This week students have been enjoying making holiday cards while listening to the song, "Vive le Vent," sung to the tune of "Jingle Bells."  Students wrote a holiday greeting on the cover (Joyeux Noël, Joyeux Hanoukah, Joyeux Kwanzaa) and "Happy New Year" (Bonne Année) and "I love you" (Je vous aime) to sign it.  The words to the chorus of "Vive le Vent" are:

Vive le vent, vive le vent, vive le vent d'hiver,
Qui s'en va sifflant, soufflant dans les grands sapins verts!
Vive le temps, vive le temps, vive le temps d'hiver,
Boules de neige et Jour de L'an et Bonne Année Grand-mère!

Translation:

Long live the wind (X3) of winter,
Which whistles and blows in the big, green pine trees!
Long live the weather (X3) of winter,
Snow balls and New Year's Day and Happy New Year Grand-mother!

* A You Tube clip of the song is posted to the right of this page.

This week we are beginning our new unit on seasons, the weather and the months of the year.  We are learning a song for the months:

"Voici les mois de l'année, lánnée, voici les mois de lánnée:  (Here are the months of the year...)

janvier, février, mars, avril et mai
juin, juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre

Vocabulary:

K:  l'hiver (winter), le printemps (spring), l'été (summer), l'automne

Il fait froid  (It's cold),  Il fait chaud  (It's warm/hot), Il fait frais  (It is cool).  They MIGHT learn the phrases below depending on mastery of the previous phrases. 

1st:  All the above, plus:  Il fait du soleil  (It's sunny),  Il pleut  (It's raining),  Il neige  (It's snowing), 
        Il fait du vent  (It's windy)

*A You Tube clip (song) about the seasons is posted at the right. (Les Saisons Changent 4 Fois)

Here are the French Words of the Day for this week and next:

11/10
Il fait chaud	It’s hot (weather)
Il fait froid	It’s cold (weather)
Zut!	Rats!
Chouette	Cool
11/17
Génial	Great
Magnifique	Magnificent
Fantastique	Fantastic
Formidable	Wonderful

This week we will review for next week's test on the parts of the body.  Please know that written test scores are mainly for me to gauge comprehension of the class and are not a major component of a student's evaluation.  However, if your student would like to practice at home, here is the vocabulary being assessed (pronunciation in parentheses):

Kindergarten:                                                     First Grade:

la tête--head   (la tet)                                          All words to the left, PLUS:
le nez--nose    (luh nay)
la bouche--mouth   (la boosh)                            l'oreille--ear   (loray)
le pied--foot   (luh pyay)                                    le ventre--belly   (luh vontr)
la main--hand   (la mah--nasal)                          le bras--arm   (luh bra)
les yeux--eyes   (lay zyuh)                                 la jambe--leg   (la zhamb)


Students will also learn a new chant:

Les deux pieds font tap tap tap                     The two feet go tap, tap tap
Les deux mains font clap, clap, clap             The two hands go clap, clap, clap
Un pas 'ci, un pas là,                                      One step here, one step there
Un petit tour, et puis voilà!                            One little turn, and there you go!

La tête fait nick, nick, nick                            The head goes nick, nick, nick                           
Les petits doigts font click, click, click         The little fingers go click, click, click
Un pas 'ci, un pas là                                       One step here, one step there
Un petit tour, et puis voilà!                            One little turn and there you go!

The French Words of the Day for this week are:

Le soleil	The sun
La lune	The moon
Une fleur	A flower
Une montagne	A mountain
Il fait beau	It’s a beautiful day

We are winding down our learning of the parts of the body, and have been enjoying drawing faces and whole bodies on individual white boards. This week students will draw and label (first grade) their self-portrait, and will present it by saying what color eyes and hair they have.

The French Words of the Day for this week are:

Décembre	December
Les couleurs	Colors
Bleu	Blue
Blanc	White
Rouge	Red

This week students will be continuing to deepen their comprehension of the parts of the body and the days of the week.  They are also adding higher numbers:  kindergarten is up to number 15 and first grade is up to 20.  Here they are for practice:

11 (onze), 12 (douze), 13 (treize), 14 (quatorze), 15 (quinze), 16 (seize)

17 (dix-sept), 18 (dix-huit), 19 (dix-neuf), 20 (vingt)

Students will also enjoy a new song about the body parts:

"Jean Petit qui danse Jean petit qui danse,
de sa tête il danse, de sa tête il danse,
de sa tête, tête, tête!  Ainsi danse Jean Petit.

(Same as above, but replace "sa tête" with "sa main" and then "ses pieds."

Translation:  Little John who danses (2X)
                     With his head he danses......that's how Little John danses.

Then add:     with his hand, with his feet.
                 

The French Words of the Day for this week are:

Août	August
Septembre	September
Octobre	October
Novembre	November

First Quarter Conferences will be held after Fall Break, from October 14-17.  Specials conferences are optional.  We recommend scheduling a conference only if a parent has a particular question, concern, or love for one of our Specials classes.  Conferences last 10 minutes.  To schedule a conference, clink on the following link:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c4dafa72aa7f94-quarter

Students have been enjoying learning the parts of the body by playing Simon Says (Jacques a dit), by singing "Tête, épaules, genoux et pieds" (Head, shoulders, knees and toes), and by coloring a robot.  This week they will enjoy making a face on the board with magnetic parts, draw the face and the body on individual white boards, and draw their own self-portrait.

Students are also learning the numbers 11 through 15 and the days of the week.

Vocabulary to practice:

See last post for parts of the body in "Head, shoulders, knees and toes" as well as the days of the week.

la main (hand), le bras (arm), la jambe (leg), le dos (back)

11 (onze), 12 (douze), 13 (treize), 14 (quatorze), 15 (quinze)
 

The French Words of the Day for this week are:

Mars	March
Avril	April
Mai	May
Juin	June
Juillet	July

The Words of the Day for this week: 

9/22
Dimanche	Sunday
Un an	A year
Un mois	A month
Janvier	January
Février	February

The first graders have begun learning the days of the week and the parts of the body.  Kindergarten will begin in 1-2 weeks.  We will learn several songs to help them learn this new vocabulary. The first two are:

1--Quels sont les jours de la semaine?  (What are the days of the week?) -- Sing 2 X

      lundi (Monday), mardi (Tuesday), mercredi (Wednesday), jeudi (Thursday), vendredi (Friday)
      samedi (Saturday) et dimanche (and Sunday)

Note:  Days and months are NOT capitalized in French!


2--Tête, épaules, genoux, et pieds, genoux et pieds  (Head, shoulders, knees and toes) -- Sing 2 X

     J'ai deux yeux, un nez  (I have two eyes, a nose)
     Une bouche, et deux oreilles  (a mouth and two ears)

     Tête, épaules, genoux et pieds, genoux et pieds!

The French Words of the Day for this week are:

9/15
Mardi	Tuesday
Mercredi	Wednesday
Jeudi	Thursday
Vendredi	Friday
Samedi	Saturday

Students have added two new words/expressions to their responses to "Comment ça va? (How are you?)":  merci, et toi?  (thank you, and you?) and fatigué (tired).  Many have surprised me by remembering the phrases "mal à la tête (headache), mal à la gorge (sore throat), and mal au ventre (tummy ache)."  We have also added several more action verbs to our TPR movement:  Dormez! (sleep), Réveillez-vous! (wake up), Volez! (fly), Pleurez! (cry), Riez! (laugh), Dessinez! (draw)   For special Wednesday this week, students will enjoy Goldilocks and the Three Bears and play "Hot and Cold." 

Les Mots du Jour (Words of the Day) through this week:

9/1
La science	Science
Le langage	Language
Les beaux arts	Fine Arts
La musique	Music
9/8
La gymnastique	Gym class   / PE
Le déjeuner	Lunch
Une semaine	A week
Un jour	A day

Entering the fifth week of French class, students have achieved wonderful mastery of the classroom objects and can now count up to ten!  They are improving in their comprehension of many colors and can demonstrate many action verbs as well.  Have them teach you how to count and practice counting at home!  They will have a test on the classroom objects this week and our next unit will be days of the week and parts of the body. Finally, ask students to sing "Bonjour Madame" and "Violette à bicyclette"for you! 

Entering week three, it is so wonderful to see how much  progress students are making in their comprehension of the classroom objects, and in their ease of greetings.  When asked "Comment ça va?" (How are you?) they are able to now respond with Comme ci, Comme ça (so-so) as well as Mal (badly) in addition to the former responses.  Students are now also able to count to seven, and are learning a song to help them remember the numbers, "Violette à Bicyclette":

Un, deux trois quatre, cinq, six, sept

Violette, Violette,

Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept

Violette à Bicyclette

 

 

With regard to classroom objects, students are learning how to point out those that are near or far with Voilà (There is)  and Voici (Here is).  They have also been enjoying the games Head's Up-- Seven Up and Around the World to review classroom objects and numbers.

The classroom objects we have added are;

K-- la table (la tahbl)--table
       le tableau (luh tab-low)--white board
      
1st--the above, plus:
        le drapeau (luh dra-po)--flag
        l'horloge (lor-luzh)--clock

Voici les Mots du Jour pour cette semaine.  (Here are the Words of the Day for this week)

8/25
Un cahier	A notebook
Un sac à dos	A backpack
Un papier	A paper
Les mathématiques  (les maths)	Math
L’histoire	History

Here are the "Mots du Jour" (Words of the Day) for last week and this week:

8/11
Bonjour	Hello
Je m’appelle…(name)	My name is __________________
Comment ça va?                    Bien     /    Pas mal	How are you?                 Well         /      Not bad
Merci	Thank you
Au revoir	Goodbye
8/18
Monsieur   /    Madame	Mr.   /    Mrs.  or  Ms.
L’école	The school
La salle de classe	The classroom
Un livre	A book
Un crayon	A pencil

The French classes are off to a great start!  Students have been learning how to introduce themselves and say how they are doing.  They have also learned some classroom objects and colors.  Finally, the students enjoyed Little Red Riding Hood in French!  Here are the words and phrases you can practice with them at home:

Bonjour  (boh-zhoor)--hello
Au revoir  (oh-vwar)--good-bye
Je m'appelle (zhuh-ma-pel)--My name is
Comment ça va? (kuh-muh sa va)--How's it going?
Bien (byeh)--well
Très bien (treh byeh)--very well
Fantastique (fah-tas-teek)--fantastic

le crayon (luh kra-yoh)--pencil
le papier (luh pah-pyay)--paper
la chaise (lah shez)--chair
la porte (lah port)--door
le pupitre (luh pu-peetr)--student's desk

Note:

When a vowel is followed by an N or an M, it is nasal.  Hold your nose while you say the word and you'll get the right sound! In the pronunciations in parentheses, I have indicated this nasal sound by following the vowel with an H.  So, for bonjour, the first syllable (bon-) should be pronounced with a nasal O.

Every noun must be preceded by the definite article, and is either masculine (LE) or feminine (LA).

Bon weekend!