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!

Les Vidéos

Videos are an amazing resource in the second-language classroom.  I am constantly amazed at how something  that takes less than ten minutes can have such an impact on the students!  The videos we watch in class amuse us, make us think, and most important of all, get us talking!

The first video I am posting today is a favourite of the six to eight classes, called "Foux Da Fafa".  Before watching this particular Flight of the Conchords video, we had a great discussion about stereotypes.  The students helped me brainstorm lists of French and Canadian stereotypes, and we had an excellent conversation about whether stereotypes are true and false (all in French, bien sûr!).  Then we watched the video, and tried to see how many stereotypes they managed to cram in there!  I'd be interested to see how many stereotypes you can find!

The second video is from a series that is VERY popular with the five to eight classes - Têtes à claques!  There are lots of videos out there, but the students' favourites tend to be those involving two school-aged children and the trouble they get into, and the frustration they cause their teachers and neighbours.  They are an excellent resource to use to hear the Québec accent!  This video is probably my favourite, as it certainly presents a new way of thinking about those pesky word problems in Math!

The third video I am linking to today is Téléfrançais.  The grade one to six classes enjoy this 80's classic, with Ananas, M. Pourquoi (Superdétective) and les Squelettes (a rock band).  You can catch the first episode here.

I will post more videos later - the students all have different favourites!  What about you?  Do you have any great French videos that you like to watch?

La musique, c'est très importante!

In French class, we listen to a lot of music.  It's a great and fun way of exposing the students to different accents, cultures, and ideas.  I thought today I'd post three songs that the kids really enjoy listening to.  By request, these ones most often make an appearance during seat work, and it's not unusual to hear the class singing along.

The first song is J'aime la vie, by Billy Obam.  We first listened to this song last year, right before March Break.  It's come to mean quite a lot to the students, and its positive message of what is really important in life definitely struck a chord with them.  So much so, that I emailed M. Obam to let him know how much we enjoyed his music in class, and he emailed back - twice!

The second song has a retro feel, and the the students (and the Grade Six class in particular) enjoy Soulman, by Ben L'Oncle Soul.  The video itself is also very cool, but we don't watch it often, as the students are usually working while they are listening!

The third song I am posting today is our most recent addition to our class playlist - the French version of Party Rock Anthem by PA Beaudoin.  I will admit that there is a lot of singing (and perhaps a bit of dancing) accomplished when this one makes the rotation!

Have you visited the French room?

If you haven't had a chance to come visit us in the French room (or are a little intimidated by that ligne magique!), then feel free to check out our classroom on YouTube.  You will even hear an explanation of how a regular class period runs!  Just click here: Mme Croyle's French Classroom at Lee Academy

Bienvenue and Welcome!

Welcome to my classroom blog!  I am excited to post some of the amazing work that my students do, and I hope that you will enjoy browsing this blog and seeing what we do in class.

Here at Lee Academy, we use the AIM (Accelerative Integrated Method) to teach French.  This means that our French lessons are conducted entirely in French (well, maybe there's some franglais to be found from time to time!) and we use gestures to accompany every word, to help the students better understand.  The units are story-based, as opposed to the traditional theme-based approach.  We also use a "pared down language" to effectively and simply communicate.  If you're interested in the AIM, you can find more information here on AIM Language Learning's Official Website, or here on About.com's AIM information page.

Our students start French in Junior Kindergarten and have French class for 20 minutes every day.  This routine continues into Senior Kindergarten.  In Grades One and Two, the students get a 40 minute lesson every other day.  Grades Three and Four get three 40 minute lessons every four days, and Grades Five to Eight get French for 40 minutes every day.

The main goal of this blog is to post student work.  My students work very hard, and produce amazing work!  So, consider this the French class version of your refrigerator at home.  I don't have magnets to post their papers, but I think this blog just may work the same way!