The great Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is in Berlin! I mean she has passed away but over 120 paintings and drawings are on display in the Martin-Gropius-Bau and it is one of the most extensive exhibition of Frida Kahlo’s oeuvre to date. I could not miss such an opportunity to share Hispanic culture with my students.
We are in the midst of the pancakes (crêpes in French) season before the start of Lent (for Christian believers). In France, we have crêpes twice. First on the 2nd of February to celebrate la fête de la Chandeleur which commemorates the presentation of Jesus at the temple.
I posted this picture a few years ago and instantly remembered it when pondering on goal 11 of the 30 goals challenge for educators 2012.
Goal 11 is about impacting our students. As Shelly Terrell mentions in her blog:" Educators don’t realize that every time they walk into a classroom they plant seeds that may grow into weeds and stunt their students’ learning journeys...
To share the Epiphany tradition with your French students, here are some ideas:
Explain the tradition worldwide
The Mary Glasgow website published an article La Galette des Rois which explains the different traditions in France, California, Mexico, Spain and Portugal with its audio version to download (all for free).
Since this week should be the last teaching week before the awaited holidays, I thought I would share some ideas and links to how Christmas is celebrated by the French.
In Provence, there are many local traditions. This short video explains all the symbols of the Provencal Christmas table and meal with French subtitles:
Some time ago I wrote a post about the Mary Glasgow website and how I used its free Spanish articles and audio versions. Last week I received several French sample magazines and the "Bonjour" one aimed at pre-intermediate learners caught my eye.
Today I want to share a beautiful song and poem in Spanish about life, love and being thankful. It can be used in class with intermediate to advanced learners to review or reinforce the perfect tense. It could also be used with beginners looking at the vocabulary in the song which is quite simple and then talking about what students are grateful for.