All students will be members of our community, and we will talk about what that means. In English, we will discuss what a language-learning community needs, what we value, and how our rules and roles support that. We will spend the time that is needed here, without lingering unnecessarily. Although our goal is language, especially at the middle school level I think we need to be very clear about why we are creating the world that we are, and why what I will be asking of students is so important. In the past I have not dwelled long enough here, and not engaged students in thinking about it in the way I conceive of now.
In the name of ownership and linguistic experimentation, I propose that together we play with language and create a name for our new world. It can be a fun exercise in using forms of the word France and French combined with what they already know about location suffixes in English, to create a world called Françaisville, France-ylvania, or Françerica!
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We can list some suffixes and root stems and students can combine them creatively, or we can make cards of the suffixes and stems and students can manipulate them to create various combinations; students can then vote on the winning name or try to come to consensus on it. At the same time we can make that name into a label for us, a way to refer to ourselves as a community – using the examples from above, we might now consider ourselves Françaisvilliens/ennes, Franc-ylvaniens/ennes, or Françericains/nes! To further involve students, we can hold an open submission process for choosing an image or emblem to represent us, on a flag, or as a stamp on what we do.
To sanctify the acceptance of the role of community member, I will create a pledge to sign, based on our discussion. We will make an occasion of it, and then I will issue each student a simple ID card identifying him or her as a member of our community, with its new name and emblem. Laminated ID cards, along with un-laminated information cards (explained more below), will be stored in a clear plastic sleeve that every community member will be required to have at all times. We will discuss back up plans, like writing the information in a safe place, because it is real world appropriate. If students forget their ID, they can register for a temporary day pass and they can always refer to a duplicated list of their other roles for reference. If it is important to you that there be a consequence for not having the ID, I would urge that it be something the student has to do, something related to the daily goal perhaps, rather than something he or she will be unable to do because the card is missing. I don't find exclusion motivating and my goal is always to have the student participating and using the language.
Other options for ID cards include: Using pins that you can stick label cards in, wipe off labels or nametags on lanyards, and passports.
