Friday, December 15, 2017
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Ron Saffell's grandchildren go to the Poland schools. He teaches French in their classes a couple times a year. He also teaches classes at St. Rose Catholic Church in Girard.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Ron Saffell brought his grandaughter, Monica Moore, up to the front of the class to help him teach the names of animals in French.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.The students in Mrs. Kountz's class learned greetings and goodbyes, animal names and how to count to ten in French. Saffell gave the students worksheets and websites to visit if they want to reinforce their skills in the language.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Near the start of the French lesson, Ron Saffell asked the students what they knew in French. He asked them about common words, such as "oui" and "bonjour."
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Ron Saffell taught French to the Dobbins Elementary students in Mrs. Kountz's third grade class on Nov. 20. Saffell, a retired teacher, formerly taught English at Howland.
By ZACK SHIVELY
Third-grade students in Missy Kountz’s class at Dobbins Elementary School received an introductory French class on Nov. 20.
Ron Saffell, a retired teacher, taught the students the lesson. His grandchildren go to Poland schools. He wanted to teach a French lesson in their classes, so he began coming into the Poland elementary schools five years ago.
“I want to give the students an awareness to the importance of language,“ Saffell said. He said he wanted to give the students a taste of the language so they can decide if they want to study French in the future.
Saffell spent the class period teaching the students the basics of the language. He focused on greeting and saying goodbye to people, counting and naming animals in French.
He began the class by introducing himself in French. When the students did not understand, he reiterated himself a second time, but he used more body language. He wanted to stress the importance of body language when talking with someone.
He taught the students how to greet each other and say goodbye, and then brought his granddaughter, Monica Moore, to the front to help him teach numbers from one to ten. Moore began with one, then Saffell said two, then Moore said three and so on.
At one point in the lesson, he asked the students if they knew any French and the students sang “Fr ®re Jacques.“ He explained the difference between the song’s literal translation and what it means in French.
Saffell and Monica pulled stuffed animals out of a bag that Saffell brought. He taught the students how to say animal names, such as “chat“ for “cat.“ He incorporated counting into this section to strengthen their counting skills.
He passed out worksheets to reinforce the information they learned. Some of the worksheets came with the names of websites the students could visit to continue their learning of the language.
Saffell substitute teaches now that he has retired. He used to teach Latin, but he picked up French because he has family history in the country and the language is more widely used. He teaches French classes at St. Rose Catholic Church in Girard.