French classes at Roosevelt for French Immersion 6th
graders
Catherine Wiebe - Phone:
541 790 8500 -
Catherine Wiebe: email: wiebe_c@4j.lane.edu - Blog: catherinewiebe.blogspot.com
6th
graders have 2 classes in the French Immersion program: A social studies class,
Connexions Culturelles, and a Language Arts, Writing Skills. This
year, the cohort of 6th graders is large enough that we are able to divide the students into 2 classes of ±28. This should ensure that everyone has a great learning experience.
Connexions Culturelles: The
French Cultural Connections class serves as a transition for sixth graders from
Charlemagne to Roosevelt middle school. Class meets daily and centers on social studies, study skills, organizational methods, technology
and research skills. 6th graders will focus on the study of Western Hemisphere. This is a new set of standards for social studies classes, it will be a year of transition. During the first term, students will address the question
of what culture is and explore how the past influences the culture we live in
today. In the first unit, students will learn about the history of the Native
American nations that populated this land, followed by European immigration.
The trimester culminates in an immigration role-play and simulation about
coming to Ellis Island at the turn of the 20th century (end of November). Students
will learn about the motivations and difficulties involved in immigrating to
the United States at that time and contrast it with some of the experiences other minority groups who came to work and live in the United States (Chinese and Japanese). During the second trimester, sixth graders will
investigate civil rights regarding specific groups such as Black Americans and how different cultural groups (often minorities) have struggled to earn those
rights. We will study some of the Ancient civilizations of the Americas (Inca, Maya, Aztecs) and inquire how these groups are fairing in today's world. The exploration of the Aztecs will lead to the study of Mexican history and its immigration to the United States. We will explore the resiliency within cultures and the contributions made to the U.S.
Students will reflect on contributions we can make in our community as
responsible local citizens. The third term continues with the theme of personal
culture as students explore their own past (family), and work on a project that
will be presented during a Cultural Festival evening at school (late May, early June).
Writing: This
yearlong class is designed to strengthen students’ writing skills in French and English. Some projects will be done in French, some in English. Students
will work on improving skills in each of the writing process steps: research,
pre-writing, rough draft, revision, editing, and presentation. Additionally,
students will have many opportunities to work on the writing traits: ideas and
content, organization, sentence fluency and conventions. Many assignments will
be platforms to strengthen the understanding of topics studied in Connexions Culturelles classes.
French grammar: Each term several topics of grammar will be presented
and practiced. For example, during the first trimester, students will review or
learn the conjugation of common verbs in the present and past tense (imparfait
and passé composé), agreements (subject/verb, noun/adjective), use of
prepositions, use of common conjunctions, negations, and expressions with the
verb “avoir”.
Reading: Reading
well is a key component to academic success. Students will engage in many
different types of readings throughout the year to help them gain strength in
this area. Aside from social study texts we use, students will read short
stories in French, as well as a short novel at the end of the second term La petite fille au kimono rouge. Two English books per trimester will also be assigned to
gain more background knowledge for our thematic units. The first term, students
will read The Heart of a Chief by
Joseph Bruchac and Letters from Rifka by
Karen Hesse. The second term we will read The
Watson go to Birmingham – 1963 by Christopher Curtis as well as Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata. The
third term, we will read The Circuit by
Francisco Jiménez and hopefully Too many Tamales
by Gary Soto (we don't always have the time to include this last work). The main work associated with reading will be literary analysis (what does the text really say?), working on summaries, and learning from historical fiction (what does this show?). This year, I would like to call upon volunteers to lead small discussion groups about these novels.
Homework: There
will be daily homework, but most will be started in class and, occasionally, completed. Students should set aside on average 20 minutes per
night for their French Homework (for the 2 classes). Homework will be posted daily on the board in
our classroom. Before leaving, students are expected to copy the assignments in
their Roosevelt planner or on the front cover of their current packet. Homework
will also be posted on my blog catherinewiebe.blogspot.com
(a very good tool when students are absent). Homework may include:
•
Reviewing for a test,
•
Learning vocabulary,
•
Reviewing conjugations,
• Reading a chapter of a novel,
• Reading a chapter of a novel,
•
Reading and answering questions,
•
Researching information for a project,
•
Learning a grammar topic and completing exercises,
•
Working on a written assignment or a journal entry.
Roosevelt offers a supervised Homework Club from 8:15 to 8:50 and from 3:35 to 4:30 in room A 1. It is a good way to
get work done before going home. Occasionally, volunteers from our local high
school can help students in Math and/or French.
Earning grades: There is no mystery. If you want a good grade, you
need to produce good work. Assignments will give students multiple
opportunities to show understanding of the content areas, and their proficiency
in diverse skills. Grades will be regularly posted on Synergy (access through my blog and the school web page). Parents and
students need to frequently check the students' performance in order to change one's
academic behavior if it looks necessary.
Throughout the term, students will be assessed according to their
proficiency in each of the class standards.
Scores on assignment will reflect the following:
If your
student tends to forget his/her material such as pens and pencils, please send
supplies to me that I will set aside in the classroom for his/her use. If your
student struggle with organization, it might be a good idea to purchase a
smaller binder just for French immersion classes (2 classes) where she/he would keep all the material for these classes. MEAD has soft binders with plastic rings and multiple dividers with pockets that are quite sturdy and work very well. 