promoting authentic communication with native speakers
Blogging/Structured Discussion forums
There are many benefits to blogging or setting up a structured discussion forum for second language learning such as increased student engagement in the task, increased motivation and authentic audiences. It encourages students to write and strengthen their literacy skills, while enjoying learning and interacting with their peers. It is a way of engaging the reluctant writers to communicate and converse with others in their second language. Edublogs is an example of an education blogging service that is permitted for use by students with my board with parental consent. It is a free service with the ability to set parameters around who has access to the blog and what they can do (view, author). Blogging with a Francophone classroom could be used in addition to face to face communication or in situations where this contact is not feasible. http://edublogs.org/ (Edublogs, Why Edublogs?)
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Skype/Mystery Skype
https://education.skype.com/mysteryskype Mystery Skype is a critical thinking challenge involving your class and another one somewhere in the world. The goal for the students is to guess where the other class is located before the other class guesses your location. Students develop yes or no questions to ask the participating class and have resources available to them during the session to determine the location of the other class such as websites, maps, etc. There are many reasons to try Mystery Skype including:
(Microsoft, Mystery Skype: Connecting Classrooms Around The World)
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"Yes, you can help!”
This resource is intended to answer questions and assist parents of French immersion students offering a number of suggestions for parents under “The importance of French outside of school” that are plausible in the Alberta context. Making as many parents as possible more aware of their part in their child’s development of the French language will help to foster authentic exposure to the language outside of the classroom. Please visit the website for more information.
http://education.alberta.ca/parents/resources/youcanhelp.aspx
This resource is intended to answer questions and assist parents of French immersion students offering a number of suggestions for parents under “The importance of French outside of school” that are plausible in the Alberta context. Making as many parents as possible more aware of their part in their child’s development of the French language will help to foster authentic exposure to the language outside of the classroom. Please visit the website for more information.
http://education.alberta.ca/parents/resources/youcanhelp.aspx