Sylvia Duckworth's blog

AIM info

2011-12-18T06:33:00.000-08:00

Click here for more info on AIM, including more videos and research supporting the implementation on AIM in your classroom.

Play presentations

2010-06-04T08:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry about not blogging for a while. It has been very busy!

http://www.vimeo.com/12275717

http://www.vimeo.com/12208186

http://www.vimeo.com/12275647

http://www.vimeo.com/12275686

Day 72

2010-03-08T13:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry, it has been a while since I have posted a new video. Well, here it is, Day 72. We are re-organizing our groups since it is a new month.

http://www.vimeo.com/10016095

Practicing gestures

2010-02-02T13:06:00.000-08:00

This is a clip of the boys practicing their gestures in class.

You can hear that it's noisy in the classroom and the boys are all speaking in French. Every now and then I hear English and I send them to the door to cross "La ligne magique".

http://www.vimeo.com/9164027

By the way, you now need a password to view all of my videos. Please email me at

sylviaduckworth@rogers.com

to get the password.

Day 55

2010-01-26T16:49:00.000-08:00

We have learned a new Entry Routine.

On a different note, why is it that my students always have to go to the bathroom or drink water at the beginning of French class? I normally try to be patient as it's a great opportunity for them to learn how to ask these two important questions but today I lose my patience somewhat:

http://vimeo.com/9007902

We try a new activity today. I am introducing a list of words for the first time (we learned the gestures but haven't seen the words yet). I ask my students to

- fais l'action

- donne une phrase avec le mot

They LOVED this activity! (probably bcz they won 10 group points for each correct sentence).

It was a fun class!

http://vimeo.com/9007739

Day 45

2010-01-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

I didn't film the Entry Routine today because we are still doing the "Poule Maboule" Entry routine raps. I'll try changing it for the next filming.

Here is part of my lesson today:
http://www.vimeo.com/8624182

Day 35

2009-11-24T14:28:00.001-08:00

Sorry I did not film Day 30! Things have been so busy at school: lots of missed classes due to field trips, P/T interviews, sports events, Remembrance Day and Winter celebration rehearsals, a long weekend, etc. etc.

Here is our new Entry routine which we sing:

http://vimeo.com/7804697

Here is the first 10 minutes of class (the film's first slide is incorrect: it is not the Entry Routine):

http://vimeo.com/7804499

You may notice that I have changed "Les journaux" to "Les agendas" for homework diaries.

Day 25

2009-10-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

Day 25

Entry routine:
http://vimeo.com/7293069

First 10 minutes of class:
http://vimeo.com/7293410

Day 20

2009-10-16T14:38:00.001-07:00

Entry Routine:
http://vimeo.com/7106108

First 10 minutes of class:
http://vimeo.com/7106047

We are still working on counting group points!

Day 15

2009-10-06T16:33:00.000-07:00

This is Day 15 (I made a mistake editing the video and called it Day 11).

I had to get cross with a boy today who would not stop touching a heavy wooden plaque that was hanging on the wall behind him. If it had fallen, it would have caused him serious damage!

Entry routine:

http://www.vimeo.com/6937069

First 10 minutes in class:
http://www.vimeo.com/6936889/

(We are working on counting group points!)

Adding video after every 5th class

2009-09-28T05:50:00.000-07:00

I am now cutting back my videos to once every 5 classes. Since I do not see this class every day, my next post will be Tues. Oct. 6! (I see them 6 days out of 8, for 40 minutes/class).

Day 10

2009-09-25T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today was "House Day", a very exciting day full of activities and competitions for the entire school. The students are dressed in the colours of their house, so I thought it would be a good idea to review colours and to introduce the word "maison". (I realized after that "Quelle couleur est la maison Cartier" is not correct. I should have been asking "De quelle couleur.....). Oh well!

Sometimes starting class like this in the hallway can be a real challenge, especially if the hallway is busy, like today!

Entry Routine:
http://vimeo.com/6761705

First 10 minutes in class:
http://vimeo.com/6762273

At the end of this video I review the question words, but the camera was not on me, so I did it again here, with no students:

http://vimeo.com/6761208

Day 9

2009-09-25T02:05:00.000-07:00

Entry routine:
http://www.vimeo.com/6746997

First 10 minutes in class:
http://vimeo.com/6761182

This class has taken to singing "Comment ça va?" as soon as French class starts. They do this completely on their own! They love this song: it's from Alexandre and it's ancient. Cannot buy it anywhere anymore. I had an old cassette and converted it to CD and then into my computer.

I called the SMARTboard "Le tableau intelligent" today and my French immersion student told me it wasn't really intelligent.... I love this type dialogue with him because it allows the other boys to witness us having a regular conversation in French.

I was thrilled today when a student said "Trois mois..... saison!". He was trying to say "Il y a trois mois dans une saison". Baby steps towards fluency... it's so exciting!

Day 8

2009-09-22T17:20:00.001-07:00

Entry Routine:

http://www.vimeo.com/6710158

First 10 minutes in class:

http://www.vimeo.com/6710831 This is an impromptu lesson on "Les Saisons" prompted by a boy who says "Today is the first day of autumn!" We have a hard time coming up with the names of the 4 seasons, but finally my French immersion student, Jacques, comes up with the answer. This is why I love having French immersion students in my class. They can take the lead and help out with vocabulary!

Day 7

2009-09-21T16:18:00.000-07:00

Entry routine:

http://www.vimeo.com/6690602

First 10 minutes in class:

Still working on "Regarde-moi, s.t.p.!"
http://www.vimeo.com/6692193

Day 6

2009-09-16T19:53:00.001-07:00

Entry routine:

http://vimeo.com/6619241

First 10 minutes of class:
I am starting to lose my patience with boys who do not look at me while I gesture. We practice "Regarde-moi, s'il te plait" quite a lot!

http://vimeo.com/6619974

Day 4

2009-09-16T18:00:00.001-07:00

Entry routine:
http://vimeo.com/6606661

First 10 minutes in class:

http://www.vimeo.com/6616975

Day 5 Entry Routine

2009-09-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

http://vimeo.com/6607395

Camera didn't work for the first 10 minutes of class so no video after the Entry Routine!

Day 3

2009-09-16T04:57:00.001-07:00

Entry routine:

http://vimeo.com/6615075

First 10 minutes in class:

http://www.vimeo.com/6615266

Day 2

2009-09-16T03:07:00.000-07:00

Much better with a tripod!

Entry routine

http://vimeo.com/6602214

First 10 minutes in class:

http://vimeo.com/6614456

My blog officially opens today

2009-09-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

Hello there,

This is the first official entry of my blog. The purpose of this blog is primarily to follow the progression of a grade 3 class I teach using the AIM (Accelerative Integrated Method). I will post videos of them as often as possible.

Sorry about the shaky picture: had a grade 6 student film this. Got a tripod right after I viewed these videos!

Enjoy and please blog back with comments or suggestions.

Here is the first Entry Routine:
http://www.vimeo.com/6600901

The first 10 minutes of class:

http://vimeo.com/6613799