Le serpent de vent

Today we talked about different ways that we can make wind (with our body, with hot air, etc). 

I boiled a kettle (it works best if the kettle has a lid you can lift up/off to make a wider spout of hot air) and held the wind snake over the kettle. My kids were VERY impressed! 

We then took the wind snakes outside and they got to experiment with the wind. It was not very windy outside, so they ran around and made their own wind.

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Le son /a/

We started learning the sound /a/ this week. We are using a short simply poem, and also brainstorming more /a/ words. 

Today we made a class book, using the ideas from our poem as inspiration. I helped them write their sentence so that we can use the book in the class. They LOVED seeing their own work in the class book, it was a hit! I will read the book a few times this week to review the /a/ sound and some /a/ words. 

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Terry Fox: La persévérance

Here is a great song we have been learning as a class in honour of Terry Fox, to prep for the Terry Fox run at our school. 

My kids love it! 

There is some great real footage in the youtube video as well for them to watch. 

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Notre eau polluée!

We have started our year off with the study of air and water. My classes LOVE science, and couldn't wait to get started with an experiment.

I found these containers at Dollarama. I like them because half of the lid opens up, so the kids can smell the water without taking the lid off the jar. I also learned the hard way last year - it's hard to clean the containers after this experiment! So using my empty fish tank was a bad choice...

With each class, we found garbage and leftover food from lunch time. I also added oil, because we talked about what it would do to feathers and fur. I stuck a feather in each of the jars as well so we can look at that over time.

We have only had them for a few days and they already smell horrible! The kids understood the importance of protecting our water very quickly!

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French sentence making activity

I have two copies of this activity printed in my classroom. The first I backed with magnets, and the other I just laminated. 

My kids like to choose this activity during their word work time. They make a sentence with the magnets on the whiteboard, and then draw their sentence beside it. 

The other set they use to make sentences on the carpet or their desk.

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Les certificats

We think that it's important to give our students (earned!) recognition for their accomplishments.

We made these and use them when a student has truly earned one. There are a variety of different certificates to choose from... I like to hand 1 or 2 out every few days, but not on a set schedule, so I keep them on their toes :) 

How do you recognise great effort/work in your classroom?

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La communication orale

Our main goal is to get our students TALKING in French. This is a game that we play in small groups...

I took a cube (from a teacher supply store) and put in different conversation starters for each side. The kids toss the cube, and say and sentence based on the side that lands face up. My boys love it because of the "throwing" element!

What games do you play with your kids to get them talking in French?

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Fall flashcards and vocabulary games

We started introducing this new vocabulary to our classes this past Monday - since it's (somehow!) already fall!!

This year I am trying to include lots of verbs with the vocabulary, so that they pick up more than just the nouns.  

I made this pack - it includes: 

- Word wall words (i have them in my writing centre)

- Fall word search activity 

- Fall word scramble

- Fall journal writing prompt - "En automne, j'aime" (I am going to use it as a class book) 

- Class book page 

- Loto/Bingo - 7 boards, and playing cards 

- Bang! cards

My class is loving the "loto" and "bang" games. I am playing loto in small groups with them while the rest of the class is doing their "5 au quotidien" activities. To make both games harder, I have the students use the words in a full sentence. 

Also - A Spanish version!

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Les continents

We recently had our Open House and our students had the chance to show their families around our classrooms.

We decided to take a map and have the parents place stickers while they were here...

- One colour for where they are from (the students)
- One colour for where the parents are from
- One colour for where the grandparents are from



We have not started our study of the continents yet, but having this up in the classroom is a fun way to start building our classroom community. It will also be great when we start that unit to show where all of our families are from!

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Art - lignes et les mains

Right now in art we are looking at different types of lines. We decided to have the students trace their own hands and then show all the different lines that they know on their hand.

Our students did a wonderful job, and their hands looked great up on the walls for our Open House!

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Mon centre d'écriture – Writing prompts:

I often struggle to find wall space in my classroom, so I decided to keep these writing prompts on small paper instead of an anchor chart.

I keep these sheets on my writing centre table. They aren’t attached to anything, so students can also take them to their desks to use.

Do you have anything in your writing centre that your students love?? 

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Les jeux de compréhension – lecture

To have my students think about what they are reading, I have them play this game.

They take a ring of cards, and choose one to read. Then they draw what they read on the whiteboards (which they LOVE doing). It also works well for any students you may have who are book-phobic!

I attach the cards together with metal shower curtain hooks from the dollar store (they last way better than the round rings you can buy). 

Later on in the school year, I use the template sheet and have my students write their own simple sentences that I laminate and add to our game! 

Here is a version that uses our fall vocabulary words! 

How do you practice/assess reading comprehension with your class?

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Je joue avec les mots - Matching/Fill in the blanks

Here is another game that is in my « Je joue avec les mots » centre. I have all of these pictures and words in a box, and the students need to match up the pairs. The pictures are fun, and the students get their reading practice at the same time. They can match them up in a pocket chart, or just lay them out on the floor/their desk. 

If your students are more advanced, try this fill in the blanks game. 

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Loto – les mots fréquents

What games do you like to play to practice sight words? I use this set here.

My kids have tried:

-         -  Bug in a rug - Hide the bug under your cards. The student who guesses the card (pronounced correctly) with the bug underneath it gets to hide it the next time.

-         -  Memory – choose a handful of cards, flip them over. When a student correctly flips over a matching pair, they get to keep that pair. We play that they can only keep the pair IF they can say the words correctly.

-          - Loto – One person plays the bingo caller (or they can take turns pulling the bingo cards form a bucket). They have to repeat the word (to get them talking) before placing the token on their board. They love shouting “Loto!” (even though we keep playing when they get loto). You can use anything as your "tokens" (pasta shapes, small blocks, bingo chips, etc). 

What do your kids like to play?? 

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Mon centre d'écriture

I use my writing centre during Daily 5/Les cinq au Quotidien. My students have lots of choice... 

- They can write on plain lined paper
- They can write in our themed class journals (I like these ones from TPT). Also available in English!

- They can write using themed vocabulary sheets (I like these ones from TPT) 

- They can write the room (find vocabulary around our classroom to write down) 

What do you have your students do? 

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Les Cinq au Quotidien

Have you tried it in your classroom? 

We have, and we love it! Because of the time constraints in a French Immersion classroom, we do NOT do it every day. Our goal is that our students get Daily 5 once a day, in EITHER French or English. This way they are still getting daily practice time to improve their literacy skills. 

There are many challenges, but we find the reward is worth it. The students learn how to independently choose their activities, how to work independently or in small groups, and how to manage their time effectively. 

While this is happening, it also frees up the teacher to work in small groups!! It gives your class valuable work that they can do (instead of busy work) while you are able to pull kids for focused support. Win-win!

I just printed and laminated the fall games here. I have been pulling my students to practice the "loto" activities in small groups. I have the students repeat the word after me before they place their token on the picture. The groups that are more advanced have had to say a sentence before placing their tokens on the picture. 

My students LOVE getting to play with the teacher. I played 2 games with each small group (3-4 kids), and got through my entire class in the 2 block period. It also allowed me to take notes on where they are right now with the new vocabulary for fall. 









What do YOU think? We'd love to hear your thoughts on this.... 

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