French Fun at Calvert

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

French . . . The Language of Love

Today was the first meeting of this year's Winter/Spring French Club. Students had fun eating mini chocolate eclairs and heart-shaped cookies and drinking juice out of miniature Eiffel Towers. All of this helped get in the mood for some Valentine crafting à la française. Families of French Club members, be on the lookout for a special gift coming your way.

Les Mois de l'Année

Seventh Agers bring the French month words to life. Quelles artistes!

Avril showers bring mai flowers

Seventh Agers busily work on creating memorable French calendars. Many students know how to say all of the months in French and can also say the day's date in a complete French sentence. Bon travail!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Délicieux!

Ninth Agers have been learning about buildings and shops found in a typical French town. Today's lesson was about la boulangerie (the bakery). Everyone enjoyed a tasty treat of pain au chocolat. This is a popular snack for French children. It is made out of the same puff pastry dough as a standard croissant and has one or two pieces of chocolate in the center. Often sold still hot or at least warm from the oven, it is commonly sold alongside croissants in French bakeries. In French Canada, it is known as a chocolatine.

An Eye for French

Ninth Agers continue their search for everything French. They are definitely aware of the French that is all around them. Here is just a sampling of what they have brought in to share with their classmates:

French in a book and French in a movie

French cheese and French notepads

French candy tin and French fleur-de-lis on a tissue box

French cookbook and French words on a bottle of soap

French quiche and a beret-wearing cat and French words on a coffee cup

French lemon cookies and a flyer from a French restaurant

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Morning Challenge

Many early mornings will find Ninth Agers eagerly waiting in line outside the French classroom to try Madame Cooke's weekly challenge. If successful, students earn a French sticker. Challenges this year have included: counting by 10s in French, singing a French holiday song, reading a description of autumn, reciting the days and the months in French, describing clothing worn to school, and looking at photos of places and saying, in complete French sentences that you are going there. Bravo! ... More challenges to come!

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.