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Home Reading: A Program for French Immersion Students

By: Vicki Nicol

One of my primary concerns teaching in the French Immersion program is the lack of reinforcement opportunities in the language once the students go home at the end of the school day. My decision to set up a home reading program in a grade three French Immersion classroom was based on my desire to provide a way to extend French into the homes of children with non-francophone parents and to help them maintain the language skills taught at school. I was also interested in encouraging recreational reading as a pleasurable activity.

The goal of this project was to provide a program that would be presented as recreational versus academic. The students were already following a fairly structured reading program including free-choice activities and basal readers. I wanted to provide something that would not be linked to ëschool workí or ëhomeworkí, but would be an opportunity to explore childrenís literature in an authentic situation. It was my belief that this would be an effective way to satisfy my three goals:

1. to provide an opportunity to practice and improve French at home.

2. to extend the language experience from school to home.

3. to promote recreational reading.

The program had the students reading out loud to a parent or sibling for a minimum of ten minutes per night. A time expectancy of seventy minutes weekly was thus set as opposed to a required number of pages or books read. This was done so as not to disadvantage those students who did not read through books quickly and those who were reading longer, more challenging material. I also hoped that the children would experiment with a variety of reading materials (i.e. comics, information books, etc.).

PROCESS

My first step was to distribute to students and their parents a letter of introduction to the program I would implement over my next four weeks in the classroom. I invited parents to respond to five questions I had included at the end as a survey of their childís reading habits. I wanted to know if they had the same concerns as I did and whether (and how) French was reinforced at home.

On my first day with the grade threes I introduced the program by explaining it and following up with a trip to the library. There was a reading log to take home on Mondays to record the time spent reading each night. There was also a sheet for recording books read, this was to be a personal list for the children. The log was returned to me each Monday. Each student who did the minimum reading got a sticker on our reading chart, posted on a bulletin board in the classroom. An extra sticker was given for each ten minutes they read above the seventy minutes. I also introduced a raffle based on the same system: a ticket for reading the minimum and a ticket for every ten minutes extra. The draw for small prizes happened Mondays in the hope that this would encourage the students to bring their sheets in. I also hoped they might read more in order to earn more tickets. The children where given library time weekly, but were also encouraged to visit the public library, read materials at home and even re-read previously read books for practice. We discussed what could be read other than picture or chapter books (i.e. newspapers, comics, different forms of fiction and non-fiction). I introduced some books chosen from the school library throughout the four weeks.

RESULTS

My main goals for the program were attained in the time I was with the class. I was able to gain a lot of insight into what works and what is less effective when implementing such a program, which will lead to modifications (and improvements) in future trials.

Where extending French into the home was concerned, I believe that parents have become aware of the value and importance of this through the survey that went home (and that a third of parents responded to). According to their replies, most students were not reading regularly in French at home. The fact that the class was now reading at home achieved the goal of bringing French into the home. Maintaining and improving French would have to be looked at over a period longer than four weeks.

As far as reading for pleasure, enthusiasm for the program shown by many students is a good sign that the encouragement to focus on reading in French (and not only English) was well received. The real test of this would be to remove the time requirements and see if the reading continued voluntarily. I did not impose participation on families, as I did not feel it was my place in this situation, however only four of twenty-eight children chose not to participate.

The results of different strategies used to support the program were interesting and not always what I expected. There was limited enthusiasm towards the chart and I believe the problem there may have been the lack of an ultimate goal (i.e. a specified number of stickers to be achieved in a month ). The class enjoyed the draw but it did not appear to make a difference in participation as I had hoped it would. A better system, as I learned through professional readings, would be to allow students to collect raffle tickets and then refund them for a reward activity or item. Again, this incorporates the idea of having a goal. I did, however, find the administrative duty of handing out tickets hard to find time for and it usually had to be organized during lunch.

Library time was also hard to be consistent with as this was not something already scheduled in the weekly timetable. This points out to me (a) the importance of incorporating time for it and (b) having a class library with a sign-out system. I found that reading a book to the class on the carpet and then leaving it for someone to take was more effective than giving a summary of the book in front of the class. I would like to have a reading corner that promotes all forms of reading materials and has a strong presence in the room.

We did not do any form of reading response, but the next time I set up such a program I would include occasional response opportunities (i.e. every two to four weeks). Iíve come to believe the children need feedback and recognition directly from the teacher, however I do not want these responses to be viewed as assignments, as with the in-class reading program. This was my concern and reason for not including any in this trial, but I now realize that the feedback is an excellent source for offering personal encouragement.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I believe this program is an effective way to address my concerns in the French Immersion program. However, some concerns are also applicable to the English stream and I would use the same program with those students as well. An advantage to this program is its easy adaptability to all elementary grade levels. For example, early primary students could use their self-written theme books as they are at the childís reading level and need to be read repetitively. The ten minutes could be changed to reading the book to ten people. Older students could have the minimum time requirements raised, or a more varied reading list required.

With a longer time limit for research, the pre-program preparation should include instruction on how to pick a book (to prevent children from choosing material that is too advanced) and practice reading aloud. Reading contracts may also be considered.

As a result of this project, an informative contact with parents was established that gave me feedback on home literacy practices and program concerns, as well as opening the door for me to make suggestions and provide support in needed areas. A home reading program is one which requires careful preparation, but which will provide rewards for students, parents and teachers alike.