C’est la dernière semaine avant les vacances de Noël, donc on a décidé de réaliser des Christmas Crackers avec les élèves de CE2. On a commencé la séance en expliquant comment fonctionnent les Christmas Crackers. Les Christmas Crackers (pétards de Noël) sont utilisés avant le repas de Noël en Angleterre. Ce sont des petits paquets qui craquent quand on tire les extrémités. Les Christmas Crackers sont plein de cadeaux festifs!

On a appris le vocabulaire anglais. On avait besoin de beaucoup de matériaux.

On a glissé dans les Crackers:

• Chocolat
• Petits messages d’amour pour la famille
• Confetti
• Décorations de Noël
• Paroles de Noël en anglais

On a expliqué la méthode en anglais:

1. Centre the cylinder on the wrapping paper.
2. Wrap the paper around the cylinder.
3. Close one end with a piece of ribbon.
4. Put the chocolate, messages and presents inside the cracker.
5. Close the cracker with another piece of ribbon.
6. Enjoy!

On va utiliser les Christmas Crackers au marché de Noël.  Les élèves donneront leur cracker à leur famille.

J’aime bien fabriquer les objets qu’on utilise en Angleterre avec les élèves. C’est génial qu’ils puissent apprendre les traditions de Noël ainsi que les consignes en anglais.

Merry Christmas!

Pendant cette période, après les vacances de Noël et avant les vacances de hiver, on danse le Hokey Pokey avec les classes (TPS, PS, MS) en Maternelle! On apprends les parties du corps en anglais en dansant le Hokey Pokey. Les enfants aiment bien de faire la danse et aussi d’apprendre les parties du corps en anglais!

On va dans la salle de sport et on joue la musique. Nous faisons un grand rond et on danse ensemble! J’ai proposé cette chanson/danse pour apprendre les parties du corps car je crois c’est parfait pour les petits, d’apprendre, mais au même temps, on peut bien s’amuser avec la danse !

Voici des photos avec la classe de Mme Boursier (TPS) à l’école de Thérèse Cauche:

My name is Emily and I work at École Thérèse Cauche. This week, I did a lesson with the CM2 class on « My Family ».  The objective for this lesson was to introduce the vocabulary, along with the possesive adjective « my ».  Along with this, I wanted to incorporate a cultural aspect, so I did this by teaching the students the different « nicknames » we call our parents/siblings in English. For example, I explained to them that I call my mother « Mom » and I call my grandmother « Nana ».

I introduced the vocabulary by showing photos of my family members and sticking them on the whiteboard with magnets. I wrote underneath the photos « my dad », « my sister », etc. The lesson was interactive, as the children have seen some photos before in a previous presentation, so I would ask them if they recognized these people. I also asked the students about their families, if they have sisters or brothers, pets, etc.

After I finished the presentation portion of the lesson, I moved on to the activity. The students took out their whiteboards as I explained the instructions. The activity was an interpersonal activity. The students were asked to use the sentence : « I have a _____ » (family member, e.g. mom). They were asked to write these sentences and then draw the member of their family next to it. Once they were finished, they would talk to their partner and read their sentences about their family.

Once all the students were finished and had spoken with at least one classmate. I asked for volunteers to come to the front of the class with their whiteboards and tell us about their family/read their sentences.

In November, I decided to do a presentation for my older students about this Thanksgiving. This is a holiday that is not at all celebrated in France, so the students found it very interesting and exciting as it was completely new to them! The presentation had information about both Canadian and American Thanksgiving, including the different celebration dates, histories, and traditions.

As I showed each slide of the presentation, I asked a student to read it aloud and then explain what it meant. This helped the students practice their speaking skills, as well as learn new vocabulary.

After the presentation, we learned the vocabulary of the food we traditionally eat during Thanksgiving and played some games using this new vocabulary. We also discussed the word « thankful », as it is not a word that translates into French. After doing my best to explain to the students what it meant, we had a discussion about what being « thankful » means to them, and about what they are thankful for. During this, I wrote the different things they were saying in English on the board, such as « family », « friends », « education », and « freedom ».

I gave each of the students a worksheet like the one below, and asked them to fill it out with words and pictures of things they were thankful for, either by using the words we had written on the board or by asking me to translate new ones.

Overall, this activity was very interesting for the students because it allowed them to learn something entirely new about Anglophone culture, and a bunch of new vocabulary!