Chez Renée

Happy winter from the Mitten!  This weekend I spent a lovely few hours in my kitchen trying a new recipe.  Even though I've had the incredible good fortune to have lived in France, I had never heard of les petits bonhommes  until I saw a French chef preparing them on a cooking show.  They are absolutely adorable, and ever since I saw the show, I've wanted to find time to make them for my students.  You can find the recipe  here . The recipe is not simple and does require some time.  I love to bake though, so for me it was enjoyable and also very satisfying to be able to expose my students and also my own family to this French treat!  Here's how mine turned out: Let me tell you, these things smelled heavenly!  Not only are they cute, but to me they are so very, very French! I would describe the taste and texture as something close to a German soft pretzel, except that the dough is slightly sweet.  They are made in Alsa...

Bonjour tout le monde!  I hope you're all having a great school year!  Today is the first day of my spring break, and I'm really looking forward to some rest and relaxation, and some time to catch up on my blogging :).  And it looks like spring is finally arriving here in Michigan!  I feel invigorated already! I've been teaching for a number of years, but for some reason I've never included Le Poisson d'avril (the French equivalent of April Fool's) activities in my classes.  I tried it for the first time this week, and was happy with how it went.  I explained the French tradition of taping paper fish on the backs of others without their knowledge and then yelling "Poisson d'avril" when the prank has been discovered.  My classroom mannequin, Jacques, was decked out with fish in order to draw attention to the activity. The paper fish are traditionally taped on one's back, but I put them on the front here so that students could see them....

Hello fellow teachers!  I'm so excited to share this new idea with you!!  I tried it for the first time in my French II class last week, and it was an amazing success on so many levels.  I imagine that many of you ask your students to make videos for an assignment as I do.  This activity was done right after my students turned in a major video project which was due right around the time of the Oscar Awards.  In the past, I have asked the class to vote on the best video & I awarded a prize to the winner.  I liked doing this because it inspired students to produce something they were really proud of, rather than just making sure they met the requirements to get a decent grade.  I also discovered that my students often surprised me.  Sometimes students who didn't shine in other areas showed amazing creativity & ingenuity that I hadn't seen before.  But this year, I took this idea to the next level.  I held a mock Oscar Awards cerem...

Enrich your classes and teach French culture at the same time by including some fun French Christmas activities!  I enjoy teaching students about the bûche de noël  (Yule Log cake) eaten in France in December.  I like to bring a cake in as a surprise and let students eat it after I've explained what it is.  My students really enjoy this and even remember it years later.    Some years, I've made the cake.  And sometimes I buy a cake when I can find one.  This year I found a beautiful bûche at Holiday Market  in Royal Oak.  Here's a photo: I always make sure to provide students with a recipe and encourage them to try and make one if they like to cook.  It seems like there are always a few students for whom this ignites an interest in French on a new level.  Because the cakes are expensive to buy & time-consuming to make, it's not practical for me to share this in every level of French th...

One way to keep your students interested and excited about learning a language is to celebrate various holidays important to that culture in your classroom.  Not only that, but students do learn important cultural information as a result of doing this.   I typically celebrate different holidays in different levels of French in order to spread it out and to give students something to look forward to in each level.  I usually celebrate Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) in French II.  This year I explained a little bit of the history behind the holiday, showed a video of some of the parades in New Orleans, had students complete a Mardi Gras Maze and gave away beads to the winner, decorated the classroom, and made a traditional King Cake.   Here are some photos. The King Cake takes a while to make and is not a simple process, but any doubt about whether or not it was worth the effort was removed when I saw this: Translation for non...

I've been meaning to write a new story for The Adventures of Jacques & Suzette, my classroom mannequins (see previous posts on How to Use a Mannequin in Your Classroom for further explanation).  In particular, I've intended to write a story about Valentine's Day, but have had difficulty finding the time to do so.  I was inspired anew on a recent trip to Rome, where I saw padlocks covered with the initials of lovers locked to chains and posts on the bridges crossing the Tiber River.  I learned that the tradition is for lovers to lock these padlocks to the bridge and throw the key into the river as a symbol of their love. This tradition also spread to France, where lovers lock padlocks to the Pont des Arts  (this is the name of a bridge, for those of you who may not speak French) in Paris.  How romantic!  So, I wrote a new adventure about Jacques planning the perfect Valentine's Day date for his girlfriend, Suzette.  They wen...

Today I brought in a delicious French Christmas treat that was so easy to make, and it was a big hit with my students.  It's called a Saucisson LU au Chocolat (rough translation: chocolate sausage), and it's made with French butter biscuits (LU brand preferred) and dark chocolate.  I couldn't find the LU brand at my local grocery store, so I used a German brand (below) instead.    First, you crush the butter biscuits.  I just crushed them with my hands, which I actually found to be quite therapeutic :).  Then you mix up a chocolate sauce and pour it over the crushed biscuits. After mixing well, you'll have a mixture that looks like this: Pour it onto foil, and roll it up into a "sausage" shape. Put the sausage in the refrigerator overnight.  When you take it out the next day, it looks like this: Slice with a knife and serve! As is typical of French desserts, the saucisson  is not...

I am incredibly fortunate to work only a few miles away from one of the most authentic French pastry shops I've ever visited outside of France.  Owned and run by a French family, Le Petit Prince pastry shop in Birmingham, MI is without a doubt worth the trip!  They also sell bread and chocolate. The front window is a refrigerated showcase for their chocolate.  Check out this Easter hen...and yes, it's made entirely of chocolate! Naturally, I take my students here on field trips.  The owners are always very gracious and patient with the large groups I bring, and they very kindly speak French with anyone who makes an attempt.  Here's some video of my French III & IV students at the shop just last week.      And here's more video of an amazing chocolate Easter bunny.  The glass case that the owner is opening for me is filled with more Easter chocolate.  And I absolutely love the little party...

January 6th is the day the French commemorate Epiphany with a special cake which has a small trinket hidden inside.  The lucky person who gets the piece with the trinket in it is crowned king or queen of the day!  I made a galette  for my French I students. They were soooooooo interested in where the trinket was that once I started to cut the cake, I noticed that most of them had crept forward out of their seats and they were closing in around me :).  I had to send them back to their seats, but found a few minutes later that they had all crept back once again!  I'm still smiling at the memory.  They all liked the cake, and I made sure to give them the recipe as it is very, very easy to make!  Here's the queen of the day with our classroom mannequin, Jacques! My students remember these special days when they were able to taste some French food for years to come!

The way to a teenager's heart is through his stomach!  Promote your program and teach your students about another culture at the same time by serving some food in class.  Each year I try to serve a Bûche de Noël  (yule log Christmas cake)   in French III.  Sometimes I make the cake, but this year I bought one at Whole Foods.  I'm never disappointed at the delight, interest and motivation that food evokes in my students!  I'm always glad that I expended the extra effort to include it in my lesson.  I provide students with the recipe as well, and some of them always try it at home. 

French I students recently learned how to name some foods, including crêpes.  So with the Principal's permission, I planned a special day for students to taste crêpes during class!  I made the batter at home, then brought it to school in a cooler and cooked it on an electric crêpe maker during class.  I told students to expect a surprise, but they didn't know exactly what it would be until they came to class on that particular day.  They were thrilled.  If you look closely, you can see that they changed the message I'd written on the board from "Happy Crêpe Day" to "Happy Crêpe Week"!  I discovered that many of my students had never had crêpes before.  I also gave them the recipe, and several of them have since told me that they've made crêpes at home for their families.  This is a great way to help promote your French program and create feelings of goodwill in your classroom!  Try it.  It's worth the extra effort.

Students in 3rd year French participated in the wedding of our classroom mannequins, Jacques & Suzette!  Everyone had a part to play.  Students acted out the ceremony at the town hall with the mayor and then the church ceremony, so they learned about French culture as well.  Here are some photos. The mayor presides as Jacques & Suzette sign the marriage license. The mayor gives Jacques & Suzette their livret de famille. At the church, the flower girl scatters rose petals. Jacques & Suzette exchange rings. Suzette is wearing my grandmother's wedding dress from 1933. And of course, there was a little goofing around as well! Later, students read a description of the wedding and practiced choosing the correct verb tenses for describing a past event in French.  It was a day to remember!

Make your classroom a place of surprises by rewarding your students often.  I like to use French products as rewards so that students can learn about them.  Most of these items were purchased at local grocery stores (Busch's and Heartland Marketplace). The favorite prize seems to be the limonade. I try to give away several prizes in each class at the beginning of the year in order to set a positive tone.  Sometimes I give prizes at random ( for example, I might hide a sticker under a random desk before class starts and give the prize to whoever chooses that desk).  Sometimes I ask a difficult question that I know not everyone will be able to answer, and award the prize to the student who answers correctly.  This is a relatively easy way to motivate students without having to give something to each person, and I'm always amazed at how much interest and enthusiasm it generates.  The only item not purchased locally is the box of Bonne Maman T...