Week 2 with iPads

I knew having 1:1 tech would change to way I teach; I just couldn't believe how much until I saw it with my own eyes using it in my classroom.  This week I saw students that refused to speak French last year, take the leap and respond to me en français without any prompting.  It all started with a little bit of time 'playing' on the Living Language App that I have on our class set of iPads.  

You see, this week as review I had my grade 5-8 students get on the iPads and complete the 1st lesson in the Essential French category.  In this levels students review very basic greetings by reviewing flashcards that include audio, popping bubbles, slaying dragons and completing word searches.  

Turns out a lightbulb went off for some of them, where previously they had struggled.  I am not sure if it was the 'play' portion or the kinaesthetic aspect of matching up words or just their high interest in the iPads but what I do know is I have some students who did not speak in my class last year saying:  "Bonjour Madame. Comment ça va?" or confidently responding "Je suis ici!" during attendance without prompting!  I am thrilled and cannot wait to see what other things we will accomplish through the iPads.  

For now, in my Core French classes, we are moving into preparing our audio recordings that will be turned into QR codes, which will be put on these posters that I showed you last week! (You still following?)  I finally decided how to do it.  We're going to use an App called ScreenChomp.  Students will take a photo of their poster, load it into Screen Chomp and record their 'presentations' over it.  They can then easily use the URL provided by ScreenChomp to make a QR code!  

What I am struggling with is if this should just be a normal presentation or if the students should pretend they are interacting with the person listening to it (like a one sided conversation).  Any thoughts?   

I'd love to hear from you!  Have a great 3rd week! 

First Week of School!

Let me start by saying I LOVE MY JOB!!!  I cannot believe the number of times I have caught myself thinking that this week.   I have met all my classes and we have started some pretty fun projects together en français!  My primary students can dress Mr. la grenouille and are starting to be able to tell me what he's wearing with only gesture prompts.  Imagine the cutest group of 5/6 year olds all saying: "Mr. la grenouille porte un chapeau."  Melts my heart I tell you!  They've also learned Je m'appelle _________ and J'ai ____ ans.  Here is a little worksheet I did with my grade 2/3's, so this is review for them, my 1/2s just started some of this sheet today.  

They loved making these and I plan on recording oral presentation of the info to them by adding QR codes to them for our open house.  The kids are so excited to record their 'presentations'.  Never have I had so many kids willing and wanting to give a presentation.   

Next up my junior/intermediate art project which was inspired by a pin on Pinterest.  Students have been having a blast drawing and starting to colour their drawings!  I am again adding QR codes to these posters, students will be introducing themselves and some of their favourite things.  Students in the junior and intermediate grades will have access to iPads in my classroom which we will start to use next week.  They are struggling with the en français rule but I am sure it will improve, they are forgetting and talking in English but I am persisting (one day at a time on this) and addressing them only in French.  The only exception was the day on rules surrounding iPads, I have to be 100% certain that each student knows the school's policies on iPad use.  Here are some great examples of where my students are at right now.  

This student's work challenged me to not correct his art because it wasn't the way I wanted it.  I am really striving to encourage artistic freedom in many of my projects this year and give control to my students in this department.

This young man proclaims to 'suck at art' (I disagree!) and was shocked when I 'let' him give his character dark eyes.

This piece is really coming together!  I can't wait to see the final product! 

I hope you've enjoyed the peak into my first week at school!  What have you been up to in your room?  

p.s. I'm having a sale at my TeachersPayTeachers store!  

Sound Recognition

In my last post, I showed you my classroom and today I'd like to 'talk' about reading, in particular how we get students to start recognizing the sounds they hear within written text (i.e. the sound 'o' can be eau or au or aux in French).  I think it goes without saying that listening skills and oral production skills need to be the largest emphasis in the younger grades.  After all, we all learned to talk long before we learned to read and then write.

Last year, I started doing 'la virelangue de la semaine' around March break with my primary students.  Students love them and began to find the sounds we were emphasizing in texts around the classroom, in the AIM play and in the books they had access to in my room.  This year, I want to take what students started doing naturally last year and turn it into an activity that they can do with our word wall words, or books.  For this fall, I have made an activity called Les feuilles phonologiques.

As I introduce/review sounds with them I will post trees around the room like the one above that have a letter combination on the trunk.  Students will then be able to grab leaves from a basket on the counter and add new words around the base of the tree.  Each student will also have their own recording sheet for their workbook that they are record their own personal word family trees. 

I am really hoping that students enjoy this activity and that it helps them recognize sounds within words. What do you think of this activity?  Do you have a system you use to teach them sound recognition?  

My Classroom is READY!!!

We now return to our regularly scheduled program; if you are looking for my letter to Dalton McGuinty please click here.

You read it correctly, my classroom is ready!  All I need now are students!  So I think we should take a look around my new beautiful Frog themed FSL classroom.  When students walk into my room this is the area they are welcomed into.   The wooden chair is for my calendar helper and my desk is really just there to hold my computer.

I always start class on the carpet regardless of whether they are grade 1s or grade 8s.  The routine varies a little depending on the grade level but typically we identify the today's date, yesterday's date and tomorrow's date, identify the weather and dress Mr. la grenouille for today's weather and then we practise our "Virelangue de la semaine".  Student absolutely love the tongue twister and are eager to participate in this activity.  It has made a huge difference in their reading and pronunciation.   

  

Here is a close up of my calendar/weather board.  It's difficult to see because of the horrible picture but the tongue twister is right beside the calendar at the top of the board.  

This is my word wall which will most certainly evolve as the year progresses.  My biggest challenge as a Core French teacher, in this area, is putting up the words that all my students need (grade 1 to 8) without it becoming overwhelming and disorganised.  In my opinion, for the word wall to be useful it needs to have high frequency words that students are using regularly and students need to be referencing/interacting with it.  Hence the Boggle board for the beginning of the year: 

On the same bulletin board as my word wall, is my brand new Boggle board.  I must admit I have never had one in my classroom before but my hope is that students will use the words found on the word wall to help them find words in the Boggle board.  (How many French words can you find?) I often have students that finish quickly and this will be one of the learning activities they can selected to do when they have completed their assignment.

 
Students sit in groups in my class to encourage conversation between students in the target language.  This year each table has a frog that is their mascot.  Since I have several classes that sit at these tables, students from all my classes will be trying to come up with a name for their frog and all students will vote for their favourite option.

The last thing I have set up prior to students arriving on the first day of school is my supply table.  I love how neat and tidy it all looks.  

The only thing missing from my classroom is the new guided reading table that will hopefully be arriving in September.  I'll share more pictures when get my guided reading table and some student work up for the open house BBQ!

Letter to Mr. McGuinty!

While my blog is intended to be a place for a sharing of ideas and resources for FSL teachers, today I will be taking a break from that and posting the letter I sent to Mr. McGuinty regarding his Putting Students First Act.  I hope that all other teachers from Ontario and even from Canada will take a moment to see what the government of Ontario is dictating in the piece of legislation.  This government is teetering on becoming dictators.  Ontario teachers are respectfully asking for fair bargaining from the government of Ontario.

Mr. Dalton McGuinty, 

A this time of year, I would typically be spending most of my spare time preparing for the upcoming school year, but this year on top of planning for the upcoming school year (which is not in danger in case you hadn’t heard Mr. McGuinty), I am working to have my voice heard at Queen’s Park where my rights as a taxpaying citizens are being trampled on ‘for the sake of the children’ and the benefit of your political party.  The teachers of this province will not sit by idly as you turn our democratic country into a dictatorship.    

You and your MPPs have created a crisis that does not exist to benefit your party in two current by-elections.  You have turned the public on us, referring to us as Teachers, turning us into the ‘other’, dismissing the fact that we are also taxpayers, we have families and obligations just like every other taxpaying citizen in the province.  A fellow teacher, Roy Reed, from Renfrew County put it very eloquently: 

“What hurts me most is that these people we trusted have chosen to act exactly as every government has ever done, in order to achieve its goals. They have actively segregated, and targeted a people, and made them a single, faceless, other. 

Suddenly, they refer to us as Teachers, and refer to the rest of Ontario as Families, as Taxpayers. They 'ask' Teachers to, please, think about Ontario's Families. They 'ask' Teachers to, please, think about Ontario's Taxpayers.

And now, after all the progress we have made since Harris, in the minds of the average Ontarian, WE are accused of, and publicly shamed for, standing in the way of Families' and Taxpayers' happiness. Now, WE are selfish, and it will be OUR fault if the government doesn't pay off its debt. Now, it is perfectly fine to publicly call US names, to condemn US, to belittle US, because the government has fostered, and even encouraged the act of tearing US down.”

By turning us into a faceless group of people for the public to be angry with you are trying to convince them that removing our rights in an acceptable practice in a democratic society.  You are using us as scapegoats.  In your ‘Putting Students First Act’, which does nothing but put them last, you have the following: 

1. (1) The Ontario Labour Relations Board shall not inquire into or make a decision on whether a provision of this Act, a regulation or an order made under subsection 9 (2) is constitutionally valid or is in conflict with the Human Rights Code." 

You are stripping us of rights that every other taxpaying citizen is entitled to!!!  You are putting your party above the law, and refusing to be held accountable for the actions you are taking.  Mr. McGuinty we will fight back, you will be held accountable.  MPP Sarah Campbell reminds us that: 

The simple fact is, we have numerous examples of how legislating collective agreements doesn’t work. It costs taxpayers more- way more- when taken to the Supreme Court. It cost B.C. $85 million when the Supreme Court overturned their legislated agreement. It could Ontario upwards of $780 million if our 90,000 teachers were to do the same. How is this move protecting the public purse?

Let me assure you Mr. McGuinty, that we will be doing the same.  You will be held accountable.  It will cost you far more, than fair bargaining ever would.   

On the first day of classes Mr. McGuinty, I will be putting students first by providing them with excellent teaching, while you put them last by trying to demonize teachers. 

Sincerely, 

Crystal Jones, OCT