Lower School French

French in Reception and the Lower School

                                                

The new Reception children are enjoying their first French lessons this term.  They are becoming readily engaged in the language through songs, rhymes, stories and the use of toys and puppets.  They are learning how to count and recognise colours and to greet and tell a friend their name in French.  They are also beginning to understand simple phrases and instructions, and activities involving actions help ensure the language is embedded well.  Over the course of the year, they will learn words for animals and parts of the body as well as vocabulary and customs relating to seasonal events.  A particular highlight of the year will be “Le Petit Déjeuner Français”, the Reception French Breakfast in the summer term, when a real taste of France will be experienced in their very own classroom!

The Lower School children, from Year 1 to Year 3, continue to respond enthusiastically to the course “La Jolie Ronde”.  Again, songs, rhymes and stories play an important part in their learning and interactive whiteboard activities and games further reinforce each topic.  Role play situations encourage them to practise their speaking and listening skills and by Year 3 simple conversational skills are developing well, with children able to ask and respond to a range of familiar questions.  There is an increasing emphasis on reading and writing abilities too and the Year 3 pupils have just taken up a new language-learning challenge in their French IT lessons in the form of Vocab Express to help develop these skills.  At the end of each term, one child from each year group 1 to 3 is chosen to be awarded a medal for consistent effort or progress, while in Year 3 a “Star of the Week” is selected each Friday and receives the “Etoile de la Semaine” certificate.

French Club takes place every week too.  This term so far, a group of Year 1 children have been reinforcing what they have been learning in lessons by making and using their own little puppets as conversational aids.  Further games, stories, role play and craft activities will follow as this enthusiastic little group proceed happily along their language-learning path!  “Bravo les enfants!”

Mrs Holder

Year 5 Dans la Foret

Year 5:  Dans la Forêt

On Tuesday Oct.18^th both Year 5 classes enjoyed an afternoon in the fresh air for their French Forest School session.  They had previously learned about the famous French snack, the Croque-Monsieur – where did it originate, what are the ingredients and what does the name mean?  Now it was time to create their own version and test it out!

Voici les ingrédients:  du pain, du beurre, du jambon, du fromage

Working in groups of four, each pupil had a chance to butter the bread, ready to make this “inside out” sandwich.  Then children took turns to grate the cheese and assemble the sandwich.  Each group took their plate across to Mrs.Plant and waited patiently for their turn to fry their Croque-Monsieur to a golden crispy brown.  Miam miam!

And what does the name mean?  MR.CRUNCHY!

Bon appétit!

Les Super Six

Les Super-Six!

Les Super-Six had an opportunity during Open Morning to practise and extend their language skills.

The range of activities included:

• ·       Using flashcards to build up basic conversation skills
• ·       Playing snakes and ladders, using their knowledge of French vocabulary to solve the clues and avoid les serpents
• ·       Sharing a colourful picture of la maison and working out which characters were in which rooms
• ·       Playing a variety of board games, including scrabble and supermarket dash
• ·       Selecting a suitable French carol ready for Christmas – nous allons chanter cette chanson à Noël!

Well done, Super-Six! Bon effort!

Mrs.Wroblewska

Salut!

It was lovely to meet so many parents on the recent Parents’ Evening. Many of you asked for a weekly update of our lessons so that you could share the learning experience: well, here goes… Y4 have been learning more food nouns and verbs. They can find games, videos and vocab practice on www.bbc primaryfrench. Select the topic food and away you go! Y5 are looking forward to next Tuesday’s French Forest school where they will be making croque-monsieur. If you look at the website above, there is also a section on French food. Y6 have started to put together their knowledge of time with school subjects to understand timetables. Have a look at the above website, but select the “School” topic. There you will find vocab, games and videos to top up your knowledge.

Mrs. Wroblewska