Air and water unit - flashcards, word wall words, worksheets, bang cards, etc.

Here are some of the cards from my air/water activities (also in English). 

These are cards you can use in a Science centre. Your students can sort them into "air" and "water" categories, or you can use them in your word wall. 

We sorted these into a pocket chart together: 

Here are some of the word wall words... 

I chose a few to start out with in our Science word wall. 

Here are some of the worksheets... 

Last week we went on a water hunt around our school. These are some of the water sources we found in the neighbourhood! I've made them into flashcards, and there is a worksheet to take with you on your water hunt! 

These cards are for learning/practicing the water cycle. Each of the 4 steps have 2 images that go with them. Your students can put the steps in order and match them to the description: 

These images are to start conversation - What do your students see in the pictures? How do they relate to air and water? 

These are for sorting into different food chains. What happens to a food chain when something is taken out of it because of pollution? What happens to the animal at the top of the food chain? 

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Les Niveaux

In class right now we are working on stretching/bumping up our sentences! We started by putting some sentences  in order based on what level we thought they should be.  

Using our fall vocabulary, I had my students come up with examples for each level so they really understood what level what was. Since we have done a lot of activities with our fall words, they were able to really play around with them and put them into sentences easily. 

I also noticed a big difference when they were speaking afterwards in class - some of them were making a great effort to stretch their sentences by adding more words to what they were saying. 

Then we wrote a story together as a class using our Halloween vocabulary. I wrote it on the board (words and pictures) and then the students tried to describe/retell our story in French orally (in partners). 

We started looking at different ways that we can start a sentence, so that we don't always have "Je vois..." sentences. Here are some of the sentences we are starting with... 

Do you use a "bump it up" wall in your classroom? I'd love to hear your ideas! 

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Je joue avec les mots

Today we rotated through some French centres! A nice way to end the week :) 

Here my students hunted for sight words with a magnifying glass:

Here they played bang - but they boys chose to also write down their words! A great extension for students who have mastered their Halloween vocabulary already. 

What games do you have in your centres?? 

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Fall writing sheets

Today we started using some writing sheets with specific vocabulary to guide our writing. 

We wrote the first one together on the board to get some practice in. Then some of my students tried the second one on their own, while others stayed with me to write another one together. 

It was a really great quick assessment for where they are in their writing abilities (e.g. using capital, periods, checking over their work), and also to see what vocabulary they are still having a hard time with (i.e. the students who are coming up to ask what each word means). 

It was also great practice for using our word wall. Many students were asking how to spell words that are already up there, so it's a new skill we need to get in the habit of using :) 

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Small group instruction - what do you do?

I do lots of different things when I pull small groups, depending on what we are working on/needs of the group that I am pulling. Today I pulled students in groups of 2 and we worked on basic vocabulary development. 

First we went over the flashcards together - I had them repeat the word as we looked at each card. Then I put 3-4 cards (from our BANG games) out in front of them and said a word. The student who hit the correct card first got to keep that card as a point. Then I replaced it with a new card. We went through all of our fall vocabulary cards, and then reviewed them again one at a time after the game.

What do you like to do with your small groups? 

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Sight word flashcards

I am going to use these when I pull my students to work in small group on their sight words. They're a bit more fun than just a flashcard with the word on it. I added the sentences and images to give them some context. 

Later in the year I am also going to use them in pocket charts as a mini word wall, but not until we start doing more writing. 

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Nos dictionnaires personnels

My kids are just starting to write in French for the first time this year. Some of them have been doing this on their own for a while (thanks to Daily 5!), but for others this is a BIG step. 

To build into it gradually, we have been doing guided writing. We talk about different things, brainstorm on the board together, and put together journal entries together (like our Social Studies Celebrations journal). 

When we write in our journal, we go step by step. I have some kids who go on ahead without us, but for the most part we write sentence by sentence together. It was really exciting on Friday to see that some kids who previously have given a lot of resistance are now totally open to the idea. (They told me this is thanks to our "brain music"! The classical music I play during work times)

They have writing folders (that we also use for Daily 5) with journal pages. At the front is a personal dictionary with some key vocabulary they might need (e.g. days of the week, clothing, weather). 

It was really neat last year to look back at their journals and see the progress they made over the year! 

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J’aime l’automne parce que…

We did this activity today as a way to practice making sentences with our fall words. As a class we decided that our goal would be 8 full sentences each. We also decided that they had to be entirely in French for it to count as a sentence. 

They were excited for the challenge!!! 

I like to have them quickly draw something because it's a visual prompt for them when they are sharing their work with a friend or with me. The more they draw, the more ideas they have for their sentences. 

Because we set a goal, most of them were able to hit 8 fully FRENCH sentences!

Here are some of the great drawings they did.. 

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Les cinq au quotidien

We are working our way up to do all of the "5" from Daily 5. At this point we are doing "Je lis tout seul" and "Je joue avec les mots". My students love all the games we play, so letting them choose on their own means less of the "je lis tout seul". 

I pulled out the Halloween matching game that I made. My students matched them up (yay reading!) and then they used them as writing prompts. They chose a vocabulary word and wrote a sentence on the mini whiteboards.

The great side effect of free choice with the "je joue avec les mots" centres is that they sometimes create their OWN version of the games we have! 

One of my students took our question cube and decided to play it on his own - and write out his answers! 

The boys in my class LOVE playing "bug in a rug". Our expectation is for FULL sentences, when asking and answering (since they know the vocabulary from grade 1). 

One of the girls in my class used our sentence magnets to write about rabbits! 

Then she drew a picture of what she wrote. 

Here is a picture that one of my students drew. They can draw on the whiteboards as long as they write a sentence to go with their drawing.

One of my students loves making paper airplanes! Here is the sentence he wrote about his airplane.

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