French Fun at Calvert: August 2013

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

C'est la Rentrée

Welcome back students! Hope you had a wonderful summer. This is one of my favorite times of the year: new students, new supplies, new lessons. And this year ... a new French classroom!

In French, the word la rentrée is used to mean "back-to-school". French students just like you are returning to school after a long summer break. I hope that you are as excited as I am to begin a new year.

À bientôt! … See you soon!

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Summer Cooking Camp

This summer, eighteen enthusiastic students became chefs for a week as they participated in Madame Cooke's International Cooking Camp. Donned with aprons and chef hats, the campers made dishes from countries around the world. Each day focused on a different country. Along with learning cooking terms and kitchen equipment, the campers had fun learning interesting facts about each country as well as a few words in each of the different languages. They also made a craft each day. At the end of the week, campers assembled a scrapbook full of recipes for everything that they had made as well as photos from the week. A busy and fun time was had by all! Here are some highlights:

Day One: MEXICO

Making guacamole ... yum!

How about some homemade tortilla chips to go with that?

Delicious watermelon agua fresca makes the treat complete.

It's fun to make an ojo de dios (eye of God).

Day Two: ENGLAND

Preparing cucumber sandwiches for an English Tea.

Scones are a must.

Why not be regal and wear a crown to tea?

It's official: an English tea complete with good china, good food, and good manners!

Day Three: ITALY

Making pizza dough and sauce.

Designing a personalized pizza box for home delivery.

Day Four: JAPAN

Time to make sushi!

Thanks, sushi experts!

How about some marble soda to wash down that sushi?

Day Five: FRANCE

Madeleine cookie fun

Painting like Monet

What a week! Bravo Chefs!

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.