French Fun at Calvert: February 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010

International Week

International Week was celebrated in Calvert's Lower School with excitement and anticipation. Students arrived each morning to a colorful entryway of flags from around the world. Each day of the week focused on a different language: French, Spanish, Latin, Chinese, and Arabic. Students and faculty greeted each other throughout the day with the language du jour. Snacks, lunches, and other activities helped to highlight each day's language.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

6th Age Mardi Gras ... Guess Who?

6th Agers had a ball, of the masquerade type, learning about Mardi Gras, wearing beads, and making masks. Several students had plans to eat pancakes for dinner - a Mardi Gras tradition. Do you recognize any of these masked students?!

Laissez les BonsTemps Rouler!

Let the good times roll, indeed! All twenty-six French Club members had a fun time at today's Mardi Gras party donning their Mardi Gras beads, creating Mardi Gras masks and crowns, and playing Mardi Gras Bingo. Afterwards, everyone enoyed some delicious King Cake, cookies, and drinks.

8th Age Mardi Gras

8th Agers eagerly spent today's class time learning about Mardi Gras and some of its traditions and symbols. Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday" and it originated as a Christian tradition that came before the forty days of Lent. Mardi Gras is celebrated in many countries around the world and its traditions go back hundreds of years. French settlers brought Mardi Gras to this country. Mardi Gras is such a huge celebration in New Orleans that schools are closed so that children and their families can go to the parades and parties. The three Mardi Gras colors are: purple (justice), gold (power), and green (faith).

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Les Jeux Olympiques 2010

Let the games begin!

This year, the Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver, Canada.

Canada is an English and French-speaking country.

If you watched the opening ceremony the other night, you heard songs and speeches in French as well as in English.

Did you know that French and English are the two official languages of the Olympics, no matter where the games are held?

Friday, February 12, 2010

French in the News

Check out the new bulletin board display next to my office. Every week I will be displaying current articles and advertisements, with a French connection, that I find in The Baltimore Sun, The New York Times, Time Magazine, and other news sources . If you see anything in the news about a French-speaking country, French music, French fashion, French cuisine, French artist, French history, French language, ... anything ... please bring it to me in my office and I will add it to the weekly display.

Merci! And remember ... French is everywhere!!

Madame Cooke

Encore, encore!!

10th Agers put on quite a show presenting their French skits to fellow classmates. Each skit was unique and the students added their own creative twist with props and costumes from home. Everyone did a fantastic job reading, often memorizing, their lines. Most of these students have been taking French at Calvert since they were in Pilot Class and it shows. Their pronunciation and ease with the language is most impressive. Bravo!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Bon Voyage!

The new group of French Club members are off to a flying start. With French Club passports and airplane tickets in hand, students flew with Madame Cooke to Paris. Once there they took taxis to the French Club Cafe where croissants, baguettes, brie, fruit, and Orangina were enjoyed by all. Then it was off to the Eiffel Tower via the Metro. Students created their own souvenirs of this famous landmark. They arrived back in Baltimore just in time for pick-up!

Why Study French?

First of all ... learning French is fun!

Ask any Lower School student who is taking French. We sing songs, play games, do fun projects, perform skits, read, write, and speak French. French Club, available to 8th and 10th Age students who are taking French, is one of the Lower School's most popular after-school clubs. After finishing Lower School French, students are well prepared for further study in the Middle School. Calvert French students then go on to place very well at the high school level.

Secondly ... did you know ... ?

French is spoken in 55 countries by over 200 million people.

French and English are the only two languages spoken on five continents.

French is second only to English as the world's most influential language.

French provides the base for over 50% of modern English vocabulary.

Knowledge of French has been shown to enhance performance on standardized tests.

French is one of the official languages of international organizations such as the UN, NATO, UNESCO, the International Olympic Committee, the European Union, and the International Red Cross.

French plays an important role in the national and international job market in disciplines like business, medicine, aviation, law, transportation technologies, global/international distribution, and luxury goods.

French has had an enormous influence on American culture, art, music, fashion, cuisine, architecture, literature, history, philosophy, and language.

FRENCH IS ALL AROUND YOU!!

National French Contest

9th Age French

Classes meet three times a week for thirty minutes. Continued emphasis is placed on listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.
Students learn through stories, skits, songs, games, and various hands-on activities.
Material learned in the 7th and 8th Ages is reviewed and incorporated into this year's topics: numbers 61-100, sports, places, directions, menu vocabulary, ordering expressions, value and use of the euro, transportation, travel vocabulary, and an awareness that French is everywhere (in art, history, dance, music, science, fashion, literature, architecture, politics, sports, consumer goods, the English language, and countries around the world.)

10th Age French

Classes meet three times a week for thirty minutes. Continued emphasis is placed on listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Academic grades are given every other marking period. Students learn through stories, skits, songs, games, and various hands-on activities. Material learned in the 7th, 8th, and 9th Age is reviewed and incorporated into this year's topics: French accents, telling time, dates on a calendar, adjectives, directions, regular "er" verbs in the present tense, irregular verbs "être" and "avoir", how to form the negative, house vocabulary, French holiday customs, and French-speaking countries around the world. Students participate in Le Grand Concours, a national French contest.

More French Fun in Baltimore

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

February and March

Fifth annual Tournée Festival brings seven French feature films to the Homewood campus.

THE CHARLES THEATER

Cinema Sundays

Le Cinémathèque, built in collaboration between La Maison Française at the Embassy of France, the French-American Cultural Foundation and the Charles Theatre, is a French cineclub that provides a great opportunity for Baltimore movie-goers to discover the newest of French films. Indeed, every month - typically the third Tuesday of the month -the program features one of the latest films from France. As a member of Le Cinémathèque (the subscription is FREE), you will be among the first informed of upcoming events and you will enjoy one free film after attending five screenings! Join and discover the latest French movies!

THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART

One of the best Impressionist collections in the country. The internationally renowned Cone Collection of modern art is the crown jewel of the BMA. In the early 20th century, Baltimore sisters Claribel and Etta Cone visited the Paris studios of Henri Matisse and began assembling one of the world’s most important art collections. They acquired an exceptional collection of approximately 3,000 objects, which were displayed in their Baltimore apartments. The highlight is a group of 500 works by Matisse, considered the largest and most significant in the world. The sisters also acquired masterpieces by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, and Vincent Van Gogh.