Le Chandail de Hockey

I am a big Pittsburgh Penguins fan, and many, many of our students are also huge hockey fans, for quite a variety of teams.  Every year, the Stanley Cup Playoffs (les éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley) is a big deal at school.  Each class is assigned two teams to follow during the playoff run, and they all look forward to being the winning team.

I always wear my Mario Lemieux jersey to school on the first day of the playoffs and read the Canadian classic “Le Chandail de Hockey” to the kids – a fine hockey tradition!  This lovely story, by Roch Carrier tells the story of his childhood love for the bleu, blanc rouge, and his hero worship of Maurice Richard.  Unfortunately, one day, there was a small problem with his new hockey sweater...  Please enjoy the video of the story (in English) from the National Film Board of Canada!

Our latest thought-provoking photo

We worked with the "Décris la photo" activity in class today.  I am always so impressed with insight the students show, and the questions they ask.  Today, the kids saw this photo:

This photo was taken by Margaret Bourke-White and was published in the February 15, 1937 edition of "Life" magazine.  It sparked some great discussion about the Great Depression, relations between people with different colour skin and whether or not things have changed today.  While the kids may not have used the word "irony" they certainly picked up on it, and their comments and questions reflected that.  Do you have any thought provoking photos that resonate with you? 

Creative Writing Contest

We have been working on raps and poetry in French class since the middle of December, and I have been very impressed with the work that the students have been doing.  We started working on class raps, then moved on to writing raps in groups, then to partners.  Now students are starting to work on individual raps and poems, and every time I read them, I am blown away by the quality of their work.

So, yesterday, when Mrs. Will was talking to the teachers about the guidelines for the Creative Writing Contest, I suddenly thought "Why can't the students turn in French poems or raps?"  

So here's your challenge, Lee Academy.  The Creative Writing Contest deadline is fast approaching (Monday, 16 April).  If you would like to write a rap or poem to submit, come see me at snack recess (Days 1, 3, 4) or lunch recess (Days 2, 3, 4), and we can see what sorts of amazing poems you can write - en français, bien sûr!

Décris la photo

We did one of my favourite activities in class today: "Décris la photo", or "Describe the picture" for you non-French speakers out there.

This is an activity suggested by the program that I use, in which I can show the kids images from the plays that we study, and get them to describe it.  We do this a lot in class, and the students get very good at it!  So I like to change it up by showing the students some more thought-provoking images.  Today, I showed the Grade Sixes the following image:

The kids then set to work telling me what they saw, what they thought was happening and finally, asking questions about what was happening in the photo.  Along the way, we had a discussion about the Occupy movement and about protests in general - ENTIRELY IN FRENCH.  I love lessons like this, where we move away from the "prescribed" activities, and I get to see how my kids think, and watch them actually USE French as they communicate in another language.  It is incredibly impressive, and I am so proud of them!

Thank you, Google!

I am a big fan of all things Google.  And today, I was charmed by the video that Google put up as a Valentine's Day gift to its users.  It is a wordless animated story of boy meets girl, with a lovely little moral at the end.  The original shown here in Canada has Tony Bennett's "Cold, Cold Heart" playing, but the one I found on YouTube has an instrumental track, which lends itself to a French classroom a bit better!

I saw it this morning and immediately changed my plans to include this video in my lessons today.  We watched it, and the kids helped me retell the story, (with the help of some newly introduced vocabulary).  Then we talked about how to be a good friend to those you care about, and all in all, we had one of the nicest Valentine's days lessons!

If you didn't catch the doodle on Google's homepage today, you can see it here.

Monsieur Bean

Ahhhhh, Mr. Bean (or, as we say in French class, "Monsieur Bean")!  Rowan Atkinson's character actually got its start here in Canada, at the "Just for Laughs" festival in Montréal.  Although he didn't speak a word of French, he insisted upon being put on the French-language performers' list.  It was at the "Just for Laughs" festival that Rowan Atkinson discovered that M. Bean is funny in any language, because for him, it's not about the words - it's all about body language!

M. Bean makes such a great FSL resource because so much of his comedy is physical.  Words aren't necessary, and instead we focus on his actions, his physical appearance, the silly situations he gets himself into and his peculiar solutions to "normal" problems.  In class, we use M. Bean videos often.  It's an excellent way to introduce new vocabulary words, review grammar (past tense, anyone?), and do it while having fun!

I hope you enjoy the following M. Bean video.  This one has always been one of my favourites!

French music

When you think of the term French music, what comes to your head?  If you're an anglophone, the first thing that pops into your mind is probably something like this, or perhaps, thinking of  the turn of the century Belle Époque with Toulouse Lautrec, Impressionist painters and the Moulin Rouge, something like this may come to mind.  If you've seen "La Vie En Rose", you might even think of Édith Piaf.  If you grew up in the 80's, you might even be familiar with Mitsou.  But that is certainly not all the French music out there!

When you think of the term French music, I bet you would never have thought of Québec singer Éric LaPointe, whose Terre Promise is a rock anthem.  You might not have thought of French pop princess Lorie.  Then there's the Québec folk-rock band Okoumé.  And even if you're not a "soft-rock" fan, how can you possibly avoid singing along to Roch Voisine's Hélène?  And thanks to some fellow French teachers, I have just discovered the fun Ontario band Swing.

I love exposing the students to all kinds of music - the "traditional" and the "nouveau".  So if you know of some awesome French music - share it!