Le mois de decembre 2009 Bonjour!! In Kindergarten, the students are making great progress in French, even though we only meet twice weekly. We are continuing with the basics-- greetings, numbers, colors, calendar, weather, family vocabulary, basic classroom objects, and a little geography. We are having fun coloring our Christmas tree's ornaments and learning a poem about Pere Noel. We sang the dreidel song in French and are praying for snow!! A little boy, upon hearing me speak English to Mr. Kraus, remarked, "She speaks human!" Kids are fun!! Thanks very much to the parents who signed up to help with small art projects, to bring in French food, and to record our students and make a CD. (The kids love to hear themselves-- a good car CD!!!)Merci!! In second grade, we finished our second theme, "Henriette se sauve." It was hard to say "Au revoir!" We are starting another theme, Les Animaux de Compagnie- Pets! It is a fun, short unit with great songs and a culminating puppet creation activity. There are many students who try to communicate exclusively in French during our daily half hours. It is very exciting!! Thanks to second grade parents who signed up to help with our French food day. Please email me if you would like to help with an art project or with recording our students and then burning CDs. I will cover the expense. I just need help!! Soon, I will show all of my students a video of my two trips to Haiti. Last year's students were very interested in helping the children in the remote village of Nouvelle Cite. Nouvelle Cite is on the island of La Gonave, which has no electricity, plumbing, garbage clean-up, paved roads, public health, or reliable public schools. The children are hungry most everyday, which saddens our students. We hope to continue a partnership with an elementary school in Nouvelle Cite. Please feel free to contact me if you have any concerns or questions. If you do not hear from me, you can assume that your student is doing very well!! I have 170 K students and 85 second graders, so, sadly, I'll only be in touch if there is a concern. mfranchot@atlanta.k12.ga.us. Merci!! Madame Noëlle (Marty Franchot)