Did you know that French Immersion has been alive and well at Elbow Valley Elementary for more than 20 years? Elbow Valley currently has 50 percent of the student population learning French.
The French Immersion program was established in Rocky View School division in 1985. Children who come to French Immersion often have no French language experience. Teachers immerse students in French using songs, games, stories, actions and pictures to help students build capacity in French. Students will learn only French from Kindergarten to Grade 2.
In Grade 3, students will begin English Language Arts. By the time students reach the end of Grade 4 students are reading, writing, and speaking in both French and in English. By Grade 6, French Immersion students are reading, writing, and speaking in English at the same level as their English speaking peers.
French Immersion is an incredible program geared towards families who do not speak French. In fact, knowledge of French is not required for children to be successful in French Immersion. French Immersion teachers support parents with a variety of resources for use at home. Specifically, teachers use QR codes to help with pronunciation, use Google Classroom to record books, sight words, French sounds, translations for parents, as well as many other resources to make learning French fun and accessible for all.
