French Fun at Calvert: April 2011

Monday, April 4, 2011

Bon Appétit!

French Club members were cooking up a storm last week making delicious crêpe batter to take home. They also enjoyed eating crêpes cooked by Madame Cooke: ham and cheese, strawberries and chocolate, and lemon and sugar. Thanks to master chefs Madame Pinkard and Madame Whitman for supervising. And thank you to Madame Pietrowski for playing photographer.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Petit French Visitors

French cousins of a Calvert Ninth Ager visited and delighted students with French cookies, songs, and word games. The cousins are being brought up bilingual which means that they speak two languages with their parents. At ages 5 and 7 they are amazing speakers of English and French.

Mardi Gras Fun

Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday" and, following Christian tradition, is the day before Lent. Parties, parades, celebrations, and lots of good food are a part of the Mardi Gras tradition all over the world. French Club had fun eating King Cake, making Mardi Gras masks, and playing Mardi Gras Bingo.

Eiffel, Eiffel, Everywhere!

The Eiffel Tower is known all over the world as a symbol of Paris, France. It was built in 1889 for the World's Fair - it took over two years to build. French Club members created their own versions this famous monument.

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.