The French language class is primarily an auditory based program. The children learn through songs, games, movement, literature and role playing. The 1st and 2nd graders begin their day with a journal entry that they are responsible for illustrating and reading aloud. The Kindergartners begin French class with a letter focus. We practice vocabulary using that letter, illustrate the vocabulary and work on our fine motor skills by writing that letter. We transition to our calendar routine with a clean-up song before we chant, move and sing the date, days of the week, months of the year, weather, colors and numbers. The 1st and 2nd graders have show and tell time and have an opportunity to discuss favorite objects in French. We use adjectives to describe our objects and the kids ask and answer questions in French. For the Kindergartners, we bring in objects to discuss and we make rhymes, chants and movements to coincide with their interests. As we transition to our Unit theme (refer to guide below) that corresponds with our social studies benchmarks, we will often times listen to a story that coincides with the topic at hand. We activate prior knowledge, discuss vocabulary, check for comprehension, repeat and act out parts of the story. We then play a game that supports our theme. The children learn to follow directions in French and create art projects and books using classroom language in French.

 The objective for the Kindergarten class is to stay in French without translating, and to have the kids use the French language with each other as much as possible. We expect them to move from the receptive language point to the constructive point. We help them find and piece together vocabulary to use that they have already learned.

After a literature unit, students in Kindergarten use pictures to retell many of the stories we study. 1st and 2 nd graders change story lines and characters to make their own versions of the stories we hear. The kids always have an opportunity to get up and speak in front of the class. Our main goal is to create an environment in which children feel free to take academic risks and be comfortable speaking in another language in front of their peers.

Click on the "Play" button to listen to what's going on in the French primary class.

Click on the "Play" button to listen to the French intermediate class.

Overview of Topics:

Although the topic vocabulary is used in context during everyday teaching and learning experiences for the children, we have determined that the following will be the areas of focus as well as assessment in the sequence below:

August: Rules, commands, basic greetings & days of the week.

September: Months of the year, numbers 0-10, school materials, family and colors& seasons (fall).

October: Influential people from French speaking countries, shapes & Columbus Day.

November: Celebrations, Veteran's Day, citizenship, sea animals, farm animals, pets & communities.

December: Celebrations, weather, seasons/winter.

January: Food, body parts & Martin Luther King Jr.

February: Black History Month, President's Day (Abraham Lincoln and George Washington) & the U.S.A.

March: Clothing & seasons/spring.

April: Our earth, flowers & plants.

May: House & transportation.