Fashion Show

As part of the unit on Winter Clothing, Grade 4 students have created their own "super models" who will be featuring different winter clothing.  They are encouraged to continue to practice the sentence structure Quand il fait froid, je porte...  Grade 3 students reinforced their learning through a game called "The Lost Twin."  During this game, they had to be able to describe the three clothing items their character is wearing while looking for the "twin" who is wearing the identical items.  Grade 1 and 2 continue to practice the vocabulary for winter clothing.

Students are also learning the days of the week.  Here is a song that will help you with this new vocabulary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiHYehk0tYo

Have fun!

Quand il fait froid, je porte...

This week, we have been focusing on the sentence structure Quand il fait froid, je porte... Students learned to talk about what they will wear when it is cold. 

Try practicing this sentence structure with the vocabulary of winter clothing posted last week.

Here is the link to one of our favourite greeting songs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atNkI6QFZ50

Have fun singing!

Bonne Année!

Welcome back!  Hope you had a nice and restful break.

As we continue to build on our Winter theme, students are learning about winter clothing.  They are focusing on the sentence structure, Quand il fait froid, je porte... 

Here is a list of the words that we are learning:

un anorak
des bottes
un chandail
un cache-oreilles
un foulard
des gants
un habit de neige
une tuque
des mitaines
des chaussettes

Depending on what grade your child is in, (s)he may have learned different words off this list.  Have fun practicing!

Singing Games and Traditional Songs

Using singing games and traditional songs in the teaching and learning of a language is a very fun and effective way.  Here are the songs that we learned most recently:

Pomme de reinette et pomme d'api
Passe, passe, passera

Passe, passe, passera resembles the singing game London Bridge is Falling Down.  Students had a lot of fun singing and playing this game.

Celebrating Each Moment of Success Along the Way

During Parent-Teacher Conferences last week, many students dropped by to show their parents the Mon Monstre project that they have been working on.  Some students shared their artifacts from Iris.  It is truly exciting to see the growth in confidence in many students as they take risks in speaking French in front of others. 

Let's celebrate each moment of success along the way!

Take a risk!

Learning a new language requires taking risks.  Last week, I began documenting the learning journey of students. Grade 1 and 2 introduced themselves by telling me their name, their age, their favorite color, following all that by singing a traditional French song of their choice.  It was both exciting and encouraging to see their willingness to take risks.  Some of them created color patterns and talked about their patterns in French.  Grade 3 and 4 students finished their project called Mon Monstre.  They are currently working on speaking about the physical traits of their monstre.    

If you are interested in learning some of the traditional French songs that your child has learned, here are the titles:

Savez-vous planter les choux?

Pomme de reinette et pomme d'api

Enjoy!

Oral Development in Second Language Learning

One of the most effective ways to develop fluency and confidence in second language learning is to do it through "repetition."  But how is "repetition" an inspiring and interesting experience?  

During class, I aim at building in many opportunities for students to review what they have learned but at the same time increasing the level of complexity. For example, once the students are confident in saying "hello", they are asked to greet each other.  This means that they have the opportunity to practice both the "response" and the "question."  By doing role plays or taking a survey, students have many opportunities to practice the same sentence structures.  This is far from "dry repetition!" 

Grade 3 and 4 students begin to create more realistic "dialogues" which go back and forth between interlocutors.  This creates a learning context that is authentic. This is also meaningful and interesting as we learn languages in hope that we can carry on conversations with others.  These realistic dialogues serve exactly this purpose.  In addition to that, they are working on using vocabulary they have learned from the "colours" unit and the "body parts" unit to describe a monster they have created.  This allows them to practice the vocabulary yet again but at the same time, "combine" vocabulary in a new context.