Our first week was a whirlwind! I took the kids through our various routines and transitions, getting them familiar with the rhythms of the day in grade 1. I familiarized them with the new classroom so they know where to find things. I asked the kids to draw and write about what they're hoping to learn and do in grade 1. The kids presented their pictures and ideas and we compiled a list of what we want to learn. Our read-aloud books were by Dr. Seuss (Green Eggs and Ham, and 1 Fish, 2 Fish), familiar books to most of the kids. We recited nursery rhymes ("comptines") they knew from last year, and I taught them a new one ("Moustique 1, Moustique 2").
We began reviewing all the alphabet letters in order. This week we did a, b, c and d. For each letter, we talk about what sound it makes, and brainstorm French words beginning with that letter. I write each word on the board and illustrate it. Then I teach the proper (most efficient) sequence and direction of strokes to form the lower case letter - in grade 1 the kids will be shifting to writing in lower case and learning when to use capital letters. The kids practice writing the letter on whiteboards on the carpet and I give corrective feedback. Then they go to the tables and practice the letter more on a letter practice sheet. Once that's done, they choose one of the words from the board to write and illustrate. We make a poster of all these words to hang on the wall over each letter for the school year.
I will be teaching the gestural phonics system of Borel-Maisonny. This system has a hand gesture for each sound in spoken French, and was introduced to me by Mme Alma. It helps kids isolate the sounds in language (phonemic awareness) before proceeding to choose corresponding letters. The gestures also relate to certain letter shapes. For a quick idea of the system, check out this link:http://ecolereferences.blogspot.ca/2011/10/gestes-borel-maisonny-gestes-bm-tableau.html.
This week we learned the gesture for the sound "ah." We will be learning the vowel sounds first. We talked about what vowels, consonants and syllables are, and began learning this little tune for learning the vowels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXPUmC51wGc. Beware: this tune is very catchy!
We began learning the routines of "Daily 5", the reading program we use at Lord Lansdowne. It's a great approach that promotes choice and independence for the kids, but demands a high level of responsibility in terms of managing themselves. We learned how to do independent reading, which involves choosing books, finding a spot to sit ALONE, reading quietly to yourself the whole time, and then returning to the carpet at the sound of the bell. We practiced this as a class for 3-4 minutes at a time, and next week we will build our stamina to be able to do it well for longer. While the kids were reading, I had a chance to read with some of them and gauge their reading skills.
In math, we reviewed the number names to 20. We named numbers on the carpet, we played a circle game rolling a ball and naming numbers, and we played number bingo.
I reviewed "10 frames" with the kids, and we talked about each number in relation to 5 and 10. I flashed the 10 frames quickly and asked the kids how they knew the quantity without counting (subitizing - an important skill to develop). We did an activity where the kids each had a card with a number from 1 to 10, and I flashed a 10 frame and those kids with that number had to quickly stand up. We did the same with numbers to 20, where I projected images of a collection of dots and the kids with that number stood up. At the end of the week we played the card game "war" in partners, which requires the kids to identify which number is the larger of two numbers.
We had a long discussion about how we want our classroom to be, and the kids agreed that we come to school to learn and that we want a safe and calm classroom. For this discussion, I took the kids into a different classroom and we spoke together in English. I will do this occasionally when we are talking about subjects that are important for everyone to clearly understand. The kids suggested a number of different rules to keep our classroom safe and calm. The next day I suggested we make a book of classroom agreements (a term I prefer to "rules") so that we can remember them and all give each other friendly reminders about them. I had translated the ones we had discussed, so we reviewed them and the kids each chose an agreement to illustrate. These will be pages in a book we can refer to and add to throughout the year, as things come up.
The week ended with "heure de jeux", an hour of free play time at the end of every Friday. The kids look forward to it all week and it allows for more social bonding to happen among class members. It also gives me some leverage, because that play time must be earned and I take away minutes of play time when people don't follow our agreements! It was lots of fun to see the kids exploring the new-to-them toys and games in the classroom.
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