Activities for FRENCH...
THE LANGUAGE OF THE STARS
Students rank and identify celebrities featured in the videos by how
fluent they sound.
The teacher divides the class into groups, writes descriptive sentences
about five famous French speakers from the web page, without naming
them. The student groups compete to see which one accurately identifies
the French speakers first.
Each of the same groups (above) are given the identities of three
different famous or celebrity French speakers from the web site. They
collectively write descriptive sentences for each one, and pass their
three descriptions on to the next group to see if that group can
successfully identify these celebs through the descriptive
sentences.
Students play "Who am I?" with names drawn from a pool of celebrities
known to all and announced the day before. The idea is that a students
with name labels on their backs try to guess who they are. There are
two ways this might be done. In the first, students without labels on
their backs are each given a different fact in French about the person
whose name is on the label. Each time a student with a label on his or
her back asks: "Qui suis-je?" the student asked simply reads the fact
aloud. The idea is to count how many facts have to be given out before
the student with the label can guess his or her identity correctly. The
other way is for the students to break up into groups. Students with
labels bearing the name of a famous French speakers or celebrities, ask
yes/no questions in French to their respective groups. They must
ask at least five questions before they are allowed to take their first
guess, five before the second guess, etc. The group with the best
average of quick guesses wins.
Have students write short French biographies about a selected group of
celebrities or famous French speakers.
Have students explain in French the circumstances where each star (on
video) is speaking French on video.
Have students imagine or explain the circumstances under which each
non-Francophone star speaking French on video learned French (or the
French which he or she spoke on the video).
Using the "Groups of famous French speakers" section, have students
match names against disciplines, professions and trades, or vice versa,
in groups selected by the teacher.
Using the "Groups of famous French speakers" section, have students
write four or five questions each for a hypothetical interview with a
famous French speaker of their choice.
Using the "Groups of famous French speakers" section, have students
pair a famous American or Anglophone with a famous French speaker in
the lists. In each case, students must state in French what makes
the two similar. Judge the student responses on how detailed the
parallels are.
Using the "Groups of famous French speakers" section, play a game of Guggenheim.
Your five categories on the top of the grid should be in French
(auteur, acteur, chanteur, inventeur, scientifique, philosoph,
athlète, etc.). You just need a five-letter letter word on the
left side must also be French. Having students pick these as well as
play the game will extend their vocabulary.
Ask students to explain in French which star or famous French speaker
is their favorite and why.
The teacher finds images of things and people associated the material
on the "LANGUAGE OF THE STARS" web site in "Google Images". For
the people, students identify them and say in French what they are
famous for. For the things, students find the appropriate French word
or expression and identify the appropriate famous French speakers
asssociated with them (ex. invention with inventor).
Return to THE LANGUAGE
OF THE STARS
TennesseeBob Peckham
Director: The Globe-Gate Intercultural Web Project
Made in Tennessee to bring you the
world
bobp@utm.edu