In our school board, we begin Core French studies in Grade 1. The program we use is called Dimoitou, which I had never heard of prior to moving to Toronto. There are so many things I like about the program, namely the variety of songs and poems that are based on the characters and themes of the month. For February, the themes focus on Valentine's Day but also illnesses. Thus, it introduces the students to expressions with avoir to indicate pain, such as "J'ai mal à la tête." (I have a headache.)

Using images from one of the worksheets, I decided to create a blackline master for a little booklet entitled, "On est malade." Not only do the students enjoy colouring in their favourite characters but they take pride in being able to read most of the words. They can easily read the characters' names since they spend a month becoming familiar with each character, and the sentences are fairly repetitive with the most challenging words being the parts of the body which are different on each page (dos, nez, oreille, tête, yeux, bouche).

The students are already familiar with most of the words since we have spent a number of classes learning the French version of Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

Other songs I use to help teach the parts of the body in French include "Bonjour Monsieur" by Matt Maxwell. You can hear the song and follow along with the lyrics in this YouTube video by Sylvia Duckworth - Bonjour Monsieur, Matt Maxwell. One of my all-time favourite songs on this theme is "Dansez, Dansez" by an other popular Canadian children's artist Étienne. If you haven't heard about Étienne, you should. Even Justin Bieber knows his songs!

If you'd like a copy of the booklet, click on "On est malade." and you will be redirected to Google Docs where you can download it or save it to your Google Drive. After you print it, be sure to photocopy using the double-sided feature and collate. Then staple each copy four times and cut at the 5.5" mark using a paper cutter.

I would appreciate your feedback on this booklet. If there is an interest, I have a similar booklet on the theme of transportation that I would be happy to share.