French plays have become a tradition at CIS. And this year was no exception! At the end of November, Primary students in grades 1 to 6, who take French as a second language, proudly performed their French plays in a new venue: the North Wing’s Mini Theatre on level 3.

These well-loved plays showcase our students’ French language skills as they speak and act in front of a parent audience. Each student put in a lot of effort to learn the vocabulary and structures of each story, and to practice the performance with added gestures and visual support … in order to help the audience (who usually don’t speak French) gradually make sense of the stories.

These plays help develop many of the PYP learner profile traits. Students demonstrate they are thinkers as they learn about the meaning of sentences and act accordingly. They prove themselves to be good communicators as they speak and answer questions about the story in French. Last but not least, they demonstrate their risk taking spirit by performing in public in a foreign language.

In previous years, performances took place at the end of the school year. This year we made a few changes, and hosted the plays before Christmas to allow more time for: follow-up written work; other units and grammar development; and for consolidation during Semester 2. Despite the performances’ earlier dates (which allowed less time for rehearsals), our students really rose to the challenge and worked cooperatively and enthusiastically to put on the best shows possible.

Students were very excited to act in the mini theatre for the first time. It provided quite a different feel due to the stage and nice big stage curtains. Its professional setting made the students feel like real actors and inspired them to act their very best. Thanks to the kind and supportive Drama Department, our students secured enough rehearsal time in the venue prior to their big day.

We used the projector and sound system in some of the plays to add special sound effects and images, as in one of the Grade 5 plays, “l’Arbre Ungali” where a student created his own PowerPoint slides with sound to complement the story. In “Comment y aller”, the Grade 4 play, a range of transportation sounds were introduced, and “L’île”, one of the G6 plays, benefited from sounds of a sea storm to make the sinking of the ship more dramatic, and the growling of the island monster more impressive.

The only disadvantage of the earlier timing is that the performances are already over! Indeed, many students have asked Madame Padilla and me if they could do another play after Christmas - a good indicator of how much they love studying stories and acting in French! Acting really creates a meaningful context, purpose and excitement for students learning a new language. As a bonus, the newly acquired knowledge can be used later to extend connections and further develop language skills.

Bravo and “félicitations” to all our French-learners on completing your magnificent performances! We see some budding actors in the making.