Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Thursday, February 5, 2015
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Language and integrated studies update
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| Our 2015 goals |
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).
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
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| La poule Maboule |
Stay tuned for a Mathématiques update coming soon.
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| Sticker incentive program |
Friday, December 19, 2014
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!
Counting by 1s:
Counting by 2s:
And a fun song about counting to 100:
Have a wonderful Christmas break. See you in 2015!
Friday, December 12, 2014
Friday, December 5, 2014
Le père Noel
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
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!
Today we finished working with our care partners on a book related to this song. Students will take turns taking it home soon!
Monday, November 24, 2014
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!
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!
Friday, October 10, 2014
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!
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!
Friday, October 3, 2014
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!
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
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
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
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
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.
Friday, September 26, 2014
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!
Thursday, September 25, 2014
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!
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!
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
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!
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!
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Bonjour juin!
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:
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!
Monday, May 26, 2014
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!
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!
Monday, May 5, 2014
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.
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.
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