Le Monde Français d'Archway Arete: Arnold Grades 2-5

Bienvenue!

Dear Archway Arete Families,

What an amazing year! It is hard to believe how quickly time has passed. It seems that it was just last month that we were learning, “Bonjour, je m’appelle…” I have been so impressed by how much we have covered this year. Their capacity to learn language at this age is incredible. It has been such a joy to see classes progress and grow in their abilities.

This year, we have covered a wide variety of topics. I have done my best to keep you up to date on what we were learning on my blog. I have tried to focus our vocabulary units on useful words and phrases that can be used regularly in everyday life at school and at home. Hopefully your child has been practicing outside of school. I have continued to encourage them to do so throughout the year. I have heard wonderful stories from many of you about these experiences. Thank you for sharing! Since immersion can seem intimidating at first, I have attempted to make classes as engaging as possible. We have had a lot of fun with the language.

With all of the progress that has been made this year, please encourage your student(s) to continue to practice over the summer. I have linked all of the songs and videos that we have used throughout the year on my blog. In addition, students should be bringing home numerous handouts and work that they have completed throughout the year. These are great learning and practice tools. Even simple things like changing the language to French on a favorite movie can help. The more exposure and practice with the language, the better.

Lastly, I want to let families know that I will not be returning to Archway Arete next year. My family and I are moving this summer. We are relocating to other side of the valley. It has been a difficult decision. This is such an amazing place to teach and learn! I want to thank you, the wonderful Archway Arete families, for all of your support and encouragement. I feel very blessed to have been able to work with so many of your children through my regular classes as well as the Running Club and French Clubs. It has been an unforgettable experience that I will always cherish.

Bonne continuation!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

La semaine de lundi, le 16 février

Les mots du jour

2/16
la glace	ice cream
une pomme	an apple
une pomme de terre	a potato
les legumes	vegetables

I hope that everyone enjoyed the long weekend! This week, we will be wrapping up our unit on the family as students finish sharing the descriptive paragraphs that they have written. We will also begin our new unit with some vocabulary for the house. The unit will be introduced with photos of Claude Monet's famous house and gardens in Giverny. Please see the list of vocabulary below. We will be working with these words for the next couple of weeks.

All 4th and 5th graders will continue memorizing and practicing "Le Corbeau et le Renard."

la maison - the house le garage - the garage
l'appartement - the apartment la porte - the door
le salon - the living room l'escalier - the stairs
la salle à manger - the dining room la fenêtre - the window
la cuisine - the kitchen le canapé - the couch
la chambre à coucher - the bedroom l'étagère (à livres) - the bookshelf
la salle de bains - the bathroom le lit - the bed
le jardin - the yard / garden la table - the table

Monday, February 9, 2015

La semaine de lundi, le 9 février

Les mots du jour

2/9
le petit-déjeuner	breakfast
le diner	dinner
le pain	bread
le lait	milk
un biscuit	a cookie

Students are working hard to write short paragraphs describing various members of their families. They will also write a short paragraph about themselves. After completing these paragraphs, students will meet in groups and share 2-3 descriptions while also sharing the family tree that they created a couple of weeks ago.

My 4th and 5th grades classes are continuing to work on memorizing "Le Corbeau et le Renard" by Jean de La Fontaine. The deadline to have it memorized is March 9th. I have encouraged students to practice at home in addition to what we do to work on it in class. Please feel free to ask them to share with you what they have memorized so far and to encourage them in their efforts. It is no easy task!

Monday, February 2, 2015

La semaine de lundi, le 2 février

Les mots du jour

2/2
une fourchette	a fork
une cuillère	a spoon
une assiettte	a plate
un verre	a glass
une serviette	a napkin

All classes have done a great job learning the new adjectives that we began last week. This week, we will continue to practice using adjectives to describe family members and students. We will reinforce adjective agreement and creating sentences. Our cultural lesson last month covered the first two chapters of Le Petit Prince. This month, we will compare French meals and American meals. We will learn key vocabulary and look at similarities and differences. Bonne semaine!

Monday, January 26, 2015

La semaine de lundi, le 26 janvier

Les mots du jour:

1/26
merveilleux	wonderful
la salle de séjour	the living room
la chambre	the bedroom
la cuisine	the kitchen
la salle à manger	the dining room

Bonjour! All classes will continue to work on the Family unit this week. My 2nd and 4th grade classes will take a vocabulary quiz and finish up their family tree diagrams. All classes will also work with new adjectives (mostly cognates) to practice describing family members to other students in the class. We will focus on pronunciation, basic sentence structure and making the adjective agree with the gender of the person being described. We will cover several singular conjugations for the verb être - to be.

être - to be
je suis - I am
tu es - You are
Il est - He is
Elle est - She is

Les adjectifs
intéressant(e) - interesting
intelligent(e) - intelligent
sympa - nice
sportif/sportive - athletic
timide - shy
sociable - sociable, people person
amusant(e) - funny, amusing
énergique - energetic

Bonne semaine!

Friday, January 16, 2015

La semaine de lundi, le 19 janvier

Les mots du jour

1/19
sympa	nice
intéressant(e)	interesting
amusant	funny
fascinant(e)	fascinating

This week, my 5th grade classes will finish up the family trees that they began drawing and labeling on Friday. They will then learn some additional adjectives and, in small groups, practice describing family members. they will have a vocabulary quiz on Friday. My 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade classes will begin working on drawing and labeling their family tree diagrams in order to also present descriptions to classmates. The vocabulary quiz for these classes will most likely occur during the first part of next week.

All 4th and 5th grade students will also continue to work on memorizing "Le corbeau et le renard." We are currently practicing through line 12.

Bonne semaine!

Monday, January 12, 2015

La semaine de lundi, le 12 janvier

Les mots du jour

1/12
Allons-y!	Let’s go!
Une peinture	A painting
Un roman	A novel
Une chanson	A song
La poésie	Poetry

All classes will continue to work on the new family vocabulary this week. We will practice discussing the various members of a family. We will also continue to work on creating sentences as students describe family members using previously learned vocabulary and sentence starters. We will learn additional adjectives that will be used to describe family members and students. You will find key vocabulary below:

le père - the father l'oncle - the uncle
la mère - the mère la tante - the aunt
les enfants - the children le cousin - the cousin (masculine)
le fils - the son la cousine - the cousine (feminine)
la fille - the daughter
le frère - the brother My... : mon (masculine/singular) ex. Mon frère...
la soeur - the sister ma (feminine/singular) ex. Ma mère...
le grand-père - the grandfather mes (plural) ex. Mes parents...
la grand-mère - the grandmother
le petit-fils - the grandson
la petite-fille - the granddaughter

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

La semaine de lundi, le 5 janver

Les mots du jour

1/5
jouer	to play
regarder	to look at / to watch
dessiner	to draw
manger	to eat

Bonne Année 2015!
I hope that everyone had a wonderful break! I am excited to be back in the classroom with our amazing students. As we start the new semester, I am going to encourage students to focus on speaking as much French as possible during class. This week, I will be distributing a list of useful questions and phrases to be used during class. We will add to it as the semester progress. In addition to some review, all classes will begin learning vocabulary for the family this week. My 4th and 5th grade classes will also continue to work on memorizing "Le corbeau et le renard." Here is a copy of what is being passed out today:

Questions et phrases utiles

Questions:

How do you say_________in French ? Comment dit-on ____________ en français?

Can I go to the bathroom ? Puis-je aller aux toilettes?

Can I get a drink of water ? Puis-je aller chercher de l’eau ?

Where is…… ? / Where are…… ? Où est…… ? / Où sont…….. ?

Exemples : Où est le livre ? / Où sont les marqueurs ?

Why ? Pourquoi ?

When? Quand?

Who? Qui?

How? Comment?

What is it/this/that, etc? Qu’est-ce que c’est?

Put “Est-ce que…” in front of most any phrase to turn it into a question. For example: « Est-ce que tu es fatigué? » , « Est-ce que le dossier est rouge? », «Est-ce que tu as dix ans ? », « Est-ce qu’il y a trente élèves ? », « Est-ce qu’il fait beau ? »

Phrases :

Yes Oui.

No Non.

OK D’accord.

Please (to a student). S’il te plaît.

Please (to more than one student or a teacher) S’il vous plaît.

Thank you. Merci.

You are welcome. De rien.

I know. Je sais.

I don’t know. Je ne sais pas.

I understand. Je comprends.

I do not understand. Je ne comprends pas.

I like or I love. J’aime…

I do not like / love. Je n’aime pas…

This is…, That is…, It is… C’est….

There is…, There are… Il y a …

Please repeat. Répétez s’il vous plaît.