Janvier 2015La classe de mademoiselle cluff

Les galette des rois font par la classe de 6e année (« King’s Cakes » made by the Grade 6 class)

Bonne année ! Happy New Year!

2015 is well underway and I could not be more thrilled to observe such extensive growth within students in their French studies. Below you will find a brief summary regarding the past two weeks following the holidays, including some exciting news as to what’s to come in the upcoming months.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me via email (courtney_cluff@hotmail.com), and don’t forget to follow La classe de Mademoiselle on Facebook.

Best wishes for the New Year!Mademoiselle Cluff

6e année (Grade 6)

With the arrival of the New Year, Grade 6s began to explore some of the New Year’s traditions celebrated in France. La galette des rois (King’s Cake) is similar to a sugar pie and is traditionally baked with a bean in the centre. The person who finds the bean is declared the king or queen of the day and wears the crown to bring in the New Year. Grade 6 students did a fabulous job arranging the steps to the recipe in the correct order, writing out their own recipes to follow, and carefully planning which ingredients we would require. Last Thursday, students assumed the role of bakers and might I say the cakes turned out great! Although there were some mixed reviews on Friday, we certainly had a blast taste testing our creations, looking for the beans in each of the cakes, and even reading our most recent Pen Pal letters. Samson, Sarah, Kyndel and Kaitlyn took home the crowns as King and Queens for the day. This week, we have started our “Au café” unit that focuses on using French in authentic ways in order to place and take an order at a restaurant. This unit is in preparation for North Elmsley’s 2nd Annual Café Francais (date to be determined) and I am looking forward to allowing the creativity of the Grade 6 class to unfold in French class.

4e/5e année (Grade 4/5)

In the first week of January, students in Grade 4/5 completed a glyph (questionnaire) that asked students to create a snowman based on their answers to 6 questions. This was not only a fun way to create different kinds of snowmen, but it was also a great way for students to show information and practise following directions to complete a specific task. Using the snowmen they created, students wrote a descriptive paragraph where the focus was on including as much detail as possible. Seeing as students have been practising their writing through weekly journal entries, I have noticed a substantial improvement in sentence structure and overall use of French vocabulary, which has been great to see! This week students began a new unit on festivals and celebrations. We will be discussing Mardi Gras and Quebec’s Winter Carnival in the upcoming weeks; two influential celebrations in French culture.

Important Reminders:Dance Club Spirit DaysDancers in Grades 4-6 meet every Day 4 Spirit Days occur on the 2nd Wednesday of each at morning recess! month. February 9th-13th will be our “Favourites

Week.” Please see page 3 for details!

Les bonhommes de neige de 4e/5e année et 2e/3e année

(The snowmen created by the Grade 4/5s and the Grade 2/3s)

Page 2

Don’t forget to see page 3

for details on February’s Spirit Week!

respond and comment on more complex phrases in French. As students progress and begin to acquire a wide selection of words and phrases, it is so important that they are using their French during class time as much as possible in order to truly benefit from the French program.

Last week, students created snowmen of their own and completed a descriptive writing task that made use of the vocabulary being studied in class. As January continues, students will look at a book called, “La moufle” where our focus will be on identifying the “Qui” (“Who”),”Quoi’ (“What”) and “Où” (“Where”) in similar French texts.

La maternelle (Kindergarten)

I just love walking into the Kindergarten room and hearing students using their French to count and say hello, or even simply inserting familiar words into their daily conversations with one another. Students are so enthusiastic at this age and it is fun to share in their learning experience as the French teacher. In the upcoming months, we will continue to focus on using mostly non-verbal cues and short utterances to communicate in French. Students are beginning to understand short commands with gestural support and our songs will reflect the various themes of the season (i.e. seasonal changes, winter activities, and Valentine’s Day).

2e/3e année et 1ère/2e année (Grade 2/3 & Grade 1/2)

In both the Grade 2/3 and 1/2 classes, I have slowly begun to incorporate the French only rule. For the Grade 1/2s, this consists of asking and answering simple questions in French and using familiar greetings as students enter the French room. Similarly, the Grade 2/3s have been working diligently on practising new and familiar vocabulary in various contexts as a class, while also starting to

Frosty et la porte de la classe de francais (Frosty and the door to the French

Room)