Collaboration Between Grades? Bien Sûr!

• Hello!
• What is your name?
• Do you have any brothers or sisters?
• Do you prefer McDonald’s or Chick-Fil-A French fries?

While these may seem like relatively easy questions to answer, what if they were asked in the language you’ve only been learning since August?

That’s just what first-year French students at Lakota East Freshman faced when French III students from the main campus joined their class.

“My goal was to build rapport amongst the two groups and to develop a sense of community while using the language,” said Tiffany Ashley, Lakota East High School’s French teacher. Partnering with her fellow French teacher at the freshman school, Michele Laude, Ashley brought her junior students to join the freshmen to practice conversing in the language.

“We were on board with it (right away),” said East junior Aidan Turner. Turner’s classmate, Emma Laude, agreed.

“I was excited about being able to connect with them,” she said.

Ashley’s French III students created Google slides to ask questions of the freshmen. The slides were a way for the first-year students to not only hear the question, but also to see the words in order to help them better understand what was being asked. “I wanted the students to feel engaged and put in application their learning from the beginning of the year in a conversation with their peers,” explained Michele Laude. “They need to feel that French class is not just about learning lists of vocabulary (and) grammar, but to be able to have a fluent conversation and have fun during the process.”

“Learning a new language can be daunting,” said East junior Nadia Msachi who has grown up in a multi-language home. “For people not used to living in a multi-language home, it can be really hard.”

In addition to the slides, using first-year vocabulary, the juniors drew images on their district-owned Chromebooks for the freshmen to identify in French. Finally, the two groups rotated around a circle to practice speaking with one another. 

The response from both classes has been very positive. “I thought it was really fun,” said East freshman Alysa Hewitt. “I really liked talking to the juniors and it was a good representation of what it will be like at the main campus.”

“It’s good to get out and use our French,” said East junior Madison Price. “It’s nice to have a conversation.”

For freshman Kaitlyn Rogers, it was an opportunity to see how much more advanced in the language she could become. “It was really fun getting to listen to them speak French…It was fun seeing how much they’ve learned.” 

Turner also saw the benefit of collaboration between the two schools. “It was cool to remember and go back to the freshman school for nostalgia. It was also a way to break the barrier between the schools.”

While this is the first time Ashley and Michele Laude have brought the groups together, they are planning to continue the collaboration. “Ideally, they will get to know each other rather well so they can really benefit from this kind of get together,” Michele Laude said of both her and Ashley’s students. Like Ashley, she also sees this as a mentoring opportunity for the students. “I think it is nice for freshmen to know that they have mentors and peers they already know at the main campus in case they have questions or concerns for next year.”

Rogers and Hewitt are on board with this idea. Both are looking forward to speaking French with the juniors again in the future.

Msachi also agrees. “It was good for the freshmen to understand that when they come to main campus next year, they’ll know someone and we can possibly be an ally to them,” she said. “The goal is to keep the interactions going so we can foster the relationships and get to know them better.”