Thursday 30 May 2013

Going for a walk

On Monday, June 3, we will be walking to the Runnymede branch of the public library. The library program coordinator has a couple of activities planned to introduce the library to the students, help them locate books that might be of interest and tell them about summer reading programs at the library.

We will leave right after lunch (once attendance is done) and will return for afternoon recess at 2.

Monday 6 May 2013

Tips for Watching French TV/Movies

We have been enjoying Téléfrançais in class, and I am impressed with how well the students seem to be following along and what they are able to pick out and understand of the French dialogue.

Movies are a great way to practise their French listening and comprehension so if you have access to French programming or can flip the language settings on their favourite DVDs, here are some tips to help your student. (I would recommend about 20 minutes in French.)

Strategies for watching a movie in French

* Look at the pictures / animations and try to figure out what is happening.
* Watch the expressions of the characters and pay attention to their body language to help you understand the movie.
* Look up a summary of the movie in French (une sommaire).
If at home you could watch the movie in your first language before viewing it in French. This might help improve your understanding.
* Use your prior knowledge (that's your schema at work again!) to help you understand the movie. Listen for words you know already (les mots connus) and for words that sound like English words (les mots amis).
* DON’T STRESS OUT if you don’t understand every word! Focus on listening for words you know, watching the action in the movie, and trying to piece together what’s happening.
* Enjoy the movie and enjoy practising French in a really fun way!

Friday 3 May 2013

What's coming in May

May is shaping up to be a busy month in P1.

We will participate in Music Monday and the tree dedication ceremony for Mr. Samson this Monday (May 6). Several of our students have advanced to the conference track and field competitions to be held May 24th. Félicitations! And several of the girls will be joining me May 15th for the Grade 6 girls soccer tournament at Rockcliffe PS.

On the academic side, we have begun our study of le Moyen Age in les études sociales and it will take up a lot of our time in French as well as students work to learn the vocabulary as well as the history of the time. In Science, we are part way through Lights and Sounds. In math, we have moved on to division and will probably be working on fractions by the end of the month.

I am pushing the students towards more independence in French and most are rising to the challenge. Please encourage them to read out loud to you and use our strategies (looking for familiar words, words that are similar to English and using context and/or pictures) to increase comprehension. We have been watching some French programming and I am pleased with how much they catch. They can pratise this at home by flipping a favourite DVD to the French language track.

We have a couple of exciting activities for science and les études sociales planned for later in the month, early June. I will send more news home closer to the dates.

Merci!