Encore, encore!

By Georges, they've got it! Two 8th Agers presented a French skit in front of the class today - memorized, with perfect pronunciation and ease in speaking. Warms a teacher's heart. Bravo!

 

 

Lights, Camera, Action!

8th Agers did a fabulous job this week presenting skits to their classmates.

This was their first French skit and it incorporated listening, reading, and speaking skills.

Bonjour, je m'appelle Solange.

Bonjour.

Et toi, comment t'appelles-tu?

Je m'appelle Sylvie.

Enchantée, Sylvie.

Enchantée.

Au revoir, Solange.

Au revoir, Sylvie.



 

It's All About Me

9th Agers have been working on their first French folder paper for the year. Students wrote about themselves with six descriptive French sentences. Descriptions include topics such as the student's name, age, number of brothers and sisters, favorite color, favorite season, something they like, something they don't like, and where they live. Here is a sampling of their work: 

 

 

Monet Impression

Learning about art can make a lifetime impression on students. Each month, one of the bulletin boards in the French classroom features a famous French artist. This month's Artiste du Mois is Claude Monet. 9th Agers are learning a lot about this famous French artist.

Monet was born in Paris in 1840. He spent most of his childhood in the northern seaport of Le Havre. Monet began drawing as a teenager. He loved the effect that sunlight had on the water and everything around him. Monet, along with a group of other young French painters, founded a new movement in painting that would come to be known as Impressionism (named after a painting of Monet's called Impression at Sunrise.) This group of painters enjoyed painting outdoors. They liked to paint with bright colors and quick brushstrokes. They liked to paint nature and people doing everyday activities. Monet and his wife and their eight children lived in a small village outside of Paris, called Giverny. They lived in a pink house with green shutters which still exists today and is visited each year by people from all around the world. Monet designed his beautiful gardens for his paintings. He had a Japanese-style bridge built over his waterlily pond.

 

After looking at pictures and hearing about Monet's life and paintings, students began working on an assignment that involves reading about Monet, coloring a print of his Japanese bridge painting, filling in blanks to complete facts about Monet, and drawing their own impression of a waterlily.



More French From Home

9th Agers continue to be on the search for all things French. Here are some recent finds from home that they brought in this week to share with their class:

Popular children's books: Madeline and Hugo

A gift from Mom and Dad's trip to Paris

Petit toasts ... yummy with a bit of Brie cheese

A book about the 1900 Olympics in Paris

A French find from the shower

 

A popular movie ... based on a story orginally written in French.

Now, that's a beret!!

Yes, ballet is French!

 



Spinning Class

7th Agers continue to learn about French color words in new and different ways. This week, they created color spinning wheels. Each wheel is divided into eleven sections, each with a different French color word. Students colored each section, attached the wheel to the game board, and practiced spinning. How to play: just spin the wheel and when it stops, say the French color word that the arrow is pointing to ... and voilà, a fun way to practice at school and at home.

 

French Club Fun

French Club met for the first time today. Club members, boys and girls from the 8th and 9th ages who are taking French, learned about the meaning of the fleur-de-lis. Literally meaning "lily flower", the fleur-de-lis was a symbol of French royalty and has become a modern-day symbol of all things French (including the New Orleans Saints!)
Students had fun eating fleur-de-lis shaped cookies, painting and designing French Club tee-shirts, and decorating cookies to take home and share with family members.
Each Tuesday, French Club will have fun in a variety of ways: making French-related crafts, listening to French music, watching French movies, and cooking and eating French food, as well as spending time with old and new friends.

 



 

                                           



Brrnng, Brrnnng

Numbers are important in every language. Just think of all the occasions for which we use numbers: telling time, counting money, doing math equations, buying and selling things, counting objects and people, locating addresses, using computers, keeping scores, reciting phone numbers, ...

8th Agers are reviewing counting outloud from 1 to 20, in French. They are also learning how to read and write French number words as well as recite their telephone numbers in French.

 

Mon numéro de téléphone est ...
 

Places, Everyone

9th Agers practiced and performed the first of this year's many French skits. Quite impressive how well they can read, correctly pronounce, and confidently present these skits to the class . . . and it's only September! Bravo!

 

 



Colorful Assignment

7th Agers practiced writing color words in French. They also wrote their French names for the first time ... all the while listening to some upbeat French music.

rouge  bleu  vert  violet  orange brun  rose  jaune

 

 

 

French is Everywhere!

9th Agers have been looking at home for all things French and have been quite successful. Here are a few of the many items they have brought to show to their classmates:

 



A song sheet from a musical about the French Revolution

 

A totebag with French writing and pictures

A t-shirt with a beret-wearing dog saying "Bonjour"

Pages in a sports book about France's soccer team

A bar of French soap that smells and looks like chocolate

A French flag to cheer on the French soccer team.