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Activities
Use the links below to read about Francois Elementary School activities:
DARE
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DARE, Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is part of the Fourth Grade curriculum in all the Souderton Area School District elementary schools. The DARE curriculum lasts 17 weeks, with local police officers teaching one lesson each week. The lessons, though essentially about abstaining from drugs, alcohol, the use of tobacco, and violence, also teach and demonstrate essential life skills. These skills provide Fourth graders information about getting along with peers, learning how to say no to things they DON'T want to be involved with, and about how to get out of a situation that they don.t want to be in. Students learn that everyone is not doing drugs and that there are better ways to solve problems than with violence. Essentially, DARE helps our students practice thinking for themselves.
During the weekly classroom lessons, the officer teaches students about the pressures in their lives. They explain how pressures come from family, peers, self and the media. They help students decide ways to handle stress. The officers show the students that there are three major ways to handle situations - assertively, passively, or aggressively. They teach and demonstrate that the best way to handle stress is assertively. The officers explain what support groups are; such as sports teams, scouts, church youth groups, JUST SAY NO, etc. and how groups help us. During the lessons, students practice eight ways to say no by participating in skits. At the end of the 17 weeks, the students graduate from the program.
In the Souderton Area School District, the elementary schools celebrate the students' learning in a variety of ways. The students may demonstrate to their parents the skills they learned by singing, dancing or speaking. Officer Haney, one of the officers who teaches DARE in the Souderton Area School District that, "IT IS EASIER TO GET INTO TROUBLE THAN IT IS TO GET OUT OF TROUBLE INTO TROUBLE THAN IT IS TO GET OUT OF TROUBLE". DARE is teaching students important skills that they can use for the rest of their lives.
Foreign Language Experience Program - FLEX
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The Bucks County Community College in cooperation with the Souderton Area School District offers a foreign language experience program in Spanish for grades 1-4. The program provides children a rich, multi-sensory, second language environment that takes advantage of a child's energy, curiosity, and natural ability to acquire language. In a relaxed atmosphere, students begin to develop listening and speaking skills. Children in the upper grades will begin to work on recognition skills. The program will be organized around the following objectives:
- To recognize and be able to reproduce the sounds of the language
- To respond to and offer greetings
- To recognize and be able to say numbers in different ranges according to course level
- To carry out directive statements from the teacher in the target language
- To learn to orally identify vocabulary works from among the following topics: colors, animals, weather, body parts, clothing, food, family, community workers, everyday objects
- To understand and give answers to simple question relating to themselves; that is, name, age, etc.
- To sing songs, play games and engage in a wide variety of activities in the second language
- To identify the countries in which the target language is spoken
- To explore cultural similarities and differences via discussions of customs, traditions, holidays, the family unit, etc.
Just Say No
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The Just Say No club at the elementary level is offered to intermediate elementary students. During their time together the students memorize pledges, participate in activities (such as service projects), and view programs to enhance their excitement about life. The underlying message is "JUST SAY NO" to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
"3 Steps to Say No"
- Figure out if what your friend wants is O.K.
- If it's wrong, say No.
- Suggest other things to do instead.
"Just Say No" Pledge
I pledge to lead a drug-free life.
I want to be healthy and happy.
I will say No to alcohol.
I will say No to tobacco.
I will say No to illegal drugs.
I will help my friends say No.
I pledge to stand up for what I know is right.
~ 1989 "Just Say No" International
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Character Counts