Uma Ramiah Photo
Through a new collaborative language instruction effort, the distance between a school in New Haven and one in Toulouse, France, may seem much shorter than its nearly 4,000 miles.
As first-graders sang a rendition of “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” in French on Thursday afternoon at the King-Robinson School, Fabrice Jaumont, education attache for the French Consulate in New York City, looked on and nodded his approval.
“Tete, epaules, genoux, et pied, genoux et pieds!” the students shouted, jumping up and down.
If all goes according to plan, Jaumont and the Consulate will partner with King-Robinson and Yale to enhance activities like that song while connecting the New Haven school with a French counterpart.
The French consulate, with the help of the Center for the Teaching of French at Yale, has agreed to provide support for French language instruction at King-Robinson. The partnership will include a teacher exchange — Yale is already hosting one teacher from Toulouse, who will be at King-Robinson through May — and a direct line of communication between the school and another in the Academy of Toulouse district in France.
“There will be direct, live communication between students,” said Imma Canelli, assistant superintendent for New Haven schools. “They will write to each other, they’ll do video chats, they’ll work with each other to learn.”
The distinct belief, said Canelli, is that if we start teaching language at an early age, the children will really absorb.
“This is the best time to learn,” she said. “And we’re starting here but our goal is to get all New Haven students into early language programs.”
Jaumont’s visit Thursday kicked off a conversation about how all that will happen.
Touring the school with administrators, Jaumont popped into first, second and third grade classrooms, sitting at small tables to speak French with them, and peeking at their worksheets.
“It’s fun learning French!” two third graders exclaimed, briefly turning their attention away from French teacher Hannah Sam.
Second graders identify fruit
Another second-grade class, prompted by French teacher Stacy Chriswell, identified fruit (citron, poire and pomme) while first graders sang and danced in response to questions in French.
King-Robinson, an International Baccalaureate School, incorporates language instruction at every level. To become an International Baccalaureate (IB) School, schools go through a rigorous authorization process and training and implementation in six interdisciplinary themes and corresponding subject areas.
“Part of our charge is expanding global interconnectedness,” said Iline Tracey, principal at King-Robinson. “And language is so important to understanding the global community.”
French and Spanish are taught every day, and Polish language classes are offered after school. There’s also an Arabic language teacher available.
And students are expected to attain conversational fluency in a language by the time they reach 8th grade, said Tracey, who arrived at King in 2005 — at a time when the school was struggling academically.
Hannah Sam leads first graders in a farewell song in French.
“I’m really pleased to see this level of language at such an early age,” Jaumont said, after touring the classrooms and before heading in to talk to administrators about how the Consulate can help.
The Consulate could facilitate that connection between King-Robinson and a school in Toulouse. “And from there we can build up the teacher exchange, and students here can participate in the French school community and vice versa.”
Language is such a good way for us to understand each other, to learn about other cultures, he said, ducking into the meeting.
“So we’re ready to help.”
I love it! I hope these kids will one day be encouraged to travel, see the world and understand that there is so much more to see, do and accomplish outside of their tiny neighborhoods or even this tiny state. Love this story!