Le printemps

Embrasse quatre fois

Math update

Counting to 100
In mathematics, we have been working on counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s in French.  By the end of grade 1, students should be able to count to 100 forwards and backwards, skip count by 2 to 20, and by 5 and 10 to 100.  This weekend for La lecture chez moi, I will be sending home a 100 chart for students to practice this and also to use it as a tool for exploring and completing their 100 project (due on Tuesday).  Students will be asked to present their 100 objects to the class and demonstrate that it is 100 by skip counting by 10. 

Addition and Subtraction
By the end of grade 1, students should be able to add and subtract numbers up to 18. 

Fun fact: Research shows that students proficient in math skills are able to use various strategies to decompose numbers in order to solve problems efficiently (ie. 6 + 5 is the same as 6+4 and 1 more), whereas most students tend to only use the strategies of counting all or counting on, which take more time and can slow students down in later grades as the math becomes more complex.  Click here to watch a short video that explains this further if I've peaked your curiosity. 

In addition to teaching students to count all objects or to count on when solving addition or subtraction problems, here are some other things the students are (or will be) learning about: 

- number facts to 10
- double addition facts
- adding/subtracting 0, 1, and 10 to/from a number
- how to use a  number line, number chart, or 10-frame, and other manipulatives to solve problems

We have been (and will continue to be) playing many games and activities in order to practice skills, in addition to the more traditional worksheets.

I have found a fun math game to practice number facts to 10 that your son or daughter could try at home:  http://akidsheart.com/math/mathgames/addtoten.htm

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Language and integrated studies update

Our 2015 goals

In language arts, we have been learning so many things!  Here is a list of some of the things we have been working on.

Word study poster

Here is our latest word study poster of a skating rink (la patinoire).  We have been using this poster  along with stories, songs and poems, to learn about seasonal changes and winter activities.  The words that the students chose are helping us learn about various letter and word family sounds in French, for example:
- /ch/ is a sh sound
- /an/ and /am/ make the same sound (like an in the English word want)
- /on/ makes the on sound like in the English word won't
I am also teaching the students the concepts of masculin and feminin words (ie. that masculin words use the articles un, le, mon, ton, son, and feminin words use une, la, ma, ta, sa).

Soon each student will write sentences to go with the poster as well and we will also use those sentences to write a paragraph together as a class. 

Reading and phonics

In addition to the word family words we are learning though the poster, I am also teaching this explicitely as well in their phonétique book which I will send home for home reading soon.  The students are doing very well learning the sight words (les mots frequents) which I have noticed is helping them to be more fluent readers.  I have been trying to teach the students how to find "good fit books" by looking at a page of a book and noticing how many words they think they will have trouble with.  If a page has 4 or 5 (or more) words that they can't read on it, then they should try to choose another book. 

I am also beginning to teach various reading strategies, but I will write more on that in a later post.  For now, I would say that the most important skill your child should be using while reading is looking at the pictures and beginning letter sounds and asking him or herself if what they are reading makes sense (if not, try again).

Integrated studies

Because of our integrated curriculum in French immersion, the social studies or science concepts  are meant to be integrated in our language program.  This means that I use that subject matter in our writing, reading and oral communication every day.  This term, we are learning about seasonal changes, and the 5 senses and will be using those topics to guide us in our writing, reading and speaking throughout the day. 

Oral speaking

La poule Maboule

In addition to the sticker incentive program that I already mentioned in an email, I have also begun to teach the students the play La Poule Maboule, which is a French version of Chicken Little, and hope to have them perform it one day in small groups. 

Stay tuned for a Mathématiques update coming soon. 


Sticker incentive program






Counting in French

For the holidays, I am sending home a 100-chart to practice counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s.  Here are some videos to help with this:

Counting by 1s:

Counting by 2s:

Counting by 5s:

Counting by 10s:

And a fun song about counting to 100:

Have a wonderful Christmas break.  See you in 2015!

Bonjour monsieur et bonjour l'hiver

Le père Noel

Here is tonight's Lecture chez moi.  We are hoping to have all of the grade 1 French students sing this for a school assembly at the end of the month (more details coming soon).  Bon weekend!