Let’s Talk About Arts
Since
my arrival in Baie-Saint-Paul, QC, I have learned about the city, the people,
and the culture. One of the aspects of
the culture in Baie-Saint-Paul is that people love and appreciate arts. There are many art galleries in the city, and
there are many shops that sell paintings.
I
had the opportunity to go to an art gallery where I was given the opportunity
to practice speaking French and to share my opinions and perspectives with other
students. The purpose of this activity
was to introduce us to one aspects of francophone culture, more specifically
Baie-Saint-Paul’s culture, which was the art.
This activity was authentic and meaningful. The students were given the opportunity to practice
speaking French and talk about the art and the paintings and what they liked
and what they did not like about them.
According to Picardo, it is important that students “use the target
language in meaningful ways” (Piccardo, 2013, p.13).
This
activity was targeted students 18 years old and above. However, this activity can also target
adolescence.
When
I came to Baie-saint-paul, I did not know any French, not even the
alphabet. So, when I was at the art
gallery, I was not able to practice French as much as the other students were
able to. Because I did not know the language and I was not given the
appropriate and necessary language to practice French, I was not able to
participate in the activity. I was not
able to talk about the arts, and all I could do was to walk around by myself
wishing I had the language to discuss the paintings with other students. I felt left out. In addition, the program policy is that we are
not allowed to speak English; therefore, no one spoke to me and I could not
speak to them because of language barrier.
The
reasons why I chose this particular activity was that the activity was relevant
and authentic, and it introduced students to the culture of the
Baie-Saint-Paul. This activity gave
students the opportunity to speak French in a meaningful ways and to understand
the culture and the appreciation that people have for art.
To
integrate this cultural aspect in a classroom, I can show students different
francophone paintings and ask them to identify different features of the
paintings, such as the colours used, the theme of the painting and what does
each painting represents and what are the features of each painting. I can put the paintings on the wall and make
the classroom an art gallery and have students to walk around, and provide them
with worksheets and ask them to complete them as they discuss each painting. Then, we can go around and talk about each
painting as a class and have students to share their thoughts and describe each
painting. This activity is authentic and
applicable. Students can also talk about
what they like and they do not like about the paintings and why. A little vocabulary handout can be given to
students who need extra assistance. Then, students can create their own
painting. In addition, a fieldtrip can
be planned to take the students to an art gallery. This activity is a great exercise for students
to practice the target language and be able to use the target language in an
authentic environment and context.
This activity ties to the
grade 8 Core French in which students are expected to express their feelings
and thoughts and what they like and what they do not like and expressing their
opinion and beliefs.
Possible
problems and anticipated challenges that Core French students may face are not
having the language and vocabularies to talk about each painting. Before this activity, it is critical that the
teacher goes over the language with the students and teach them the
vocabularies they need to know to be able to have a conversation about the
paintings and be able to share their thoughts and opinions about what they
liked and did not like about each painting.
In addition, the teacher can do a quick review on the vocabularies with
the students, and the teacher can provide an extra sheet with all the terms to
the students who need extra assistance. If
students have difficulties completing the task, the teacher can focus on just
identifying the colors or the features of the paintings.
Vocabulaires :
Blanc
Vert
Gris
Violet
Orange
Brun
Rose
Rouge
Bleu
Jaune
Noir
Comments
Post a Comment