program

The French program at Marion Cross is in its forty-ninth year! It began in 1960 with fourth graders taught by community members on a volunteer basis. The program now serves fourth, fifth and sixth graders at the school. It has always been a strong part of the curriculum and valued by staff, parents and the community.

Students from Marion Cross enter the Richmond Middle School in Hanover, NH, where Norwich students meet their new classmates from Hanover. The transition to middle school French is seamless, as great efforts have been made in recent years to bridge the gap between the schools.

The fourth grade curriculum is based on an introduction to the language. Students come to class three times a week for 30 minutes. Speaking and listening skills are emphasized; we do a lot of oral activities, activities in pairs and listening comprehension exercises. Vocabulary units include the alphabet, numbers, colors, animals, activities, foods, clothing, time, days of the week and body parts. Our cultural topics include Mardi Gras, differences between French and American customs, Paris and its monuments. We use the text Alex et Zoé 1, published by CLE International and students receive short homework assignments once every two weeks, often helping students practice vocabulary at home. We use songs to complement our vocabulary and videos to enhance our cultural studies.

In fifth grade speaking and listening continue to be the main focus but more writing and word recognition is added to the curriculum. The time dedicated to French is increased to 45 minutes four times a week. We continue with Alex et Zoé series, finishing the first book and working through the sequel. Topics of vocabulary include the expansion of our knowledge of numbers, time, activities and food and we add morning routine vocabulary, school subjects, family members, months of the year, weather and feelings. Homework is assigned once a week and helps students to begin to make the connection between written and spoken French. Fifth grade incorporates a lot of culture, including the regions of France and the Middle Ages in France. Group projects are used to help students work corroboratively and enrich their learning of French culture. Again, songs and videos are added to enrich the topics we study.

When students enter sixth grade French there is a significant change in the curriculum. We use a more traditional textbook, the Discovering French, Nouveau! 1A textbook. Students have homework three nights a week and have regular quizzes and tests; the schedule continues at 45 minutes four times a week. The year begins reviewing vocabulary covered in the previous two years, including time, days of the week, weather, family and activities. Our grammar studies really take off in sixth grade; we cover masculine and feminine, verb conjugations and parts of speech, idiomatic language and cognates. Cultural studies include various French-speaking areas of the world with a large focus on Francophone Africa, including colonization, political science and current way of life. Students complete several individual projects during each marking period to enhance grammatical and cultural studies.