The French flag flew high above the Lakeside Nov. 4-10 as Darlington’s Middle and Upper School students celebrated National French Week.
On Thursday, Upper School students visited the local Boys & Girls Club to share French Week with them. They played French Bingo; learned the alphabet, colors and greetings; and snacked on Nutella and croissants. They also held a French Food Fair during break on Friday, and all proceeds benefited Doctors Without Borders. Over the weekend, students enjoyed a formal, six-course French dinner prepared by our very own Darlington chefs Rachel and Lance, and also enjoyed a French movie.
Middle School students kicked off French Week Thursday with beignets at break. They also held French-themed birthday parties to help promote the language program to students who are not taking French yet. In class, students worked on digital family trees that will be presented to the student body in assembly.
“In our celebration of French Week, I have been looking for ways to engage the students with activities that are fun and exciting while still hinging on the language-learning process,” said Andrea Puckett, Middle School French teacher. “We have all made posters that say ‘Ma famille,’ but I wanted to ‘amp up’ our lesson by using the internet not only to connect with students but also to help them reinforce and reinvent the way we learn target language vocabulary in this century. Right now, we are using
www.goanimate.com to make digitally animated cartoons that tell us about our families, friends, personalities, etc. My students love the lessons and the fact that they can be creative.”
Organized by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), National French Week is an annual celebration of French language and culture that seeks to increase our community’s understanding and appreciation of the francophone world.
