le 9 novembre

It is National French Week in our country, so we happily celebrated French today! We are all working on trying to use the expression, “Je t’aime” so hopefully you can help your child to remember it at home. Wouldn’t that be a sweet way to end each day?

HALF HOUR

Class started by getting them all excited about celebrating French. I showed them the French flag with its 3 large vertical stripes in bleu, blanc et rouge. Many of them commented that it’s like a flag they have at home. I’m guessing it’s the colors of the American flag that triggered that. I taught them a very popular French song and dance, “Sur le pont d’Avignon.” If you’d like to hear the song and maybe even try the dance at home, here is the link.

We spent some time reviewing our fall words by playing a memory game. La citrouille, la pomme and la feuille are easily remembered. Le fantôme and le gland are much more challenging for them. We’ll keep working on it!

We then looked at “la famille”. This time, we dressed le papa, la maman, la soeur, le frère and le bébé. After they were dressed in the various clothing items (la robe, la chemise, le pantalon, la jupe, le pull), I asked, “Qui porte…?” (Who is wearing?) Attaching the color of the piece of clothing helped many of them to answer correctly. For example, I said, “Qui porte la jupe jaune?” They looked at the entire family. Le bébé happened to be wearing a yellow skirt. It’s a great way to tie in colors to everyday objects.

We ended by practicing Frère Jacques with our little bells. That is always a hit with them! C’était fantastique!

EXTENDED DAY

In extended day, we have more time, so we were really able to look at some fun French games.

Did your child tell you about Queue de castor? We went outside. Each child got a tail to wear. The object of the game is to chase other children, trying to grab other’s tails while keeping your own. I wish I had remembered my video camera! Wow, did they have fun! Many children collected quite a few tails. I think Daniella ended up with the most tails, but Jeremy managed to keep his tail until the end. Très bien! This is a really fun game to play with a group of children. You can use scarves, old ties, old long socks/tights, whatever. Get creative and amusez-vous bien!

Once we returned inside, I taught them the French song, “Alouette”. It’s a very traditional French song about a lark. It’s a great way to learn body parts of the bird, especially because there is so much call and response. They really got the hang of it and were wonderful at participating. If you’d like to see the words and listen to the song, just click on this link.

We then made a game that originated in France in the 16th century. It’s called bilboquet. You might know it as the ball and cup game. Stella was very helpful and showed me a version that they have in class where you try to get the ball through the hole in the bark. What a wonderful connection! They all had a chance to try it out. Hopefully they continue to play it at home. I just caution that wooden ball… be careful of your head!

We also worked at tables on coloring the French flag to add to their folders. Some of them might have grasped the reason for the colors on the flag. Bleu represents the fact that the French give to the poor. St. Martin, a Gallo officer, wore a blue cloak, which he ripped in two to share with others who didn’t have clothes. Blanc represents the Virgin Mary and royalty. Rouge represents St. Denis, the patron saint of Paris. France is a very Catholic country, so many of their holidays, traditions, etc. have some religious connotation.

Lastly, we had a dégustation. Each child had the opportunity to try a piece of baguette with brie and/or boursin cheese. They were all very respectful and waited for everyone to be served. Then, we said, “Bon appétit!” Ask your child what she/he tried today. I was impressed with a few of them… they were very adventurous!

I hope you continue to celebrate French this week. One of my favorite places to go is Silver Moon Crêperie in Dover, NH. If you’ve never been and you want to try an AMAZING crêpe, be sure to check it out.

À la prochaine…