primary Block:

French Immersion Language Arts

Learners in Grades 1 and 2 develop French speaking, reading, and writing skills and competencies through a comprehensive approach to literacy. Learners entering French Immersion in Grade 1 have little or no experience and/or knowledge of French, as the program is designed for learners whose first language is not French.

The interactive program uses a wide variety of strategies and tools, such as gestures, visuals, music, poems, games, stories, and educational games to help learners improve their language skills in the three areas of literacy: speaking, reading, and writing. Learners benefit from authentic and engaging opportunities for personalized learning in an inclusive environment.

French Immersion Language Arts focuses on the five components of reading: phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, accuracy, and comprehension. Initially, learners read simple texts with predictable patterns and known vocabulary that is repeated, and as their reading and language skills further develop, they begin to read more complex texts.

The first and second years focus on creating different types of texts, following the writing process, and applying the writing traits. However, before writing a text, learners must first be able to produce their ideas orally. Writing activities focus on familiar topics, immediate needs, day-to-day activities, and concepts explored through other areas of learning.

CONTEXTS AND CONCEPTS

LITERACY EXPLORATION

PROMOTE THE LEARNING OF FRENCH

  • Learning French as a second or additional language
  • Developing an appreciation for language learning
  • Interacting in French with the world around you
  • Having enriching literacy experiences
  • Demonstrating interests, wonder and preferences

IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS AN ORAL COMMUNICATOR

  • Becoming and being a communicator
  • Interacting in French with the world around us.
  • Sharing information and ideas
  • Telling stories and playing with language.

IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS A READER

  • Developing skills of a beginner reader.
  • Interacting with various types and genres of text.
GRADE 1

Strand: Speaking and Listening

Big Idea: Oral Comprehension

Skill Descriptor: Understand different oral texts on topics related to students’ experiences.

Global Competencies: CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Understand the meaning of a simple message
  • Understand short conversations on known topics
  • Understand simple words and common phrases
  • Understand anchor charts and concrete objects
  • Understand simple questions
  • Understand people if they describe objects or possessions
  • Understand simple guidelines, instructions, and tasks
  • Use listening strategies to support understanding

Big Idea: Oral Production

Skill Descriptor: Speak on topics closely related to students’ experiences using precise language.

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS

Achievement Indicators:

  • Introduce yourself and someone else
  • Describe people, objects and simple actions/activities using simple phrases and known words
  • Talk about familiar topics using simple phrases and familiar words
  • Describe feelings and preferences (e.g., what I like and don’t like)
  • Saying what you can and can’t do
  • Use vocabulary and simple expressions related to learning themes
  • Start integrating elements of language accuracy and syntax to improve speaking

Big Idea: Oral Interaction

Skill Descriptor: Participate in small conversations related to topics closely related to students’ experiences using precise language.

Global Competencies: CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Exchange simple information on everyday topics
  • Participate in simple discussions with peers by asking and answering personal questions
  • Ask for simple instructions
  • Interact with someone to fulfil a need
  • Start integrating language accuracy elements and syntax elements to improve oral speech

Strand: Reading and Viewing

Big Idea: Phonological Awareness

Skill Descriptor: Recognize, hear, and manipulate the syllables and sounds of the French language.

Global Competencies: SASM, CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Identify known words and the number of words heard in a sentence
  • Segment a word into syllables
  • Merge syllables to make a word
  • Identify and produce words that rhyme
  • Identify the different sounds in a word (e.g., initial, final, median, number of sounds in a word)
  • Substitute, add, or remove a sound in a word to create a new word

Big Idea: Phonics

Skill Descriptor: Establish connections between spoken sounds (phonemes) and written sounds (graphemes) to read words in a text.

Global Competencies: CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Understand alphabetic concepts (e.g., recognize, name, sound uppercase and lowercase letters)
  • Recognize different graphemes in writing (e.g., vowels, consonants, frequent complex spellings, etc.)
  • Use knowledge of different graphemes to read increasingly complex words (e.g., CV, VC, CVC, multi-syllable/sound words)
  • Decode a word correctly using learned graphemes

Big Idea: Vocabulary

Skill Descriptor: Use knowledge of the vocabulary acquired to facilitate your reading.

Global Competencies: SASM, CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Recognize in a text several words studied in class (e.g., frequent words, thematic words, words learned in other subjects, words heard in audio texts, etc.)
  • Read known words in a text with ease (e.g., frequent words, thematic words, learned words)
  • Use your knowledge of spoken words to easily read words in writing
  • Understand the meaning of multiple words in a text

Big Idea: Fluency and Accuracy

Skill Descriptor: Read a variety of increasingly complex texts accurately and fluently.

Global Competencies: SASM, CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Read small, simple texts fluently; slow down only if a need arises
  • Read small, simple texts with expression
  • Read small, simple texts more accurately, with few errors, few substitutions, and few omissions

Big Idea: Comprehension

Skill Descriptor: Read while understanding a variety of increasingly complex texts.

Global Competencies: CM, SASM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Make a short summary of the main ideas of a simple text
  • Answer literal and inferential questions in simple text
  • Make predictions before and during reading a text
  • Make connections between previous knowledge and the text

Strand: Writing and Representing

Big Idea: Written Production and the Writing Process

Skill Descriptor: Write different types of simple texts about topics closely related to the students’ experiences by following the writing process.

Global Competencies: CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Write simple information about yourself, your activities, routines, etc.
  • Write simple descriptions on familiar topics
  • Write small personal accounts describing events in everyday life
  • Write small, simple notes and messages to other people
  • Express ideas, feelings, and opinions
  • Follow the writing process to improve the quality of text

Big Idea: Writing Traits

Skill Descriptor: Enhance writing with short, simple texts by applying the writing traits.

Global Competencies: CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Present ideas related to a familiar topic
  • Organize ideas in a logical order
  • Write simple and complete sentences
  • Integrate learned vocabulary into text (e.g., words studied in class, thematic words, words heard orally, words seen in texts)
  • Add descriptive words to text (e.g., simple adjectives, some adverbs)
  • Apply basic learned language conventions
GRADE 2

Strand: Speaking and Listening

Big Idea: Oral Comprehension

Skill Descriptor: Understand different oral texts on familiar topics related to surroundings and personal experiences.

Global Competencies: CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Understand simple information on topics related to experiences, knowledge, and learning
  • Understand questions on familiar and studied topics
  • Understand simple and clear messages
  • Understand brief descriptions and simple explanations related to familiar and studied topics
  • Understand simple guidelines, instructions, and tasks
  • Understand simple everyday conversations
  • Understand the gist of short stories on a familiar topic
  • Use listening strategies to support understanding

Big Idea: Oral Production

Skill Descriptor: Speak on familiar topics related to surroundings and personal experiences using precise language.

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS, CL

Achievement Indicators:

  • Share personal information and experiences
  • Describe everyday events
  • Produce short descriptions on familiar and studied topics
  • Produce short explanations to describe how to do something
  • Share preferences from a known topic.
  • Explain a concept learned in class
  • Use precise vocabulary and simple expressions related to the themes studied
  • Consider the elements of language accuracy and syntax to improve oral speech

Big Idea: Oral Interaction

Skill Descriptor: Participate in conversations on familiar topics related to surroundings and personal experiences using precise language.

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS, CL

Achievement Indicators:

  • Interact with others to share ideas, experiences, preferences and feelings on familiar topics.
  • Exchange information with others on familiar and studied topics
  • Use interaction strategies to maintain a conversation (e.g., ask and answer questions, add more information, ask the person to repeat, etc.).
  • Ask for or give directions (e.g., with a map of the school/neighborhood or other visual aids).
  • Use precise vocabulary and simple expressions related to the topics studied
  • Take into account elements of language accuracy and syntax to improve interactions

Strand: Reading and Viewing

Big Idea: Phonological Awareness

Skill Descriptor: Recognize, hear and manipulate the syllables and sounds of the French language.

Global Competencies: SASM, CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Segment a wider variety of words into syllables
  • Merge a wider variety of words into syllables to create a word
  • Identify and produce words that rhyme
  • Identify the different sounds in a word (e.g., initial, final, median, number of sounds in a word)
  • Substitute, add, or remove a sound in a word to create a new word

Big Idea: Phonics

Skill Descriptor: Establish connections between oral sounds (phonemes) and written sounds (graphemes) to read words in a text.

Global Competencies: SASM, CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Recognize different graphemes in writing (e.g., vowels, consonants, complex spellings, etc.)
  • Use knowledge of different graphemes to read increasingly complex words (multi-syllable words/sounds)
  • Decode a word correctly using learned graphemes

Big Idea: Vocabulary

Skill Descriptor: Use knowledge of vocabulary acquired to facilitate reading.

Global Competencies: SASM, CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Recognize in a text several words studied in class (e.g., frequent words, thematic words, words learned in other subjects, words heard in audio texts, etc.)
  • Read known words in a text with ease (e.g., frequent words, thematic words, learned words)
  • Use knowledge of spoken words to read words more easily in writing
  • Understand the meaning of several types of words in a text
  • Start using morphological cues (e.g., prefixes, suffixes, small words in the big word, etc.) to understand the meaning of a word

Big Idea: Fluency and Accuracy

Skill Descriptor: Read a variety of increasingly complex texts accurately and fluently.

Global Competencies: SASM, CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Read simple texts fluently; slow down only if a need arises
  • Read simple texts with expression
  • Read simple texts more accurately, with few errors, few substitutions, and few omissions

Big Idea: Comprehension

Skill Descriptor: Read while understanding a variety of increasingly complex texts.

Global Competencies: SASM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Recount a simple narrative text by identifying the sequence of events
  • Recount a simple informative text by identifying important information
  • Summarize a text in a logical order
  • Add details in the text reminder (e.g., secondary characters are…)
  • Answer literal and inferential questions
  • Make connections with experiences/understandings
  • Use strategies to manage understanding

Strand: Writing and Representing

Big Idea: Written Production and the Writing Process

Skill Descriptor: Write different types of simple texts about familiar topics by following the writing process.

Global Competencies: CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Write short stories/accounts related to personal experiences
  • Write short informative texts about familiar or learned topics
  • Express ideas, feelings, knowledge, needs and preferences/opinions
  • Write the steps to complete a task (procedure to follow)
  • Follow the writing process to improve the quality of texts

Big Idea: Writing Traits

Skill Descriptor: Enrich one’s writing of different simple texts by applying the writing traits.

Global Competencies: CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Write a text with ideas that are related to a situation or theme (e.g., main idea, relevant details)
  • Write a text that demonstrates organization is beginning to appear in (e.g., logical order, transition words, introductory sentence, concluding sentence)
  • Integrate vocabulary learned into text (e.g., thematic words, adjectives, adverbs, more specific verbs)
  • Use a variety of sentences in text (e.g., various sentence beginnings, different lengths, and sentence types – exclamative, interrogative and negative)