Metcalfe Public School

Overview

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Middle French Immersion is designed for students

who are beginning French language learners
French language at home is not a requirement. There are several
resources available to parents on the class website, online and
google classroom. As with any other class, regular communication
with the classroom teacher is also a key component. Never hesitate
to ask the teacher any questions you may have.
Middle French Immersion is effective because students have
already developed strong literacy skills in English (decoding skills,
comprehension skills, fluency) that they can then transfer to the
French language.

Time Allocation

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Middle French Immersion: 1000 minutes a week in French

500 minutes a week in English
English program: 1300 minutes a week in English
200 minutes a week in French (core French)
All subjects (French Language Arts, Science, Social Studies,
Phys Ed, The Arts)
Math and English are taught by the ETFI teacher.

A Look at the Program

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There is an intensive focus on the French language during the first

Term.
For the first 3-4 months of school,
French, Math and English are the
only subjects taught.
This helps build vocabulary, grammar
skills, sentence structure, syntax and
most of instill confidence in the
French language. Ideally by
November/December, students
are speaking French all day.
Science and Social Studies are strategically
introduced in Terms 2 and 3.

A Look at the Program CONT

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There are multiple in class and online resources available to students.

This includes visual aids, French/English dictionaries, classroom website
with links to online resources suitable for beginning French language
learners and more.

**PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AROUND THE CLASSROOM TO SEE THE

VARIOUS LEARNING TOOLS IMPLEMENTED IN THE PROGRAM
TO HELP STUDENTS IN THEIR SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION.

A Look at the Program

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There is a classroom library as well that students are encouraged to use. They are
permitted to take out books as they like. In addition, students are tasked with
daily French reading. They are given access to a variety of levelled books they can
easily access at home online. Students are responsible for reading 1 book a day
with a minimum of 5 books a week. These books take no longer than 1 minute to
read. Parents are then asked to sign to confirm their child completed the assigned
reading.
Practice reinforces language and builds confidence!

A Look at the Program Continued

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Practice reinforces language and

builds confidence!

The philosophy is that if risks are taken (i.e. speaking in front of

peers, reading in front of parents and teachers, taking a chance to say
a word right or wrong, and at the very least give it a try, they are sure
to be successful in the program.

Benefits at a Glance

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Students have a strong language foundation from their studies in English.

They have developed decoding and comprehension skills as well as
fluency. In the MFI Program we work on using those developed skills and
applying them to the French language.
A common concern is that a student
may lose or fail to continue developing their English
language skills. The language strategies (decoding,
comprehension, fluency etc) that are taught are the
same ones that are taught in the English program thus
can be applied in English.
When a student develops and successfully applies the
second language skills, they will be motivated and have the tools to learn
and develop more complex English language.

Please take some time to look around the room and we can answer any questions you
may have.