Group 4: Mme.

Newell
Grade 4
2 students: S., D.

Language Arts

Pre-assessment of students reading level:

Assessment Tool Used:
Beauchemin (2005), Collection GB+ : Trousse dvaluation en Lecture DRA. Qubec:
Chenelire ducation.

*This assessment tool is the French version of the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)
published by Pearson Education Canada.
http://www.cheneliere.ca/FTP/GB_Demo/gbplus/trousse.html

Results of this assessment helped Mme. Scobie decide whether or not her students this term were
in need of LAC assistance.
Long Term Goal 1: To improve reading comprehension.

Short Term Objective 1: To read short works of fiction and review specific reading strategies.
Short Term Objective 2: To find the main idea in a text and discriminate it from details.

Activities:
Due to time constraints, I was unable to work on reading comprehension with this group. Instead,
I chose to work on the students second and third long term goals.
Long Term Goal 2: To improve written expression.

Short Term Objective 1: To learn how to structure a simple story with a beginning, middle and
end.
Activities:
Reviewed specific habits of writing and administered activities and
worksheets from Writing 44 and the Trousse dcriture de llve.
Reviewed the 5 WH-questions (who, what, when, where, and why) as a
framework that could be used to guide their writing.
When writing a story about Halloween, students were provided with
sentence prompts to help them with their writing. However, none were
interested in using these as both students were more motivated to write
their own sentences.
Group writing: Students were instructed to write a story together. To
begin with, they each took turns saying a word until they created a full
sentence, which one student was instructed to write down. Several
sentences made up the students first story. The groups second story was
written in the same manner, though students were instructed to say a full
sentence instead of a single word.
Story writing with cartoons and graphic organizers: Using these supports,
students were instructed to fill in the cartoon characters speech bubbles
and transform the original storyline.
Long Term Goal 3: To provide a strong foundation to writing by providing a structure to
grammar rules and broadening students vocabulary.

Short Term Objective 1: To learn the conjugation of common verbs in the present tense.
(Avoir, tre, Manger, Aller)
Short Term Objective 2: To teach students how to use reference tools such as the dictionary
and the Bescherelle.

Pre-Assessment:
Using whiteboards and markers, students were instructed to write the verb Avoir in the present
tense from memory.

Whiteboard activity with memory exercises: Students revised and
practiced Avoir. I introduced and had students practice the verb at least
3x on the board. First, I had the students memorize the order of the
pronouns (Je, Tu Il/Elle, Nous, Vous, Ils/Elles) as a chant. Then, I quizzed
them and asked them tell me, for example, what the premire personne du
singulier was, or what the troisime personne du plurier was.
Then, I had students memorize the conjugated endings (ex: Jai, Tu as,
Il/Elle a, Nous avons, Vous Avez, Ils/Elles ont). Using repetition, I asked
my students to repeat back to me what they remembered. At times, I asked
them to close their eyes and tell me what they knew off by heart.
The following session, I ask them to write what they remembered in
booklets that I had put together for their study of key verbs. This formative
assessment was used to monitor the students learning of the verbs. After
writing the verb correctly, students were instructed to write a sentence
with each pronoun. They were also guided to use the Bescherelle properly.


















Group 5: Mme Newell/Mme Hebert-Wong
Grade 5
3 students: H., M., R.

Language Arts

Pre-assessment of students reading level:

Assessment Tool Used:
Beauchemin (2005), Collection GB+ : Trousse dvaluation en Lecture DRA. Qubec:
Chenelire ducation.

*This assessment tool is the French version of the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)
published by Pearson Education Canada.
http://www.cheneliere.ca/FTP/GB_Demo/gbplus/trousse.html

Results of this assessment helped Mme. Scobie decide whether or not her students this term were
in need of LAC assistance.
Long Term Goal 1: To improve reading comprehension.
Long Term Goal 2: To improve reading fluency.

Short Term Objective 1: To read and understand works of fiction and review specific
reading strategies.

Activities:

Novel Study: La Nouvelle Matresse

Demers, D. (1994), La Nouvelle Matresse. Qubec: Gallimard Jeunesse.

Students read the first two chapters of the novel. To improve fluency, I
experimented with group reading, silent individual reading and repeated readings.
Due to the rich imagery and symbolism of the text, not to mention the foreign
vocabulary specific to Quebec, my group had some difficulty understanding the
text. To address this difficulty, I created a worksheet titled Les Comparaisons
pertaining to the first chapter. Here, students needed to decipher 10 different
expressions filled with imagery.

Students used various graphic organizers from Reading 44.
Reflection:

This was a very pleasant group to work with. Here are some specific notes on what worked and
what didnt work with this group:
Having students reading aloud was a good idea, although decoding the text was
difficult for one student out of the three. As a result, reading comprehension was
more challenging for that one student. Perhaps next time I could have students
read silently first and then have them read aloud to each other (partner reading).
Unfortunately, the group was too distracted when all they had to do was listen to
me read aloud and follow along in the book.
Reading on the floor was a good idea as the group seemed to be more attentive
than when I had them reading at their desk.

What I would do differently:

1) Give graphic organizers that get students to segment a story (or a chapter) into its three
basic parts: the beginning, middle and end.
2) Give students an empty sheet for vocabulary words, where they will take note of 20
vocabulary words they are not familiar with.
3) Give a worksheet where students will identify their favourite part in the chapter.
4) Do a character study by handing out a worksheet from Writing 44 titled Le Profil
Dtaill du Personnage.
Here are some specific notes on these students:

H.: Had good oral reading fluency (ORF), but had difficulty with reading comprehension due to
his limited vocabulary. Had a great attitude and was very attentive when asked to read. Liked to
ask questions and look up vocabulary words in the dictionary. Made good inferences and
suggestions when asked to decipher what specific expressions meant in the chapter.
M.: Had significantly weak ORF abilities; she often misread words, omitted or slurred their
endings, and missed many consonant-vowel-consonant combinations. Read slowly and carefully
and spent a lot of time decoding words. Had a poor attention span and often lost her place when
asked to follow along in the book. Had very limited comprehension and tried to compensate for
her difficulties by making appropriate connections to English words that she was familiar with.
Overall, M. was very disengaged and apathetic about her learning.
R.: Was the strongest of the group and had excellent ORF abilities. His comprehension ability
was fair. He asked many questions and was ready to look words up in the dictionary. He made
good inferences about the text and was able to answer both simple and complex comprehension
questions. He understood many of the expressions in the first of the novel. Is still in need of
broadening his vocabulary in French.





























Group 6: Mme Hebert-Wong
Grade 6
3 students: J., M., J.

Language Arts

Pre-assessment of students reading level:

Assessment Tool Used:
Beauchemin (2005), Collection GB+ : Trousse dvaluation en Lecture DRA. Qubec:
Chenelire ducation.

*This assessment tool is the French version of the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)
published by Pearson Education Canada.
http://www.cheneliere.ca/FTP/GB_Demo/gbplus/trousse.html

Results of this assessment helped Mme. Scobie decide whether or not her students this term were
in need of LAC assistance.
Pre-assessment of students writing level:

This pre-assessment was done in a group. Using pictures from magazines as story
starters, students were instructed to pick a picture they liked and free write about what they think
was happening, or had happened, in the photograph. To aid the writing process, we brainstormed
for ideas as a group.
Long Term Goal 1: To improve written expression.

Short Term Objective: To facilitate written output.

Long Term Goal 2: To provide a strong foundation to writing by providing a structure to
grammar rules and broadening students vocabulary.

Short Term Objective 1: To broaden students vocabulary in French and improve spelling.
Short Term Objective 2: To teach students how to use reference tools such as the dictionary
and Bescherelle.
Activities:

1) Writing with story starter prompts: Students wrote texts and used personal
dictionaries to keep track of new vocabulary words.


2) Workbook Used:
Poster Pals (2014). lattaque des adjectifs. Ontario : Canada Limited.
http://www.posterpals.ca/french-c-1.html

Used worksheets to review grammar rules.
Reflection:

This was a good group to work with, however, I only had three sessions with these
students throughout my practicum. As a result, I didnt have much time to work on the objectives
that I had written out for them.
I find teaching students how write to be a very difficult task. Where do you begin? What
do you focus on? After conducting my pre-assessment with this group, I realized that there are
too many holes in my students foundation with regards to grammar and spelling. I found out
later from Mme Scobie that this is a considerable problem among many students in French
Immersion as there is a great focus on oral French. Consequently, there is much less attention
given to written French and this is why students written and oral skills often do not match. As
such, students oral skills are often better than their writing abilities.

Here are some specific notes on these students:

J.: Very quiet and reserved, though had enough self-confidence to write all of her ideas on paper.
Was very studious, careful, and neat with her work. Thought hard about what she wanted to
write before writing. Needs to work on verbs and verb tenses, as well as basic grammar. Oral
expression is stronger than written expression.
M.: Difficulty with written output, self-expression and organizing ideas. Can be incredibly
passive and inattentive at times. Often exhibits defiant behavior. Needs to review basic verbs
tenses and grammar rules. Has a good sense of humour.
J.: Poor handwriting and limited knowledge of verbs, verb tenses, and grammar. Poor
vocabulary. Good skills in written expression and paragraph organization (beginning, middle and
end).