This week, both Grade 7 and Grade 8 officially began working on their new units. Students have already started reading and identifying different French texts to strengthen their reading skills and become more confident when working with authentic materials.
Grade 7: Mon identité, mon message
Grade 7 students discovered personal blogs and explored the conventions that make this type of text easy to recognise. They then created a short but beautiful first piece of writing—an exciting first step towards their final product: their own personal blog in French.
Students are beginning to feel more comfortable with the MYP system and have realised that their first unit is not as difficult as they initially imagined. They demonstrated the Knowledgeable Learner Profile attribute by remembering and applying vocabulary previously learned in Primary School, particularly expressions used to introduce and describe themselves. It was wonderful to see them confidently transferring their knowledge from PYP to MYP, and I was very proud of their efforts!
Next week, Grade 7 will continue developing their personal blogs by adding more detailed information about their identities, interests and experiences.
Grade 8: C’est tout ce que j’aime !
Grade 8 began exploring the topic of hobbies and interests through a news article about volunteering. Students practised identifying important information, recognising the purpose and conventions of the text, and developing the reading skills they will need to create their own text later in the unit.
Next, students will also reflect on the question: Le bénévolat, peut-il être considéré comme un passe-temps ou un loisir ? Pourquoi ou pourquoi pas ? This discussion will encourage them to consider how hobbies, personal interests and meaningful contributions to the community may be connected.
They will also discover les infographies and learn how to scan visual texts to locate and interpret information accurately. They will explore how images, headings, statistics, colours and short pieces of text work together to communicate a clear message.
It has been a very positive start to our units, and I am excited to see our students becoming increasingly confident, knowledgeable and independent French learners!
Ms. Nuria