K-2 French Update Week 8

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

We will do a brief unit on adjectives, and we will wrap up with a day about Paris and its culture and monuments. I just want to take a moment to say how amazing it has been to watch your students grow. I developed most of the curricular material for Kindergarten myself, and it is wonderful to see the results I have seen as they continue to surprise me with every session.

1st Grade:

We will wrap up the current unit on family and review that vocabulary on the final day.

2nd Grade:

We will continue to work with the family vocabulary, and should finish the lesson by Monday, our last class session. The most recent quiz will come back to you this week, and there will be no more quizzes for the rest of the quarter. You will not need to sign and return this quiz.

I hope this finds you all thriving during the end of the year, and looking forward to a fun summer vacation. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for the outpouring of love I received last week during Teacher Appreciation Week. While working hard to finish the year strong, it was a timely reminder of why I teach, and more importantly, why I have decided to continue teaching at Great Hearts.

I wish you all the best, and let's finish the year strong!

Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Week 7

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

This week we will continue working with the clothing vocabulary from last week. During the last two weeks of school, we will begin learning adjectives.

1st Grade:

This week we will begin learning some new family vocabulary. I will post again soon with that vocabulary.

2nd Grade:

We will have a quiz on Wednesday, May 10th, on the lesson about brothers and sisters. Please see my previous blog posts for the vocabulary that your student should know for this quiz. On Thursday, we will start a new lesson about other family members and other prepositions. This vocabulary will be posted shortly.

2nd Grade French Quiz

Bonjour!

Since 2nd grade has a field trip on Monday, May 8th, which was the original quiz date, I will be moving the quiz to Wednesday, May 10th. If you have any further questions about the quiz, please let me know via e-mail at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org.

Toute la meilleure!
Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Q4 W6

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

This week, we will start learning about clothing vocabulary and some basic phrases surrounding clothing. I have listed the vocabulary below:

Une jupe: a skirt
Un pantalon: pants
Une chemise: a dress shirt
Un chemisier: a blouse
Un short: shorts
Les chaussure: shoes
Un chapeau: a hat

1st/2nd Grade:

We will continue working with the lesson on brothers and sisters. In addition, they are learning the phrase "Il/Elle n'a pas de soeurs." ("He/she does not have any sisters.") This is an important construction for negative sentences in French. Please look at the examples below:

J'ai des ciseaux.
I have scissors.

Je n'ai pas de ciseaux.
I do not have scissors.

When the sentence is negated, the indefinite article (un/une/des) preceding the direct object is replaced with de. Below, I have included examples with un and une.

J'ai une trousse.
I have a pencil case.

Je n'ai pas de trousse.
I do not have a pencil case.

J'ai un stylo.
I have a pen.

Je n'ai pas de stylo.
I do not have a pen.

Please note that this construction only applies to the indefinite article. When the original phrase uses le/la/les, the negative phrase will also use le/la/les because these are definite articles that indicate a specific thing.

**2nd Grade Only**
There will be a quiz a week from Monday, on May 8th. The quiz will cover the vocabulary listed in my last post.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to me at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org. I hope this finds you at the end of a restful weekend, and I look forward to seeing the students again tomorrow!

Toute la meilleure,
Mme. Ruchames

Vocabulary for 1st and 2nd Grade

Hello,

We are learning to talk about how many brothers or sisters you have. Below, I have listed the vocabulary and some key phrases that appear in the lesson:

Un frère: A brother
Une soeur: A sister
Je n'ai pas de frères: I do not have any brothers.
Je n'ai pas de soeurs: I do not have any sisters.
Je m'appelle: My name is . . .
Elle s'appelle: Her name is . . .
Il s'appelle: His name is. . .
J'ai: I have
Elle a: She has
Il a: He has

If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out to me at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org.

K-2 French Update Q4 W5

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

We will be wrapping up animals this week and moving on to clothing the following week.

1st Grade:

This week, we will start learning about members of the family. Vocabulary will be listed in next week's post.

2nd Grade:

We will also be starting the lesson on family members. Quizzes will be returned sometime this week, so please make sure you sign and return the quiz. I send them home to ensure that parents have seen not only the grade, but also the areas in which their child might need to improve.

I hope this finds you all having a restful weekend!

Toute la meilleure!

Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Q4 W4

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

This week we will start learning domestic animals and wrap up the story we have been working with to learn animals.

1st Grade:

We will be reviewing and wrapping up the lesson on household objects and prepositions this week. Please see my previous posts for the relevant vocabulary if you would like to review it with your child.

2nd Grade:

On Monday, we will review the material on household objects and prepositions, with a quiz this Thursday, April 20th. We will complete a review in class on Monday that should help your student study for the quiz.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org. I hope you had a lovely weekend, and I look forward to seeing the students tomorrow!

Toute la meilleure,

Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Q4 W3

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

This week we will continue working with animals and combine that knowledge with the previous unit on preferences. Your students will be learning how to say which animals they like on Tuesday, and will have a day to rest and relax on Friday!

1st Grade:

This week, we will wrap up prepositions and bedroom objects with a brief review coming up next week.

2nd Grade:

We will wrap up the book activities for prepositions and bedroom objects this week, followed by a review on Monday, April 17 and a quiz over this unit's vocabulary on Thursday, April 20. Below I have listed the relevant vocabulary:

Le lit: the bed
Le bureau: the desk
La chaise:the chair
Le coffre: the (toy) box
Les jouets: the toys
Le mur: the wall
sur: on top of
sous: underneath
dans: in/inside

As usual, feel free to reach out to me at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org with any questions. There is also a subscription box at the top of the page that I would invite you to use so you can receive updates directly to your e-mail. You just need to enter your e-mail address and then click the confirmation link. I hope you all have a lovely weekend, and I look forward to seeing your students tomorrow!

Toute la meilleure!

Mme. Ruchames

2nd Grade Homework Guide 4/6

Bonjour!

Tonight's homework should be fairly straightforward, but just in case, the student needs to write the correct name of each object on the line. There is a word bank underneath the image. In addition, their quizzes will be coming home in the black folders tomorrow, and I would like to see all of them signed by a parent or guardian and returned by Monday.

As always, feel free to reach out with any additional questions via e-mail at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org.

K-2 French Update

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

This week we will be starting to learn animals in French. Listed below is the vocabulary we will use:

Le cygne: the swan
La girafe: the giraffe
La tortue: the turtle
La poisson: the fish
Le cochon: the pig
Le lapin: the rabbit
Le pingouin: the penguin
L'ours: the bear
Le rhinocéros: the rhinoceros

In addition, we will be learning a new song, the link to which I have posted below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7ipjEOdceM

1st and 2nd Grade:


We will begin learning how to talk about the interior of the house and personal objects. At the end of the week, we will also begin to learn prepositions. Below, I have listed the vocabulary we will use for this lesson:

Le lit. the bed
La chaise: the chair
Le coffre: the box
Les jouets: the toys
Le mur: the wall
Le bureau: the desk

I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend, and I look forward to seeing the students again on Monday!

Toute la meilleure,
Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Q4 W1

Bonjour tout le monde!

I hope everybody enjoyed their spring break to the fullest, and I look forward to coming back after a good week of rest. This week, we will be tying up some loose ends and moving right into new material as we quickly approach the end of the year!

Kindergarten:

We will be reviewing the fruits and then moving into preferences. Your student will be learning how to say they do or do not like something during this brief unit.

1st Grade:

We will be reviewing the vocabulary about the house and places where you live in order to wrap up the lesson. Next week, we will move on to household objects.

2nd Grade:

We will review the rooms of the house and places where you live, followed by a brief quiz on Thursday. Below is the vocabulary your student will need to know for the quiz:

à la campagne: in the countryside
à la mer: by the sea
à la montagne: by the mountains
en ville: in town
une maison: a house
un appartement: an apartment
la cuisine: the kitchen
la chambre: the bedroom
le salon: the living room
la salle à manger: the dining room
le jardin: the garden
la salle de bains: the bathroom

As usual, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org. I hope you enjoy your Sunday, and I look forward to seeing everyone again tomorrow!

A plus!
Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Q3 Week 11L

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

This week we will be finishing up the fruit vocabulary to wrap up the quarter. Please see last week's blog post for relevant vocabulary.

1st/2nd Grade:

We will be wrapping up the current lesson on the house and places where you can live. Below is the vocabulary we will have by the end of the week:

Une maison: a house
Un appartement: an apartment
A la campagne: in the country
A la montagne: in the mountains
En ville: in the city
A la mer: by the sea
La cuisine: the kitchen
La chambre: the bedroom
Le salon: the living room
La salle à manger: The dining room
Le jardin: The garden
La salle de bains: The bathroom

When we return from spring break, 2nd grade will have a review of this material followed by a quiz on Thursday, March 30th.

I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful, sunny weekend!

A plus,
Mme. Ruchames

2nd Grade Homework due 3/13

Bonjour tout le monde!

For this week's homework, there are a few different parts. First, the student needs to connect each image with the phrase describing that image. We will be using vocabulary that they have learned and written in their French notebooks.

The second section is just a brief paragraph about themselves. There are cues for the sort of answer I am looking for inside the parentheses. They will be writing about their name, how old they are, where they live, and what they like to do.  This second part does incorporate some vocabulary from previous lessons.

The third part simply requires the student to use the correct form of aimer (meaning "to love/like"). This should be in their notebooks as well, but I will provide it below:

J'aime: I like
Tu aimes: You like
Il aime: He likes
Elle aime: She likes
On aime: We like (informal)/one likes
Nous aimons: We like
Vous aimez: You (plural or formal) like
Ils aiment: They like (masculine or mixed masc. and feminine)
Elles aiment: They like (feminine only)

I hope this finds everyone enjoying the sunny weekend, and I look forward to a great week before spring break!

A plus,
Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Q3 Week 10

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

Since I was out sick on Friday, we will be starting the fruit vocabulary mentioned last week this week. Below, I have attached the link to a video that might be helpful to play with your student in order to reinforce the vocabulary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brDdfUAkfTs&list=PLzvm3N3P7TcqnRuGLuffXrchdLIfkoIcR&index=14

1st Grade:

We will be starting a unit on the household this week, specifically about different places where you can live. Vocabulary for this will be posted next week.

2nd Grade:

I would like to remind everyone that tomorrow's quiz will be brief and will only cover the vocabulary from the past unit. That can be found on my previous post about the 2nd grade French quiz. On Wednesday, we will start the last new lesson of the quarter about places where you can live and the house in general.

I hope this finds everyone doing well, and please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org!

A plus!
Mme. Ruchames

2nd Grade French Quiz Monday

Bonjour tout le monde!

Just letting you know that there will be a brief French quiz this upcoming Monday. In preparation, your student should study the following vocabulary:

jouer à la marelle: playing hopscotch
jouer au ballon: playing ball
jouer à cache-cache:playing hide-and-seek
jouer aux billes:playing marbles
sauter à la corde:jumping rope
lire sur un banc: reading a book on a bench

There will be a word bank, so your student should be able to recognize these words, but does not need to be able to spell them from memory.

I hope this finds everyone having a lovely week!

A bientôt!
Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Q3 Week 9

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

This past week we started learning some general food vocabulary, which can be found on the "Frigo" worksheets your students brought home. Moving forward, we will start learning specific fruits. Below is the new vocabulary for this week:

Une pomme: an apple
Une orange: an orange
Des raisins: grapes
Une banane: banana
Une pasteque: watermelon
Une poire: a pear
Une fraise: a strawberry
Une mangue: a mango

1st Grade:

This week, we will be wrapping up our current lesson on recreational activities in Les Loustics, We will then be reviewing the French alphabet and working on a project describing what each student does and does not like to do.

2nd Grade:

We will also be wrapping up the current lesson in Les Loustics. Please keep in mind that there is homework due Monday, and then test corrections will be due Thursday. This time, students are welcome to do their corrections on the original test, but if they would like, they may request a fresh copy. If your student still needs to make up the test, he or she will need to submit a signed test with any necessary corrections a week after receiving the test. If a student scored 20 or less out of 31 points, he or she must do corrections.

I hope everyone has enjoyed a relaxing weekend, and I look forward to seeing your students this week!

Best,
Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Week 8

Bonjour tout le monde!

This week, we will be starting new material in Kindergarten, and continuing with last week's new lesson in first and second grade.

Kindergarten:

After an enjoyable time learning about the members of the family and household vocabulary, this week we will be learning some basic food vocabulary. The words we will be learning are listed below:

Je voudrais...: I would like...
J'ai faim.: I am hungry.
J'ai soif.: I am thirsty.
Des oeufs: eggs
Le fromage: cheese
L'eau: water
Le lait: milk
Le yaourt: yogurt
Des fruits: fruit
Le pain: bread

1st Grade:

This week, we will continue learning how to talk about recreational activities. The vocabulary is listed below:

jouer à cache-cache: to play hide and seek
lire sur un banc: to read on a bench
jouer aux billes: to play marbles
jouer à la marelle: to play hopscotch
sauter à la corde: to jump rope

2nd Grade:

Due to make-up tests and the fact that we lost a day to the long weekend, the tests will come back next week. Corrections will be due a week after they are passed back. For the current vocabulary, please see the list above under 1st grade.

I hope this finds you all doing well, and I look forward to another week of joy in learning!

A plus,
Mme.Ruchames

K-2 French Update Week 7 (Q3)

Bonjour tout le monde!

I hope everybody is enjoying the warmer weather as we quickly approach the end of the third quarter. It is hard to believe just how much time has gone by so fast!

Kindergarten:

This last week, we worked on solidifying the home and family vocabulary, and we will continue to work with this through next week. After that, we will be introducing food vocabulary, leading into a unit on expressing preferences toward the end of the year.

1st Grade:

We will wrap up the lesson on school activities this week, and then move into vocabulary for recreational activities. Vocabulary for the new lesson will be listed on next week's blog post.


2nd Grade:

We will conclude our study of classroom activities with a test on Monday, and then move into a unit on vocabulary for recreational activities. The test will cover the verbs from the past two lessons (the verbs having to do with classroom activities), changing un/une/des or le/la/les into mon/ma/mes, and the conjugation of avoir. 

Please feel free to reach out to me at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org with any additional questions, and I hope everyone has a lovely week!

A plus!
Mme. Ruchames

**2nd Grade Only** Homework due 2/9

Bonjour tout le monde!

Since the homework tonight involves writing out the words for each number, I thought I would provide a refresher on how to spell the numbers.

1: un
2: deux
3: trois
4: quatre
5: cinq
6: six
7: sept
8: huit
9: neuf
10: dix
11: onze
12: douze
13: treize
14: quatorze
15: quinze
16: seize
17: dix-sept
18: dix-huit
19: dix-neuf
20: vingt

In addition, please remember that there will be a test on Monday, February 13th. Please feel free to reach out with any further questions at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org.

A plus!

Mme. Ruchames

**2nd Grade Only** Homework due 2/8

Bonjour!

The homework that was distributed today is modeled on activities we have been doing together in class over the past week or two.  It simply requires the student to change positive sentences into negative sentences and vice versa. Please note that the only part that will change is whether the main verb is "aime" or "n'aime pas." I have included examples for both possible scenarios on the homework itself, but here are a couple more.

Positive to negative:
Léo aime chanter. >> Léo n'aime pas chanter.
Léo likes to sing. >> Léo does not like to sing.

Negative to positive:
Alice n'aime pas chanter. >> Alice aime chanter.
Alice does not like to sing. >> Alice likes to sing.

I hope this helps! If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to me at gruchames @archwaylincoln.org.

A plus!
Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Week 6

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

We will be continuing to practice with the family and house vocabulary throughout this week. Please reference my previous blog post for any vocabulary you might want to review with your student at home.

1st Grade:

This week we are wrapping up the second unit in Les Loustics, which talks about preferences. In the coming weeks, we will begin learning about family members and body parts.

2nd Grade:

This week we will be wrapping up the second unit in Les Loustics, and preparing for a test a week from today. The test will cover numbers through 20 (please make sure they study the numbers in written form), the verbs from the past few weeks, the days of the week, and changing negative sentences into positive sentences. All of these are readily available in prior blog posts.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to me at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org. Have a wonderful week!

A bientôt!
Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Q3 W5

Bonjour tout le monde!

I hope everybody had a lovely weekend and got a chance to enjoy the outdoors as things are warming up a bit!

Kindergarten:

This week we will continue working with family vocabulary while introducing vocabulary around the house. We will be talking about different rooms and learning how to say where someone is. Below, I have posted some of the key vocabulary we will be using:

Elle/Il est dans _________________ : He/she is in _____________________ [insert room here]
La cuisine: The kitchen
La salle de bain: The bathroom
La salle de séjour: The living room
La chambre: The bedroom

In addition; last week we learned "La famille tortue" to practice family vocabulary. If you would like to play this song at home or continue learning it with your child, here is a link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR6rlXT67wY

1st/2nd Grade:

This past week, we began a new lesson that focuses on expressing what we like to do. Below are the relevant expressions so that you can practice them with your student at home if you so desire.

J'aime: I like to __________________.
Je n'aime pas: I do not like to _______________.
aller à l'école: to go to school
compter: to count
chanter: to sing
réciter des poésies: to recite poetry
chanter: to sing
faire du sport: to play sports
être avec des copains/des copines: to be with friends

In French, you use j'aime or je n'aime pas with the infinitive (the forms listed above). Examples of infinitives in English would be "to run" or "to swim." Essentially, infinitives express the action without assigning a particular person who is doing the action (often referred to more technically as person and number). Below are a couple sample sentences to help you understand how to put these phrases together:

J'aime aller à l'école.
I like to go to school.

Je n'aime pas réciter des poésies.
I do not like to recite poetry.

French uses ne . . . pas to negate verbs. In order to form this, you simply place ne before the verb and pas after the verb. Below is another example. The first sentence is a regular statement, and the second sentence is the negation of that statement.

Je danse.
I dance.

Je ne danse pas.
I do not dance.

Il peint.
He paints.

Il ne peint pas.
He does not paint.

If there is any remaining confusion, please do not hesitate to ask. There will be homework due Thursday for **2ND GRADE ONLY**. If you have persistent difficulties helping your child with any assigned homework, please encourage them to come see me in the morning before school or during Lyceum. I am also available to answer any questions via e-mail at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org.

A demain!

Mme. Ruchames

2nd Grade French homework due Thursday 1/26

Bonjour tout le monde!

I hope this finds all of you enjoying the nice, cool weather. Our homework this week is similar to activities we have been doing in class, and continues to build on concepts from the current lesson.  For the first part, your student simply needs to write the number out in word form using the word bank at the bottom of the worksheet.

On the other side, your student will reproduce the conjugation of avoir, which they should have copied in their notebooks. If, for some reason, they did not do so, here is the conjugation below:

Avoir- to have

J'ai: I have

Tu as: "You have"

Il/Elle/On a: "He/she/one has"

Nous avons: "We have"

Vous avez: "You (plural or formal) have"

Ils/Elles ont: "They have"

The final portion of the homework simply asks the student to select the correct form of avoir to fill in the blanks. As usual, please feel free to reach out via e-mail at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org, or call the front office and they can direct you to my phone line.

Bonne soirée à tous!

Mme. Ruchames

K-2 French Update Q3 W4

Bonjour tout le monde!

Kindergarten:

Unfortunately, last Friday's class was cancelled due to rescheduled MAP testing, so this week we will be starting the unit on family members. We will continue reviewing older concepts as well, such as days of the week and months of the year.

1st/2nd Grade:

This week we will wrap up the lesson on classroom actions and start learning to express preferences. Vocabulary for this new lesson will be posted later this week.

As usual, do not hesitate to reach out with any questions via e-mail at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org. I hope this finds you enjoying a pleasant weekend.

A bientôt!

Mme. Ruchames

Homework due 1/23 **2ND GRADE ONLY**

Bonjour!

I just wanted to briefly explain the homework that your child will be bringing home tonight. There are two parts. For the first part, the student must add the numbers and write out the correct number on the line. Please note that there is a word bank at the bottom of that page. Below are the words for numbers 13-20 written out:

treize: 13
quatorze: 14
quinze: 15
seize: 16
dix-sept: 17
dix-huit: 18
dix-neuf: 19
vingt: 20

For the second part of the homework, found on the back side of the page, the student must put the days of the week in order. Please encourage your student to try on their own before giving them the answers, but I have included below the days of the week in order.

Lundi: Monday
Mardi: Tuesday
Mercredi: Wednesday
Jeudi: Thursday
Vendredi: Friday
Samedi: Saturday
Dimanche: Sunday

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail me at gruchames@archwaylincoln.org, or your student is welcome to come by my office on the second floor of the classroom building Friday or Monday morning after 7:40

K-2 French Update Q3 W3

Bonjour tout le monde!

I hope this finds everyone enjoying a lovely three-day weekend, and feeling ready to go back to school. This week we will be wrapping up some older material and approaching new units.

Kindergarten:

Last week we started learning the alphabet in French, and we will continue working with it throughout the upcoming week. Below is a link to the ABC song we have been singing in class. If you listen to this with your child at home, please encourage them to pay special attention to the sounds, as many of the letters are pronounced differently in the French alphabet than in English.

We will be starting a family unit as well this week, starting with the basics, such as mother, father, sister, and brother. Below is the vocabulary if you would like to review it with your student at home.

Un frère: A brother.
Une soeur: A sister.
Un père: A father.
Une mère: A mother.
Un grand-père: A grandfather.
Une grande-mère: A grandmother.

1st/2nd grade:

Because of the three-day weekend and MAP testing, 1st and 2nd grade will only have one class session this week. We will be reviewing the material from last week's lesson, which we will wrap up next week.

K-2 French Update Q3 W2

Bonjour tout le monde!

First of all, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you for all the thoughtful gifts I received from students. Thanks to you, there was no shortage of sweets or coffee over the holidays! I hope you all had a restful break and enjoyed the extra time with your little ones.

Kindergarten:

During the first session back, we reviewed material from before the break and started putting together our books on weather. This upcoming week, we will be working on the French alphabet as well as reviewing recurring material such as numbers, months, days, and colors.

Also, here is an index of free online games you can play with your child in order to encourage their French learning at home:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguages/french/


1st/2nd Grade:

During our first day back, we reviewed the poem "S'il te plaît" and started learning our new classroom verbs. We will continue working with these verbs for the next week and a half.

découper: to cut
dessiner: to draw
écrire: to write
gommer: to erase
tailler: to sharpen (as in sharpening a pencil)
peindre: to paint
coller: to glue
donner: to give

As we progress through this lesson we will also be learning numbers through 20 and the days of the week. If you would like to practice the new vocabulary with your child, the song "Mes Petites Mains" on the Loustics CD utilizes the vocabulary. If you do not have the CD, I have included a Youtube link to the song below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm0J92Xuy5g

I look forward to getting back in the swing of things with the students this week, and I wish you all a smooth transition back into the schooltime routine.

A bientôt!
Madame Ruchames