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Statement of Philosophy
At Mount Merici, French is approached as an exposure to a foreign language
for all students from grades kindergarten through six. The basics of the
language are taught, keeping the material light and enjoyable. Many aspects
of French culture are brought into the lessons. At this level, I feel it is
very important to maintain interest through variety. I feel it is extremely
important to constantly stress the spoken use of the language at this age,
rather than the written.
Our goal is to give the students a solid foundation
in the language so that they can go on to our area junior high schools with
a grasp of the basics. With each consecutive year of study, the content is
reviewed and expanded so that by sixth grade, the students are ready to
begin to learn some of the grammatical aspects of the language.
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General French
Curriculum
All levels of French begin with the basics, starting with the alphabet,
numbers, days of the week, months of the year, colors and basic everyday
conversation. Constant, varied repetition of material is necessary in the
study of any foreign language, especially at the elementary level. We
therefore begin each lesson, at all levels, with basic introductory
conversation.
Books are used in grades three through six. In grades three, four and five,
we use a wonderful new book that gives the students an exposure to the
French language. We use the book consecutively in all three grades,
beginning in grade three. The book is used in conjunction with many
supplementary materials - always focusing on the oral use of the language.
We often look at French culture so as to give the students a well-rounded
look at the country and its’ people. With each subsequent year of French,
vocabulary and conversational skills are expanded.
All levels of French come to class in the French room. It is extremely
beneficial to be able to teach a foreign language in a classroom that is
decorated with French words, posters, and articles from France and Canada.
The students are able to become familiar with vocabulary and sights of the
foreign country because they are surrounded by it every time they come to
French class!
In all levels, we occasionally eat French foods. We sometimes enjoy
croissants with cheese and fresh fruit. On the feast of the Epiphany we
celebrate with King’s Cake complete with a lima bean baked into the cake!
According to French tradition, the person who gets the piece that contains
the lima bean is crowned King or Queen of the day. At the end of the school
year we celebrate with a crepe buffet!
Kindergarten Through Grade 2
In kindergarten, first and second grades, our year begins in October. We
begin by looking at the country of France. We look at the globe and see
where France is and we also color French flags. We learn the “Bonjour Song”
and follow up with asking and answering the question “Comment ca va?” (How
are you?) Using a poster to encourage responses, the students are able to
give many different answers to the question. We also start learning colors
as well as the numbers zero to ten. As the year progresses, we learn the
alphabet, the days of the week, the months of the year and to say a little
about ourselves.
The goal of our French classes in the lower grades is to expose the children
to the French language and culture. We do this through songs, coloring
sheets, basic conversations and games.
Grades Three Through Six
In our upper level French classes, grades three through six, we begin our
year by looking at the country of France. We look at where it is in the
world, who its neighbors are, and what bodies of water are surrounding it.
In grade three, after our look at the country, we do some review of the
basics that they have learned in kindergarten through second grade. We
assign French names to each student in class and take turns asking each
other “Comment t’appelles-tu?”
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(What is your name?) We begin the book by taking a
look at the beginnings of languages both oral and written. We use an
internet web site that shows the children what early languages looked like
and the origins of the alphabet. We always have a lively discussion about
how we all learn how to speak when we are babies - and then make the
correlation to us all learning to speak a new language in the same way -
through listening and imitating. The book reviews a lot of the basics that
they have heard before in a way that encourages the oral use of the language
in a fun and lively way.
The fourth graders begin the book with a review of what they learned in
third grade and then pick up in the book where we left off the previous
year. The goal is to finish the book by the end of the fourth grade. As with
all the other levels of French, in the fourth grade the book is used in
conjunction with many supplementary lessons - always concentrating on the
oral aspect of the language.
In fifth grade, we begin with a look at the many countries and areas of the
world where French is spoken. Each student chooses a country or city, and
does a very brief written report. We then share our reports with each other.
It is always very enlightening for them to see just how wide spread the
French language is! We then begin our language study with a review of the
basics as in all levels of the language. Now the focus is on expanding our
use of the spoken language. We continually review vocabulary and basic
conversational skills and begin to introduce some necessary grammatical
points. We use a lot of supplementary materials to reinforce what has been
touched upon in the book. The goal in the fifth grade is to begin to put
together a lot of what has been learned in previous years and to understand
the rudiments of putting it all together so as to be able to actually
communicate in the foreign language! We also spend time looking at the many
cultural aspects of the country and continue to periodically enjoy French
food treats during the course of the year.
During the second half of the fifth grade year we begin to read a short
chapter book that is written in French. One class period per week is devoted
to reading and discussing the stories, using a question and answer format,
utilizing as much spoken French as possible.
The sixth grade program begins with an in-depth study of the country of
France. We discuss the size of the country, where it is in the world, major
landmarks, rivers, mountain ranges, bordering countries and bodies of water.
The students complete a packet which highlights most of this information and
then they create their own maps of the country and must include as much of
the information that they have learned as possible. They must include five
major cities, including the capital, five large rivers, mountain ranges,
etc. They must draw France with its surrounding countries and bodies of
water, and they must write five facts about the country.
The sixth graders use a junior-high level French book. Many of the points
covered in the book are things that we have already covered in previous
years, however they are now presented to the students in a more traditional
method of study. We concentrate on more grammar and verb usage and look at
some of the more mechanical parts of foreign language study. The oral aspect
of the language is constantly stressed and the culture of the country is
always brought into each unit of the book. We continue to enjoy some French
foods as our year progresses and the emphasis is always on keeping the
language alive and meaningful for the students. Feeling comfortable with
speaking the language and concentrating on the fact that we are all learning
together helps the students to feel successful.
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