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