Jan Lewandowski

On the 14^th of June, the ALL London meeting will be taking place at the Gœthe Institute. You can download a flyer here. I’ll be doing a half-hour session. The title is a bit of a secret just yet but suffice it to say that I shall be incorporating lost of hands on activities: doing, making and generally joining in. ALL is beginning to take a more active role in Primary languages and the Association has just brought out a Primary Box for Key Stage 1. I’m often asked about suitable resources for Key Stage 1 so I’m looking forward to having a look. I’m going to ask Helen Myers, this year’s President of ALL, if we can have an example of the Primary Box on display at the event.

Do come along if you live and work in the London area or elswhere in the country. There will be stimulating presentations from the British Film Institute and Glynnis Rumley; with ideas adaptable for all languages and all Key Stages.

I’ve been co-writing a day course for AQA (enter Primary Languages - CPD in the subject box) which we will be presenting in June and July. It isn’t really intended for primary schools that are up and running with MFL but for those schools that have yet to start and need help and advice to get it in place for 2010. Here’s an advance flyer.

Please pass the flyer on to anyone who might be interested or contact me if you’d like further details.

I’ve been out and about this term doing a series of workshops at Regional Support Groups around the country. The focus of these presentations was Spring and Summer Festivals explored through the medium of French and Spanish; taking in some of the main festivals and celebrations from February to July.

The feedback has been very positive:

Worcestershire RSG - “People found Jan’s session overwhelmingly ‘excellent’ …. ‘She demonstrated how festivals can meet the intercultural understanding objectives through song, dance, design technology, games and tongue-twisters’ …. ‘ Jan’s handouts should be kept in a safe place as they are a valuable repository for her careful research into the best websites, the best YouTube downloads etc’..”

This is the Year of the Rat in Chinese culture and as usual La Poste in France has issued a set of commemorative stamps which are rather fine. Incidentally in any post office in France it is always worthwhile asking for posters and brochures about commemorative stamps throughout the year. Sometimes the material has already been thrown away but often you can get really great posters for the classroom wall.

I’ve been asked by Osiris Educational to run a workshop called “French for Primary” aimed at Key Stage 2 non-specialist teachers, to help them to implement the entitlement for primary modern languages by 2010.

Here’s all the blurb:

A Practical guide to implementing French
in Key Stage 2

Presented by Jan Lewandowski: Jan has taught
French extensively and is an expert in delivering language lessons in primary schools. She has run many workshops around the country, including the 2007 Primary Languages Show. Her enthusiastic style will give you all the tools you need to bring French into your school.

Establish French lessons in your school by 2010
Meet government guidelines for providing languages in KS2
Gain an overview of the new QCA scheme of work
Engage pupils in learning languages

French lessons made easy
Boost your personal French language skills
Make your existing provision more robust
Fast-track your provision if you are starting from scratch

Practical strategies for
•Storytelling
•Lesson plans
•Resources for lessons
•Cross-curricular activities
•Extension work
•Display

Create an environment where French flourishes
Generate enthusiasm in teachers and children
Learn how to launch a special language event
Move forward to outstanding provision

FREE handbook full of activities and ideas

‘This session was a real treat for the
participants - everything Jan demonstrated was
amply supported by resources’
- Chantale Darke, Comenius East Manager

Only basic French language skills required

Pam Banks, Luton’s PML co-ordinator, had already asked me to present some of the activities that I had done at CILT Central London RSG at Luton’s first RSG back in November, so this was a return visit for me to the Bedfordshire RSG.

There was a very large turn-out for this session on ‘Big Books and Stories’. I showed them some electronic ‘big book’ resources including ‘Eric a Faim’ from Bolton LA, a variation on ‘the Very Hungry Caterpillar’ (La Chenille qui fait des Trous’).

I read a story or two including ‘Va t’en Grand Monstre Vert’ by Ed Emberley and domoed some extension activities that can be done with this very popular book. We talked about choosing and using books and I took along about 60 books (not my whole collection!) for people to peruse and assess for suitability.

See the synopsis here:

“We had a full room of thirty-four people for this workshop. Before Jan began her presentation, Jenny Dempsey from the Luton Chamber of Commerce gave us some very useful information about free European Union materials she can supply to local schools. Jan Lewandowski had brought an enormous number of books in French for us to look at, and everyone enjoyed hearing some of the stories and thinking about how they could be used in class. There were some old favourites as well as some unfamiliar titles, and Jan sent us away with a comprehensive list of suppliers and websites as well as notes about the session. “Pam Banks

There have been times in my teaching career when I’ve wished I could play a musical instrument or could at least be certain I was singing in tune, nevertheless I’ve always been an enthusiast for using songs in my classroom even if I’ve had to rely on cassettes or CDs for backup. There are a lot more really good song packages out there now that primary languages are taking off but I can still remember all the words from ‘Un kilo de Chansons’ by Jasper Kay and if I can remember the words I know my pupils also retained them. Sometimes I bump into former pupils and they remind me of the ’sing songs’, including the actual lyrics, we used to have in class or maybe in the coach on a trip to France. Such is the power of song. It’s just a pity that ‘Un kilo de Chansons’ has never been reproduced on CD instead of cassette and that the cassette is so expensive. I think I’ll contact Mary Glasgow and see if they have any plans to reissue.

‘Singing French‘ by A.C. Black has many catchy numbers and is almost the modern equivalent to ‘Un kilo de Chansons’; I like it very much (but watch out, there are a couple of mistakes in the French which I’ve informed the publishers about).

Having said all that about CDs and cassettes, at Essex West RSG I landed up by relying on my own voice for inroducing them to some Songs and Rhymes and Stories. They were a very small group but very enthusiastic and I really enjoyed working with them.

Here is what Chantal Darke Comenius East Regional Manager had to say about the session:

“This session was a real treat for the participants - everything Jan demonstrated was amply supported by resources, books, puppets, animations, models and music. Using what seemed a veritable magician’s workshop of accessories. Jan taught us some classical French childrens’ rhymes and games, finger rhymes and songs, and showed some German and Spanish resources too. Perhaps one of the most unusual features of Jan’s session was that particpants went away armed with website addresses of where to obtain - at little or no cost - the kind of support items which make all the difference to the teaching of these stories songs and rhymes. Particularly memorable were the acccesories for “Le grand monstre vert”. Another addition to the session was that a couple of participants had brought along their Yr 5/6 children - so we even had proper “pupils” present to see how various aspects of the activities might appeal. This was a very successful session and we left determined to invite Jan back at a future occasion.”

Chantal Darke 

I was invited along to the very first Regional Support Group (RSG) in Milton Keynes to talk about ideas and resources for primary teachers who are just getting started in teaching modern languages in their schools. I took along a variety of resources, some commercial and some I had made myself to use in my own teaching. I included many of the items that I had put into the first Modern Languages catalogue which I had worked on for TTS.

Caroline Conlon, CILT RSG manager, asked me to put together a workshop on `Ideas for the Festive Season’- given the number of different languages, faiths and cultures in London she asked me to make it suitable for as many languages as possible and cover other festivals, not just Christmas. Quite a tall order, but I enjoyed the challenge and the research was really interesting.

I demoed activities for French, Spanish, German and Italian though most would work equally well in any language. I gave suggestions for `Winter’ festivals from October to February- Eid, Hannukah, Christmas and Chinese New Year.

We sang songs, made puppets and generally had some festive fun through the medium of the different languages.