HALF HOUR

M. Jaune visited the classes today. We built up his body with several parts, including la tête (the head), les cheveux (the hair), les yeux (the eyes), le nez (the nose), la bouche (the mouth), les oreilles (the ears), les bras (the arms), les mains (the hands), les jambes (the legs), les genoux (the knees), les pieds (the feet). We talked about when he has different parts missing, he can’t do certain things. For example, M. Jaune n’a pas de bouche. Il ne peut pas manger. Il ne peut pas parler. Il ne peut pas chanter. (Mr. Yellow doesn’t have a mouth. He can’t eat. He can’t talk. He can’t sing.) They were so attentive and enthusiastic about this activity. C’était fantastique!

“La neige tombe” is becoming quite an enjoyable song for the children. They now understand the difference between “frotte” (rub) and “frappe” (clap/tap) and are doing a great job when it’s their turn to sing the echo. Click here to listen to the song.

We played a new game this morning. Everyone got a card with a body part on it. We all stood up. I asked, “Qui a…?” Whoever had that part sat down. We played until everyone was sitting. I was impressed with how focused they were and how well they listened. It was a great way to review vocabulary.

EXTENDED DAY

Our folder work in the afternoon focused on the body parts. They had a sheet with various pictures and had to glue the correct word to the correct picture. It built on the lesson from the morning, showing them the written word. This lead to “Tête, épaules, genoux, et pieds,” a fun song to reinforce the worksheet.

We have decided which season each child will be responsible for in the play. In l’automne, we have Charlotte, Lucy, and Griffin. They worked on saying, “C’est l’automne. Il fait beau.” In l’hiver, we have Sawyer, Ian and Kaitlyn. They worked on saying, “C’est l’hiver. Il fait froid.” In le printemps, we have Andrew, Makenna and Hannah. Makenna was solo today since her two partners were out, but she did an excellent job.  “C’est le printemps. Le vent souffle.” Then, they are all l’été. They all said, “C’est l’été. Il fait chaud.”

We did an activity where they each had a photograph. They had to decide which season it showed. This helped to teach the names of the seasons, a huge goal for our play.

To get them moving a bit, we played something similar to “Monkey see, monkey do.” I call it, “Singe dit, singe fait.” I stated certain actions in French and they had to figure out what to do. You would have been pleasantly surprised with their comprehension.

We practiced some of the songs that we’ll be using in the play. I was very impressed by how far they have come. Merci à Ian… he was a real leader today. C’était fantastique!

I then read them a French story called “Le Nez de marmouset.” I will try to do this more regularly in our afternoon sessions. They did not understand all of the words, but by looking at the pictures, they got the general idea of the story. It is good for them to hear French in story form. They were wonderful listeners and really seemed to enjoy the story.

Merci et à la prochaine…

This month we focused on size, using words like petit (little), moyen (medium), and grand (big). By looking at pictures on cards, the children were able to decide which one was “petit” and which one was “grand.” We also used nesting figures to take it a step further, looking at “plus petit” and “très petit.” I was really impressed with some of the older children who are becoming more confident in pronouncing the words in French. It’s wonderful to see the progress.

We tried a new song, “Frère Jacques,” probably one of the most well-known French lullabies. We used “clochettes” to help them ring the bells during the song and used different hand gestures to act it out. This is a cute cartoon video to look at with your child.

We continued to look at numbers and colors through various games. Through dice and color matching, they are slowly remembering some of the words.

Merci et à la prochaine…

HALF HOUR

Today I had a “bonhomme de neige” in my “sac” with “trois boules de neiges.” We built him up and saw things like un chapeau noir (a black hat), deux yeux bleus (two blue eyes), un nez de carotte orange (an orange carrot nose), une bouche rouge (a red mouth), une écharpe rose (a pink skarf), deux bras bruns (two brown arms) and trois boutons verts (three green buttons.) I used words like “mettez” (to add) and “enlevez” (to remove.) They caught on quite quickly and really seemed to enjoy this activity.

We kept working on, “La neige tombe.” They are getting really good at doing the actions like “frotte” (rub) and “frappe” (clap/tap). What fun we’re having! Click here to listen to the song.

We ended with a game of Number Bingo, reviewing all of the numbers, 1 through 9: un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf. I said the number, showed them the number, held up my fingers and then they had to mark it on their card. They did a nice job using teamwork for this.

EXTENDED DAY

In the afternoon, we reviewed the song from the morning. We did it very slowly and they had times where they had to sing without me. We worked on pronunciation. Saying the “r” in French is nothing like any sound in our language. Often, children will say an “l” sound, which is not correct. If your child is interested in practicing this sound at home, you might use this set of directions to help her/him. You might even try it with your child to offer some encouragement. I’ll keep working on it in class, too.

We talked a bit about the play. Since it is a play about the seasons, we looked at which seasons they like the best. We looked at some of the key phrases from last week to see what they are most comfortable saying. They are all very enthusiastic and energetic about this. I don’t want to reveal too much at this point, but just know that we are having fun preparing.

We worked on “les pommes” which we will use as props in the play. While they colored, we sang some of our French songs. It’s such a wonderful thing to roam around the class hearing children singing in French while they work.

As children finished, they met me on the rug to review the names of the seasons and what objects are associated with each one. Once we were all seated together, we played a matching game with the cards and the names of the seasons: l’automne, l’hiver, le printemps, l’été. To hear them, click here.

Merci et à la prochaine…

HALF HOUR

We started our circle time with “le roi.” He came for a little visit since last Friday was La fête des rois, celebrated by many in France and other countries in Europe. Le roi had a little chat with me while drinking his “chocolat chaud.” He even had a few guimauves… what a treat to put those mini marshmallows into his hot chocolate. I opted for “le thé.”

I then introduced them to M. Pomme de Terre. The children always enjoy putting in the various body parts and taking them off. It’s a wonderful tool to teach them various French words: les yeux (the eyes), le nez (the nose), la bouche (the mouth), les oreilles (the ears), les cheveux (the hair), les bras (the arms), and les pieds (the feet.)

We started working on a new song for winter, “La neige tombe.” It’s all about the snow falling on different body parts and how we get very chilly, but by rubbing, clapping and stomping, we can warm up each part. Click here to listen to the song.

We ended with a game of “Je vois.” They always love to play games and this is a wonderful quick game to review colors.

EXTENDED DAY

In the afternoon, we started with a mini worksheet. They had to match the phrase to the correct season: Il fait beau. Il fait froid. Le vent souffle. Il fait chaud. We then worked on saying these. We will continue with speaking through the end of the year. Hopefully by May they will be confident when on stage in front of all of you.

We then celebrated la fête des rois. What a thrill! Since I wasn’t with them last Friday, the actual celebration day, I just had to do it with them today. We even invited Pat to join us because she heard that there would be food. We had a gâteau aux pommes. Inside the cake was a fève, actually an edamame. We divided the cake equally among all the children, Jen, Pat and I… ça fait douze! Since Hannah was the youngest in the group, she decided who would get each piece. Pat ended up getting the last piece and voilà, she got the fève. So, she was “le roi,” or in our case, the queen, I guess. Since she wouldn’t be with us for the entire afternoon, she graciously offered to pass her crown to an assistant. She had each child pick a number, un à neuf. The lucky winner guessed “huit” and voilà, the crown was passed to Griffin. She helped to lead our closing song by using “le roi” puppet. It was really a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures… I apologize about the lighting, the sun was tricky today!

We reviewed two of our four seasonal songs. They did a wonderful job with this. Certain songs really get them excited which is great fun to see.

In case you hadn’t figured it out yet, our play in May will be about the four seasons. From now until then, we will be focusing on everything related to the seasons and then we’ll tie it together into a performance for you. As things unfold, I will keep you posted.

Merci et à la prochaine…

In our home, we always have some kind of cake or sweet bread. I usually stick a jelly bean somewhere in the bottom. Then, we cut it into four equal parts. Whoever gets the piece with the bean is king (or queen, I’m often reminded) for the day. That person gets to be “in charge” for the day. I wonder what kind of new rules will be put in place. I’ll let you know tomorrow.

I can’t wait to hear your stories! I hope you have fun celebrating!

À la prochaine…

We also focused on a new song to the tune of Frère Jacques. It has a lot of repeating in it, so that helped them to sing along. It also uses fun hand gestures. They really got into it. Here are the words, for those of you who know a bit of French and want to try to sing it at home:

Papa Noël (2), Ho, ho, ho (2), Où est Papa Noël? (2), Il est au pôle Nord. (2)

Santa Claus (2), Ho, ho, ho (2), Where is Santa Claus? (2), He’s at the North Pole. (2)

To make sure that they are hearing spoken French, I try to use as much French as possible during our half hour together. This month, I even did a couple of skit, using finger puppets and props. They are always very attentive when I’m doing this. Even though they don’t understand all of the words, they are hearing French, and they pick up the general meaning through the props and actions. They are very fortunate to have exposure to a foreign language at a young age.

We continued to work on colors and numbers. That’s a concept that can be applied to any season of the year. We looked at Christmas balls, saying all of the different colors. We counted ornaments, too. We even tried using a spinner to learn the numbers 1 through 6. It was a lot of fun!

They should have come home with a “Joyeux Noël” sticker today picturing my puppet, Fleur, who sings with them each time I visit.

I hope you all enjoy your families and the holidays! I’ll look forward to more fun in “janvier.”

Joyeux Noël!

HALF HOUR

Today, “Nez rouge” visited the children. He was in search of Papa Noël. They finally figured out that Papa Noël must still be at “le Pôle nord.” Rudolph told them how excited he was when children left him carrots and how happy cookies and milk made Santa. It was a fun little story and the children were very attentive listeners.

We then played a game with a ball. The ball was covered with various pictures of the holiday words we’ve been using this December. I would say, “Où est… Papa Noël?” and whoever had the ball would try to find the picture of Santa. Every child got a turn and they rolled the ball so nicely. We saw un cadeau, un elfe, une couronne, un renne, un bas de Noël, une clochette, un arbre de Noël, Papa Noël, un traîneau, une chandelle. Some of the children really enjoy repeating these French words. C’est fantastique!

We then sang “Vive le vent,” for the last time. It might be fun to play it during the holidays for your guests. The children definitely know the first part so they might just sing along. Click here to listen.

I then had 10 different “peek-a-boo gifts.” On the top of each flap, was the name of the object in French. When I opened it, inside was a picture of the toy that Santa had given. It was so great to see their excitement and hear them say these French words. We saw:  a truck = un camion, a doll = une poupée, a train = un train, blocks = jeu de cubes, a book = un livre, a drum = un tambour, a teddy bear = un nounours, a jack-in-the-box = un diable à ressort, a ball = un ballon, and a wagon = un chariot

We ended by practicing how to say Merry Christmas in French. It’s on their little Fleur sticker that they hopefully brought home. Joyeux Noël!

Enjoy your families, the holidays and hopefully a little break from the ordinary. I’ll see you all in January!

EXTENDED DAY

In the afternoon, we practiced “Nous allons au bois” and “Vive le vent.” This extended day group has really come a long way since the start of the year. It is great fun to watch their progress.

We then played a puzzle-type of game. They each got a piece of a Santa picture that I put out on the work rug. As I named the parts, they got to put the part in its proper place.  They did a wonderful job with this.

To continue our study of the seasons, we played Bingo. We have associated a certain picture with each month of the year. For example, in “janvier” (January), there is a picture of a “flocon de neige” (a snowflake). I named the object, let them think about it, and then showed them a picture of it if they needed help to find it. We then played a second time, switching up the boards. Each child had the chance to pick a card and say the word. I was very impressed with how well they handled that challenge. It was a fun way to learn and review vocabulary.

We also played a memory game using all of the holiday words that we’ve been learning in the morning. Again, this is a fun tool to reinforce vocabulary. You would be amazed at their retention of these words!

I had promised them that we would try to finish Simon & Barklee before the holidays. We did it! While enjoying a “canne en sucre,” we ended our journey in France. We all decided that we would like to travel with this bird and this dog. Ask your child about our final discoveries.

Joyeux Noël à tous!

Merci et à la prochaine…

HALF HOUR

Papa Noël, the finger puppet, visited the children once again. This time, he had a little girl, Sylvie, chatting with him. She was talking about all of the things that she hoped to get for Christmas: un nounours (a teddy), une poupée (a doll), un toboggan (a slide), un train (a train) et des livres (books). They had a nice conversation about being good and helpful at home. The children really enjoyed this little dialogue.

Today I brought in a big “sapin.” Each child picked a colored ornament: rouge, orange, jaune, vert, violet, bleu. As I called a color, the children had the opportunity to help decorate the tree. The younger children are slowly learning their colors in French thanks to our older children who help them along.

We then continued singing “Vive le vent,” a popular carol in France. In case you haven’t had the time to check it out, this is a cute version of the song if your child is interested in hearing it at home.

We got to see our holiday words again this week. Using various picture ornaments, we played a matching game. Each child picked out a picture from “le bas” that was passed around the room. I then laid out all of the objects on a work rug. We played a matching game while saying the words. We saw un cadeau (a gift), un elfe (an elf), une couronne (a wreath), un renne (a reindeer), un bas de Noël (a Christmas stocking), une clochette (a little bell), un arbre de Noël (a Christmas tree), Papa Noël (Santa), une chandelle (a candle.) They did a wonderful job playing this matching game.

It’s hard to believe that we have only one more French class in 2011. Wow! I’m looking forward to celebrating again with them all next week!

EXTENDED DAY

In the afternoon, we had some more fun with the seasons. We tried a new game today. Many of you might remember playing telephone as a child. This game is similar to that. On the work rug, I laid out various pictures that are associated with the different months of the year. We stood, spread out, in the room. I whispered a word to the first child. She then whispered it to the next child, and so on. The last child had to pick out the picture that matched the spoken word. This is a fun way to have them practice saying words and remember their meanings.

We then spent some time reviewing all of the songs that we have done so far this year. I am really impressed by their retention and enthusiasm in singing these songs.

Afterwards, we worked on a holiday worksheet. It focused on four words: Papa Noël (Santa), les jouets (the toys), le bonhomme de neige (the snowman), and le sapin (the pine tree.) They had to cut and paste the word to the picture. What a nice job they did with this activity!

We ended with some Simon & Barklee where they traveled to the woods in search of truffles, a well-loved delicacy in France. They certainly are getting their fair share of French food! We’ll hopefully finish our travels with Simone & Barklee next week. What fun we’ve had exploring France with them!

Merci et à la prochaine…

We started class by singing “Vive le vent.” They really got the hang of it towards the end and had a lot of fun using “les clochettes.”

Afterwards, I put on a little puppet show for them using “le bonhomme de neige” and “Papa Noël.” Papa Noël was trying to decide which type of transportation to use. Le bateau? La voiture? Le vélo? or le traîneau? Le bonhomme de neige came to the rescue leading him to the correct vehicle.

We then played a memory card game using various seasonal pictures: Papa Noël, la couronne, le renne, l’elfe, le traîneau, la clochette, les chandelles, l’arbre de Noël and le bas. As we turned over the cards, we said the name in French. It’s a great way to reinforce pronunciation. We also played the “hide an object” game that we’ve done in the past. They always seem to enjoy that one!

Since today was the last class of the session, we had a bit of a celebration. They got to try “une crêpe” and “un biscuit au sirop d’érable.” It isn’t always easy to try new foods, but some of them gave it a chance and liked it. C’était très bon!

We had our last chance to look at “la maison.” I’m really proud of them for their eagerness to try to speak French while doing this activity. They were all so supportive of one another. C’est fantastique!

As a congratulations, they got a L’ÉCOLE de NICOLE magnet. They also had a surprise gift… la Tour Eiffel for their tree.

It’s been a pleasure working with these children. I hope to see them again in the future.

Merci et à la prochaine…

HALF HOUR

Their slippers and shoes were put out by the “arbre de Noël” in the entry. They left little pieces of “carotte” for the horse that St. Nicolas traveled on. When I got to French class today, we went to check if St. Nicolas had stopped by. The carrots were gone and a note was left, “Merci pour les carottes! –St. Nicolas” and little treat bags were in each of the children’s shoes. Quelle surprise! When we all came back to circle, we opened the little bags: un crayon, un cahier et 3 morceaux de chocolats!!! Everyone got to enjoy one piece right away. What a treat! Hopefully everything else made it home safely.

Once we settled back down, I put on a mini puppet show for them. Papa Noël and le bonhomme de neige were trying to figure out which vehicle was best for Papa Noël to use. Should he use la voiture? Non. Le vélo? Non. Le bateau? Non. Le traîneau? Oui, bien sûr! Le bonhomme de neige helped to steer Papa Noël towards the correct choice. With a little bit of “magique,” Papa Noël flew off and everyone cheered, “Au revoir, Papa Noël.”

I started to teach them “Vive le vent,” a popular carol in France. Click here to listen to a cute version of it at home. It’s to the tune of Jingle Bells, but really doesn’t have the same meaning. It’s about the cold winter, snowballs and happy  new year to Grandma! We’ll continue to work on this through December.

We then focused on some holiday words. Using various ornaments, we worked on trying to say the following: un cadeau (a gift), un elfe (an elf), une couronne (a wreath), un renne (a reindeer), un bas de Noël (a Christmas stocking), une clochette (a little bell), un arbre de Noël (a Christmas tree), Papa Noël (Santa), un bonhomme de neige (a snowman.) I then called different children up to the work rug. They had to figure out which object I was talking about. We also pointed out various colors on each of these. Litte by little, these colors are clicking with the younger children. We’ll continue to look at these holiday objects over the next couple of weeks. They might just surprise you by saying them in French when you’re out and about this holiday season.

EXTENDED DAY

In the afternoon, we started out by practicing our song that uses sign language. They have mastered the signs and certain words. C’est magnifique! We also practiced “Vive le vent” from the morning. I always look to the extended day children to lead the younger children. I’m hoping that they will be great leaders in the next couple of weeks.

Afterwards, we continued working on the seasons. We focused on various objects that represent each month of the year. Building on last week’s worksheet, we played a game of Memory with cards. We started as a large group, playing together. Then, we split the deck and split the class. They really had to focus, listen and repeat to play this game. We’ll be seeing these words a lot over the next few months. My hope is that they will be able to learn the month names in French by the end of the year. If you’d like to hear the correct pronunciation of the months in French and help your child to learn them at home, click here.

We ended with a bit more of Simon & Barklee. They visited le Mont St. Michel. If you’d like to look at some pictures with your child, this is a wonderful site. They also went to the Loire Valley and Tours. Those animals certainly do get around! The children really seem to be enjoying this story. I wonder where we’ll travel to next?!

Merci et à la prochaine…