Heidi and Tonton also know my favourite song, and Tonton has another trick up his sleeve (or in his shell). But, so does Heidi. Click here, or on the photo, to watch. |
With all of the excitement from the last few weeks, we had many opportunities to sing along with one of my favourite French songs, Les Petits Poissons. This is a French lullaby that has a wonderful calming affect on the students. There are many versions of it found on Youtube. For the upcoming Remembrance Day Assembly on November 10th, students are practicing, in class, the bilingual version of O Canada. Thank you for taking the time to practice at home.
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It has been a busy few weeks in Room 13. The Grade 2 students continued to review vocabulary from grade 1 by practicing with a partner and visiting the French webpage. Most students made a video and uploaded it to Iris. Please be sure to log into Iris to see your child's French video and leave a comment if you wish. In grade 1, we continue to practice counting to 10 by singing songs, chanting, and playing Four Corners. We also practiced saying the numbers out of sequence. With Halloween just around the corner, we played a Koosh game on the SmartBoard and danced along to some Halloween songs. Grade 1 students are also practicing responses to the question, Comment ça va? Thank you for popping in to Room 13 during Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences this week. It was exciting to hear about how much the students are enjoying French. It gave me a chance to answer your questions and show off our new room. The Grade 1 students played their first game of Quatre Coins (Four Corners). We use this game to learn how to count in French. In the past, we have also used it for learning the alphabet, days of the week, and months of the year. It becomes a favourite game and is often requested by the students. To prepare for making French videos that can be used for assessment of skills, the grade 2 students had a chance to work with the laptops this week. We reviewed the proper care and set up of the microphone headsets, how to log onto Photo Booth, and how to use the mini-booklet during the making of the video. Grade 1 students were introduced to numerous action words, and had fun acting them out. It was a great way to stretch our minds and bodies at the same time: lève toi (get up) assieds-toi (take a seat) saute (jump up) danse (dance) marche (walk) dort (sleep) mange (eat) boit (drink) court (run) tourne (turn) It is amazing how quickly the children catch on to these. We had fun learning some of them with Tonton and Heidi. The song, Le Robot dans mon château, also helped us hear and practice the words. The students also had a chance to practice introducing themselves. Grade 2 students are reviewing their French learning from last year. We began working on un petit livre (a little book). Over the next 2 weeks, we will be discussing: Bonjour, je m’appelle… Comment ça va? Çava bien; Ça va mal; comme ci, comme ça Bonne Fete; Quelle âge as tu? Numbers to 20 (un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix, onze, douze , treize, quatorze, quinze, seize, dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf, vingt) Colors (rouge, orange, jaune, vert, bleu, violet, noir, brun, rose, gris, blanc, multicolore) Animals (le chat, le chien, le lapin, le cochon, la vache, l’oiseau, le poisson) Body Parts (la tête, l’épaule, le genou, les pieds, les yeux, les oreilles, la bouche, le nez) School tools (la gomme, le crayon, le taille-crayon, la regle, les ciseaux, le gomme, la colle, le cahier, la trousse) We like to celebrate birthdays during our French lessons. Each student made a personalized birthday hat for our classroom calendar. For each birthday, the birthday child comes to the front board so we can sing to him/her. After singing Bonne fête à toi, the students count in French to the correct age. The birthday child writes the number in the blank and says, "J'ai ___ ans." Sometimes I will ask the child to tell me in French what color of pen they used to write the number with. At other times, I will ask the child to tell me in French what number of the month his/her birthday is on. Here are the words to Bonne fête à toi (to the tune of Happy Birthday to You) Bonne fête à toi Bonne fête à toi Bonne fête, bonne fête… Bonne fête à toi Quel âge as-tu? Quel âge as-tu? Quel âge, quel âge… Quel âge as-tu? Grade 1: It is always exciting to see students respond to learning a new language for the first time. We have been practicing how to introduce ourselves (Je m'appelle...) and count to 10. Here are two songs that we like to sing along with-- Je m"appelle Funny Bear, and Une Chanson des Chiffres. Tonton, a mischievous turtle, has already become a favourite this year. Watch Tonton play one of his favourite tricks on Heidi. And then watch Heidi play a trick on Tonton. It is all in good fun.
Grade 2: Numbers and school tools have been our focus for the start of the year. This year, students are required to count to 59 in French and know the numbers out of sequence. We began by reviewing the numbers 1-20 and singing this familiar song. Of course, we have also played our favorite game -- Quatre Coins (4 corners). We have discussed some of the most familiar school tools that can be found in a pencil box or a backpack. This will be an ongoing topic throughout the year. Here is a song that helped us learn some of the school tools. We used a Koosh ball to play a silly game on the Smartboard. We begin each lesson with our Welcome Song. Students use gestures to represent each word or phrase. Ask your child to sing the song and show you the gestures.
Welcome to the Grade 1 and 2 French Blog for the 2016-2017 school year.
(The grade 3 students will be have French instruction with the classroom teachers in the blended 3/4 classrooms.) This is the place to come if you are curious about what is happening in Room 13 this year. We will be having a lot of fun, and students are encouraged to share their excitement with family and friends. This is a great way to practice new vocabulary words each and every day. Check in each week for updates. Smiles, Mme Pallesen The last part of this year has been very exciting for the students.
The Grade 3 students were very creative when making up scripts. They attempted to use familiar vocabulary words to create simple puppet plays and shared these with their classmates. I am very pleased with their efforts and how they succeeded in entertaining their peers. The Grade 2 students did very well with reviewing school tools in French and adding even more to their list. We had fun playing many games (Bingo, Koosh, I have.. who has?). I am very impressed with their success this year. The Grade 1 students focussed on learning how to say many animal names in French. This seems to be one of their favorite topics and we will continue it next year. Saying the numbers up to 20 out of sequence was another challenge, especially the teen numbers. The more we practiced, the easier it was to do this quickly. Student-led Conferences - Thank you for all of the wonderful compliments and questions. I am so pleased to hear that students are enjoying the various French activities, games, songs, and handouts. It is also wonderful to hear that students are visiting the French Webpage when at home. This is a great way for your child "hear" the French more often and become more proficient with understanding the spoken word and speaking French more independently. If I was unable to answer your questions, or you have thought of another one, please feel free to email me ([email protected]). |
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