La semaine des canards

October Family Project

Chers parents de la premire anne,

Here is the first of 3 family projects I will assign throughout the year. Thank you in advance for
your collaboration! Please that all projects are optional but strongly encouraged.
Family projects have 3 main goals:
- Provide opportunities for parents to be directly involved in their childs classroom and
learning experience
- Support authentic and meaningful use of oral and written French outside the classroom to
increase overall language proficiency
- Celebrate diverse learning styles and abilities by empowering students and families to
take ownership over and personalize assignments
This family project information package contains a home reading program for you to complete
with your child over the next 3 weeks. Each week, instruction sheets are provided suggesting
ways for you to study the story as a family. Your child may further evaluate and explore the new
story as you guide them with the questions and activities listed on the instructions sheet. Please
note that this is just a suggested timeline; feel free to adapt and change the schedule as required
to accommodate your family and child.
In each family project information package, a set of instructions for each week will be provided,
along with all corresponding materials aside from those of choice. If you require additional craft
supplies for the week 3 creation, please let me know at your earliest convenience.
Although the story is in French, you do not need to be bilingual to do this activity with your
child; I have provided a spoken audio recording of the text, as well as a sing-along version. Both
audio files can be found on the Family Projects page of the classroom website
www.madamejessica.weebly.com under Parent Information tab. This will be an opportunity to
bear witness to your childs French language learning and learn a bit yourself too! If you have
any older French immersion siblings in the home, they would surely be an asset as well.
Please return this package along with all completed work no later than Friday, October 30th 2013.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this family project, please do not hesitate to
contact me by email at jessica.schultchen@lethsd.ab.ca. I hope that this home reading program
will serve as an enjoyable French language learning activity for you and your family.

Merci de votre soutien! Amusez-vous bien!

Mme Jessica Schultchen

La semaine des canards

October Family Project
Week One Instructions
Date: Monday, October 5th to Sunday, October 11th 2015
Goal: The goal for this week is to read the story using images, text, and retelling the
story.
Procedure:
Step 1 Pre-reading
Please go over the French vocabulary cards with your child on Monday. You can read
the word, examine he image and then discuss what the word means. You can also have
your child redraw their own representation of each card to see how they interpret these
words.
Your child should also look at and feel the pages of the book at their own pace before
starting to read. Have your child make predictions about the story, asking what do you
think the story will be about? Who are the characters in the story? What will happen to
the ducks?
Step 2 Reading
Please read the story once with your child each evening this week. If you cannot do so
in French, please use the audio recording provided on the classroom website.
While reading the story, question your child about the illustrations, vocabulary and
general plot of the story. Pose questions in English or using French words, such as:
- Can you point to the canard? What is a canard? How many canards do you see
in this picture? (Replace canard with any French vocab from the lexicon
attached).
- What happened on lundi? Can you show me the picture where the canards go to
the mare?
At the end, you can ask your child to retell the story page per page. Ensure that the
childs understanding is consistent with the story.
Step 3 Reinforce
Have your child colour the book. Discuss the illustrations and colour choices.
Use the vocabulary cards to play go fish. Deal each player 3 cards and let the youngest
person go first. Place the rest of the cards face-down. Player 1 can ask another player
for a card they already have in their hand; if Player 2 has the card requested, they must
give it over, but if they dont, then Player 1 has to pick up one card from the deck. The
player with the most pairs of cards at the end wins.

La semaine des canards

October Family Project

Week Two Instructions

Date: Monday, October 12th to Sunday, October 18th 2015
Goal: The goal for this week is to demonstrate reading comprehension and evaluate the
story.

Procedure:
Step 1 Reread the story
Please review and reread the story with your child on Monday, just as you did last week.
If you cannot do so in French, please use the audio record provided on the classroom
website.
Step 2 Sing along
After reading the story, present the musical version using the website. If you read or
play music, you can also refer to the partition paper. Them, try singing along to the tune
as this will help you and your childs fluidity. Singing a second language tends to be
easier than speaking, so have fun and dont be shy! Please sing the story once per day
this week.
Step 3 Add images
Each day of the week, please ask your child to find the missing ducks for that page of
the story. Have them cut out and glue the correct image on the corresponding page.
Have your child colour the images and the book again.
Step 4 Check for comprehension
After reading the story, please discuss it with your child. Ask your child which day sound
the most fun, or if it would be neat to be a duck. Have them explain why they selected a
certain answer. Ask your child why ducks like to go to the pond or the sea. Ask what
kinds of games ducks could play on mercredi, or why the ducks are wearing scarves on
jeudi. Ask if the ducks are happy on dimanche or if la vie en rose is a good thing. Ask
what sounds ducks make in English, and what sounds they make in French at the end
of the story. Talk about the similarities and differences between French and English
found in this text.

La semaine des canards

October Family Project

Week Three Instructions

Date: Monday, October 19th to Sunday October 25th 2015
Goal: To goal for this week is to demonstrate to synthesize the information presented in
the story and make our own decision about it.

Procedure:
Step 1 Reread the story and sing along!
Use the audio records to review the story on Monday.
Step 2 Visual representation/creation
Using the content of the book to make an opinion, ask your child to pick the best day to
be a duck. Your child should use the book to copy the word for the day of the week, and
then visually represent their interpretation of that day. You may simply use a piece of
paper and draw, or you may use recyclable materials to build a project, whatever you
prefer! Please encourage your child to refer to the text, build off of any relevant lived
experiences (trips to Henderson Lake, petting zoo, farm, etc.) and use their imagination
to show the best day of the week to be a duck. Please remember to relate the best duck
day back to the information provided in the story.
Step 3 Rehearse presentation
Upon completion and return of the package, your child will present their week three
creation to their peers. Please help your child practice presenting the creation to you,
ensuring that they appropriate hold the creation so the audience can see, and trying to
speak loudly and clearly. You can use the lexicon to help you child use as much French
as possible in their speech. Please refer to the rubric on the following page for clearer
indicators of student achievement.

La semaine des canards

October Family Project

Name: ____________________
Date: _____________________

I can do this
with help from
Mme throughout
the entire
presentation.

I can do this
with help from
Mme during
most of my
presentation.

I can do this
with occasional
reminders or
prompts from
Mme.

I can do this
without any
assistance.

I have mastered the content and topic

of my presentation. I can either read
or retell the text independently, or
can talk about and describe my
project.
I look at the audience. I hold my
project for everyone to see or ask a
classmate to be my assistant.
When answering questions, I use
correct French vocabulary. I speak in
complete sentences using stems like
Cest or Il y a.
I am loud enough to hear at the back
of the carpet and speak clearly.
I got the attention of the audience.
My peers were interested in my
presentation.
I can present my project for 30
seconds to 1 minute.
I have followed the instructions of
the assignment. My project is on
topic. I am prepared to present my
work to my class and answer
questions about it.

The complete rubric will be sent home after your child presents to keep you up to date
on his/her progress.
Step 4 Return package and all contents to school
Please return all the items in this package including your week two story (now with
illustrations!) and week three creation.
Please return all family projects by Friday, October 30th 2015.