Posted in French

A peek into grade 1

Alors les amis, we celebrated la Francophonie. There are  thousands of reasons why we love the french language: it is smooth, rich, and flowing: we love speaking french because, with its nasal vowels and melodious intonation, it sounds very musical to a non-native ear. We want to learn French because it is also called the language of love, cooking, fashion, theater, visual arts, dance, and architecture.

During la francofête at our school, we had the pleasure to admire all the students from JK-grade 8 sing, dance, act, and recite poems in french!!!! All the teachers worked hard to make that happen. The students were proud of themselves, and their energy and passion were evident throughout the afternoon. During the week of the francophonie, we read books, heard stories, watched movies, played games, learned the ten magic words, and tasted french treats.  My amazing kiddos learnt the benefits of doing sports and shared their ideas during the celebration. We continue learning the sounds. They have mastered OI,OU,CH,ON, and this week we are starting working on EU. Have I told you how much they love quizzes? Well they are about to do a big one on all the sounds and vocabulary they know already. They take huge pride in their work and their faces glow when they see the results. Also this week we had the opportunity to visit the SK and our kiddos read to them words starting with the letters C and D. They are delight to teach and their enthusiasm to learn is lovely to see.

A très bientôt!

 

Posted in French

Learning never ends!

The kids have been working beautifully, enriching their vocabulary, improving their writing, and practicing speaking French.  We worked on the winter vocabulary, and we learned everything that is associated with the snow like winter clothes,sports etc.  They played charades, memory games, and puzzles to help them remember the words. Going outdoors during recess gave them the opportunity to practice the vocabulary as well as doing activities with their reading buddies.  We also had our first quiz on the vowels.They are very proud of themselves and they are asking me when they have the next one which will be on the new sounds. We are continuing with our complex sounds like CH and OI, and the best way to practice is by doing ‘Je lis’ regularly. I insist on them listening to the story many times before recording so they pronounce the words correctly. I am happy to see that they have become more comfortable with common words like Voici, C’est, Mon, Regarde, etc. Right now we are practicing using EST  when we make small sentences combining the vocabulary we already know. Thank you for all your effort and support on our journey.I hope you enjoyed your kiddos’ presentations I sent you.

 

Posted in French

Joyeuse Hanukkah!

Salut les parents!

What an exciting month December has been!!! It is so interesting to observe different celebrations and spend quality time with our loved ones. In class, we worked on the theme, Hanukkah. The students got familiar with the new vocabulary through games, stories, songs, word searches, mazes, decoding sentences, bingo games and writing activities.  Finally they did once again a wonderful presentation and they sang beautifully during the school event. In addition,we keep working on our letters and  vowels and I must admit that I am very happy with their progress. The more they read and practice, the better they become. After the holidays, they will get their Je lis accounts so they can start reading simple stories which  will help them improve their fluency and remember vocabulary.

Posted in French

Videos speak louder than words!

Salut les parents!

Another 2 and a half exciting weeks full of learning and fun is over.  The students proudly recited the poem “Voici mon coquelicot” during the Remembrance Day ceremony.  Apart from that, they also learned the song ,”Mon beau coquelicot”.  We did different exercises where the students had to put the missing first letter of the word after hearing me say the word.  That exercise develops both their listening and writing skills.  In addition, I was reading different sentences to them with already familiar vocabulary and expressions, and they had to match them with the correct photo. Regarding the vocabulary,they started learning the shapes so now when they describe an object,they can give me more details.We also continued practicing the vowel A combined with other letters and last week they learnt another poem related to numbers “Un,deux,trois”.Poems are catchy,repetitive and help students learn vocabulary and pronunciation. In addition, I love how they describe photos from the Taoki book.What makes me really proud is to see them fully engaged with a huge enthusiasm to learn.That drive for taking risks and acquiring new knowledge is what makes my GRADE 1 so so special! Je vous adore mes anges!Enjoy the videos.

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xhuYpPqDwGv9fl59e7KL7ow8InOqRlUS/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17ehtaPcQUdgvKz0zxnMoZl3vDGb83s86/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sguASh_ZU7BoDBx2-5JpKp7ZdoAjHXce/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ucNqmUCaL9uYnYScG0Wlr_zDhOY-tkXs/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OpVwjR6mCJ44l029GF_jzgAqE1cpD0rZ/view?usp=sharing

Posted in French

Tell me,and I forget,teach me,and I may remember,involve me and I LEARN!!!!

Salut les parents,

This week we continued practicing the colours, as well as fall vocabulary.  We have added verbalizing numbers and reciting 3 poems about the colours. The students also made beautiful cards for one school in Israel  with french wishes.  We also kept on practicing the vowels A,O,I,E,U  and we learnt the expression ‘Il y a’ (there is)  which the kids used along with the sentence “Je vois” (I see) in order to describe what they see in a picture that I showed them.I was so proud to hear them using these two sentences with the vocabulary they already know like colours,numbers school and fall.Doing puzzles,playing french games and wordwall games with their reading buddies help them practice,learn and have fun.

This week’s challenge: To learn a poem for Remembrance Day!

Posted in French

Learning French is so much fun!

Hello Parents,

More than one month has gone by and lots of interesting and fun things have been happening in our French class. As you already saw, I sent home the booklets we created with the kids regarding the classroom vocabulary and the vowel A. Please practice reading the new words with them and the expressions (Je vois). The students benefit considerably from the older kids during reading buddies.As you can see from the photos, not only do the little ones read some syllables to them and the booklets we prepare in class but they also write some words.  We are also learning to sing 2 songs “Salut bonjour”and “Dans mon sac à dos”.The highlight of these last 2 weeks was the Terry Fox Day when the kids learnt to say “Terry fox est Brave”and on Orange Dress Day the kids learnt to say “Je compte””.I am so so  proud of the amount of french my kiddos use every day.I think the photos talk for themselves!

IMG_6265 Terry Fox est brave

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Posted in French

My busy bees are Buzzing!!!!

Dear grade 1 parents!

Joyeux Yom Kippur!

 

Another 2 weeks of fun and educational activities for our kiddos.While we continue applying our routine and rules, kids seem to be adjusting beautifully, showing great enthusiasm for learning.The focus during these 2 weeks was the colors,the numbers 1-10 and the french greetings.We also talked about Rosh hashanah and learnt some of the food we consume that day like apples,honey,fish,pomegranate.Of course part of our daily work is revising the letters by playing games,writing words and reading syllables.Here is the song “Bonjour,Salut” in case the kids would like to practice singing at home.

https://youtu.be/KnvAjx3uTUA?feature=shared

Posted in 1A, 1B, French

Bonjour!Bonjour!Bonjour!

Hello OJCS parents and welcome to Grade 1!

Can you believe another school year is upon us?If you don’t already know me, my name is Madame Efi Mouchou. This is my 2nd year at OJCS. I look forward to forming relationships and teaching your kiddos. It has been a pleasure working with your children, and I have seen so much growth and learning already in the short amount of time we have had together. Last week we spent time getting to know each other and establishing the classroom rules. We played games revising the letters of the alphabet, and practicing the calendar, we did some writing activities and we read lots of books.This week’s focus was on the french greetings, and saying our name in French. I look forward to meeting you all at back-to-school night on the 19th when you will have the chance to see your kids’recordings.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me through email or a phone call.

e.mouchou@theojcs.ca

Posted in French

Summer blog

Salut,salut les amis!

Here is the blog with many fun activities and games for the students to do over the summer.I highly encourage them to spend some time when they feel like it as it will help them revise everything they have learnt this year.

Posted in French

Ithaca

A journey to Ithaca never ends………..

 

My dear parents and students,

 

Our educational journey is almost coming to a close for this school year, with lots of positive moments and maybe a few challenging ones, at times. Speaking for myself, one of the greatest moments was when I joined the OJCS school, meeting such beautiful people and appreciating the Jews values and heritage that are celebrated. Being a diplomat’s wife, I am certainly used to developing an appreciation for different cultures and traditions and making lifelong friendships, but teaching in a school with a trilingual curriculum is unique. Shifting from “Good morning” to “Bonjour” and “Shalom” daily, opens a door to a whole new world not only for our kiddos but for us, the teachers as well. I don’t want to start listing the advantages of such education because; I am sure you all know them very well, and you can see the results everyday. However, I would like to stress  that as we all try to achieve our goals, it is important not to lose sight of the journey. Ithaca, in Homer’s Odyssey, symbolizes this idea of a destination as a long and winding journey, where the supreme aim is to find fulfillment, such as changing careers, getting a new job, passing an exam, coping with a serious health problem, moving to another country, or school, going through the loss of a parent, and so forth. Constantine Cavafy (one of the most renowned Greek poets) wrote the poem “Ithaca” in 1911, inspired by Odysseus’ journey home after the end of the Trojan War. Cavafy describes Odysseus seeing amazing things, without caring for the destination as he is, advised: “Do not hurry your trip in any way.” That’s what we should all pray for dear friends and students, a long trip full of adventures, difficulties that grow us, and numerous learning opportunities so that when we reach our destination, we will be rich in maturity, knowledge, and wisdom. No matter the hardships, never give up!

Now I would like you all to listen to the poem recited by the amazing Sean Connery and set to the music of Vangelis Papathanassiou. 

 

Sean Connery reads ITHAKA | Powerful Life Poem by C.P.Cavafy