September 14, 2017 Dear Parents, Your child is beginning a new unit in the program, "Histoires en action!" pour les tout petits. It is based upon the use of stories and music for the teaching of French. Music is integrated with the story, and in each unit of this program, students will learn to perform a play and a dance to accompany that play. There are a few songs, chants and raps that help students who learn well through rhythmical activities. They also become aware of rhyming words in the language. The vocabulary that is taught in this method has been carefully selected as it is essential vocabulary for students during the initial stages of their language learning. Another component of this program is the "Gesture Approach". As each word is associated with a gesture, the language is represented visually and kinesthetically for the benefit of those students who learn best in these ways. There is an equal, strong emphasis on the development of all four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) through this program; however, for young students, the written word is gradually introduced and the focus is on oral language acquisition with plenty of pleasant and fun repetition. In order to do well in French this year, your child will need to: 1) participate actively in class, in French only 2) memorize the play 3) work cooperatively with others in the class while answering questions 4) learn the gestures covered in class 5) learn the gesture associations 6) participate in songs, dances, chants, raps and games with enthusiasm 7) complete class work 1