Students enrolled in French World Language classes at South Orangetown Middle School participated in a National French Week celebration through a variety of activities and lessons hosted by SOMS World Language teacher Marie-Laure Spatz.
Hosted by the American Association of French Teachers, National French Week is a time to learn more about French culture through their cuisine, art, music, history and more. This year, the theme is “All around me, la Francophonie.” Spatz said, “At SOMS, French classes and French Club worked all week on that theme by focusing on different aspects of French culture. Our goal was to go beyond the stereotypes and common knowledge that we all have of France.” Throughout the week, some students researched the 29 countries that have French as their official language and made posters while others looked up fun facts about French culture and famous French people while listening to music from Senegal and Martinique. Once their research was complete, students posted their findings all around the school to share their knowledge with their peers. Sixth grade students designed a paper feather illustrating the flag of a French speaking country and they glued their feathers together to form wings. “Those wings illustrate how we were all flying around the world discovering the French speaking world last week,” noted Spatz.
To end the week, students learned all about the origin and traditions associated with crêpe making on Friday and students cooked crêpes from scratch. Students learned about the differences between sweet crêpes and savory crêpes, also known as galettes. “I personally love French National Week because I have the chance to underline the importance of French in the world. Students realize that when they learn French, they become part of the Francophone world and they can see how their linguistic skills can become a huge asset in their future career,” explained Spatz.