During my time at the school, I have completed different activities with the children. Before Christmas, I decided to teach the younger children a popular Christmas song called “Frosty the Snowman”.

In order to teach the children this song, I decided to first of all teach them some of the key words. To do this, I displayed words like “snowman”, “nose” and “eyes” on the smartboard alongside pictures of what these words meant. After revising the words with the pictures for a while, I then took the words away and pointed at the pictures asking individual children what the picture was.

Once the children had grasped the meanings of the words, I then sang the song to them in full with actions to let them hear what they would be learning. I then split the song into small sections and sang it asking them to “repeat after me”. Since there are 4 verses to the song I decided to teach 2 verses one week and 2 the next so that they had enough time to learn it.

By the end of the second week the children had learned the song and to have a bit of fun with it I decided to play a game of “fill in the blanks”.  To do this, I sang the song to the children but missed out a few words, e.g. I sang “Frosty the snowman was a jolly …” and then I pointed to a child and they sang the next word “happy”. This allowed me to ensure all the children had learned the song and they also had great fun trying to remember the missing words.

Since the fall, I have been playing baseball twice a week with a class that is a mix of CP/CE1 students, or the youngest students in the primary school. I recently started playing with another class of older students, CE2/CM1,  as well! Not only does it get us moving, but it also is a fun way to learn English outside of the classroom!

We started with the basics, both vocabulary and activity-wise: run, throw, catch, and hit. I only speak English with the class, so for them to learn the vocabulary, I acted out the actions. They guessed what I was doing in French, and after a few repetitions of the vocabulary, we moved outside.

For the first few weeks, the kids played a game similar to Red Light, Green Light- one student would call out « run, » « walk, » or « stop, » and the other students would have to do that action.  They also practiced tossing a ball back and forth and hitting with a partner or small group.

Soon, we started playing a basic version of the game, but as the weeks went on, we added more and more elements. Soon, the students learned new vocabulary, such as bat, ball, base, and team.  We set up bases in the courtyard, had the students count off, and then divided them into two teams. Each team gets a chance to hit and to catch, and at the end, we see who won!

Baseball is also a good way to learn numbers/count! Each student is assigned a number so that he or she gets a chance to play in the different positions. We also count how many runs each team had to see which team is the winner.

The students tend to be really enthusiastic, even in the cold, and I am so proud of them for how much they have learned!

My name is Channon Conner.

I am 23 and I am from North Carolina.

At university, I studied Psychology and French Culture. I also worked at a primary school.

(fMRI of my brain for an Autism study)

I like to read, run, cook, and travel. What I like best is spending time with my family, my friends, and my dog.

(My dog « reading » with me)

Currently, I live in Lille with three other English assistants.

Last year, I lived in Nice, France. I was an au pair for two little boys and a dog.

(Hike to Eze Village- near Nice)

Next year, I am moving back to North Carolina. I am starting graduate school in the fall. I will study public health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is the oldest public university in the United States (1789).

(The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Contrary to its name, North Carolina is in the south. And in the south, instead of saying “you all,” we contract it to “y’all.” As an English assistant, I try not to say it, but it is really hard!

Fun fact: France is almost 4 times bigger than North Carolina

Un article sur Kevin paru dans la voix du nord.

vdn_18_henin_28_11_14_20

I have done several activities with the kids including:

• An american breakfast with bacon, eggs and toast. I also sang

• Singing english christmas carols for the parents at the Libercourt Christmas market.

• CM2 weather project with the collège, where the students presented the weather

Playing a weather memory game with CE2’s