First Nations

Conflict/Peace Libraries School

Behavior Family Feelings

N Languages

M Countries

L Canada

K Community

J Ourselves

Spaceheadz Bionicle Star Wars

Babysitters Club English Roses Ivy & Bean

Dear Canada Little House I Survived

Dragons Fairies Princesses

E.B. White P.L. Travers Rudyard Kipling

Eric Carle Chris Van Allsburg Mo Willems

Amulet Babymouse Bone

Ghosts Monsters Zombies

Cowboys Pirates Superheroes

Hardy Boys Geronimo Stilton Puzzles

Kira Barnowski - PIP

Part VII - Appendix

A

13