The British Columbia Ministry of Education website houses all the main curricular information for K-12 education. I do not find it an easy website to navigate: it contains so much, but sometimes the path to specific information is unclear. Instead of continually bookmarking pages, I will list some links here for future reference.

  • An overview of the French Immersion Language Arts (FILA) Program: conceptual framework, openness to a wide range of literature, curricular dimension, language continuum, holistic approach to instruction and learning, flexible teaching and learning, design of the French Immersion Language Arts (FILA) Program, Big Ideas, Curricular Competencies, Content, Elaborations, interactions with Francophone communities, and First Peoples Principles of Learning.
  • The main French Immersion curriculum page. You will notice that if you click on “Français” in the top right-hand corner, the whole page will be reloaded in French:

Clicking on “Goals and rationale” will open up another page. I think that it is important to read these general texts from time to time lest we lose sight of the purpose of French Immersion. We are reminded that the FILA curriculum aims

“to ensure that students are able to:

– communicate effectively and independently, both orally and in writing

– develop linguistic competencies through observation, inquiry, critical and creative thinking, and problem solving

– understand and appreciate a variety of French-language texts that reflect Francophone and First Peoples perspectives

– understand and appreciate Francophone cultures as well as their own culture and those of others

– acquire an openness toward interculturality, by belonging to a minority community in a multicultural context

– deepen their knowledge of themselves and others in a changing world

– forge their identity as Francophiles and integrate French into their personal and work life”

These goals are laudable, and I find key concepts that appeal to me and inform my approach to teaching: observation, inquiry, critical and creative thinking, problem solving, interculturality, multicultural context, cultural identity, a changing world.

Going back to the main FILA curriculum page, we can find that full FILA curriculum for each grade level by clicking on the desired grade:

I always make sure to view and download the version that contains the Elaborations.

For example, in the curriculum for Grade 5, under the Content heading, we can have more information about “characteristics of the comic book” by viewing the Elaborations. In this case, the Elaborations tell us the key elements of comic books (graphic novels) that students should explore.