DAC Intermediate French Weeks 3-4

Bonjour à tous !

These past two weeks, we started off by targeting some of the harder to pronounce sounds in the French language last week and the letter combinations that yield these sounds. In particular, we touched upon these following nasal vowels:

/ɑ̃/ – “an” and “en” as in blanc and doucement
/ɛ̃/ – “in” and “ain” as in un cylindre and la main
/ɔ̃/ – “on” as in bon and marron

I did not use IPA symbols with the kids, but I am including them in this blog for reference. In addition to the nasal vowels, we reviewed the pronunciation difference between the French “e” and “u.” The “u” sound in French is especially difficult. The IPA symbol for this vowel is /y/, and it is pronounced by puckering the lips and bringing the tongue forward. We also went around the room talking about how our own names would be spelled and pronounced in French. Chloe (Chloé) soon became the source of envy for the class, as she is the only one who can claim an accented letter on her French name!

We spent three days on letters and pronunciation. Starting last Thursday, we had a change of plan and began covering dates and the months of the year instead. We introduced the lesson by telling and drawing out our birthdays using the expression je suis né(e), which means “I was born.” The parentheses indicate that the second “e” is used only when the subject is female.

Chloé est née le 17 novembre.



Alee et Corrie sont nées le 11 décembre.



Miles est né le 24 février.



Sam est né le 29 avril.



Henry est né en août, mais il a voulu garder son dessin, donc je n’ai pas eu l’occasion de prendre une photo. Il a néanmoins créé un autre dessin le lendemain. Cette fois-ci, il s’agit de mars, et pour illustrer le mois de mars, il a dessiné la fête de la Saint-Patrick.

This week, we continued where we left off by covering the seasons of the year. On Monday, we introduced the seasons using a video and a song. During the subsequent days, we covered about a season a day by looking at relevant vocabulary, identifying objects outside, and going over a mini storybook that I wrote myself. Friday was a review day. To review, I said a word and told the kids to either draw, write, or translate the word on a piece of paper and then bring the paper to a designated area. The student who did this the fastest got a point. For the terms for which the meaning was obvious, I had them spell out the word as the only option.

The winner was…Alee! Sam was a very close runner-up. These two were well ahead in the game, but Chloe, Miles, and Corrie all did excellent as well and received several points each. All of the kids are winners and deserve praise for their participation.

Here is a list of the words we covered this and last week:

Les mois de l’année: janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin, juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre
Les saisons: le printemps, l’été, l’automne, l’hiver
Au printemps: la feuille, la fleur, la pluie (il pleut), la planche à roulettes, le cerf-volant
En été: aimer, jouer au foot, le soleil, la glace, la plage, les vacances, j’ai chaud (il fait chaud)
En automne: un arbre, une feuille
En hiver: la neige (il neige), j’ai froid (il fait froid), le Noël, le Nouvel-An

Voici une chanson que vous pouvez montrer à vos enfants pour mieux apprendre les saisons et les termes qui y sont pertinents.

While I doubt the students retained every word, I will make a mental note and keep using and reviewing these terms as well as those covered previously. In the mean time, I have begun writing the date and day of the week on the board every morning so that the kids would automatically look at it. This coming week, our class will be learning about school supplies, which the beginner class covered this past week. Many of the intermediate kids have friends and siblings in beginning French, so it would be nice if our two classes are roughly on the same track. It would give the friends and siblings a chance to talk about it with each other.

Merci bien!

DAC Beginning French 2014-2015

Bonjour parents!

I have been sending emails with the information that will now be more easily found here. I will post what we've learned in class as well as how you can practice this with your children and various ways to obtain extra practice such as youtube videos or other websites with fun French activities.

This week in class we did a lot of fun things. We revisited colors and numbers (I will provide information on how to review this at home easily). We also learned the alphabet in French and words that start with each letter. The last thing that we did in class was that I read them the French version of "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" ("Poisson Un, Poisson Deux, Poisson Rouge, Poisson Bleu"). This week was very informative but a lot of repeat information, which made it kind of hard for the children to focus. When we did hangman today I was thoroughly impressed with their ability to remember the words and sounds for the letters, so although they didn't like the process the end product was great!! They asked to sing the alphabet song every day, which got a little tiring for me twice a morning each morning, but was great for them to continually practice sounds and have a way to remember it for potentially the rest of their lives!

Here is [most] what we have learned in class so far: (*Note the kids know the phrase "comment dit-on ____ en français/anglais" "How do you say ______ in French/English" so this could be a very helpful tool for vocabulary learning!!)

• Greetings such as "bonjour" "salut"  "bonsoir" and "bonne nuit" as well as "ça va?" and the responses to that "ça va bien/mal/comme ci, comme ça."
  They also learned how to say "Je m'appelle ____" ("My name is _____"). The leading question to that is "Comment t'appelles-tu?" (What is your name?) which they are barely beginning to comprehend.
• Other Basic Words such as monsieur, mademoiselle, madame and the differences between those. Also "merci" "de rien" "s'il vous plaît".
• Colors  Red = Rouge, Orange = Orange, Yellow = Jaune, Green = Vert, Blue = Bleu, Purple = Violet, Pink = Rose, Black = Noir, White = Blanc, Grey = Gris, Brown = Brun. (Here is a video with some examples on pronunciation; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf35SWejyig)
  A really good way to practice this is to ask constantly "what color is that?" about their shirt or anything around them. In French this would be to ask "C'est quel couleur?" (a really informal but easy question.) (pronounced sey kell coo-lure?)
• Numbers  1-100, I regularly practice with them however after 50 counting can get a little tricky (Here is a video for practicing the numbers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgFJ6JV7lKY) A good question to practice with this would be "Il y a combien?" / "How many are there?". We also practiced "Quel âge as-tu?" "How old are you?" and the answer "j'ai __ ans" / "I am __ years old". 
• Last thing that I can think of is the alphabet - This is the link for the song that we practiced ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkFXGlHCn_o. Words highlighted on the list below are ones I did not write the term down when we went over it in class. I am providing alternate words that the kids may not know, and which we will go over on Monday.
  A - abeille, avion             N - nez, neuf
  B - ballon                         O -  oiseau, oeuf                            
  C - camera, chat               P - parapluie, pomme
  D - deux, doigt                 Q - quatre, question
  E - elephant                      R - requin
  F - fleur, fille                    S - soleil (sun)
  G - gâteau                         T - tomate (tomato)
  H - hibou, horlage            U - un
  I - île, iglou                      V - vache
  J - jupe, jus                      W - wagon (train car)
  K - kangorou                    X - xylophone 
  L - lion, livre                    Y - yaourt (yogurt)
  M - main, mouche            Z - zèbre (zebra)                                 
• We also worked on in class commands and how to say "I need help/I need water".

I am sure there are more things that we have learned in class, however these are the main things we work on daily. In the week coming up we will be learning school supplies and/or family words and practicing the concepts we've learned so far. I plan to do a lot of activities with coloring pages and movement so that it isn't just me speaking to them the whole time and they can have a lot more of an opportunity to do things that will help them remember the concepts we learned.
 I would like to stress to please drop your children off on time so that we may get the maximum amount of work done as possible. There have been some problems with this this last week in particular.

These kids have been such a pleasure to work with so far, and are helping me learn just as much as they are! It's a wonderful experience day to day, and a great way to start off each morning. If you have any questions or concerns at any time feel free to contact me at missracheltalk@gmail.com!

Merci à tous, et et j'espère que tu peux pratiquer le français avec vos enfants!!!
Rachel Martin

 

Intermediate Spanish- Week 1 and 2

Hola, parents! 
My name is Cynthia, and I am the new intermediate Spanish teacher at the DAC. I plan to update  my blogs to keep you all up to date with the topics we are covering in class and everything that we have learn so far. Also, I will provide helpful links every once in a while if you would like to give your child extra practice. The first two of weeks, have been great. Getting to know your children has been amazing and appreciate your children's patience as we get the hang of things. The first week we had the beginning and intermediate class together just to evaluate their levels and see what they already know. My class knows quite a lot already, which I could not be any happier. So far, we've covered greetings, commands, colors and shapes. 

First week:

The first day we had a picture day. Analy, the led teacher made out a picture frame and we took everyones picture. We plan to do this again, at the end of the year.

Introduction phrases (“my name is ___, I am ___ years old, I am from___”

Actividades: Los estudiantes hicieron “self portraits” con las frases indicadas

-Jugamos con estas frases jugando con una pelota. Cada estudiante le tiraba la pelota a otro estudiante y tenia que escoger un frase para decir

-Introducion de (Hello, goodbye, good morning, good afternoon)

-Introudion de commandas ( Sit down, raise your hand, make a circle, how do you say?, no entiendo, I am sorry,  can I go to the bathroom)

Activadad: Jugamos Simon Says 

For Mexico's independence day we had the students do an art project that reflected Mexico culture

Viernes- Jugamos jeopardy para repasar todo la materia del la semana. Hice tres diferente categorías (con puntos cada tarjeta) con preguntas. Les pregunte como se decía ciertas cosas en español. Por ejemplo, (cuando te le levantas que es lo primero que le dices a tu papas?- Buenos dias) Divide los estudiantes en 2 groups y los deja usar  los “buzers” para responder. Los ninos/as se divirtieron mucho con el repaso ya que también hubo un pequeño premio para los ganadores.

Second week:

 Reposamos el vocabulario de la semana pasada

-Introducción de colores básicos (red, orange, yellow, green, blue

-Actividad: Los estudiantes dibujaran objetos/cosas del color indicado 

-Introducción de figures ( Square, rectangle, triangle, circle, pentagon, octagon, hexagon, rhombus, diamond)

Actividad: Los estudiantes hicieron sus propias figuras con “contruction paper” para jugar. Puse las figuras en el piso y ya les decia cual figura pisar. El que no tenia una figura, esta fuera del juego. Los niños de divirtieron mucho con esta actividad ya que se estaban moviendo  y aprendiendo a la misma vez.

Activity: I had the students made an art project with the shapes that we covered . They all had the cut the shapes, color them and had to describe the shape in spanish/or say something about the shape .

The students had so much fun playing race with shapes. I had all the shapes put up in the wall and I had them race. I will called out a shape and whoever will bring up the card with the correct shape got a point. 

DAC Intermediate French Weeks 1-2

Bonjour à tous !

My name is Jade, and I am the new intermediate French teacher at the DAC. I plan to update this blog frequently to keep you up to date with our class. I will also provide links to videos and songs if you would like to give your child some extra practice.

The first couple of weeks are always the toughest, and I appreciate you and your children’s patience as we get to know each other. The topics covered in beginning and intermediate French are similar, so one of the challenges for me has been to evaluate their levels to see what they already know. Most of the kids have decent pronunciation and word recognition. Unaided production and complete sentences are more difficult for them, however, and I will seek to target these aspects further in the days to come.

So far, we've covered greetings, commands, colors, and shapes. For greetings, I especially tried to target the ones they do not already know, like à bientôt. The kids were also introduced to basic commands while combining with the beginning class in a game of Simon says, and I took it a step further with my own group by differentiating between the singular and plural forms and by adding the verb épeler (to spell) to the list. The kids are not interested in relearning the alphabet in its entirety, so I will be working it into other lessons, either by asking them to spell out words in French or by playing hangman, which they seem to enjoy.

This week, we worked on colors and shapes, and I am pleased to say that by the end of the week, most of the kids have demonstrated decent mastery of these words. To facilitate the learning process, I showed two videos in class. Here are the links:

Les couleurs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaaSprb0IXk

Les formes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xb_QzaqxmA

The great thing about the color video in particular (aside from the catchy tune and the odd cartoon man) is that it differentiates the feminine and masculine forms of the color adjectives by pairing them first with the noun voiture (feminine) and then with camion (masculine). This differentiation is something that most of the kids understand but have not been able to put into practice, so it's great to introduce something that would expose them to these forms naturally.

Another color video with more advanced vocabulary, French lyrics, and the translation:

To conclude, here is a list of some of the words we covered over the past two weeks:

Greetings: bonjour, bonsoir, bonne journée, bonne soirée, à bientôt, à tout à l'heure, à plus tard
Commands & Questions: levez-vous (lève-toi), levez la main (lève la main), asseyez-vous (assieds-toi), sautez (saute), dites (dis), répétez (répète), calmez-vous (calme-toi), épelez (épelle), comment dit-on
Colors: rouge, orange, jaune, vert(e), bleu(e), violet(te), marron, blanc(he), noir(e), rose, foncé, clair
Shapes: un cercle, un carré, un triangle, une étoile, un rectangle, un cube, un cylindre, un cœur, un croissant, un losange

Overall, these two weeks have been a process of discovery, both for me and for the students. It has been fun to see their individual personalities emerge little by little, and I will use this to our common advantage by formulating my lessons plans in a way that works best for each of them. If any of the children voice any comments, concerns, or opinions (both good and bad) at any point in time, feel free to let me know either via email or by leaving a comment here as I am always seeking ways to improve!

Merci bien!

Profesiones y otros...

Ultimamente hemos trabajado en el tema de profesiones. Aqui hay algunos de los trabajos de los niños.

 Disfruten!

Translating parents' professions into Spanish

Medicine-related profession puppets

Environment-related professions

Science-related professions

Review of article

Reviewing vocabulary related to each article. This poster is about LA

EL - In pairs the students drew and wrote words that can use that article.

LOS

Review of body parts

Every child received a body part vocab in Spanish, and he/she had to paint it

Final result after putting all parts together!

Pioneer Elem- Beginners Spanish February 2014

Hola padres,

We hope everyone is doing great! For the month of February, we learned a lot about yummy foods in Spanish!

The kids learned about dairies, meats, fruits and vegetables, beverages, and ways of ordering food in a restaurant in Spanish. The kids had fun playing "Cruze la montaña si te gusta ...."(Cross the mountain if you like...), a guessing game where the kids had to guess the name of the image, a racing game where the kids had to race with a plastic spoon in their mouths trying to keep the plastic food from falling to the ground, the food pyramid twister game, and hang man on the white board.

To test their knowledge, Maestra Daisy and I combined classes and assigned them restaurant roles. They were also shown a visual demonstration of a restaurant setting and along with its vocabulary. Their roles consisted of a cook, a customer, a waitress or waiter, a cashier  etc. Attached below is the image and vocabulary if you want the kids to practice at home.

And here are pictures of the in class activity: Pretending to be in a restaurant setting.

Finally, we celebrated a birthday this month. Happy 10th Birthday Alex!!! The kids sang the happy birthday song in Spanish and played "twister" as suggested by Alex. They had lots of fun and received party treats. 

If you all have questions or concerns, please let us know. Thank you parents for being awesome!

Maestra Auri & Maestra Daisy 

Beginners Spanish @ Pioneer Elem- Month of January 2014

Hola parents!!!

The month of January was filled with unmeasurable excitement!!! Not only because the activities were exciting but because the kids returned to class from a very relaxing winter break. They were truly missed!

Okay, quick summary of the events that month:

During week one, the kids learned about the various body parts in Spanish and had fun playing with post-its as we pretended that our body parts were replaced by post-its. I had the kids write each body part on post-its and paste them on each body part. The fun and laughter came in when we pretended to be movie characters or act out scenes in movies that caused certain post-its to fall off. This gave the kids an opportunity to use their imagination and act as though their boca (mouth) or their pierna (leg) fell off. Also, as they worked practicing the body parts they had the opportunity to incorporate numbers in the activity by pointing out how many ojos (eyes), orejas (ears), dedos (fingers), etc they had.

As another review the following week, I had the kids watch three videos of song animals in Spanish but incorporating the body parts by asking them to point out certain dance moves and the body parts involved in them. The three songs were: "El baile del gorila", "el baile del sapito", and "el baile del perrito". The link to the one of the videos is posted below in case the kids want to listen to the song at home. For some reason the other two videos could not load.

Enjoy!

Maestra Auri