Gérard la gerboise à l'école

This is THE back-to-school book you've been looking for!

Author: Charles-Éric Blais-Poulin (Québec Province, Canada)
Illustrator: Marie-Anne Dubé (Québec Province, Canada)
Publisher: Dominique et compagnie
ISBN: 978-2-89820-403-6

Today is the first day of school. Gérard the jerboa is really proud! He is carrying his brand new backpack. But sadly, it is almost empty. In his backpack there is only one thing: a book. He doesn’t have any other school equipment. What a big challenge for the smallest student of his class! Thankfully, our little rodent doesn't lack imagination. With his favorite book by his side, he knows that he can face all challenges.

Greetings (Se présenter)

School and education:
     - School supplies
     - School's routine and schedule
     - School subjects

THIS BOOK IS IDEAL FOR:

     - French immersion students grades 1,2,3,4

     - Core French Grades 5 and 6 at the beginning of the year to review school vocabulary in a fun way.

     - Core French Grade 4, at the end of your school unit—not at the beginning—since students  starting the unit may lack the necessary vocabulary and reading strategies to fully understand the content. By the end of September, after completing your school unit, the timing would be ideal: students would be able to independently recognize about half of the vocabulary words, making the reading experience highly engaging and confidence-building.

     - Classes de francisation - classes d’accueil (children and adults- yes, even adults love reading picture books!)

Projecting the PDF on the whiteboard, as the illustrations are delightful and the text is simple enough and does not need to be modified. Displaying it in this way will encourage students to read along with you and keep them engaged thanks to the visuals. It also makes it easy for the whole class to participate.
You can buy the PDF here. They deliver in Canada and you will also see your closest bookstore. 

CULTURAL ASPECTS TO EXPLORE:

This book includes a little hidden gem of history and culture when Gérard visits the school’s store.

When I was in elementary school in Quebec, I remember the beloved “magasin de l’école” located in the secretary’s office, right next to the principal’s. I used to buy those transparent pink erasers that didn’t erase very well—but I loved going there with my 25 cents and my teacher’s permission. It felt so special!

Were these school stores also found elsewhere in Canada? You tell me!

The author has both a compound first name and last name. (prénom composé and un nom de famille composé) so, I suggest drawing students’ attention to the spelling, which includes hyphens. Such compound first and last names are quite common in Quebec. For first names, it’s a way to combine two names into one new and original name. For last names, this format is often used when the parents are not married and choose to give their child both family names. 

Charles-Éric Blais-Poulin is a well-known journalist in Quebec (I read him daily!). He has been writing for years for La Presse, one of the province’s leading news sources.. Projecting one of his articles in class could be engaging for students—not only to see his photo, but also to learn about his work as a journalist.

Exploring the city where she lives
Marie-Anne’s website mentions that she lives in Lac-Mégantic. Why not introduce students to this small town using Google Maps or Google Earth? They’ll really enjoy the experience!

Exploring her artwork
Students will also appreciate exploring her artwork by projecting her website on the whiteboard. When introducing the book and illustrator, I recommend reviewing the site's main sections together as a class.There’s nothing better than incorporating authentic resources in your classroom every day.

For absolute beginners, I would draw their attention only to accents in French and punctuation (which is the same as in English).

For your A2 or end-of-A1 students, I would introduce them to the structure ni…ni, which is repeated several times, and have them compare it to the more common negative structure ne…pas.

I would also discuss with them the conjunctions and location words that appear at the beginning of sentences in this book, so they can appreciate the richness of the text and see these words in action.

I am thinking in particular of:

     - Au moment du…

     - Par chance…

     - Mais…

     - Quoi qu’il en soit

To buy the book or the PDF of the book visit Les Libraires' website.  They offer Free shipping in Canada!