Teacher Training on Entre les murs

Missed the WONDERFUL training session that Marie Maurannes from the French Consulate gave on using Entre les murs in your French classes? Check out her PowerPoint here! Also, don't forget the TV5 resources! Don't have PowerPoint on your computer? get a free viewer! Enjoy!

Play at Et Voilà Théâtre

Et Voilà Théâtre will present La Maison de Bernarda Alba, a French language version of the Spanish classic on Mar. 6, 12, 13, 19 and 20 of 2010. For more information, see their website.

Dinosaures du Jura

Le CNRS annonce la découverte de plusieurs empreintes exceptionelles de dinosaures. Photos, articles, & vidéo disponibles:

http://www.leprogres.fr/fr/article/2053569,177/De-gigantesques-traces-de-dinosaures-decouvertes-dans-l-Ain.html

http://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/2009/10/06/quand-les-dinosaures-arpentaient-le-massif-du-jura_1249759_0.html

http://www2.cnrs.fr/presse/communique/1685.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmPYZz6lFN4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqlDZhGz3kY

McDo au Louvre...

A l'occasion du trentième anniversaire de "McDo" en France, un restaurant doit ouvrir en novembre au Carrousel du Louvre, à Paris. Voilà des liens...

http://www.louvrepourtous.fr/McDo-au-Louvre-une-faute-de-gout,339.html

http://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/2009/10/05/mcdonald-s-souffle-ses-trente-bougies-en-france_1249287_0.html

http://www.carrouseldulouvre.com/vue/form/carrousel/accueil/accueil.htm

PHOTOS: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41934145@N03/

Limeades for Learning

This weekend, I indulged a guily pleasure of mine... Sonic. Not to worry: some good came of it! Had I not gone, I wouldn't have learned about a great program going on right now called Limeades for Learning that allows you to vote on your favorite funding proposals by teachers all over the nation. I went to the website and search for French and came across one. Needless to say, that's who got my vote! I hope they get yours, too! Next time you go to Sonic, get any drink, peel off the voting code, go to the website, and vote for the project of your choice (it's a joint venture between Sonic and DonorsChoose.Org). Hurry though... the program ends October 1.

www.limeadesforlearning.com

Vote For Learning

Hey, Check out the classroom project I just voted for at LimeadesForLearning.com.During September, when you head to Sonic for any drink*, you can vote online for your favorite classroom project that needs funding. Then Sonic will donate more than half a million dollars to the projects that receive the most votes. I hope you vote for this project too.

Film: Coco avant Chanel

Voilà des liens pour le film Coco avant Chanel (avec Audrey Tatou)...

http://wwws.warnerbros.fr/cocoavantchanel/index.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMMYZopiqhA

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810043854/info

http://www.sonyclassics.com/cocobeforechanel/

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Films/films_frameset.asp?id=80389

Post-meeting follow-up

Dear fellow French teachers,

Thanks to all of you who attended this most recent fall meeting of the Houston Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French. I am sure you will agree that it was filled to the brim with useful and entertaining information. Remember that you can access the links mentioned all in one place at http://www.delicious.com/georgesd/fall2009aatf. I’d call it ‘one-stop shopping’… except it’s all free!

The other AATF-Houston officers and I are most pleased to announce to you all our new Houston Director for the National French Contest (NFC) / Grand concours, Mr. Jeffrey P. Roberts. Jeff is currently serving as the International Baccalaureate Coordinator at the Westchester Academy for International Studies. I have had the pleasure of knowing Jeff for a few years now, as he is also an Adjunct Instructor of French here with me at Lone Star College-CyFair. Please join me in giving Jeff a warm welcome! You can reach Jeff by email at Jeffrey.Roberts@SpringBranchISD.com. Dates and other info for (early March) exam pick-up, administering, & return and the eventual ceremony (toward the end of the school year around early May) are, indeed, forthcoming (yes, we are keeping that new tradition going of examens sur place!): please be patient while Jeff adjusts to his new duties, and you will hear all you need to know from him soon!

Likewise, please join me in expressing sincere thanks to the wonderful Ann Clogan from Strake Jesuit who did an absolutely knock-out job this past year with the grand concours. We’re at record levels of participation and placement, and this is in no small part thanks to the practices Ann implemented so very handily. While Ann has stepped down as the contest director, she’s still a chapter member and hasn’t left Strake Jesuit, of course. I am sure we can expect many more great things from her as a stellar teacher, a supporter and exponent of success in French teaching and learning, an AATF-Houston family member, and someone I have proudly come to call a friend. Chapeau, Ann!

If you have general questions about the NFC (elementary, middle-school and high school levels), please visit the website at the national office online at http://www.frenchteachers.org/concours/index.htm. In the meantime, to assure your students’ eligibility for participation in the contest, please be sure to have your AATF membership up-to-date and your chapter affiliation done so as well. As of last year, all teachers who participate in the Houston area must be current AATF members who have affiliated to the Houston chapter.

Membership issues can be addressed online with links to the varied (online, mail, etc.) options at the chapter website, http://aatfhouston.blogpsot.com. You may also want to visit the chapter site now and subscribe via RSS (see link in upper right of the site) to get updates on all sorts of topics (meetings, events, teaching tips, general links, French/francophone goings-on about town, etc.) right in your email inbox.

Take a moment now to forward this message to all of your French teaching colleagues in the Houston area so that they, too, can enter their students in the grand concours. You are our only real recruiting tool! Houston has a rich and esteemed tradition of active participation and high placement in national and local results in this contest and many more, and it is up to all of us to keep this winning spirit going.

Speaking of other opportunities to showcase the winning accomplishments of your students, I also encourage you to participate as best and as much as you can in National French Week (November 4-10). More at http://frenchteachers.org/nfw/Default.htm. There are essay & poster contests going on whose entry deadlines are approaching in October (some of you may recall last year’s great winners from our own Claire Frazier and Paula Friedman’s classes). Again, let’s all do our part to keep that winning Houston tradition going!

Bonne continuation à tous et à toutes !

Bien cordialement,
Georges Detiveaux, AATF-Houston President

Site 'delicious' du meeting du 12 septembre

Tous les fichiers PPT & d'autres documents & liens du meeting du chapitre sont disponibles en cliquant sur l'adresse ci-dessous. NB: Certains signets de la liste sont des dossiers *.zip qui contiennent plus d'un fichier!

www.delicious.com/georgesd/fall2009aatf

Fall meeting

Reminder: The fall meeting of the Houston Chapter will take place on Saturday, September 12 at the Alliance française de Houston (www.afdehou.org), beginning at 2pm. The Alliance is located at 427 Lovett, Houston, TX 77006 in the Montrose area, just southeast of the intersection of Westheimer and Montrose. Please help us get the word out: bring a colleague, tell a friend, forward to other French faculty members at your school. We encourage all stakeholders in French education to attend, whether they are members or not! We've lined up two important guest speakers for the meeting... one is our wonderful regional rep to the national office, Dr. Jacki Thomas, and another is our own fabulous Attachée culturelle adjointe from the French Consulate, Marie Maurannes! Please come and join us for an informative meeting!

Les beaux gros légumes...

Lors de ma visite hebdomadaire au supermarché, je me suis mis à chanter en sélectionnant mes légumes! Voilà des liens intéressants pour enseigner les légumes. -Georges

Comptine "Les Beaux gros légumes"

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-p1T27frTlhA/les_beaux_l_gumes/

Paroles de la chanson:

http://www.primsworld.com/article-36-Les_beaux_legumes.html

Activités, leçons, ressources, etc.:

http://www.educatout.com/theme_activites/alimentation.htm

http://alphalucie.free.fr/ALPHA/pages/imagierlegumes.html

http://www.pedagosite.net/imagiers/img_0201/

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/jeux.lulu/html/memoire/mLegumes/de1Leg1.htm

Messages of congratulations from key players in AATF across the country

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you for your activities and the vibrant presence of your chapter. It is through the efforts of colleagues like yourselves that the French presence will be acknowledged in your region. It will enable you to recruit students and members.

Bien cordialement,

Marie-Christine Koop

President, American Association of Teachers of French

How appropriate that you would be celebrating yet another success in the Houston Chapter on Bastille Day. Félicitations!

By the way, everyone wants to know how you continue to grow?! An article in the National Bulletin detailing some of the events you have planned that have helped to recruit and retain teachers in your chapter would be most appropriate.

Please pass my congratulations along to all your hard-working and dedicated members.

Jacqueline "Jacki" Thomas

Regional Representative, Region VIII Southwest

AATF-Houston recognized at national convention

The Houston Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French received the Second Place Outstanding Chapter Award - Large Chapter at the AATF National Convention in San José, California in July 2009. Congrats to all AATF-Houston members for continued excellence in membership recruitment and in the promotion of the study of French!

Program in danger? Looking for funding?

Please have a look at this great list of funding opportunities as you look for ways to supplement funding for language teaching and learning! Thanks to ASCDirect for this wonderful list!

Awards Ceremony Cancelled

Greetings, colleagues,

It is with a heavy heart that we, the officers of AATF-Houston, have decided to cancel this year’s distribution des prix ceremony that was to be held tomorrow afternoon at the University of St. Thomas. We have decided to do so for the safety of all concerned, especially in light of the fact that similar academic UIL events have also been interrupted across Texas due to the influenza situation. Know that this is only a one-time occurrence, and that, in the years to come, we have every intention of continuing this grand and unique tradition of ours to which I was looking forward with great anticipation.

Teachers whose students were to be recognized should contact our chapter’s NFC director, Ann Clogan, to make arrangements to collect their certificates and prizes as soon as possible. Ann can be reached by e-mail at aclogan@strakejesuit.org. Please be so kind as to contact her before May 15 to collect your students’ materials. Teachers of students who placed highly can also expect to be contacted soon about the possibility of their participating in Destination France. You will hear more about this soon, in the weeks that follow, from our own Claude Boutin.

Join me in expressing thanks to Ann for all her work on this year’s contest and, of course, to Dr. Rolande Leguillon for having once again offered to host us for our ceremony in the excellent facilities of the University of St. Thomas.

I thank you all for your understanding, and I wish you all a productive end of the academic year.

Best,

Georges Detiveaux
President, AATF-Houston

Distribution des prix

Remember that AATF-Houston will hold its annual awards ceremony in celebration of the success of area students who participated in the National French Contest. This year's 'distribution des prix' will take place at the University of St. Thomas on Friday, May 1 in the Jerabeck Center, beginning promptly at 4:30pm. We hope to see you there!

La grippe porcine

It seems like every time there's a new virus out there, there's also a panic! To help your students be informed, and to calm their fears, why not give them the facts on swine flu IN FRENCH. It's a great way to review the imperative (what can you do to help prevent the flu), countries and other place names (and prepositions), etc. Here are some helpful links...

http://www.cdc.gov/germstopper/materials.htm

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/influenza/pdf/lang/french_flu_prevention_fact_sheet.pdf

http://www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/sujets/prob_sante/influenza/phpwcms_filestorage/efc57c9d395f12c7d4b12fc086f7c428.pdf

http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2009/04/27/une-epidemie-de-grippe-porcine-est-plus-inquietante-qu-une-epidemie-de-grippe-aviaire_1186192_3244.html#ens_id=1185166

http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/son/2009/04/27/grippe-porcine-au-mexique-on-est-encore-dans-le-flou-sur-le-nombre-de-victimes_1186228_3222.html#ens_id=1185166

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/fr/index.html

http://www.sante-sports.gouv.fr/actualite-presse/presse-sante/communiques/epidemie-infections-respiratoires-severes-au-mexique.html

Le compositeur de musiques de films Maurice Jarre est mort

Maurice Jarre, mort à Los Angeles des suites d'un cancer à l'âge de 84 ans dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche, est l'auteur de nombreuses musiques mythiques de films, parmi lesquels Docteur Jivago, Lawrence d'Arabie et Paris brûle-t-il ?.

Compositeur le plus récompensé par les Oscars avec trois statuettes pour Lawrence d'Arabie (1962), Docteur Jivago (1965) et La Route des Indes (1984), Maurice Jarre a signé plus de 150 musiques de films pour les plus grands réalisateurs : John Frankenheimer, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston ou Luchino Visconti.

Le musicien avait signé sa première musique de film en 1952 à la demande du cinéaste Georges Franju pour le court-métrage Hôtel des Invalides. Maurice Jarre, qui s'était installé aux Etats-Unis au milieu des années 60 puis en Suisse avant de revenir à Los Angeles, a également signé les musiques des films Le Président (Henri Verneuil), Jésus de Nazareth (Franco Zeffirelli, 1976), Witness (Peter Weir, 1985) et Le Cercle des poètes disparus (Peter Weir, 1989).

Le compositeur avait fêté ses cinquante ans de carrière en 2006 en donnant à l'Auditorium de Lyon, sa ville natale, un concert retraçant ses plus grandes œuvres, en présence de son fils, le musicien Jean-Michel Jarre. Sa vocation était née, quand il était enfant, de l'écoute d'un enregistrement de la 2e Rhapsodie hongroise de Liszt par Léopold Stokowski. Après des études musicales, il était devenu percussionniste-timbalier et avait formé en 1946 un duo avec le compositeur Pierre Boulez pour la compagnie de Théâtre Renaud-Barrault. Cinq ans plus tard, Jean Vilar lui commandait la partition du Prince de Hombourg, joué au Festival d'Avignon par Gérard Philipe et Jeanne Moreau.

Maurice Jarre a composé et écrit aussi plusieurs ballets pour l'Opéra de Paris, notamment Notre-Dame-de Paris. En février dernier, lors de sa dernière apparition publique en Europe, il avait reçu un Ours d'or au Festival de Berlin pour l'ensemble de sa carrière.

Article de Paris Match

Film event: free screening & more!

This just in, from the French Consulate of Houston! Read on...

The cultural department of the General Consulate of France in Houston organizes an exceptional event ; a free screening of French short films on the occasion of the Houston International Film Festival on Friday, April 24 at the AMC Theater (2949 Dunvale, Houston, TX 77063) at 1:00 pm. The duration of the show is 1h05. Those films are made in a very up-to-date style, well-liked by young people.

We are delighted to invite you and your students to enjoy, at no cost, this rare selection of recent shorts, produced during the past three years. All students from 12 years-old onwards are welcome. The films are truly entertaining and educational as well. This event could be very interesting for French learners but also for a larger public as all films are presented with English subtitles.

I attached the program to the present mail. You may prepare this viewing by making your students guess the subjects of the films based on the titles and pictures.Three of the 6 films presented will be available on DVD to teachers as well as teachers' notes and worksheets in order to study them in class. (NB: for the original attached content, contact Mme Maurannes).

To make a reservation for your class, please send me an email with the following information:

Your name:
Your address: (if you wish to receive the DVD)
Your school:
Number of students (and classes) you would like to bring:

It’s as simple as that!

Marie Maurannes
Attachée culturelle adjointe
Chargée de la coopération éducative et linguistique
Consulat Général de France
777 Post Oak Blvd, suite 600
Houston, TX 77056
713 985 3273
adjoint.culture@consulfrance-houston.org

Colloque international sur la préservation de la grotte de Lascaux

Article de France 3

Vidéo de France 3

Site de la grotte (visite virtuelle!)

Lone Star College-CyFair announces summer French courses

Lone Star College-CyFair will offer four levels of college French this summer. For the summer 1 term, students can take FREN 1411: Beginning French 1 & FREN 2311: Intermediate French 1. In summer 2, students may enroll in FREN 1412: Beginning French 2 & FREN 2312: Intermediate French 2. All students with previous French experience must request placement assistance at http://cyfair.lonestar.edu/frenchplacement. For an informational flyer on courses, times, and dates in *.pdf, click here.

Chapter News

The award-winning Houston Chapter is proud to announce its new slate of officers! David Timms will continue to serve as secretary, Gerri Manlove will remain treasurer, and Rolande Leguillon will continue as historian. Our new president is Georges Detiveaux (Lone Star College-CyFair), our vice president is Roya McArthur (Cy-Woods High School), and our new NFC Administrator is Ann Clogan (Strake Jesuit College Preparatory). The entire chapter thanks outgoing president Wendy Kirkle for her wonderful service and wishes her the best! Merci mille fois, Wendy!

AATF-Houston held a brief (albeit standing room only!) fall 2008 meeting in conjunction with October's conference of the Texas Foreign Language Association in North Houston at the Hilton Greenspoint Hotel. The main topic of discussion, led by one of our new officers, Ann Clogan, was new practices and processes for students and teachers participating in the National French Contest (this information was also expanded upon at the spring meeting). Other issues presented were placement of students visiting from France through the ORCA program (administered by Claude Boutin), as well as preparations for the Texas French Symposium (presided over by Toby Freeman, who also reiterated the importance of participating in this great event at the spring meeting). You may recall that Toby Freeman is also the Houston area's latest exponent of French culture to be named a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques. Félicitations, Toby!

Our spring meeting, held on January 31 in the charming ambiance of the Alliance française de Houston, opened with entertaining reports from two students who participated in the ORCA / Destination France scholarship exchange program. The spring meeting was also the occasion for us to welcome Marie Maurannes, Attachée culturelle adjointe du Consulat de Houston, who presented to the chapter several events planned to celebrate March's French Cultures Festival (le mois de la Francophonie). Mlle Maurannes, who has a background in FLE, was very well received at the meeting. Several members stayed afterwards to continue their animated discussions with her. President Georges Detiveaux presented plans for AATF-Houston's main contribution to the French Cultures Festival: a Saturday professional development event for high school and college teachers of French, history, and sociology. This teacher training workshop, entitled Teaching the Holocaust: la France, la Shoah, et la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale, will take place on March 7 at Lone Star College-CyFair (more here). This workshop will be led by Professor Eileen Angelini from Canisius College. Many other French Cultures Festival events are listed in a calendar online. President Georges Detiveaux and Secretary David Timms have been working diligently with the French Consulate since late fall on planning and promoting these exciting events!

Current activities in the Houston chapter include assisting the French Consulate with promoting events for the French Cultures Festival, planning for the awards ceremony for Houston winners of the National French Contest, as well as planning for March's professional development event.

Claude Berri, cinéaste français (1934-2009)

Du site de M6...

Le cinéma français en deuil. Claude Berri est mort lundi matin des suites "d'un accident vasculaire cérébral" à l'âge de 74 ans à l'hôpital de la Salpétrière. Le cinéaste, qui souffrait d'un hématome intracrânien, avait été admis dans le service de réanimation chirurgicale de l'hôpital parisien dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche. Il était depuis dans un "état neurologique très sévère". Il avait déjà été victime d'un accident vasculaire cérébral en 2006. Né Claude Langmann, à Paris en 1934, Claude Berri avait commencé sa carrière en jouant au théâtre. Derrière la caméra, il avait connu de nombreux succès, dont notamment, "Tchao Pantin", qui avait valu à Coluche le César du meilleur acteur en 1984, ou encore "Manon des sources" et "Jean de Florette".En tant que producteur, Claude Berri avait soutenu des projets comme "l'Ours" et "L'amant" de Jean-Jacques Annaud, ou encore "la Reine Margot", avec Isabelle Adjani. Récemment, il avait produit "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" de Dany Boon, le plus grand succès de tous les temps au box-office français. La dernière apparition publique de Claude Berri remontait au mois de février, lors de la cérémonie des Césars. Sa production "la Graine et le Mulet", y était sacrée meilleur film de l'année. Claude Berri était le père de l'acteur producteur Thomas Langmann et de l'acteur Julien Rassam, décédé en 2002.
"La figure la plus légendaire du cinéma français" Nicolas Sarkozy a rendu hommage à Claude Berri, saluant "la figure la plus légendaire du cinéma français". "Claude Berri, c'était l'acteur, le scénariste mais surtout l'un des réalisateurs et producteurs les plus doués de sa génération. C'était le grand ambassadeur du 7ème art français à travers le monde. Tous ceux qui l'ont connu ou approché sont en deuil", a déclaré le chef de l'Etat. Et d'ajouter : "il savait oeuvrer dans tous les registres et nous faire rire ou pleurer, mais surtout il amenait son public à réfléchir et à s'interroger, il éduquait le spectateur. Plus encore, il a mis en valeur tous les plus grands acteurs du cinéma français et révélé leur personnalité (...) Cet homme de caractère laissera durablement son empreinte artistique. Pour beaucoup, il restera un modèle".