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!

Mon sac à dos est gros!

Today's lecture chez moi is to sing the song Mon sac à dos est gros.  Here is a video of the song:

Today we finished working with our care partners on a book related to this song.  Students will take turns taking it home soon!

Progress report #1

Your child's first Progress Report is being sent home today, and I know it may be an exciting/nervous evening for parents and students alike!

In order to ensure that this first evaluation is as positive and productive as possible, here are some suggestions on how to approach reading and responding to your child's report card:

1) Set aside a quiet and private time to read through the documents on your own
2) Arrange a quiet and private time to sit down with your child to read the report card together
3) Discuss the evaluation calmly and positively, beginning with your child's areas of strength, including examples of how your child exhibits these behaviours and skills at home
4) Discuss the areas needing further attention in a practical manner, including brainstorming ways that these skills can be practiced and reinforced on a regular basis at home and at school
5) Make jot notes together about areas needing further clarification to take with you to the conference this week 

Please make sure to sign and send back the empty progress report envelope as soon as possible.  I am looking forward to discussing your child’s progress during three-way conferences on Thursday and Friday of this week.  Make sure to call the school if you have not yet booked a time!

Bonjour les parents!

Here is an update on our learning so far this year.

Literacy
- We have been reviewing and practicing the alphabet in French and soon we will begin to practice putting consonants and vowels together to make syllables.
- We have been learning about classroom words through our word study poster, songs, books, and games, and we will begin to do some research about what does it mean to be in grade 1, as well as comparing our school to other schools around the world.
- We are learning to read simple sight words such as un, une, des, le, la, les, and du, in books as well as in our poster. 
- The students have also learned the three ways to read a book, which are 1) reading the pictures, 2) reading the words, and 3) retelling the story in your own words.  Reading the pictures is an excellent strategy, which will help them with comprehension as well as to read unfamiliar words too!
- The students are learning to draw adding details in order to develop fine motor skills but also to encourage the students to tell a story using pictures.  They will begin journal writing using basic sentence structures soon.

Math
- In math, we have reviewed the numbers 0 to 9 in French as well as how to print the numerals by starting from the top and learning to write them on a line.
- every day we count the days in the month, as well as the number of days of school. 
- we are about to begin a unit on patterning.


Integrated studies
- We have been co-constructing rules for the classroom and the school based around safety and respect.
- We have begun to examine what it means to be in grade 1, comparing it to other grades, and we will do some research to compare our school to other schools around the world.
- We have completed our first Second Step unit Skills for Learning. Our next unit is about Empathy.
- We have been learning about autumn through class discussions, songs, and books.

There is so much that we do every day, and this is by no means an exhaustive list!   I hope that this gives you an idea of what your child is learning in my classroom. 

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

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Word study poster

All of the students have now had a chance to pick a word for our word study poster of a classroom.  Here is a picture of our completed poster, for your reference:

Bonne fin de semaine! Have a great weekend!

Word study update and jobs chart

Today you should be receiving our first seven words from our classroom unit of study.  Each student will have a chance to label something in the picture, and we will do many activities around these words in order to build literacy skills.  Please refer to the orange page stapled into your child's agenda for instructions on how to record your child's home reading tonight.  Please make sure to send the words back to school tomorrow, as we will be working with them throughout the week.  

Below you will see a picture of our classroom jobs chart. Each student will rotate through the different jobs throughout the year, which are:
le capitaine:  gets to be the line leader, as well as the one who leads the class through the calendar routine that morning, and he/she gets to sit in a special chair at the carpet and during silent reading time. 
les aides à Madame:  get to be Madame's helpers for the day by helping pass out papers, holding the doors for the class, and taking out the recycling.  They also get to be #2 and #3 in line, and get to sit on the couch during silent reading time. 
l'inspecteur:  inspects the hallway after each recess to make sure that everyone has put away their belongings and all the locker doors are closed, and inspects the floor under everyone's desk at the end of the day to make sure that they tidied up properly.  He/She is also the one at the back of the line and closes any doors/turns off any lights behind him/her. 
l'abeilles suppléante: is there to step into any job to replace anyone who is away or unable to do their job at that time

La lecture chez moi

The home reading program will start tomorrow.  Information will be sent home tomorrow in your child's sac gris.

Star lab

Today the Starman visited our school and brought a mobile planetarium so that we could learn about stars.  The students loved seeing and learning about so many constellations.  

Pow-wow!

At the pow-wow this afternoon, we found a shady spot to sit with our care partners and enjoyed the beautiful weather while

we watched many dances and listened to the drumming songs.  Some lucky students even received gifts from the organizers.  Here are a few of the dancers we saw today:

Have a wonderful weekend!  À lundi!

First blog post of the 2014-2015 year

Bonjour les parents!

Welcome to my classroom blog.  This site will serve as a way to share with you your child's learning within the classroom as well as to offer ways for you to support your child at home.  It is my hope that you will find it both helpful and informative.

First of all, I wanted to say that it was great to meet so many of you at the meet the staff night last week.  I hope you got a chance to see your child's David art which was hung in the hallway.  This was a reading response activity to a wonderful book called Non, David! By David Shannon, which helped the students make connections to the rules at school as they illustrated themselves showing David how to make better choices in the school.

Next week, we will start our home reading program.  Sometimes I will send home books from our class library, and sometimes I will send home songs to sing, Second step to review, or work that we have done in the classroom in order to provide many opportunities for your child to show and practice his/her learning.  Normally I write in agenda messages what the home reading is each day, but this year I would like to also provide opportunities for students to take ownership in their own learning by being responsible for listening carefully and remembering their homework for the evening on their own.  So if occasionally you don't see any direction from me with regards to the homework, that is why!  You will receive more information about the home reading program next week. 

That is it for now, but make sure to bookmark this site so that you can keep up-to-date on the goings on in our classroom.  Have a wonderful weekend!  Bonne fin de semaine!

Term 3 update

It is now the last week of school and I just wanted to say that I am so very proud of all of the students' hard work and accomplishments this year.  They have all come a long way since September in their printing, reading, writing, listening, speaking, counting, etc. etc. skills!  The list goes on and on, doesn't it? 

I also wanted to say thank you to all the parents for your support in helping your child build a sense of responsibility and independence over the year.  These skills will continue to be essential to your child's success in grade 2 and beyond!

Here is a recap of the many things we learned at the end of grade 1:

- We completed Second Step (the last unit was problem-solving skills).
- We learned a great deal about birds, especially while they were visiting the chicks next door in Mme Hada's class.
- We explored ways to change paragraphs by writing and rearranging sentences, changing one or two words, and we learned about interesting titles.  We created and then presented paragraphs about birds, based on our learning of the subject-matter, and our understanding of paragraphs. 
- We continued to evaluate writing, through the use of our writing continuum, and our co-created list of writing attributes.  The students also had an opportunity to evaluate their own writing from September and then April and set goals for the remainder of June.  Students then created one last writing piece in June to include in that project.
- We learned about environmental stewardship through songs, books, and discussions, and created a "Polution/Solution" poster on this subject.
- We completed our phonétique book, and learned to use our knowledge of letter sounds and word families to decode new words when reading and writing.

Some tips I have for practicing in French over the summer would be:

- playing familiar DVDs in French for your child to watch
- visiting the public Library often to take out French books for your child to practice reading
- using your child's journals, dictionaries, phonetique books that were sent home for your child to use as tools for practicing writing
- reviewing (and bookmarking) the videos on the blog
- reviewing the sight words sent home
- enrolling your child in a French summer camp

BUT I also want to highlight that reading and writing skills transfer between English and French so any reading/writing that your child does in English will help him or her in French too.
Reading with your child every day over the summer, even if it's in English, is the best thing you can do to help him/her build and maintain his/her literacy skills. 

Parents, it has been a pleasure teaching your children this year.  Have a safe and happy summer!

Bonjour juin!

Bonjour juin!  I can't believe we are in June already - the year has passed by so quickly!  We still have some learning and some fun left to experience in grade 1, but very soon it will be summertime!

The kids had a blast yesterday at the Children's festival.  We saw a francophone band called Le groupe Swing, and the kids got a chance to dance and sing along to the music.  I have found a few of their youtube videos here, in case they want to listen to them again: 

A huge thank you to the parents who spent the day with us at the Children's festival.   I have posted a few pictures on the photobucket site, so be sure to check that out too.

Lastly, a few items to mention:
- Scholastic orders are due Friday.
- I could use a few more parent volunteers (with completed criminal record checks) for the School Swim on Thursday, July 19th.  Grade 1s will be there from until 1pm.  There won't likely be room on the bus for parents, so you would have to meet us there.  Please let me know if you are interested!
- Home reading today is to review the sounds on the green page.  We learned this week that ien is a combination of i (ee) and in (like in the English word ain't).

Bonne soirée!

Update

Last Friday, we had a "Sci-Fi" Science workshop from the University of Saskatchewan in our classroom in which students learned about birds.  For more information on their summer day camp opportunities, visit their webpage here.   I will be posting some pictures on the photobucket page that I took of the students during this workshop. 

Here are a few updates on things we have learned in phonetics:
- that /ou/ makes the oo sound like in the English word fool
- the /in/, /im/, /aim/, /eim/, /ain/, /ein/ all make the same sound (like in the English word ain't)
- that /en/ and /in/ (and their variations) are cut in two to make two syllables if there is a vowel afterwards.  For example, cousin has the /in/ sound but cousine does not (cou-si-ne) (cousin is a boy cousin, and cousine is a girl cousin)
- today we learned that /au/ and /eau/ make the English long vowel"o" sound like in bateau
- we have learned that the s in "les" speaks only when the next word begins with a vowel (ie. les ours, would be pronounced lez oors

Here are a few pictures of the baby chicks we had the privilege of seeing and holding in mid-may:

Spring photo orders are due tomorrow. 

I'm looking forward to having parents see our class' dance tomorrow at Spectacular, Spectaculaire.  Please don't forget your tickets.  They will be needed in order to ensure we don't exceed capacity at the theatre.

Have a great week!

Update

Here is our latest word study poster: 

 








Scholastic orders are being sent home today.  They are due this Thursday (cheques only please). 

Tomorrow is our zoo trip.  Please ensure that your child arrives to school on time tomorrow, as we will be departing right away in the morning.  Please make sure your child is properly dressed to spend the entire morning outside. 

Please visit this webpage for more information on the French as a Second Language Summer Day camps offered: http://sk.cpf.ca/actvities/youth-activities/fete-du-soleil/

The following song is the home reading for tonight.  Our care partners taught it to us.  It is called Je suis une pizza. 

Le printemps

Here is a song that we learned today about spring.  You can sing/read it at home for today's home reading.

Enjoy!

Term 2 recap

Here is a quick recap of some of the many things we have been up to these days.

In Second Step, we completed our third unit on Emotion Management. We learned the calm down steps and brainstormed some positive self-talk to use when we are feeling worried, sad, angry, or frustrated.

In our integrated studies units, we completed our celebrations unit by writing about our understanding of the Chinese New Year. I have posted all of the students' written work on the bulletin board outside of our classroom and I am working on creating a photostory (where students will read their written work aloud) which I hope to post online sometime next week.  A big merci to M Bazin for working with us on this unit.  He has now moved on to teach in Grade 2. 

We have also been learning about our 5 senses (so far we have gotten through 3:  La vue, L'ouie, and L'odorat.)  We have been doing experiments and adding to a poster we created as we complete our learning on each sense.  We will be connecting our knowledge of our senses to other learning for the remainder of the year. 





In language, we have been exploring different sounds, and sight words, as well as learning many different reading strategies.  We practice these strategies through large group, small group work, individual activities, as well as  when reading with a partner, and reading to self.  The last few weeks we have learned that ai and ei make the same sound as è but that ai, er, and ez at the end of the word make the same sound as é (like the english ay in day). 

In writing, we have been evaluating different samples using a checklist that we created of what good writers do.  We have been placing the different samples along our writing continuum once we have evaluated how well the writer did.  Students will be asked this term to begin to evaluate their own writing in this same way. 

Orally, we have come so far this term in our speaking!  The students are doing an amazing job using their French to answer and ask questions and are even beginning to remember to speak to their peers in French without reminders!  In order to speed this along (and to work on some common errors in French), we created Pas d'excuses (No Excuses) lists in order to remind the students of words and expressions that they should be able to use in French without reminders or help, as well as some common errors that have been discussed at length that students should be applying when speaking (ie. not saying ma papa - they should be saying mon papa because papa is masculin). 

In math, we practiced counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s (using 100 charts and by counting a larger number of objects), and we explored different addition and subtraction stories to 10.  We also explored ways to make 5 and 10 (by adding and subtracting), and learned to represent numbers to 20 using a ten frame.   Next term, we will work on addition to and subtraction from 20, and we will learn about three-dimensional shapes. 

I am very proud of the class in their progress this term, and I am looking forward to seeing all of you for three-way conferences in order to celebrate your child's learning and set goals for the last few months of grade 1. 

Program summaries

Physical Education with Mme Muzika:

We started out the second term working on a gymnastics unit. We focused on landings, statics (supports and balances), rotations, locomotions and springs. We are continuing our work with manipulative skills—throwing, catching, and hand dribbling, and this term we spent some time working on foot dribbling and other soccer skills. We have also been working on our rhythmic movements, as we have been learning and creating a variety of dances.


Arts Education with Mme Graham:

Music·         Continuation of Orff Schulwerk singing·         Introduction to the Orff instruments - - playing different rhythm patterns·         Identified the strong beat and the weak beat

DANCE
·         Introduction to high, medium and low levels
·         Enjoyed songs with movements and learned to step the beat

DRAMA·         Practiced drama skills through short plays such as Aesop’s fable “The Lion and the Mouse”

General Release with Mme Ward:

For this past year, I have been teaching multiple topics to Mme Hegarty’s grade 1 students on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons for 50 minutes each. This term we have finished up our unit on Healthy eating which included topics such as food groups, Canada Food Guide daily suggested servings and how eating healthy effects our body systems.

We have recently begun two new units during our time together. On Tuesdays, we focus on First Nations education and on Wednesdays we are focusing on animals.

If you have any questions or concerns for me I will be available during interviews in my office on the 3^rd floor beside the art room. If you would like to contact me separately, please call the office or let Mme Hegarty know and she will forward you my contact information.

Some tips for reading with your child

In class, we have been learning different strategies to help us become better readers.  

Some of the strategies are:  

• using picture cues
• checking for understanding (always asking:  does this make sense?)
• looking at initial letter sounds of an unfamiliar word
• recognizing sight words
• noticing letters that go together to make a sound (ch, en, am, etc.) and then sounding out an unfamiliar word
• paying close attention to punctuation in order to read with expression

Many of these strategies (and many others) are modeled in the following videos.  You can help support your child by encouraging him or her to use these strategies when reading in English or French. 

Here is a video that shows some Before Reading Strategies, such as how to read pictures in order to get your child thinking about the subject matter and any vocabulary that may come up while reading the book:

Here is a video that demonstrates many of the During Reading strategies mentioned above:

I hope it helps!

Happy Reading!!

La phonétique - update

I hope you and your child are enjoying practicing for the oral speaking presentations.  So far I am very impressed with the enthusiasm and effort all of the students are showing towards this challenge!

Yesterday, I had the students send home their phonétique duotangs so that you could see what sounds I have explicitely taught so far this year.  They are:
é (like ay in day),
è ê (like e in wet),
en an em am (like an in want),
g doux (French soft g, found in words borrowed from French like garage or mirage) - used with e, i, and y (ge and gi, and gy)
g dur (hard g, like in go) - used everywhere else (gr, gl, ga, go, gu)

Speaking of the hard and soft g sounds, we tried this activity today where you can try to read the g words and drag and drop them in the correct category.  We didn't have time to do all of the words so I told the class that I would post it on the blog so that they could try it at home.  You can find two versions of the activity by clicking here.  Next up, we will learn about the hard and soft c's, which (spoiler alert!) follow the same rules as the hard and soft g. 

I hope this update helps you to support your child with his or her reading at home. 

As always if you have any questions, please let me know .

Oral speaking activity

Concours d'art oratoire

Our students have been presented three easy French poems and were asked to choose one to memorize and present to our class at the end of next week.

Please have your child practice to memorize his or her poem by reading it nightly as part of the home reading program in order to be well-prepared and feel confident in presenting to the class next week.

During the presentation we will be looking for:
- a clear and loud speaking voice
- enthusiasm
- audience eye contact
- a relaxed and natural body
- a memorized poem.

All students will be presenting their poem to the class next Wednesday and Thursday the12 & 13th. The school will be holding the Concours d'art oratoire assembly on March 17th, and we will have three students from our class volunteer to present their poems on this day.

You will find your child's chosen poem in their sac vert tonight. Thanks for your help with this activity. We think it will be great practice and a lot of fun!

Embrasse quatre fois

Voici une chanson qui s'appelle Embrasse quatre fois.  On peut pratiquer faire les actions et lire les mots pour la lecture chez toi ce soir.

Voici la vidéo:

- écrit par la classe de Mme Hegarty

French Immersion Week

École Victoria is celebrating French Immersion week starting tomorrow, Monday, February 3rd.  Some of the festivities include:
- a singing assembly on Monday where we will learn some traditional French Canadian songs
- a presentation (story telling) from Mme Sutton's Grade 4/5 class
- the chance to win a prize for speaking French during recess times (tickets will be given to students who are heard speaking French outside of the classroom and a prize will be drawn every day this week)
- a French film will be shown to the primary classes
- our students will sing a song from the play La Poule Maboule as well as be an audience for other primary classes who have something to share

Vive le français!  Long live French!

Bonne année!

Happy New Year! 
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.  Now that we are settling into school once again, I thought I would take the time to update families on some of the things happening this month. 

Firstly, I should tell you the great news: we have an additional teacher joining the Grade 1 French Immersion team.  Mme Brooke Spafford will be joining us in the mornings to help provide additional support in our large classes. 

Secondly, there are new clubs starting this month that your child may be interested in joining.  The junior choir will be shifting its focus a little bit in order to put on a mini-musical, so any students from grades 1 to 4 who are interested in acting, singing, or both should join us on Fridays at lunch recess in the auditorium starting tomorrow (January 10th). 
Math club is beginning next Tuesday, January 14th at lunch recess in the library and it is open to students in grades 1 to 8 who are interested in playing math games. 

This week we finished "shaking out" our words from our latest word study poster. I have included a photo of it below for your reference.  I have also added the link to a website which offers some help with French pronounciation (I probably gave you a paper copy of this in November).  It can be found on the right hand side under the heading "Parent Resources".  I hope you find it helpful!

That's it for now, but don't forget to check back periodically, as I intend on adding more information here soon.  Have a great weekend!