1. Creativity and (French) Phonics
Suzi Bewell Hi
I am [speak slowly]#
I am really excited to me here today blah blah

2. “An army destined to defeat fights in the hope of winning but without any planning”
Enemy
The
Wise
Warrior
A wise warrior understands 3 things:
The environment they operate in, the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy and the strategy needed to address their enemy
Let us consider the battle to get pupils to speaking and writing French like a native
Battleground
Strategy

3. The Battle Ground: Know the enemy and know yourself
Year 11 Speaking Exams:
Unmotivated and disengaged
Unable to process and manipulate the language
Severe absence of skills and ambition to become independent learners
My colleagues and I have just completed some French oral exams
Yet again, like all the years before we heard shocking pronunciation
The classics (give pairs maybe where things look the same and sound different of vice versa)
Ville famille
Beaucoup
Trop
Tres
The target language dyslexia is evidently present and this put in place barriers that result in the issues listed (DO NOT READ THEM OUT)

4. The Enemy; What the pupils say
“I can’t spell much French”;
“It’s hard to remember where the accents go and how to spell the words – like silent letters and how to pronounce it differently to how you write it”;
“It sounds different to how it’s spelled and it’s said really quickly”;
“It’s hard to pronounce…I never know how to pronounce it!”;
“I forget pronunciation and struggle”
Pupil voice is really powerful to get feed forward for lesson planning
These messages say, we have got it wrong

5. The key to success in war – the need for an effective strategy.
The old strategy…
“In the early stages of learning, the written form of the language can strongly interfere with pronunciation…learners need ample opportunities to listen and respond before the written forms are involved.”
*Listen to “Regarde-moi papa” version 1
Now consider the following…
Jem – Je mapple – Ongleterre – poison rouge
lapIN – Habite – leS mathS – famILLE - QUart
The current strategy is evidently not working
Teachers are working hard but may be in the wrong direction
Spoon-feeding and learning by rote results in a lack of understanding of the language

6. Words from the Warriors
“How many times do students learn something by heart and it sounds dreadful?”
“I usually just teach it as things crop up.”
“I don't really teach phonics. I mean, I think I teach students how to pronounce the French language but I don't think I ‘actively’ teach it”
“As far as phonics are concerned, Rachel Hawkes is the only person I have come across who is into them, which is mad really!”
“I feel it would be more useful to come with a knowledge of certain sounds rather than knowing about the weather or pets “
The absence on clear central strategies to teach phonics means there are no coherent plans to teach phonics
Therefore how can the enemy be defeated
These are quotes from teachers across the UK from all levels of teaching, including SSATs

7. The key to success in war – the need for an effective strategy.
…and the new…
“Children do not arrive at primary magically knowing how to read English, they are taught; why do we  imagine they will learn to read another language if we do not teach the children the “code” first?”
Jo Rhys-Jones and Lynn Erler, Oxford University
(Talkabout Primary MFL blog)
In the search for an effective strategy, I have investigated approaches and resources from teachers internationally, published research, journals and existing teaching resources.
This initial research phase is now complete
I have gathered together resources and a variety of new and diverse teaching techniques to
TEACH THE USUAL IN AN UNUSUAL WAY

8. “To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence”
Using le manuel phonique, Jolly Phonique:
teach 36 principal sounds;
stress sound-spelling links;
tease out structures and rules;
deal with cognates and “tricky words”
Having told you about how I engage the pupils and their subconcious mind
Let me know look specifically at content to teach phonics
I am now implementing these resources and approaches with Key StaGE 2 and 3 and focussing on 4 key areas
Using :
GIVE EXAMPLES OF what you do for EACH

9. “You cannot change your enemy, so change your responses “
Pupil-led teaching and learning
Active learning
Creative teaching
My research has uncovered some key principles to teach phonics These are not ‘rocket science’
A second key learning has been the need to challenge the old ways of teaching the spelling sound link
I now incorporate a range of novel approaches, to address the phonically challenged and second language dyslexic
These include
Pupil produced content e.g. getting them to do the work make the discovers establish the rules and patterns and question the stucture BLOOMS TAXONOMY
Using New technology and relevant, such as the blog as an education platform filled with content other online, up to the second online resources including videos, games, pod casts
Techniques to encourage learning across the spectrum of pupils that walk through the door into my classroom, including
Active Learning (– Mexican wave / gesture inc Blooms Taxonomy = active, participative, emotionally linked – learn most)
Simultaneous listening and reading (- aural work well supported by text)
Cognitive memory techniques( – mediation, NLP and Link Word)

10. POWER OF STUDENT VOICE Ask them what they like
*Ask them what they don’t like / find hard
Ask them what they would like to learn
Ask them how they would like to learn
ACT ON THIS INFORMATION AND MAKE POSITIVE CHANGES

11. ACTIVE LEARNING
Bloom’s Taxonomy:

12. Lets have a go… S – A – T M - I – L

19. (ROSBIF RADIO FROGCASTS) *And finally…“Regarde-moi papa” version 2
PIMP MY CURRICULUM
Relevant content: YouTube, film trailers, adverts*
Varied content: songs, stories and fables*, drama, rhymes, tongue twisters
- Cutting edge technology – consider:
Classroom wall displays vs Blogs
Exercise books vs Twitter
Cassette recordings vs Pod casts*
(ROSBIF RADIO FROGCASTS)
*And finally…“Regarde-moi papa” version 2

20. Aim: Create an activity focussing on at least one pronunciation issue
Things to consider :
Teacher input vs pupil input?
Time to prepare vs time to complete?
Fun factor and level of challenge?
Now think of a follow on activity.
*SHARE YOUR FINDINGS*

21. Follow suzibewell on www.twitter.com
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THANK YOU

22. Further online resources:
UK web resources:
French web resources:
Other web resources :
Meditation, Stories and Fables & Tongue Twisters

23. Further Reading: “Le manuel phonique”, Janet Molzan et Sue Lloyd;
“Methode de lecture syllabique”, C. Delile, J. Delile;
“The Art of War for Teachers”, Simon Green;
“Link Word French”, Michael M Gruneberg;
“Patterns and procedures: focus on phonics and grammar”, Heather Rendall;
“Execises in French Phonics”, F Nachtmann
“L’oreille fine”, Martine Pillette.
“Rhythm and rhyme”, Cynthia Martin