September, 2011.
Dear Parents/Guardians & Students,
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and to tell you a bit about
the Core French Program that I will be delivering to your child. My name is Mme
Debbie Doucet and this is my first year at Weymouth Consolidated (I taught at Yarmouth
Junior High for the past 4 years). I am going to be teaching Core French (4, 5 & 6) and
will also be doing Resource work.
I would like to briefly describe what I will be doing in Core French, as this
program is still new and we are hoping that it will improve student’s interest in French as
well as their abilities to communicate in French. (If your child is in grade 5 or 6 this year,
they would have already seen this approach with their past French teachers.)
The program concentrates on speaking French, so I will model a questionresponse (always in complete sentences) then the students will be asked the same
question, which they will respond to, and eventually be able to ask the other students that
same question. The class is very interactive and requires the student’s full attention and
participation in order for everything to run as it should. After a few sentence structures
have been learned orally, we will then move to some reading and writing activities using
those same structures. To reinforce the new sentence structures we also play games
every now and then to make it “more fun”.
Because this program demands the student’s full attention and participation, any
distractions/interruptions will be dealt with as follows:
- 1st : verbal warning;
- 2nd: Name written on board;
- 3rd: Check mark next to name = detention/conversation with teacher;
- 4th: 2 check marks = phone call home.
If the problem persists after these steps have been taken, the student will be referred to
the Office.
There are also rewards that come with participating in this program, other than
being able to communicate in French! When a student is called upon to answer/ask a
question in French and does so correctly, they may receive a “Dollar de Doucet”, the
class currency. Once enough of this money has been earned, the student may buy a
prize/reward from the store (le magasin de classe) or the class may pool together their
funds for a reward class.
If you have any questions concerning the Core French Program or have any
questions in general, please do not hesitate to contact me at the school (837-2310) or by
e-mail: deborah.doucet@tcrsb.ca
I am looking forward to a great year with your kids!
Sincerely,
____________________________
Debbie Doucet 