Grade 1-2 Archives - Berkshire Country Day School

Last chance for summer reading materials in French through Bayard-Milan!

Bonjour tout le monde,

Tomorrow, May 15th, I will have a table of sample materials from the French language publishing house, Bayard-Milan, on display for your consideration in the Learning Commons.

My hope is that parents and families of students of all ages at BCD will stop by during or after school to peruse the selections, and consider subscribing to a magazine for your child for some enriching summer reading in French!

From Pre-school through Gr.9, there is something for everyone!

The samples on display will be organized by level and age, and include a plethora of themes, styles, and layouts. Please check out the link below for more information on the different magazines offered, per age.

http://monde.bayard-milan.com/parents/quel-magazine-pour-quel-age/

What is Bayard-Milan? … “We are journalists, graphic designers, early childhood education professionals, employees or freelancers … for forty years we have chosen to put our readers at the center of our editorial thinking. Listening to them, understanding them, astonishing them, nourishing them with inspirational works and accompanying them at each stage of their lives.”

Here’s a short excerpt on the mission of Bayard-Milan:

“More than anything, today as for yesterday, we have a duty of promoting enchantment in the younger generation. And in this particular situation where our magazines are not the voice of parents or teachers, but of caring accomplices, we can highlight the positive force that exists in everyone and in the many situations one encounters in life. And when you have the chance to live through words, thanks to talented creators, characters who can embody all their life experiences, it’s as if we invent small lights that will mark the lives of children and which they are will remember for a long time.”

Please carve out a few minutes tomorrow to check out the selection of Foreign Language materials in the Learning Commons, for all grade levels and interests!

Best,

Mme. Daire

P.s for all inquiries concerning subscriptions, please refer directly to the US agent for Bayard-Milan ;

Ms. Catherine LAMY

catherine.lamy@bayard-may.org

*Orders are not placed through BCD.

http://monde.bayard-milan.com/#

Merci beaucoup!

By BCD Blog|2019-05-14T14:11:59-04:00May 14th, 2019|

Mois de la Francophonie in full swing at BCD!

Good afternoon all,

Before we part ways for Spring break, I wanted to share a brief update on what the different classes in the French curriculum here at BCD have been up to lately.

From poetry writing and presentations, cooking demo’s, PenPal exchanges, cultural and geographically themed projects, and learning songs, French students of all ages at BCD have been busy abeilles! (bees)

The 7th and 8th-grade French classes are now putting the finishing touches on their Slam Poetry videos – for submission to the Slame Tes Accents! international competition proposed through the organization, Francophonie des Amériques. The students were challenged to create a poem as a class and choose how they wanted to Slam their poem, employing the pre-requisite vocabulary and meeting other requirements for the contest. The 7th grader chose a theme of ‘unity through different accents’ and ‘self-confidence’ under the umbrella of the international French-language community. Their project was filmed in a casual, walk-through style in the Learning Commons.

For their part, the 8th-grade class embraced a ‘high-tech’ approach, using a drone, filmed outside, and with voice-over audio. Their message is aimed at the importance of recognizing the shared community of the French-speaking community around the world, no matter skin color, orientation, religion, current events or other cultural facets.

I’m very proud of the energy, enthusiasm and quality of work that these students brought to their projects. The organization will announce the winners in April.

For more information about the contest, please visit : http://www.francophoniedesameriques.com/slame/

The 6th graders took a cultural microscope to the different regions of France, each choosing a region of the Hexagon and shining the spotlight on and outlining notable facts for each. If you are looking for any fun + tasty recipes to try over the Spring break, have a look at their posters for guidance!

Our 4th and 5th graders have prepared their third round of letters to their friends in France. It has been an incredible experience to see the connection grow between these classes on both sides of the Atlantic as the school year has evolved. This project strengthens not only vocabulary use, sentence structure, talking about oneself, asking questions and letter writing, but more importantly, it brings the ‘human element’ into our French language learning experience. The children have been able to establish a relationship with their PenPals and with the Ecole Montessori d’Uzès since September; learning more about ‘a day in the life’ of their pen-friends, both personally and academically. Through these letters, here are some of our takeaways : we were all saddened to hear of the tragic deaths by fox of two of their school chickens, Le Chef and Flash, 🙁 we were intrigued to learn of shared interests in Harry Potter books and favorite flavors of ice cream, and felt a general curiosity and interest about the importance of the celebration of Carnevale in France.

I welcome you all to visit the French classroom in Ryan 22 to see our PenPal board, read the letters and see the beautiful drawings done by our PenPal friends.

Our Kindergarten and grades 1-2 friends are starting to prepare for the performance of a classic French song at the Spring concert. More on that to come!!

Best wishes to everyone for a safe and fun Spring vacation.

Bien cordialement,

Mme. Daire

P.s.. check out the BCD photo album to see some pictures of our continued adventures in French!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y8axH9vNz9NtJCs57

By BCD Blog|2019-03-15T12:43:41-04:00March 15th, 2019|

Grade 1 and 2 Letter Writing Campaign

Dear Families,

The Grade 1 and 2 Service Learning project swung into full gear today. After identifying our project back in October as The Apple Problem and learning basic facts about apple trees, today we moved to action. This afternoon, the children embarked on letter writing. First, we read Janet and Allan Ahlberg’s picture book The Jolly Postman. This got us thinking about letters and how we can use them to seek information from experts by asking them questions that may help us solve the Apple Problem. After identifying who these people may be, such as orchard farmers and arborists, we filled three sheets of chart paper with questions ranging from “What do you do with all the apples that fall to the ground, rot and get mushy?” to “How do you know if your apple trees are healthy or not?”

The children then worked with a partner to write a letter in which they had to:

*introduce themselves

*explain why they were writing

*pose 3-4 specific questions

*thank the experts for their time

Our next task will be to edit the letters, write final copies, sign them and address the envelopes.

We promise to keep you posted as we move closer to solving The Apple Problem!

All the best,

Kay

By BCD Blog|2019-02-06T19:14:51-05:00February 6th, 2019|

Wintertime in the 1/2 Classroom

Dear Families,

The winter months are busy ones here in the 1/2 classroom. I often refer to January, February and March as “crunch time”. A great deal of work gets done during this time period. With Ski Fridays replacing afternoon academic time, we find ourselves with our noses to the grindstone. Intense work across the curriculum leaves little time for free choice during our days. So please make sure your child has enough food to sustain them throughout the day and be forewarned that they may come home quite tired.

This winter our science unit will have us studying bears. January is our month to learn lessons in courage for Social Studies. On top of the continued work we do in math, reading, and writing, this year’s class has made an additional request. So enamored with our afternoon read-aloud The World of Pooh (which includes both A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner), we will be taking two of the children’s favorite chapters and making them into mini-plays. So there will be lines to learn and movements to memorize. Although very informal, there will be a performance here in the classroom for all of you. Details to be determined – stay tuned!

Report cards come out later this month. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

As always, thank you for sharing your children with all of us here at BCD!

Kay

By BCD Blog|2019-01-02T09:55:34-05:00January 2nd, 2019|