Week of April 20-24

Bonjour à tous!
I hope everyone continues to do well! The spring weather seems to have arrived we have been getting outside to enjoy it every day. 

Wednesday is Earth day "Le jour de la Terre." If we had been in school, this would have been our focus for the week. I challenge everyone to try and do something good for the Earth. Maybe clean up some litter in your yard or be more mindful to turn off lights when they are not needed. 
If you'd like to share what you did, I would love to see a picture (either on email or Google classroom.) 

Here are some learning suggestions for the coming days. 30 minutes of literacy and 15 minutes of math is the goal, although I am well aware that this is not always doable. Do what you can, and try to have fun! 

A note on Google classroom: I personally find the "stream" page disorganized looking. If you click on  "classwork"  at the top of the page in Google classroom, you will see the assignments organized by topic. 

Listening and Speaking:

1. Watch some videos and listen to some songs in French (on tabbed pages above) Discuss what you watched and heard with your parents or older siblings. Tell your parents what you liked or didn't like about the songs and videos using the French words you know.
2. Scavenger Hunt: Go for a walk around your neighbourhood and try to find the items on the "Scavenger Hunt." I have provided a new one for you on Google classroom. Be sure to speak French and practice the provided vocabulary and sentence structures."Je vois le ____", "J'ai trouvé un_____."
3. Listen to the story "Nous sommes dans un livre" by Mo Willems. My daughters had fun recording this read aloud for you! We hope you enjoy it. You can find this on Google classroom (shared with the permission of Scholastic.)
4. Fortune tellers/"Les coins-coins: I used to love these games when I was a child! Print off the pattern on Google classroom and follow the folding directions. If you don't have access to a printer, you could fold a piece a paper and write the text on yourself, using the fold lines as a guide. Use the sentence starters to practice speaking in French. I think the children will really like this activity! 

Reading: 
If you do nothing else this week, please try to read with your child and have them do some independent practice. Try the "Je lis, je lis..." site if you haven't logged on yet.

Don't forget to "jette un coup d'oeil"(take a sneak peek) at the cover/the first few pages and  make some predictions before reading. While reading always ask "Does this sound right?, Does this make sense? Does the word I just read match the letters on the page?  Don't guess at words! Use your reading strategies! I have posted some helpful information on Google classroom under the "Resources" topic. After reading, it is important to discuss the book in some way. Perhaps reread a favourite part, discuss the characters or retell what happened (beginning, middle and end.)

1. Sign on to the "Je lis, Je lis littératie site" and read one of the online books I have selected for you. https://jelis-free.rkpublishing.com/student   
2. When finished, do one of the following reading response activities posted in Google classroom.

• Roll and Retell
• D/M/F activity: draw or write what happened at Début, Milieu, Fin (beginning, middle, end) of the story.

Sight Words/Word Work:

1. Continue with Sight word cards from your homework bag. If you finish a set, email me and I will send you some new words to work on. These words need to be read quickly in a "click." Please keep the same set for at least a week before asking for new words. These words must be mastered, not sounded out. I now have digital versions of the "colour" sight word card sets. Let me know when you need a new ones!
2. Boom Cards: Play any of the sight word or word building decks I have assigned.
3. Spelling words:  dans, du, des (ami, avec, j'aime)                      Words in parentheses were assigned last week, but should still be reviewed. Children must know how to spell these words independently by the end of Grade 1.                       
4. Game suggestions for practicing sight words and spelling words:

• "Abracadabra!": Affix words to the wall or ceiling. Turn out the lights and use a flashlight to read the words.
• "Word Hunt": Write the words on flashcards and hide them around the room or even outside! Have your child find the word and then read it or spell it.
• "Surprise Bag" Place all words in a bag. Have your child draw a word card out of the bag. If they can read it in a "click", they keep the card. If not, it goes back in the bag.
• "Word Hop" Write the words on cards and place them on the ground a short distance apart from each other. Have your child jump from word to word reading them as quickly as possible. I can see this working well with sidewalk chalk on the driveway!
• Continue playing "Go Fish" with word cards. I recently posted a Go Fish reference sheet on Google Classroom, that will help parents to play the game in French (in the reference section of the "classwork" page.

Write words in different ways" using Scrabble tiles, letter stamps or magnetic letters on a cookie sheet. You could also cut letters out of magazines or cereal boxes or have fun writing the words on the driveway with sidewalk chalk.

Le Son de la Semaine: (Sound of the Week):  

 "oi" (pronounced "wa")

1. Use your pink song book and look for words containing the sound "oi." Circle or highlight the sound within the word. If you forgot your song book at school, it is now available in our Google Classroom under the "Resources" topic. Look on "classwork" page to see assignments organized by topic.
2. In Google classroom, there is a Slide presentation with a video outlining syllables, vocabulary words and a song with the featured sound. There is also the dice game "Lance et Lis."
3. Work on the new "oi" Boom cards I have assigned.

Writing:

Please let children try their best. Do not help them spell words. You can tell them the word, but they should orally slowly stretch the word out and write the sounds they hear.  They could also listen for the syllables in the word to help with spelling. There are several reference tools posted that will help with spelling of common words and special vocabulary words.

1) Earth Day/ Jour de la Terre sentences:  On Google classroom, watch the video where I present the book " Je peux aider la Terre." by Madame Angel (used with her permission.)

Use the following sentence model:
Pour aider la Terre, je peux __________. 

Copy and complete the sentence stating a way you can help planet Earth. Use the provided Earth day vocabulary or the ideas from the book I share in the video.

Examples" Pour aider la Terre, je peux planter un arbre.

Pour aider la Terre, je peux ramasser les déchets.

Illustrate the sentences and colour the pictures. Be sure to use proper capitalization, spacing, letter formation and punctuation. Be sure to reread your work to ensure that it sounds right and makes sense. It is important to share the writing with someone afterwards.

Extra challenge: Make several sentences on separate pages and create a book. Make a cover and create a book title. 

2) Boom Cards: Work on building simple sentences with the "Phrases Fantastiques" cards. Be sure to listen to the sentence first and then try to build it with the provided words, pictures and punctuation. The Easter deck is still there, and I added another deck with a food theme last week.

3) Earth Day themed "Write the Room" activity in Google Classroom: Print the vocabulary cards, or write the words out on post it notes. Hide the words around the room. Have your child find the word and then write it on the provided sheet (or any piece of paper.) This is extra fun if you have a clipboard! The children are familiar with this activity as it is a common one we use in class. This is also a great way to practice spelling words.

Math/Numeracy:

1. Create a "Doubles" booklet:  This was last week's activity. You could finish it this week if you have not had a chance to do it yet (see last week's blog post.)
2. Splash learn site: We are experiencing "technical issues" with our account. It seems as if our class has been "locked out", as nobody can log in anymore (myself included). I hope to get to the bottom of the problem very soon. I will email everyone when I hear back. I hope I won't need to issue new passwords etc, but that's a possibility.
3. Play a math card game: Game instructions under the "math games" tab. I have posted a new card game to Google Classroom "Addition War."
4. Work on the math-related Boom Cards: More new cards have been added this week for addition.  
5. Counting by 2,5,10: Collect a pile of Lego blocks, Shopkins toys, cereal, macaroni or any other small household object.  Have your child count the same pile of objects in three different ways (by groups of 2,5 and 10s). Repeat with a different number of objects. 
6. Doggie Doubles Bump Game:  Print or recreate the game board with a simple drawing. Instructions are on Google classroom. Instead of a spinner, you could play with dice. Roll the dice and double the number rolled. For example, if you roll a 6, you would double that and put your marker on the dog with the number 12 (6+6=12.)
7. Counting/naming numbers in French: Listen to the counting songs under the songs tab and try to sing along.

Boom Cards:

I have added some new decks for addition, for rhyming and for Earth day vocabulary.  https://wow.boomlearning.com/signin/student?req=login



Have a great week!
Madame