It has become a tradition to wish our French visitors “Bon retour” with a send-off party! We danced, ate snacks, and played with balloons! We had so much fun this year with Mathieu and Anaïs!

Mrs. Rutil’s class enjoyed learning this song from my first grade class so much that they wanted to return the favor to us! Here is a classic children’s song that they sang for us:

To practice learning the meaning of the song, we did several activities in class. For example, we played a matching card game to learn how to say the clothing items that are mentioned in the song.

We also did a relay race outside!

Here is our version of the song, recorded the last day of French class in first grade:

This year students in first grade French class have conducted a special project. We set out to teach one of the songs that we performed for our Harvest Celebration to our connection project friends in Fréjus, France. To do this, we interpreted the song in a variety of ways, integrating skills that we are practicing in each of our specials classes (music, art, library, computer and P.E.). It has been an enriching experience, and we are so proud to finally be able to hear our friends sing the song!

The teacher in France, Murielle Rutil, reported that at first the children complained that the song was too difficult and that they wouldn’t be able to sing it. After watching our videos and continuing to practice, they were able to learn the song and to sing it with excellent pronunciation. They enjoyed this project so much that they would like to continue with it next year. Therefore, in second grade, my French students will have a chance to teach more English songs to the students in France, and they will also be teaching us some French songs that will be integrated into our curriculum! This is sure to be a meaningful experience of cultural exchange for all children involved!

This project has also enabled us to showcase the variety of skills that students are Fredericksburg Academy are able to practice and develop through our wonderful “Specials” program. You can see the different facets of the project by clicking the links below.

Music class: We sang the song and accompanied it with instruments.

Art class: We illustrated the meaning of the song.

Library: Mrs. Atkins read a book about the theme of the song, and we sent a copy to France!

Technology: We used the Dash n Dot and Codepillar robots to practice coding while doing activities related to the theme of the song.

P.E.: We did a variety of games related to the theme of the song.

On Wednesday, March 22, the first grade class went to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. is the capital city of the United States, and we are lucky because Fredericksburg is only an hour away! We rode in a big bus to go on our field trip. Here you can see some photos of Mathieu and Anaïs as they explored the museum with Teagan.

Le mercredi 22 mars les élèves de CE-1 sont allés visiter le Musée National de l’Aérospatiale à Washington, D.C. Washington D.C. est la ville capitale des Etats-Unis, et nous avons de la chance car ce n’est qu’à une heure de Fredericksburg. Nous sommes allés en autobus pour y arriver. Voici quelques photos de Mathieu and Anaïs avec Teagan au musée.

Dans le bus on a vue des monuments de la ville de Washington:

Au musée il y a beaucoup de choses impressionantes a voir:

Last week was “World Languages Week” at our school. Throughout the week all students got to do special activities to celebrate learning other languages. At our school some students study French, and some study Spanish. The older students in Middle and Upper School can also take Latin.

In first grade, we got to play pétanque outside. Before we went out, we learned the rules of the game and watched some videos about how to throw the ball correctly. We learned that the small ball is called le cochonet, which means “piglet,” and the bigger balls are called boules. We played two rounds. Zoe threw her boule closest to le cochonet the first time. The second round, Jorjica and Ollie were the winners. Do you like to play pétanque?

Mrs. Wimble

We have EPS twice per week in the gym with Mrs. Wimble. In English we call it “P.E.” which stands for “physical education.”

Mrs. Wimble created some games to go along with our song. We did a race where we had to run through the “field of corn” and then “pick a pumpkin” in the the pumpkin patch of orange balls. The next time we had to run and “pick some apples,” which were red and green balls hidden in the bleachers. For the last game, we had to pretend to act like a herd of cows. It was lots of fun! We love PE with Mrs. Wimble!

Go Falcons!

The field of corn

The patch of pumpkins

The tree of apples

Mrs. Anderson

Mrs. Anderson is our computer and technology teacher. Once a week we go to the computer lab to play games, practice typing, and develop other technology skills. For this project about our song, Mrs. Anderson helped us to practice coding, which is when you tell a computer what you want it to do. We did the project in our STEM lab, which is a special classroom where we can explore Science, Math, Engineering and Technology. We were divided into groups of three, and each group had to complete a coding challenge using either the Coderpillars or a robot named Dash. Through teamwork and lots of trial-and-error, we were able to complete the challenges!

One group had to get the Coderpillar to round up the cows and bring them back to the farm:

Another group had to get the Coderpillar to weave through the patch of pumpkins and field of corn:

The third group had to get Dash to toss the “apple” ball into the basket: