Creativity and Service Learning in the French Classroom
Date of Presentation
9-2012
Name of Conference
American Creativity Association Conference
Date of Conference
9-2012
Location of Conference
Philadelphia, PA
Document Type
Conference Presentation
Department
Modern Languages and Literatures
Abstract
Spending one-hour with my Advanced French Conversation university students at a third-grade elementary school, teaching them basic French vocabulary through the arts, demonstrated the positive and even transformational effect that creativity can have in learning. Bringing college students of French together with third-graders in their elementary school environment through an Academic Service Learning activity fosters creativity in all the students involved, enriching their learning experience, and prepares them for their future regardless of their career and educational plans. To complete their assignment, the university students, under my guidance, had to create a lesson plan for teaching colors and shapes. Students created beautiful flash cards to teach the vocabulary. They also used paintings located in Paris museums in the conclusion of their lesson, as vocabulary review. Their virtual tour started from the city where the school is located, continued to Paris, and visited its sites and museums, where the tour inside of the museum D’Orsay provided viewing selected paintings. To complete their plan, the university students had to gather and learn a lot of information in the arts; their fascination with the material kept them engaged throughout. The responsibility of imparting knowledge they were gathering unto the elementary students kept them focused and excited. Testimony of these sentiments appeared repeated in the feedback forms from the university students. During the lesson, the third-graders learned quickly and showed great enthusiasm for the cut-outs, but they were truly in awe of the virtual tour, and said as much in their feedback forms.
Recommended Citation
Kupper, Nelly. Creativity and Service Learning in the French Classroom. American Creativity Association Conference. Philadelphia, PA. 2012, September.