French Fun at Calvert: November 2013

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Colorful Creatures

10th Agers are learning about body parts and possessive adjectives. After completing the sentences below with the correct French word for "my", students drew a creature to fit the description.

Ma tête est grande.

Ma bouche est rouge.

Mes oreilles sont bleues.

Mon nez est violet.

Mes joues sont roses.

Mes dents sont jaunes.

Mes yeux sont verts.

Mon cou est gris.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Haiti

This year during International Week, French Day will focus on the French-speaking country of Haiti. Students will be exposed to the music, food, traditions, and crafts of this Caribbean country.

Friday, November 15, 2013

8th Agers have known how to describe the weather verbally since the 7th Age. They are currently learning how to write what they know how to say. Just like when learning their first language, students learn how the language sounds and how it is used verbally before they learn how to read and write.Students are now creating books with pictures and written French weather expressions.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Bon Appétit!

French Club members became French chefs for the day measuring, mixing, cracking eggs, etc. to make crêpe batter to take home and cook for their families. After making their batter, students enjoyed eating delicious crêpes made by Madame Cooke. They enjoyed a variety of flavors: jambon (ham), fromage (cheese), framboises (rasberries), citron et sucre (lemon and sugar), and chocolat (chocolate). Délicieux!

Merci aux chefs Henri et Marguerite pour votre assistance experte.

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.