La semaine de lundi, le 15 décembre

Les mots du jour:

12/15
Une banane	A banana
Une fraise	A strawberry
Un gâteau	A cake
Un cadeau	A gift
Les vacances	Vacation

The semester is quickly winding down!  Due to half-days later in the week, I will only see my 2nd and 3rd grade classes once this week.  We will spend part of the time reviewing and practicing describing one another (name, hair color, eye color, age).  In addition, we were ambitious last week and went through the numbers up to 100.  So, we will do some number practice in all classes as well.  My 4th and 5th grade classes will continue to work on memorizing La Fontaine's "Le corbeau et le renard."

Since France is a mostly Catholic country (83-88%, CIA World Factbook), Christmas is a nationally celebrated holiday with many rich traditions.  In each class, we will discuss a traditional French Christmas and various customs surrounding this time of year.  All classes have learned the winter carol "Vive le vent" that we will also practice this week.

La semaine de lundi, le 8 décembre

Les mots du jour

12/8
Une maison	A house
Un vélo	A bicycle
Un ballon	A ball
La nourriture	Food
Une pomme	An apple

It is hard to believe how quickly this second quarter is passing!  This week, my 4th and 5th grade classes will continue to work on memorizing the first 6 lines of Le Courbeau et le Renard by Jean de La Fontaine.  All classes will continue to work on 1st and 3rd person descriptions and numbers through sixty.  We will also start learning the song "Vive le vent" during the second half of the week.

La semaine de lundi, le 1 décembre 2014

Les mots du jour

12/1
La mère	The mother
Le frère	The brother
La soeur	The sister
Un chien	A dog
Un chat	A cat

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break!  We will be wrapping up our unit on body parts this week in my 4th and 5th grade classes.  My 2nd and 3rd grade classes will be finishing up the unit the first part of next week.  Students are learning "J'ai..." (I have...), "Il a..." (He has...) and "Elle a..." (She has...) to talk about hair color and eye color. (Example - J'ai les cheveux bruns et les yeux bleus.)  They can then give basic descriptions of themselves and other people.  We will add new adjectives in the future.

La semaine de lundi, le 24 novembre

Les mots du jour

11/24
L’amour	Love
La famille	The family
Le père	The father

With this being a short week, I will see each class once.  Last week, classes completed a handout that will help with memorizing the body parts.  In addition, I introduced a new song to practice body parts that we will continue to work with this week ("Jean Petit qui danse").  The video is linked under "Useful Links."  In all classes I will emphasize the distinction between right and left as well as using the singular and plural articles.  My 2nd and 3rd grade classes will continue to reinforce the new body parts we learned last week. In my 4th and 5th grade classes, we will begin working with some new adjectives to describe hair color that we did not get to last week.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving break!

Voilà le vocabulaire!

droit – right	gauche – left
la tête – head	l’épaule – shoulder
le genou – knee	le pied – foot
le bras – arm	la jambe – leg
la main – hand	le doigt – finger
les cheveux – hair	l’oreille – ear
les yeux – eyes	l’oeil – eye (singular)
le nez – nose	la bouche - mouth
le visage – face	le ventre – stomach
J’ai… - I have…	Il a… - He has…
Elle a… - She has…	J’ai mal au/à la/aux…(complete with a body part). – (Lit. I have pain at/in…) Example – J’ai mal à la tête. (I have a headache.)

La semaine de lundi, le 17 novembre

Les mots du jour

11/17
Génial	Great
Magnifique	Magnificent
Fantastique	Fantastic
Formidable	Wonderful
Je t’aime	I like you / love you

All classes will continue to learn and practice vocabulary for the body. Last week, we concentrated on recognizing the words and responding with a gesture or movement accompanied by "Voilà!".  In addition, classes practiced the pronunciation of each word.  This week,  students will complete a handout where they will label each of the body parts that we have learned.  We will also continue to practice "Tête, épaules, genoux et pieds" (Head, shoulders, knees and toes).

My fourth and fifth grade classes will begin learning additional adjectives to describe hair color and size.  Students in these classes are also going to memorize the fable "Le corbeau et le renard" by Jean de la Fontaine over the course of the next few months.  The fable will be introduced this week and they will begin learning the first two lines.

La semainde de lundi, le 10 novembre

Les mots du jour

11/10
Il fait chaud	It’s hot (weather)
Il fait froid	It’s cold (weather)
Zut!	Rats!
Chouette	Cool

Please note that the school will be closed for Veteran's Day on Tuesday, November 11. Consequently, I will only see my 3rd and 5th grade classes on Friday for our regular classes. However, this week's Wednesday classes will be the C sections for grades 2-5.  We will begin learning about the geography of France.

My 4th and 5th grade classes still have a few calendar presentations by students that were not able to present last week.  After completing the presentations, we will begin a new unit where we will learn vocabulary for the body.

My 2nd and 3rd grade classes will present their calendars this week.  Most students finished up their calendars and scripts last week.  As presentations are finished, these classes will also begin a unit on the body.

La semaine de lundi, le 3 novembre

Les mots du jour

11/3
Le soleil	The sun
La lune	The moon
Une fleur	A flower
Une montagne	A mountain
Il fait beau	It’s a beautiful day

My 4th and 5th grade classes will present their calendars this week.  We have used this project to combine our study of the numbers (1-30), the colors, the days of the week, the months, the seasons and a few expressions to describe weather.  Some classes may have time at the end of the week to begin working on the next unit - body parts.

My 2nd and 3rd grade classes will begin a calendar project on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Any that finish will present their calendars on Thursday and Friday.  However, most will probably need that day to finish and prepare to present the following week.

We will continue looking at the geography of France during our Wednesday cultural lesson this month.  In addition, we will learn about four of the most famous sites in Paris - la Tour Eiffel, l'Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame de Paris and le Musée du Louvre.