Grade 1 French Immersion: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 1 french immersion in the New Brunswick Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Speaking and Listening: Oral Comprehension. Understand different oral texts on topics related to students' experiences.
- Speaking and Listening: Oral Production. Speak on topics closely related to students' experiences using precise language.
- Speaking and Listening: Oral Interaction. Participate in small conversations related to topics closely related to students' experiences using precise language.
- Reading and Viewing: Phonological Awareness. Recognize, hear, and manipulate the syllables and sounds of the French language.
- Reading and Viewing: Phonics. Establish connections between spoken sounds (phonemes) and written sounds (graphemes) to read words in a text.
- Reading and Viewing: Vocabulary. Use knowledge of the vocabulary acquired to facilitate your reading.
- Reading and Viewing: Fluency and Accuracy. Read a variety of increasingly complex texts accurately and fluently.
- Reading and Viewing: Comprehension. Read while understanding a variety of increasingly complex texts.
- Writing and Representing: Written Production and the Writing Process. Write different types of simple texts about topics closely related to the students' experiences by following the writing process.
- Writing and Representing: Writing Traits. Enhance writing with short, simple texts by applying the writing traits.
Easy ways to practise french immersion at home
- Read French picture books together, even if you are learning too. Let your child tell you what is happening.
- Sing French songs and nursery rhymes in the car or at bath time.
- Name things around the house in French, and ask your child to teach you the words.
- Clap the syllables in French words and play “What rhymes with chat?”
What each unit covers
Je me présente
Speaking about oneself and one's daily life with simple sentence patterns: my name, age, likes and feelings.
Majuscule et point
Writing conventions: capital letters, spaces between words and end punctuation.
Est-ce que…?
Forming questions with “est-ce que” and recognizing the question mark.
Les verbes d'action
Present-tense endings of common action verbs, matched to the person doing the action.
Couleurs et adjectifs
Colours and simple adjectives to describe people, animals and things, including feminine forms.
Histoire ou texte?
Telling a story apart from an informational text, a key reading skill in Grade 1.
Dans l'histoire
Elements of a story (characters, setting, events) and putting events in order to retell a story.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Working below
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Excelling
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the New Brunswick report card guide.
Common questions
Read French picture books together, even if you are learning too. Let your child tell you what is happening. Sing French songs and nursery rhymes in the car or at bath time. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The New Brunswick Curriculum Grade 1 french immersion units include je me présente, majuscule et point, est-ce que…?, les verbes d'action, couleurs et adjectifs, histoire ou texte?.
Free printable Grade 1 french immersion practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.