Author: emouchou

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

IMG_6305

IMG_6343

IMG_6348

IMG_6304

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

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.

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

The students had another two weeks of great learning at the OJCS. Spring is finally here so we started exploring the vocabulary, reading stories and short poems, creating sentences with the words and doing fun and  educational activities. We also visited the restaurants that Grade 5 created. We saw the menus, we spoke with the owners, ordered food and drinks in French, and we voted for the best restaurant. The kids enjoyed it a lot.We celebrated the 75th anniversary of Israel by working in different stations, making the salads for the pitas and the falafel,l and dancing traditional dances. Finally the students learnt the song ”tête, épaule, genou et pieds” because the body is our next topic. On Friday they did reading buddies with Grade 5. Grade 1 proudly read to them, wrote a few simple sentences related to the story, and played word games. As we are slowly heading  to the end of the school year, I see my stars truly SHINE!.Their talent to switch from Hebrew to French and vice versa is staggering.They learn from me, and I learn from them!!!!!!

Salut les parents,

It’s time for a well-deserved break for all of us! The kids have been working beautifully, enriching their vocabulary, improving their writing, and practicing speaking French. After the winter clothes, they learned geometrical shapes by playing games and activities like building structures. They were quite amazed to discover that most  words derived from the Greek language, like pentagone,hexagone, etc. We also worked on the winter vocabulary, and we learned everything that is associated with the snow. 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. The children studied prepositions, and drew pictures of their room. The students presented their room pictures to the class while describing the location of some objects with the prepositions sur,dans,sous,devant, etc. In writing the children produced their first complete sentences using est( is). They were very proud of themselves. 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. During the break, try to expose them to the French language as much as possible, outings to museums, french cartoons like Caillou(there are over 400 episodes on the YouTube channel), french songs, and free online Apps like Duolingo, Hello-World French Children’s Activities can all make this journey for the kids educational and fun.

Have an exciting and wonderful break!