Promoting creativity in French lessons

1. Promoting creativity in French lessons using a French poem. Alice Ayel

2. Year 9: a French poem. Objective of the lesson: • to discover French literature and poets. • to learn new words. • to be able to write a poem in the target language.

3. Starter: introduction to Verlaine and symbolism. • I talked about Verlaine and students had to put parts of his life into order from when he was born to his death. • Then I introduced the students to symbolism. Verlaine along with Rimbaud, Baudelaire and other poets were associated with the symbolist movement, a rupture from the romantics. I put some key words linked to symbolism and romanticism on http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/246256/symbolism_in_poetry and asked the students to highlight the words related to symbolism.

4. To identify new words that will come up in the story. • Students work in pairs to find the meaning of key words they will need to understand the poem. • One pupil goes around the classroom and look for words on post-it notes. He/she memorises it, goes back to the other pupil who looks for the meaning of the word in the dictionary.

5. To listen to the poem and to understand it. • I read the poem to them and we discussed it in English.

6. To write a poem in French. • Students write a poem about autumn which included the words "Bonjour...., au revoir....". So for example some students wrote : "Bonjour l'automne, au revoir l'été.Bonjour le vent, au revoir le soleil.Bonjour l'obscurité, au revoir la lumière.....“ • This is a good way of making students write a poem in another language without being too complicated for them.

7. Plenary: peer assessment. • pupils assess each other’s poems. • They also show and read their poems to the whole class.

8. Objectif: découvrir un poème sur l’automne.

9. Paul VERLAINE Paul-Marie Verlaine 30 March 1844–8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He was elected France's "Prince of Poets" by his peers. His poetry was admired and recognized as ground-breaking, serving as a source of inspiration. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry. Paul Verlaine peint par Gustave Courbet

10. Can you put the different parts of Verlaine’s life in the right order? Verlaine then meets the poet Rimbaud who will have a great impact on him. In July 1873 in a drunken, jealous rage, he fired two shots with a pistol at Rimbaud, wounding his left wrist, though not seriously injuring the poet. As an indirect result of this incident, Verlaine was arrested and imprisoned. He died in Paris at the age of 51 on 8 January 1896. Born in Metz, he began writing poetry at an early age. His first published collection was Poèmes Saturniens (1866) when he was 22.. Verlaine's last years saw his descent into drug addiction, alcoholism, and poverty. He lived in slums and public hospitals, and spent his days drinking absinthe in Paris cafes. Following his release from prison, Verlaine travelled to England, where he worked for some years as a teacher and produced another successful collection, Sagesse.

11. What is Symbolism?Highlight the words related to it: http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/246256/symbolism_in_poetry • Musicality • Images • Moods • Feelings • Sounds • Words • Magic • Suggestion • Subtle

12. Sanglot: sob Blesser: to injure, to hurt, to wound Langueur: languor, lethargy Monotone Suffocant: suffocating, stifling Blême: pale Sonner: to ring, to strike Se souvenir: to remember Anciens: ancient, old Pleurer: to cry Vent: wind Mauvais: bad Emporter: to sweep away Pareil: similar, such Feuille: leave Morte: dead Travail en paires.Les motsimportants du poème:

13. About the poem: It is one of the best known in the French language. It is included in Verlaine's first collection, Poèmes Saturniens (1866). The first and second lines of the poem (Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne / Blessent mon cœur d'une langueur monotone.) were broadcast by the Allies over Radio Londres in 1944 as a code message to the French Resistance in preparation for D-Day. When the second line was broadcast over the radio waves, it signaled that the invasion was to come in 24 hours.

14. Paul VERLAINE (1844-1896) Chanson d'automnePoèmes saturniens

15. Les sanglots longsDes violonsDe l'automne

17. Blessent mon coeurD'une langueurMonotone.

20. Tout suffocantEt blême, quandSonne l'heure,

22. Je me souviensDes jours anciensEt je pleure

24. Et je m'en vaisAu vent mauvaisQui m'emporte

26. Deçà, delà,Pareil à laFeuille morte.

27. Les sanglots longs Des violons De l'automne Blessent mon coeur D'une langueur Monotone. Tout suffocant Et blême, quand Sonne l'heure, Je me souviens Des jours anciens Et je pleure Et je m'en vais Au vent mauvais Qui m'emporte Deçà, delà, Pareil à la Feuille morte. Chanson d’automne:

28. Qu’est-ce que ce poème raconte sur l’automne? L’AUTOMNE

29. Ecris un poème sur l’automneavec bonjour….., au revoir……: Bonjour l’automne, au revoir l’été. Bonjour les feuilles mortes, au revoir les feuilles vivantes. Bonjour……., au revoir………..