3.3
À l’école du cirque
3. À l’école du cirque
At the circus school... and in your PE lessons! This section builds on the work pupils did in Early Start French Pack 2, “Les passetemps” when they found out how to talk about their leisure activities, as well as Ch.3.2 “Les parties du corps”. Using the context of “the circus school”, this section develops simple language to help you use French in lively PE lessons, mainly instructions, e.g. playing “Simon says...”. You can turn PE activities into a ‘circus performance’, where pupils’ ‘acts’ are introduced and described to an audience by the ‘ringmaster’ - in French. Pupils, as ‘performers’, can also comment on how difficult they find the activities.They may produce extended sentences using words like “parce que...” (because). Your PE lesson/“show” becomes an opportunity to say what ‘I’ and ‘we’ are doing, and also to tell an ‘audience’ what other people are doing, i.e. ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’.
Films to see
e the titl A: use ”, on R T X E là “Ici et oke song, ra a k R film O s
Part A: Circus activities A1. 5 circus acts hcard e-flas A2. More acts A3. Q and A -at the Circus School A4. Talking about other people’s acts
Part B: What I like doing... B1. ... and why B2. ... difficult or easy? Part C: Preparing your own “show” C1. Making a human centipede C2. Jacques a dit... C3. Warm-up instructions C4. Acrobatics: balancing and rolling C5. Joke about a clown
Find transcripts on the disc
Part A: Circus activities
Planning your lessons Films A1 and A2 introduce the class first to the names of some circus activities, many of which are also appropriate for PE lessons, using everyday equipment. Then they learn to talk about what ‘I’m doing...’ (‘Je fais..’) and what ‘we are doing...’ (‘nous faisons...’).
Activities Warm up
Film A1: “Je fais de l’assiette chinoise”.
Before showing film A1, warm up by playing one or two games from Early Start French 2, Ch.2.13 “Les Passe-temps”. This will remind pupils of how much they can already say about sports and hobbies, e.g. “J’aime le football”. n Display some of the new words from this section to the class, and ask them to anticipate how they should be pronounced.
Watch film A1: 5 circus acts
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❑ Film A1 starts with the title song sequence, which the class can join in singing. It shows children at the circus school (‘l’école du cirque’) at Lomme, a suburb of Lille. They do five circus activities in its ‘grand chapiteau’ ( big top): le trapèze; la boule; le diabolo; le mat chinois; l’assiette chinoise.
Early Start French Pack 3 A1, A2: NEW WORDS A1: circus places l’école du cirque - circus school le grand chapiteau - big top A1: 5 circus activities
le trapèze la boule le diabolo le mat chinois l’assiette chinoise (f)
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
assiette chinois(e), diabolo, cirque heard before in piscine, ville, six as in...
- trapeze - ball - diabolo - Chinese pole - Chinese plate
as in... chinois(e), heard before in
You also commonly hear ‘les assiettes chinoises’
chapiteau chat, chocolat,
as in... chinois,
Describe what YOU are doing (S/PL)
heard before in
Qu’est-ce que tu fais? What are YOU doing? (to individual) Je fais de... (la boule) 1 I’m doing some... (ball-balancing) Qu’est-ce que vous faîtes? What are YOU doing? (to a group) Nous faisons... (de l’assiette chinoise) or (des assiettes chinoises) 2 We’re doing some... (Chinese plate(s))
oiseau
boule, nous heard before in genou, tous, bouche as in...
[as in the English: to eat ] as in... faisons
heard before in
crayon, pantalon
as in.. mat,
A2: More acts le fil - tightrope la jonglerie - juggling l’acrobacie - acrobatics
fais, nous faisons seen before in doigt, bras e-flashcards A1
paying careful attention to the “key sounds”, until children are beginning to remember the words for the activities.
You also commonly hear ‘les acrobaties’
Watch film A2: 5 more acts
le rola bola - rola bola (balance board) le monocycle - unicycle
❑ Film A2 shows children at the circus school doing five more activities: le fil; la jonglerie; l’acrobacie; le rola bola; le monocycle.
e-flashcards A1,A2
Get used to the sounds A1
Get used to the sounds A1,A2
❑ Echoing: Show the ‘Circus’ e-flashcards, or make enlarged copies of the activity sheet.
❑ Echoing: repeat the e-flashcards activity with all 10 circus activities. Then select ‘I/we do...’ but start by just looking at ‘I’, not ‘we’. Ask children to echo the phrase “Je fais...” and to look for the pattern of “de la”, “du”, “de l’” or “des” which 1 they have met before in Pack 2 ( see “how French works 1”). Pay attention to “key sounds” in these phrases. ❑ ‘Announcing’/mime: Encourage children to use the phrase to tell an “audience” what they are doing as they mime an activity. They will use this in the class circus performance.
Show the picture of each activity, initially with sound ON and text OFF. Pupils echo the name, e.g. “le trapèze”. Repeat this several times,
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3.3 1
À l’école du cirque
HOW FRENCH WORKS: I am doing... (something) You hear children at the Circus School say what they are doing, e.g.: “Je fais de la jonglerie” (I’m doing some juggling)
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in... f il,
monocycle, jonglerie, acrobacie heard before in piscine, ville, six
This is natural French phrasing, just as you might answer “what are you doing tonight?” with, e.g. “I’m doing some cooking, he’s doing some painting”.
Some in French is du, de la, de l’ or des: “Je fais du trapèze” “Je fais de l’ acrobacie” “Je fais des assiettes chinoises”
as in... jonglerie, heard before in
jour, orange
as in... jonglerie,
Children also know to say “du” not “de le”; e.g. when asking for food:“...du pain, s’il vous plaît?”
heard before in
They may need reminding of how it works.
crayon, pantalon
(Listen to the native speakers - try to copy their typically French sounds.)
Respond with understanding A2
e-flashcards A2 ❑ Play “ the miming game” 1 Call out different activities and ask pupils to mime what you are saying; e.g. “Je fais de la boule” (pupils mime balancing on the ball). For safety, it may be best to agree beforehand how each might be mimed. ❑ Play “true or false?” 1 Show the e-flashcards with sound and text off. Alternatively, use the activity sheet pictures. Click here to You say, e.g. “Je fais du mat chinois”. Children respond, “Oui” if it is the picture change between I and WE showing the Chinese pole. If it isn’t, pupils say “Non”. Pupils echo, e.g. “Nous faisons de la boule”. ❑ Play “jigsaw puzzle” Ask them to spot the verb in the sentence, 2 Show the “jigsaw” presented on the e-flashcards. and how it changes between ‘I’ and ‘we’.. As each piece is taken away, pupils guess the activity that is being revealed. HOW FRENCH WORKS: ❑ Give each pupil one of the pictures from 2 Me and us the activity sheet. You call out an activity, e.g. Quite often you and the class will want to “Je fais de la boule”; all the pupils with that card talk about what WE are doing, so it’s useful hold it up for everyone to see. to introduce this additional language: Swap pictures every so often. “Je fais de la jonglerie...” ❑ Play “true or false?” 2 (I am doing some juggling) Show the pictures again, but this time pupils Now you can also say: only echo your phrase when it matches otherwise they remain silent. “NOUS faisONS de la jonglerie...” (WE are doing some juggling) Get used to more sounds: We do... NOTE how the verb ending changes with ❑ Echoing: When pupils are ready, select “we”; with most verbs, it will end in “-ons”. ‘I/We do...’ on the e-flashcards with sound and See “key sounds” and help children text ON. Click to change ‘I’ to ‘we’, which shows pronounce the new verb authentically. pairs of children doing circus activities.
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Early Start French Pack 3 ❑ Play “True or False” Select ‘I/We do...’ on the e-flashcards with sound and text OFF and jumbled ON. You say, e.g “Nous faisons du diabolo”. Children respond, “Oui” if it is the picture showing the pair of children doing the diabolo. If it isn’t, pupils say “Non”. Try to catch pupils out e.g. for a picture of one girl juggling, say, “Nous faisons de la jonglerie”.
A3: EXTRA WORDS A3: Teacher questions Le weekend, qu’est-ce que tu fais? * What do you do at weekends? Qu’est-ce que tu fais le samedi? * What do you do on Saturdays? *NOTE: either word order is OK
Qu’est-ce que tu fais pour être en forme? What do you do to keep fit?
❑ Play “Give us a clue” (charades) A small group chooses one of the phrases to act out in mime to the class, e.g. “Nous faisons de la boule”. If children guess the full phrase and say it correctly, they have a turn to act a mime.
Qu’est-ce que tu fais le weekend pour être en forme?
What do you do at weekends to keep fit?
A3: Possible pupil replies (REVISION) Je fais du... (football) I do (some)... (football) ...de l’équitation - ...horse-riding ...de la natation -...swimming Je vais à l’école du cirque I go to the circus school
Spot silent letters
❑ Show the e-flashcards, with both sound and text on. Pupils echo the words, e.g. “Je fais du diabolo”. Ask for volunteers to point to letters on the screen that are silent.
e-flashcards A3
Watch film A3: Q and A
As with the interviews in film A3, you can also ask questions that involve revisiting language learnt in earlier work.
❑ In film A3 children answer questions about themselves and what activities they do at the circus school.
Watch film A4: What other people do
❑ Film A4 introduces how to say what other people are doing. Children already know phrases with “il” and “elle” (he and she) from Ch.3.1 and 3.2; now we also look at “they” - “ils” or “elles”.
Film A3:“Dolma, qu’est-ce que tu fais?”-“Du trapèze...”
❑ Before watching film A3 explain that you will do this in your “circus performance”. As ringmaster (see part C) you will ask individual performers to explain to the “audience” what they are doing. As a rehearsal, you could do this with the mimes worked out earlier.
Film A4: “Elles font du rola bola.”
❑ The language introduced in film A4 will also be used in your performance. Different children can take on the role of “ringmaster” and say what activities other people are doing. Again enjoy practising with mimes.
Respond with understanding
❑ Your own Question-and-answer: Use questions such as those in “extra words” to ask pupils what they do at the weekend or on a particular day.
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3.3
À l’école du cirque
❑ “Gisting” - what is going on? Film A4 also includes some “gisting” as Véronique, the instructor, explains how to tackle some of the exercises. Without translating, ask children to work out roughly what is going on - using clues from words they already know, what they can see, and how people respond to what is said.
A4: NEW WORDS A4: He/she
il / elle fait du trapèze he/she does trapeze A4: They
ils font du fil They do tightrope elles* font du diabolo They do diabolo
Get used to the sounds: ‘he/she’
❑ Echoing: Select ‘He/she’ on the e-flashcards (or use the activity sheet) - see “how French works 3”.
3
*NOTE: ‘elles’ only used for all girls. e-flashcards A4
3
You say, e.g “il fait du trapèze”. Children respond, “Oui” if the picture shows a boy on the trapeze. If it is a girl, or another act, pupils say “Non”. Try to catch pupils out!
Get used to the sounds: ‘they’
❑ Echoing: When pupils are ready, select ‘they do’ on the e-flashcards and show them initially with sound ON, text OFF. Pupils echo.
Click here to change between HE and SHE Pupils echo, e.g. “Il fait du trapèze”. n Spot the patterns Ask children to compare words and sound on the ‘He/she’ e-flashcards with ‘I /we’ - have sound and text ON. Note the small change between “il/elle fait de...” and “je fais de...”. ❑ Play “True or False” Select ‘He/she’ on the e-flashcards with sound and text OFF and jumbled ON.
3
❑ Spot the pattern: Ask children to spot when “ils” is used, and when “elles” - see “how French works 3”.
HOW FRENCH WORKS: Tallking about other people
Respond with understanding
Children are quite used to saying things about another person, e.g.: “il est petit, elle est grande” (he is short, she is tall) In your “circus show”, the “ringmaster” says what the “performers” are doing: “il fait de la jonglerie...” (he is doing (some) juggling) “ils font du fil...” (they are doing (some) tightrope) NOTE that ‘elles’ is used only when it’s all girls; all boys or a boy/girl mix is ‘ils’. See “key sounds” and help children pronounce the new verb authentically.
3
❑ Now predict: Show the e-flashcards again, jumbled ON and with text AND sound OFF.
KEY SOUNDS Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in... ils heard before in
font faisons, pantalon
fait, ils font, elles seen before in doigt, fais, nous as in..
e-flashcards A4
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Early Start French Pack 3 Later in section C, you can introduce French terms for some of the PE activities they are more likely to do, e.g. a forward roll. ❑ PE - circus skills It may be possible to introduce some of the circus acts shown in films A1 and A2 into your PE sessions. Some of the equipment is simple and inexpensive: the website www.earlystart.co.uk is a good starting point. It also suggests specialist groups that come into schools to do circus skills training. There are also some online video lessons on skills such as juggling that children may be able to follow - see www.earlystart.co.uk and select ‘French 3 online teacher’s guide’ for more information and links.
Now ask children to predict the phrase that goes with each picture - especially whether it is “ils” or “elles”. ❑ Play “who does what?” (miming) Invite an individual child to come to the front of the class. Whisper the name of an activity to the child, e.g. “la jonglerie”- or show a picture from the activity sheet (without letting the others see). The child mimes the activity. You say, “Voici (name of child); qu’est-ce qu’il/elle fait?” The class replies “Il/Elle fait de la jonglerie”. Now ask two or more pupils to come to the front. This time you ask, “Voici (names of children), 3 qu’est qu’ils/elles font?” The class replies, e.g. “Ils/Elles font de la jonglerie”. See “how French works 3”. ❑ Play the circus memory game You may like to show film A3 again (“question and answer”) before playing this game. Pupils sit on the floor in groups of 10 (there are 10 circus activities). The first child asks their neighbour to the right, “A l’école du cirque, qu’est-ce que tu fais?” S/he replies, e.g. “Je fais du trapèze”; then turns right to the next person and asks, “A l’école du cirque, qu’est-ce que tu fais?”. They reply adding another activity to the list, e.g. “Je fais du trapèze et de la jonglerie”... Continue round the group until the final person has to memorise all 10 activities in the correct order. To make the game easier, you could place pictures of each activity in the centre of the circle. Each pupil selects a picture and keeps it visible to help those who have a longer list of activities to remember.
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ PE performance In your PE sessions, have a “rehearsal” for your own circus show. Different children can take on the role of “ringmaster” and say what activities other children are doing. They can practise with mimes, so that you use the new words for circus activities.
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A l’école du cirque
Je m’appelle .............................
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
© 2012 Early Start Languages
A l’école du cirque
Je m’appelle .............................
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
© 2012 Early Start Languages
3.3
À l’école du cirque
Part B: What I like doing Planning your lessons
Part B builds on children’s previous work on likes and dislikes in Early Start French Pack 2. In the contexts of food, leisure pastimes and school lessons, they know how to say “j’aime...” + a noun or “je n’aime pas...” - now they meet a more flexible expression: “j’aime faire de...”
Activities
Film B1: Maille: “J’aime faire de l’assiette chinoise.”
Warm up
❑ First ask children what French words they already know to describe whether they like or dislike something, e.g. “j’aime/ je n’aime pas”. Some may also be able to give “reasons” for their preferences, which were included in “extra words and phrases” in Pack 2.
Watch film B1: What I like doing and why
❑ Watch film B1 in which children at the Circus School say which of the circus activities they like doing, and why.
More get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show the ‘Circus likes/dislikes’ e-flashcards with sound and text ON. Pupils echo the phrases, e.g. “J’aime faire... (de la boule)”. Then do the same with the “Je n’aime pas faire...” phrases.
B1, B2: NEW WORDS B1. Do you like/dislike doing...?
Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire? What do you like doing? J’aime faire de...(la jonglerie) I like doing...(juggling) Qu’est-ce que tu n’aimes pas faire? What don’t you like doing? Je n’aime pas faire de... (l’acrobacie) I don’t like doing... (acrobatics)
B1, B2. Reasons pourquoi? pourquoi pas? parce que c’est difficile c’est facile c’est fatigant j’y arrive!
KEY SOUNDS Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
j’y arrive,facile, fatigant(e), dif f icile heard before in jonglerie, piscine, six as in...
(may be REVISION)
as in... pourquoi,
- why? - why not? - because - it’s difficult - it’s easy - it’s tiring - I’m getting there! = I can do it je n’y arrive pas - I can’t do it assez (facile) - quite (easy) très (difficile) - very (hard) e-flashcards B1, B2
heard before in
chinois oiseau,
as in... fatigant heard before in
blanc, trente, temps as in... assez
heard before in
nez, ajouter, salé
pas, c’est, fatigant seen before in fait, ils font as in..
e-flashcards B1, B2
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Early Start French Pack 3 Watch film B2: ...difficult or easy?
Click here to change between LIKE/ DISLIKE
❑ Watch film B2 in which children at the Circus School give reasons why they like or dislike particular activities.
Respond with understanding
❑ Play “true or false?” Show the ‘Circus likes/dislikes’ e-flashcards with “jumbled” selected, and both sound and text OFF. You call out a phrase, e.g. “J’aime faire du fil”. Pupils say “oui” if “du fil” matches the picture and “non” if it doesn’t.
Film B2: Florent: “Le fil, c’est très difficile.”
❑ Echoing: the ‘Giving reasons’ e-flashcards describe WHY someone might like or dislike an activity. Pupils echo the phrases.
❑ Play “Say the sentence” Again show the “jumbled” e-flashcards with sound and text OFF. Ask children to say the phrase that matches the currently displayed combination of symbol and activity, e.g. “Je n’aime pas faire de la boule".
❑ Play “human sentence”1 Arrange copies of the picture cards from the “activity sheet” on a table, and make cards with the smiley “J’aime faire...” and cross “Je n’aime pas faire...” symbols. Invite two groups of children to stand by the table. You call out a sentence e.g. “Je n’aime pas faire du monocycle”. Group 1 chooses the smiley or cross symbol. Group 2 chooses a circus activity. A child from each group stands together to make the sentence; the class “reads” it aloud. Continue with other sentences. You could include familiar vocabulary from Pack 2, Ch2.10, “Les passe-temps”, e.g. “J’aime faire de la natation”. ❑ Show the “jumbled” ‘Circus likes/dislikes’ e-flashcards, with sound and text OFF. Pupils call out the correct phrase.
❑ Play “the miming game” Show the class an activity flashcard, e.g. juggling. Call out a reason for liking or disliking their activity, e.g. “C’est difficile”. Each child mimes the phrase, e.g. finding it terribly difficult to juggle successfully. ❑ Play “human sentence” This time invite THREE groups of children to stand by the table. Make a card for “parce que”, and a fourth child is in charge of that. You call out a sentence e.g. “Je aime faire de la boule parce que c’est facile”. Group 1 chooses the smiley or cross symbol. Group 2 chooses a circus activity card. Group 3 will choose a reason card. A child from each group stands in a row to make the sentence, joined by the holder of “parce que”. The rest of the class “read” out the sentence.If a child says “J’aime faire la boule parce que...”,praise them and repeat “J’aime faire de la boule parce que...”. Continue with other sentences. Include any sports or leisure activities that the children are familiar with.
Warm up for film B2
❑ Ask children in English (or their own language) why they like some activities and not others: ...do they prefer what’s difficult or easy? ...what they’re struggling to master? ...or what they’ve succeeded at?
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3.3
À l’école du cirque
Part C: Preparing your own show Planning your lessons
C1: NEW WORDS Human centipede
In this part, your class can prepare to turn a routine PE lesson into a fun ‘French circus’ event. Use the films and playing more “Jacques a dit...” as part of your build-up - and if you can get an audience for your show (parents, a school assembly or other classes) that would be great. Bring in the “Talking point” about French circus so that children know why the modern circus has such strong links with France.
Ils font... (le mille-pattes) They do... (the centipede)
Les filles contre les garçons Boys against girls une course - a race depêchez-vous! - hurry up! Les garçons ont gagné! The boys have won!
Activities
e-flashcards C1
Warm up
In film C2, we see more of Madame Antit playing “Simon says...” with her class in an open-air PE lesson (part of this was previously seen in Ch.3.2, “Les parties du corps”).
Talk in French with the children and the class puppet about spoken instructions children can say in French, e.g. in “Jacques a dit” from Ch.3.2. Remind yourselves of any common pattern in the way French instructions sound.
Watch film C1: human centipede
❑ In film C1, the circus school teacher shows children how to make themselves into a “human centipede”; then the boys race against the girls.
GISTING/ get used to the sounds
n Gisting - how much can you understand? Children can recognise the words for parts of the body in what the circus school teacher says, “Alors, sur les pieds, les mains, avec les jambes tendu...” From the children’s response, they also may be able to work out what they are told to do.
Film C2: “Jacques a dit... mains sur les genoux.”
This sequence re-visits parts of the body and introduce a new focus on instructions, using a few new verbs - see “C1: New Words”.
Get used to the sounds
Respond with understanding
n Gisting - how much can you understand? Again children can recognise the words for parts of the body in the teacher’s instructions. From the children’s response, they may be able to work out what action they are told to do.
❑ Try acrobatics in a PE lesson Take the advice of a PE specialist before attempting the ”human centipede” activity. Unless you are confident that you can help children to do it safely, substitute another ‘boys v. girls’ race, e.g. hopping (see film C2).
Respond with understanding
Watch film C2: “Jacques a dit...”
❑ Films C2 and C3 introduce more simple instructions in French, that will be useful in PE lessons and in your own “circus show” - see “How French works 4: giving 4 spoken instructions”.
❑ Play ‘Simon Says...’ (‘Jacques a dit’) The class know this familiar game, not least from Ch.3.2, “Les parties du corps”. Now you can both re-visit parts of the body and introduce a new focus on instructions, using a few new verbs - see “C1: New Words”.
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Early Start French Pack 3 KEY SOUNDS
4
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
Children may be used to responding to your spoken instructions in French, e.g.
as in... tournez, heard before in
sautez, etc. nez, ajouter, salé
asseyez-vous! - sit (down)! levez la main! - put up your hand! écoutez! - listen! prenez tous un crayon! - everyone take a pencil!
(these orders are to the class rather than one child*)
as in... lancez, heard before in
HOW FRENCH WORKS: Giving spoken instructions
échauffement fatigant, jambe
You can use imperative orders in this form to give instructions in a PE lesson. * NOTE: if you are a non-expert linguist, you could use this form even when addressing one child - you would be speaking politely rather than familiarly!
pas, c’est, fatigant seen before in fait, ils font as in..
Ch.3.1 “Bonne santé” showed how French recipes are often written using an infinitive (“to add flour”) rather than an imperative order (“add flour!”).
(Listen to the native speakers - try to copy their typically French sounds.) e-flashcards C2
The class stands up. If you say, e.g. “Jacques a dit touchez... les pieds”, each now touches their feet. If you just say “Touchez les pieds”, those children who do so sit down and are out. Last one left standing wins!
C2 and C3: NEW WORDS
Instructions: Simon says, warm-up l’échauffement (m) - the warm-up tournez...(la tête) - turn (your head) courez.. - run 4 sautez... - jump lancez...(la balle) - throw..(the ball1)
Watch film C3: warm-up
❑ Film C3 shows a circus school warm-up session, where children follow the teacher’s instructions to prepare their muscles.
1 = a small ball e.g. tennis
(le ballon) - (the ball2)
2 = football or rugby ball
attrapez... - catch Examples of instructions mains...(sur la tête) - hands...(on head) (en l’air) - (in the air) (sur les côtés) - (by your sides) sautez...(sur place) - jump (on the spot) (à cloche-pied) - hop on one leg accroupez - squat debout - stand up stop! - stop!
Film C3: Warm-up - “Tournez le pied.”
Before you do something similar in your PE lesson, practise in the classroom the French instructions you intend to use.
Respond with understanding
Arranging the class Mettez-vous... (en circle) Put yourselves into... (a circle)
❑ Play ‘Warm up’ in PE In your PE lesson, use the new instructions that you have practised in class. Vary both the verb and the parts of the body referred to, e.g. “Tournez le pied”, “Touchez la tête”...
e-flashcards C2. C3
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3.3
À l’école du cirque
All these French instructions can be used to play more games of “Jacques a dit...”, which is a good PE activity.
C4: NEW WORDS un spectacle - show
Balancing instructions in PE Mettez-vous en équilibre sur... Balance (yourselves) on.... ...les balles - ...the balls ...la tête - ...your head ...une jambe - ...one leg ...le banc - ...the bench l’équilibre - balance
Watch film C4: balancing and rolling
❑ Film C4 shows younger children at the Circus School as they rehearse balancing acts and somersaults before putting on their own “circus show”.
Somersaults les roulades - somersaults la roulade avant - forward roll la roulade arrière - backward roll
EXTRA: instructions for PE un petit sac - a little bag (bean-bag) Posez le petit sac en équilibre sur la tête Balance a bean-bag on your head Faîtes une roulade avant Do a forward roll EXTRA: Presenting the show Monsieur Loyal - ringmaster Voici Monsieur Loyal! - Here is the ringmaster! Voici (Romain)! Il fait... (du trapèze)! This is (Romain)! He’s doing trapeze! Voici (Tristan et Victor)! Ils font... (du diabolo)! This is...! They’re doing diabolo! Voici (Maille et Mariel)! Elles font... (du rola bola)! This is...! They’re doing rola bola! EXTRA: Interviews in the show
Film C4: “la roulade avant” - a forward somersault.
The audience of family and friends arrives to see acts the children have mastered during their week’s course in the school holidays. Watch this for ideas for your own show.
Film C4: Two teachers help children make a human pyramid.
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ PE/ performance In your PE sessions, prepare the children to give a “circus performance” in French. Invite an audience (parents, the rest of the school or another class). Decide what acts you are going to show: simple PE activities like somersaults are fine for the purpose (see “EXTRA” boxes). If children want to announce other PE activities, they can look up the words in a bilingual dictionary, and work out how to pronounce them correctly using their knowledge of phonemes.
Qu’est-ce que tu fais dans le spectacle? What are you doing in the show? (to 1 CHILD) Qu’est-ce que vous faîtes dans le spectacle? What are you doing in the show? (to CHILDREN) À l’école, qu’est-ce que tu fais en sport? At school, what do you do in PE? (to 1 CHILD) e-flashcards C4
Rehearse the children so they can introduce each other in French and say what each performer is doing.
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Early Start French Pack 3
Film C4: “Mettez-vous en équilibre sur les balles”.
The ringmaster in French circuses is called “Monsieur Loyal” (see “Talking point 1”). As teacher, you could be “Monsieur Loyal” and introduce each act, e.g. “Voici Tristan et Victor! Ils font du diabolo!” You could also interview the performers, e.g. “Tristan et Victor, qu’est-ce que vous faîtes dans le spectacle?” You could also ask them; - how old they are, - where they live, - what they like doing and why - and so on. You could ask more confident children to introduce the next act, e.g.”Voici Maille et Mariel! Elles font du rola bola!”
Georges Seurat’s
painting “le cirque” (1891)
n juggling (la jonglerie) of balls, plates, diabolo, etc; n balancing (les équilibres) e.g. on a unicycle, large ball or rola bola; or up in the air on a trapeze, wire or a pole; n acrobatics (l’acrobacie) e.g. human centipede, handstands, cartwheels, somersaults - generally without equipment; n clowns (l’expression clownesque et le jeu d’acteur) - not shown in the films. They also study other art forms which contribute to the making of a show: la danse, le théâtre, la musique et les arts plastiques (visual arts). Circus venues We tend to think of circuses as always being in a “big top” tent, but in the heyday of 19th century circuses, many had permanent buildings, often circular in shape, like the Cirque d’hiver (winter circus) in Paris. Many parts of the traditional circus were established at this time, like the role of the clown and the ringmaster - in France, he is always called “Monsieur Loyal” after a famous ringmaster in Paris, who acted as “master of ceremonies” as well as whipping the horses into action in the equestrian acts (see painting by Georges Seurat ).
Talking point 1 EVERYDAY LIFE IN FRANCE The circus in France
The Circus School in the films is the Centre Régional des arts du Cirque in Lomme, which is a suburb of the city of Lille. Training and exams In France, training to be a circus performer is taken as seriously as training to be an electrician or an accountant: there are courses and exams, as well as specialised places that offer training. The circus school in Lomme is one of a network of regional training centres all over France (the Fédération Française des Écoles de Cirque ), each preparing students to pass a series of exams and sending the best students when older to the National Centre near Paris. Specialisms Students at the Circus School can choose to specialise in one of four disciplines:
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3.3
À l’école du cirque tricks using painful punishments. People began experimenting with a “new circus” (cirque nouveau ) where the spectacle focussed on human acrobatics with clever use of imaginative lighting and music - and absolutely NO animals! Some of these early experimental new circuses were in France and Canada, like the worldfamous Cirque du Soleil.
French artists and the circus Other famous 19th century French artists, like Toulouse Lautrec , also often painted circus subjects, which were familiar and exciting to their wealthy patrons - and were lively, colourful and exotic. (see more examples at www.earlystart.co.uk). The “new” circus The popular circuses of Europe and America included many animal acts such as lion-taming, acrobatics on horse-back, and elephants standing on their hind legs. By the 1970s, many people considered that these acts were cruel. They objected to animals being trained to do
Par t C extra: Joke ❑ The joke can be viewed and discussed at any point during your work on the circus. There will be jokes throughout the pack which pupils can enjoy in a variety of ways.
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ Literacy: Use the jokes as a starting point for discussion in English about jokes and what makes them funny. Look at examples of English jokes. Pupils can collect simple jokes in English that they think pupils in their French partner school should understand. If you are holding a video conference, pupils can tell each other jokes in their native tongue.
Film C5: “Docteur, je me sens tout drôle!”
Watch film C5: clown joke
❑ Watch film C5 in which Inès tells her joke, which is then repeated with a cartoon illustration. ❑ Literacy: Help pupils work out the meaning of the French joke, which is a play on words - as in English, “drôle” can mean ‘funny/peculiar’. JOKE: Que dit un cloun quand il va chez le docteur? (What does the clown say when he goes to the doctor?) Je ne sais pas. Que dit un cloun quand il va chez le docteur? Docteur, je me sens tout drôle ... (Doctor, I feel very funny!)
Film C5: “Docteur, je me sens tout drôle!”
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