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...

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...

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...

Not too long ago I experienced a milestone.  One of my former students followed in my footsteps and went to France to study at the same university and in the same program that I had!  I'm so proud of her.  I've had students go to France to study before, but never to the same university that I attended.  Melissa came by school to see me just before leaving.     Melissa has been blogging about her experiences in France, and I'm reliving many memories of learning French in France through her.  And this is causing me to have a strong desire to board the next plane to France immediately!  I was able to take my husband and children to visit the city where I studied (and where Melissa is now) not long ago.  One day we decided to take our kids to McDonald's (I know, it wasn't very French of me).  We ordered 4 cappucinos.  And this is what we got: Need I say more?  Vive la France.!!!!

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.

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...