- Students need opportunities to direct their own learning. When they are engaged in a realistic task that is meaningful to them, when they feel truly connected to what they're learning, and when they're able to produce a purposeful response, the motivation is there. Once we go beyond explicitly teaching a language through its particular structures, grammatical rules, et cetera, and just immerse students in living the language, their sense of autonomy, and their participation, and intent to learn is greatly enhanced. My professional objective before beginning each new school year is how will I make French come alive? How can I get my students to look up and out at the world around them so they can engage in this meaningful communication. Students need to actually live the language to become effective communicators. Learning French is an active process and that's why a huge proponent of my pedagogy is an action-oriented approach to learning. This involves authentic, open-ended, and task-oriented situations where students communicate with each other for a specific purpose in real life situations. I found the most effective way of introducing these kinds of tasks is by an incorporating the arts in my classroom. So we dance, we sing, we draw and paint, and we bake. It also helps that I have an amazing relationship with homeroom teachers, which I believe is absolutely essential in fostering a sense of importance and value in my program. In primary grades we learn a lot through song. The basic expressions and routine phrases are sung in different ways instead of repeated. And we create a rhythm, and then we change some words to change the meaning of the sentence, and then, sing or dance that out as it is happening. Sharing traditional music from French speaking countries in other parts of the world, learning about the instruments, the stories they tell, the dances, the clothing worn, how French is expressed in so many different ways globally and not just in France and in Quebec. Bringing in students' unique cultural music and traditions and then using those to supplement thematic vocabulary we're learning helps build that connection between the learner and the content. If my grade three class is learning about the weather, we would first learn the basic vocabulary by simply looking out the window and then acting out what it would feel like to go outside, repeating the words with the actions, and then, perhaps, introducing a simple skit of calling a relative overseas and asking, "Oh, what's the weather like where you are? "Oh, well, it's raining over here," or, "It's snowing a lot." And then, sometimes we would also pretend to be meteorologists on the news, or travel agents, and try to convince people to visit either a hot or a cold destination. My junior grades turned the classroom into a pizza shop where they they act as chefs, and hosts, and customers, and servers. So they're no longer students, they're playing a role separate from themselves. We're acting dramatically and incorporating humor through exaggerated tones, and pronunciation, and movements, and trying out new vocabulary words lets their guard down and they're able to take risks and make mistakes. And then, so something as simple as ordering a pizza in French, or complaining about the food that they were served makes it more relevant to them as they may find themselves in that situation in real life one day. Virtual and visual arts, and elements of social media, also play a role in an action-oriented approach to learning. So writing a text message in French to arrange a movie date with friends, or creating a TikTok about a talent they have, or documenting interesting places they have found French words around their home or in their community are just some ways to bridge their learning a new language and their everyday life experiences. It's this action-oriented approach of putting French to practical use through the arts that brings French to life for them. When students reflect on their learning they can track their progress by their ability to carry out a realistic and functional task, as well as what they know about language structures. When students shape the nature of their language interactions and when it is done in a way that makes sense to them, it is empowering, and therefore, will lead to success in the French language program.