Students of the 21st century have grown up watching television, shows and movies on tape or DVD, and now videos on the Internet through sites such as youtube.com. They have grown accustomed to learning through visual media in their time outside of school. I strongly believe that video can, and should, be a component of learning in school. In world language classes such as mine, the use of video is a necessity. My classroom and its four walls is a closed environment. Through the use of video, my students are gaining more knowledge about the French language and the cultures that use it daily.

Implications for Learning

With the use of video, the French 5 students are...

Visual Media used in French 5

Cultural Video

La France Divisée

From www.FranceDivided.com: "La France Divisée, produced and directed by Barbara P. Barnett and Eileen M. Angelini, explores the two sides of France during World War II. Both collaborators and resisters are seen through the eyes of seven French people: four survivors of the Holocaust (one deportee who returned from a series of concentration camps and three child survivors who were hidden children in Vichy France), two historians (including Serge Klarsfeld)and leader of the French Resistance Lucie Aubrac."
Le Roquefort

From Wikepedia.org: "Roquefort is a pungent ewe's-milk blue cheese from the south of France, and one of the most famous of all French cheeses. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, European law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Cambalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may bear the name Roquefort, as it has a protected designation of origin. Roquefort is sometimes known as the "King of Cheeses", a distinction that is also used for the Italian Parmigiano Reggiano, the French Brie de Meaux and the English Stilton."
This video describes the history, legend, and fabrication of this famous cheese.
Video to accompany Bravo! textbook.

From Bravo.heinle.com: "This new video, filmed on several locations in France, reflects both French and Francophone lifestyles and models the functions, grammar, and vocabulary presented at the intermediate level. Each segment represents a complete teaching unit filled with drama, culturally authentic situations and culturally appropriate language. As students get to know the characters, they are exposed to both the modern-day and historical situations that render France and the Francophone world what they are today. Every chapter in this Fifth Edition features integrated video exercises that prompt students to view carefully correlated video segments."

Feature Films

Feature French films are used in all levels of French at Wissahickon. The students in my courses watch the films using lesson plans purchased through Filmarobics. The Filmarobics plans divide each film into 10-15 minute segments and provide several different activities for each segment including comprehension questions, true/false statements, 'put in order' statements, discussion questions, and cultural information. When my students participate in a film study, they watch the film on Mondays for 8-12 consecutive weeks, depending on how many lessons the film is divided into. They complete comprehension questions each week and participate in a student-lead discussion at the end of each film.

The following films are studied in the French 5 course:

Les Misérables

From Amazon.com: "This brilliant film manages to reinterpret the story of Victor Hugo's classic novel, critique it, and investigate the nature of art and life on top of that--all in three hours that zip past, fueled by the dynamic performance of French icon Jean-Paul Belmondo (Breathless, Le Doulos). In 1900, Henri Fortin (Belmondo) is wrongfully imprisoned for murder; his loyal wife is forced into menial labor and prostitution; then in the beginning of World War II, Fortin's son (Belmondo again) helps a Jewish family elude the Nazis, setting in motion his own imprisonment, escape, and adventures as a criminal. Not only is that just the first half of the movie, there are also the story lines of the husband, wife, and daughter of the Jewish family, who each have their own struggles. The conclusion is joyous and heartbreaking. Director Claude Lelouch (A Man and a Woman) handles the entire movie with supreme skill, humor, and compassion. --Bret Fetzer"
Les Choristes

From Amazon.com: "An inspirational story in the rich tradition of MUSIC OF THE HEART and MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, THE CHORUS has moved critics everywhere to declare it one of the year's very best films! When he takes a job teaching music at a school for troubled boys, Clément Mathieu is unprepared for its harsh discipline and depressing atmosphere. But with passion and unconventional teaching methods, he's able to spark his students' interest in music and bring them a newfound joy! It also puts him at odds with the school's overbearing headmaster, however, locking Mathieu in a battle between politics and the determination to change his pupils' lives! "
Cyrano de Bergerac

From Amazon.com: "Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau and cowriter Jean-Claude Carriere had the brilliant idea of casting France's most lovably vulnerable hunk, the massive Gerard Depardieu, in one of French literature's meatiest roles: the sword-wielding poet Cyrano. Equipped with a massive nose and a heart to match, Depardieu soars as the heart-broken soldier who must lend his words of love to another man to woo the woman he yearns for. Rappeneau spared no expense in taking this Edmond Rostand play into realistic locations for the battle scenes in the second act, making the film as exciting as it is romantic and funny. Depardieu attacks the role in great gulps, consuming all the oxygen in any room he enters. Macho but sensitive, he creates a larger-than-life Cyrano, whose wrenching sadness at the lack of interest from his lady love will have you reaching for the tissues. --Marshall Fine"

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