Overview for Blended Course Prototype in a Primary French Immersion Classroom 😊

After having watched our ADDIE lecture, I started reflecting on my course prototype, what I wanted it to look like, and what purpose I wanted it to serve in my teaching. As I mentioned before in my introduction, I am a French Immersion Teacher and will be teaching a Grade 2/Grade 3 split classroom this year. I anticipate using what I prepare for this class with my future students and hopefully seamlessly integrate this content into my teaching in the fall.

I should start by explaining that French Immersion is centered around the goal of ensuring second language learners/students that have enrolled in the program from Kindergarten to Grade 12, will graduate from high school being fully bilingual in English as well as French; the program also emphasizes that students learn to appreciate the cultural aspects linked to French culture and other cultures (Government of Saskatchewan – Bonjour Saskatchewan, 2023). All instruction at school from Kindergarten to Grade 2 is solely executed in French and English Language Arts is not introduced as a subject at school until Grade 3. From this point on, instruction is still carried out in French except for English Language Arts. As you can imagine, it can be challenging at times to ensure students receive all their instruction in French (with minimal translation) but the end goal is incredibly rewarding and inspiring when you see students in Grade 12 that are fully bilingual and can carry out a number of tasks in both official languages.

Therefore, I am wanting to develop a course prototype for this assignment that aligns with our French Language Arts class/Literacy focussed lessons. I plan to use Google Classroom as my learning management system because it is used throughout my school division and students will have accounts set up that can be accessed at school as well as from home. The main focus will be literacy development in French (i.e. reading, writing, and speaking) and course content will include pre-recorded lessons in French with some translation in English to ensure all students/families can follow along. I have already envisioned adding editable worksheets and interactive activities students can engage with to further their learning and that will help them advance in their literacy skills. I foresee this course complimenting our in-class lessons so I believe this will be considered a blended course because it will essentially reinforce the material we cover in class which is essential in the success of our students mastering the French language and improving their overall literacy skills in French. I also hope to set up this course in a way that I can provide material to my students/families in French to help students become more literate in French; it is a challenge to gain access to material in French and most of our parents/families do not speak French themselves so a prototype of this sort can provide additional resources/material in French for them. However, this course prototype will also be set up so that if students were absent, missed a concept being taught, or are just needing to review they could access the lessons and activities/course content at their own time and be able to complete the activities on their own.

I am looking forward to sharing my learning journey with everyone and am excited to see what others are preparing for their course prototypes. Happy planning everyone!