Hanukkah fun

Hanukkah Fun in Grade 3:

We have spent a few periods this week getting into the Hanukkah ruach with some French games centered around the holiday.

We had a Monday morning class with our friends from Grade 1 doing reading buddies and completing a Hanukkah packet prepared by Madame Efi. This included a word search, a vocabulary jumble, syllable work and colouring. The 3B class really enjoys the time that they spend each week with their younger friends.

On Tuesday, we split into 4 groups to play a Hanukkah challenge. We started by listening to the song La fête Hanouka by the singer Maitre Gims. The song was very catchy, but the purpose of the game was to put the lyrics of the song into the proper order. I had cut the song lyrics into 13 different puzzle pieces and the task was to try to create the fewest mistakes possible. This was a bit of a challenge, but we listened to the song two more times and each group did very well. 

The second game was a French Hanukkah Blooket Fishing Frenzy. The students had 7 minutes in order to correctly answer as many questions as possible about the holiday. 

Our third and final game was our Writer, Messenger, Editor game. There were 6 French sentences all based on Hanukkah. The goal of the game was to write the sentences with the fewest mistakes possible. Spelling mistakes, forgetting to capitalize or even missing an accent would be minus 1 point. The twist is that each player on the team has a turn being the writer, the messenger and the editor. 

Here were the sentences.

 

  1. Je vais à la synagogue. 
  2.  Il mange des latkes.

    3. Elle chante des chansons

   4. On allume les bougies.

5. Nous faisons des beignes. 

6. Je donne un cadeau.

We plan to continue playing similar games for all of the other Jewish holidays coming up. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy year 2024.



A week in the life of (Grade 3 French)

Mondays: We set up our week each Monday by discussing the main themes that we will be studying over the next several days.  We also receive our weekly Plan de Travail homework for the week which encompasses reading, writing and grammar. Dictée words, verb conjugation and a task in our Cahier d’écriture are usually included. There are sometimes also French games from popular sites like Quia French and Français Facile.  Our 3B class also spends a bit of time on Monday morning with their  French reading buddies in Madame Efi’s Grade 1 class.

Tuesdays: We begin each Tuesday with a French story read-aloud from the library. Often from the books that Brigitte has recommended based on current themes or upcoming holidays. We then move on to a few minutes of French writing in our Cahier d’écriture. There is a different topic each week, I provide students with a word bank on the SmartBoard in order to help with their spelling. Topics vary from verbs like être and avoir to themes such as; things they enjoy about Winter or current school events.

Wednesdays: Class always begins with our weekly Journal writing task. Students are given 10 minutes to write as many words as possible in French. There isn’t any pressure to spell words correctly or compete with their peers. The purpose is to try to beat their score on the following Wednesday. The activity gets more difficult as the weeks progress because the time is gradually reduced to 5 minutes.

We then complete a reading comprehension activity, students are encouraged to participate in our reading and attempt to translate their part. There are a variety of short answer questions that are then given.

Thursdays:  This is our weekly game day where we try a variety of different activities. Here are a few of them.

Alphabet game The goal is to get from A to Z by naming a French word starting with each letter. It is much more challenging than it seems as only one student can stand up and shout out a French word. If any two students are speaking at the same time, we go right back to the letter A. Students are not allowed to repeat words which have already been used on that day.

Song mix and match: 

This is a group game that involves introducing students to a new French song. They listen to the song one time with the lyrics in front of them. The lyrics from the song are then cut up into 10 pieces, and students are tasked with placing the song lyrics in the correct order from start to finish.  The song is played two more times while the students try to carefully listen and place the lyrics in the appropriate spot.  We used some songs from classic French singers from the 70’s and 80’s, Mike Brant, Charles Aznavour and Jean-Jacques Goldman. We also listened to some more current songs from artists such as; Amir, Christoph Maé and Kendji Girac.

Scattergories:

Students are paired in groups of 3 or 4. Each round is timed at 4 minutes. The purpose of this game is to come up with as many French words as possible over the round. The category changes after 4 minutes. A point is given for each correct answer. The rounds cover different themes and units that we have learned this year including; the community, school, animals and foods.

Je Dis, Tu Dis:

The class is given a theme and the goal of the game is to be the last person standing. Each player has a turn to say a word which fits the theme, the following player must then repeat the word that was just said and add one more which fits the theme chosen. Players are eliminated when they either cannot repeat the previous word said or cannot add another word to our game.

Fridays:

Homework is submitted on Fridays, and the class begins with either a dictée or a quiz. We then have a bit of Rattrapage (catch-up time). We conclude class with a French story from the Fable Cottage French website. The stories are a variation of popular books such as; Cinderella, Snow White, Jack and the Bean Stalk, but always with a few twists thrown in which are different from the originals.

That is all a typical week in our Grade 3 OJCS class!

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