Minnesota Chapter
AATF
Reports on
French Week 2001
As promised, here are the reports that members
have sent in to our electronic message service -MnAATFNet- regarding their
schools'
National
French Week 2001 observances
----------------French Week - MN 2001 Report # 1-------------
Minnesota State University - Mankato
From: IN%"john.janc@Mankato.MSUS.EDU"
Sent: 5-NOV-2001 17:56:30.78
To: IN%"MNAATF@stthomas.edu" "Am.Assoc.Teach.French-MN"
Subj: RE: National French week Nov
7 to 13 2001
We are inaugurating our
chapter of Pi Delta Phi [National French Honor Society] and initiating the first eleven
members.
John Janc
Mankato - MN State Univ.
----------------French Week - MN 2001 Report # 2-------------------
Hill-Murray School - Maplewood
Sent: 8-NOV-2001 08:39:19.42
From:
“emarin@hill-murray.org"
"Elizabeth Marin"
To:
"MNAATF@stthomas.edu"
"'MNAATF@stthomas.edu'"
Subj: idea for French Language Week
IDEA FOR NATIONAL FRENCH
WEEK:
One
of our events to promote the language to all students, is to read 3 trivia
questions each day of the week over the morning announcements. Homerooms try to
answer the questions correctly.
Their homeroom teacher then emails their responses to one member of our
dept, who keeps track of the tallies for the week. At the end of the week, the top 2 homerooms with the most
correct answers win donuts and juice for their homeroom!
The
questions are in English, but ask about French language/history/art/culture.
Many are taken from the "Teacher's Discovery" trivia box. Here are 3 we've used in the past:
1. Which famous French impressionist is
known for his paintings of ballet
dancers?
2. France is located in how many time
zones?
3. Who is known as the patron saint of
France?
Liz Marin
Hill-Murray School
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
----------------French Week - MN 2001 Report # 3-------------------------
Mounds Park Academy - Maplewood
From: “Kristin.Ruud@mpa.pvt.k12.mn.us" "Kristin Ruud"
Sent: 12-NOV-2001 20:17:04.79
To: "MNAATF@stthomas.edu" "Am.Assoc.Teach.French-MN"
Subj: RE: National French week Nov
7 to 13 2001
Mounds
Park Academy FLES French Students in third and fourth grade participated in the
National French Week Poster and Essay Contest with the theme LEARNING FRENCH
OPENS NEW DOORS. Students sent in
entries in October and we are awaiting the results.
At
the beginning of the year we (grades 1-4) took the theme of a past contest
"le français: la clé au monde francophone" and did a
beginning of the year ceremony... with a large golden key and students standing
in a circle, each student took the key and turned around as the class
chanted "le français:
la clé au monde francophone.
Le français (clap, clap)!
La
clé (put hand out and act as turning a key and make an unlocking sound with mouth or tongue)! Then that student put his or her
imaginary key in his or her head,
pocket, or heart. This large key is up in front as a visual reminder to the students about their goals for
the year and the possibilities
they will have with French.
We
then colored French flags with a key on it. Next to the flag on the paper was a large bubble where the
students wrote what learning
French meant to them, how it made them feel, or anything they'd like others
to know about learning French
(first grade students drew pictures of hearts, baguettes, another flag of a
French speaking country, the Eiffel Tower or
copied
French words like Bonjour or Ca va?) and their photo was glued next to the
bubble and flag.
These
are all up outside the classroom on the wall for parents, students, prospective
families, and other visitors to the school to see and read.
My
goal was to have the students reflect about learning French, to feel proud, and
to be more invested in their own learning and of course to publicize French
although we are very lucky at MPA to have such strong support of daily K-12
French and Spanish.
Kristin Ruud
K-4 French Teacher
Mounds Park Academy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-------------------French Week - MN 2001 Report # 4-------------------------
Century Junior High School - Forest
Lake
From: "kslewis@qwest.net" "Karen Lewis"
Sent# 13-NOV-2001 19:41:48.31
To: "MNAATF@stthomas.edu" "Am.Assoc.Teach.French-MN"
Subj: French week activity
Nov. 9 was a special
French day at Century Junior High School in Forest Lake. We had a
"Rendezvous" with special activities from 9-10:00 a.m. and then a fur
trade program from 10-11:00 a.m.
For the Rendezvous, we
held "voyageur olympics" in the gym: 2-man canoe races using low-to-the-floor phy. ed. scooters
propelled by hand (we tried bathroom plungers as canoe paddles, but they really
didn't work very well); archery demonstrations; and tug-of-war with two
opponents standing on sawed-off tree stumps (cat & mouse). Then eight students played French
Canadian fiddle music for the crowd.
Meanwhile, at the concession stand, students could buy strawberry
bonbons, chocolate advent calendars (both from Foreign Candy Company),
chocolate truffles, and madeleines.
At 10:00 Guillaume Le
Becque began his program on the fur trade. He has pelts, costumes, trade goods, canoe paddles, etc. and
relates the history of the fur trade with lots of audience participation. Evaluations provided by students
afterwards were very enthusiastic.
A grant from the Minnesota Humanities Commission helped make this
program possible.
In addition, the grant
made it possible for Guillaume to repeat his program in the afternoon at Forest
Lake's Senior Center. That session
was attended by both seniors and members of the community at large, who were
unanimously appreciative.
The day was an
end-of-quarter teacher work day in Forest Lake, which meant that the gym and
cafeteria were available for the event.
It also meant a no-school day for our kids, so I was pleased that about
forty came on their own initiative for the event. It was a fun time!
--------------------French Week - MN Report #
5------------------------
Anwatin Middle School - Minneapolis
Sent: 13-NOV-2001 20:18:23.77
From: "Zakiya1123@aol.com"
To:
"MNAATF@stthomas.edu"
Subj: A French week report from Anwatin
Middle School
Bonjour,
At
Anwatin this year we focused on the French history in Minnesota. The first year students, grade 6, all read about and made posters of the
famous French people in MN, such as Champlain, Duluth, Hennepin, La Salle,
Nicolet, Radisson & Grossiellers, etc. The second year students, grade 7, made a huge time line of
the "French Period" in Minnesota and hung it in our hallways and
another second year class read French history in Minnesota with the Dakota and
Ojibwe facts and recorded these on tape and we played it over the intercom on
Monday morning, Nov.12. The third
year students are still finishing their project of labeling the whole school,
all classrooms, places, and offices, in French. We enjoyed focusing on the fun parts of learning
French and the students liked learning more about their own city and its French
history!
Anwatin
is one of the only Minneapolis public middle schools with a 3 year, strong
French program, that includes a 6th grade program that is every day for 46 min.
and all year long, and the same for 7th and 8th. I just had to brag because this is the main reason that I transfered
this year from Franklin to Anwatin, (not knowing that Franklin would cancel its
French program) when Anwatin's French teacher, Pat Moen, retired.
Merci beaucoup for all of
the updates!
Katy Lynch
Anwatin Middle School
Minneapolis, MN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--------------------French Week - MN Report # 6------------------------
Northfield
High School - Northfield
From: “Denise.Halvorson@nfld.k12.mn.us" "Denise Halvorson"
Sent: 14-NOV-2001 13:08:42.75
To: “MNAATF@stthomas.edu" "Am.Assoc.Teach.French-MN"
Subj: RE: French Week MN reports
In Northfield we celebrated National French Week by making two big posters and putting them outside the two French classrooms. The posters were filled with students' pictures and their answers to the following: Why are you taking French?, What is your best memory of French class?, or How will studying French benefit you in the future?
Earlier we took pictures of the students and had them write an answer to one of the questions on a piece of paper. We then put them all together and hung the posters outside our rooms. They look really neat and should impress those who see them.
The students enjoyed participating in the activity and it's an appropriate way to brag about the great kids taking French at NHS.
Denise Halvorson
Northfield High School
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--------------------French Week - MN Report # 7------------------------
Breck
Middle School – Golden Valley
From: IN%"pam.wesely@breckschool.org" "Pam Wesely"
Sent: 14-NOV-2001 17:13:26.01
To: IN%"MNAATF@stthomas.edu"
Subj: Breck School French week report
The Middle School at Breck celebrated National French week for the third year in a row on Monday, November 12. This year, we had a "wine-tasting" in each class (40 minutes). We first looked over some worksheets that featured vocabulary that was used to describe wine (bouquet, arome, effervescent, doux, etc) and figured out from cognates & French definitions what they were in English. After that, the students divided into groups of 3 or 4 to make their own "wine" by combining apple cider, white grape juice, purple grape juice, V8 ("ewwww!"), club soda, and cinnamon. Each group had five cups with these liquids labeled in French at their stations and one mixture cup.
Then, the groups came together and I poured each "wine" into small glasses for a tasting, also instructing them with some common wine-tasting techniques (gromage, checking for the five S's, etc). The tasters had little forms featuring the previously-covered vocabulary words with which they could rate and give reactions to each wine.
It went over quite well (but not quite as well as the crepe-making last year :)). I *did* make sure that my supervisors were okay with the "wine" thing beforehand, and they definitely were (I haven't had any parent complaints yet). I also made it clear to the students that pretending to be drunk was not okay.
Looking forward to seeing more reports!
Pam Wesely
Pamela M. Wesely
French Instructor, Breck School
pam.wesely@breckschool.org
voicemail: (763) 381-8151
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--------------------French Week - MN Report # 8------------------------
Stillwater
Junior High School - Stillwater
From: IN%"wolffa@stillwater.k12.mn.us" "Ann Wolff"
Sent: 16-NOV-2001 14:09:49.55
To: IN%"MNAATF@stthomas.edu"
Subj: RE: Keep those French week reports rolling in!
French Week at Stillwater Junior High School:
- all week: video announcement with some facts about French/France that
I picked up at MCTFL
- Wed: petit dejeuner in the cafeteria for all French students during our 20
minute advisory at the beginning of the day. I delivered the leftovers and
the bleu, blanc and rouge flowers to everyone in the office--secretaries,
principals, counselors.
- Thurs: Career Day for French I, Spanish I, German I students to kick off
Career Exploration middle level grad standard. Students chose 4 of 7 speakers
who use other languages in their careers. It just so happened that this was
during La Semaine du Francais, and it was perfect.
- Fri: no school
- Mon: competition culinaire--each class had a contest in which anyone who
wanted could bring a French dessert. Staff members who were free were
invited to be the judges. Every student got to taste, actually have as much
as he/she wanted, every dessert. There were about 15 desserts every hour.
Widely successful.
- Tues. Cabaret at Stillwater High School for all secondary French students.
5:30-6:30 desserts were served by Savories (great Stillwater restaurant if you
haven't ever tried it), live music by Marc Stillman and "entertainment" by some
junior high mimes and "statues." 7:30-8:45 was junior high and senior high
student performances--French songs, instrumentals, dances to French music,
poems--absolutely incredible talent. There were about 150 students and
parents in attendance. The setting was perfect with small tables with fresh
flowers of course and chairs set up in the back.
Everyone was required to do something for La Semaine. Three girls made a poster of ballet terms and demonstrated them to their class. Students could also watch a French movie, check out a French children's book to read it to a little brother or sister, cook a French meal for family, etc. Things not done at school had to be signed by a parent.
We also had Vive le Francais stickers leftover from the 1st annual Semaine, that a student had designed. Students received these at breakfast first day and upon entering class the last day, so they were very noticeable in the school. Office staff also wore them the first day and dessert judges received and wore them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--------------------French Week - MN Report # 9------------------------
Rochester
From: IN%"Sharon.Nichols@roch.edu" "Sharon Nichols"
Sent: 20-NOV-2001 07:43:20.66
To: IN%"MNAATF@stthomas.edu"
Subj: RE: Bravo to Stillwater Jr HS - latest NFW report
Can we please have more feedback from Stillwater about who specifically is employing the FL-in-my-career speakers?
Merci.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--------------------French Week - MN Report # 10------------------------
Stillwater
Junior High School – Stillwater BIS
From: IN%"wolffa@stillwater.k12.mn.us" "Ann Wolff"
Sent: 20-NOV-2001 18:50:37.37
To: IN%"MNAATF@stthomas.edu"
Subj: RE: two items FYI
Salut! Regarding our career day:
There is a middle level grad standard called Career Exploration. We did that grad standard in all level I language classes--French I, German I, Spanish I. We wrote a local business partnership grant for funding so that we could pay each speaker $50, although every speaker was surprized and not expecting to be paid. We found the speakers through connections at school and through our professional contacts. There were 7 speakers and they each gave 4 twenty minute presentations in which they discussed some of the points required in the grad standard. The students were each able to choose 4 of the 7. It was great. We told the students that at this point in their lives, they are exploring careers so they should choose anything that seemed interesting, regardless of the languages that the speaker represented. In every presentation, the students were able to get useful information that could be applied to other careers as well. All of the speakers spoke at least 2 foreign languages. The most profond comment came from a girl who said, "I just thought you needed languages for college. I didn't know you needed it for jobs." Wow.
I guess we'll try to do this every year.
I hope that answers any questions. --Ann Wolff
--------------------French Week - MN Report # 11------------------------
From: IN%"wolffa@stillwater.k12.mn.us" "Ann Wolff"
Sent:
26-NOV-2001 18:24:39.10
To: IN%"MNAATF@stthomas.edu"
Subj: RE:
another question
[ Addendum regarding the nature of the jobs of 'speakers
who use other languages’ at Stillwater Jr. H.S. Career Day/Nat. French
Week:]
They're
people connected to our community or to our teachers. I think that any school
could come up with their own resources if they send out an inquiry that will reach
all parents, i.e. school newsletter, form to sign at conference time or open
house, etc.
We just asked our parents at back to school night in
Sept. to give us their names and phone numbers if they use another language in their
job or if they know anyone who does.
We had a translator/interpreter, hockey player,
attorney, missionary, restaurant owner and a two from 3M. --Ann
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--------------------French Week - MN Report # 12------------------------
Rochester
–bis
From:
IN%"Sharon.Nichols@roch.edu" "Sharon Nichols"
Sent:
27-NOV-2001 13:59:10.86
To: IN%"MNAATF@stthomas.edu"
Subj:
RE: Types of 2nd language-using jobs Stillwater Jr. HS NFW addenda
Merci.
Those of us at the university & CC level don't have
the same contact w. parents & community,
so the concrete examples of professions are a big help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Web page created 13
November 2001
URL: http://webcampus3.stthomas.edu/mlwolsey/MnAATF/9.htm
Last updated: 27 Nov. 01