F3 03 Circus School v29 2023

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 2, “Les passe-temps” 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

Part A: Circus activities

A1. 5 circus acts

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 online

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

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.

Film A1: “Je fais de l’assiette chinoise”.

Watch film A1: 5 circus acts

❑ 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.

A1, A2: NEW WORDS

A1: circus places

KEY SOUNDS

l’école du cirque

le grand chapiteau - circus school - big top

A1: 5 circus activities

le trapèze

la boule

le diabolo

le mat chinois

l’assiette chinoise (f)

- trapeze

- ball

- diabolo

- Chinese pole

- Chinese plate

You also commonly hear ‘les assiettes chinoises’

Describe what YOU are doing (S/PL)

Qu’est-ce que tu fais?

What are YOU doing? (to individual)

Je fais de... (la boule)

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) (des assiettes chinoises)

We’re doing some... (Chinese plate(s))

You also commonly hear ‘les acrobaties’

Get used to the sounds A1

❑ Echoing: Show the ‘Circus’ e-flashcards, or make enlarged copies of the activity sheet.

Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?

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,

as in... assiette, chinois(e), diabolo, cirque heard before in piscine, ville, six as in... chinois(e), heard before in oiseau

as in... chinois(e), chapiteau heard before in chat, chocolat,

as in... boule, nous heard before in genou, tous, bouche [as in the English: to eat ]

as in... faisons

heard before in crayon, pantalon

as in.. mat, fais, nous faisons seen before in doigt, bras

paying careful attention to the “key sounds”, until children are beginning to remember the words for the activities in film A1.

Watch film A2: 5 more acts

❑ Film A2 shows children at the circus school doing five more activities: le fil; la jonglerie; l’acrobacie; le rola bola; le monocycle.

Get used to the sounds A1,A2

❑ Echoing: repeat the e-flashcards activity with all 10 circus activities. You can then move on to show the flashcards which give examples of children saying that they do a particular activity: e.g. “Je fais du trapèze”. Ask children to echo the phrase “Je fais...” and to look for the pattern of “de la”, “du”, “de l’” or “des” which they have met before in French 2 ( see “how French works 1”).

Pay attention to “key sounds” in these phrases. NOTE: In the films you will sometimes hear the Chinese plate(s) referred to in the singular and also in the plural, e.g. “Je fais de l’assiette chinoise” and

HOW FRENCH WORKS: I am doing... (something) 1

You hear children at the Circus School say what they are doing, e.g.:

“Je fais de la jonglerie”

(I’m doing some juggling)

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”

Children also know to say “du” not “de le”; e.g. when asking for food:“...du pain, s’il vous plaît?”

They may need reminding of how it works.

“Je fais des assiettes chinoises”. Both are correct, so we have included both singular and plural forms at different points in the e-flashcards for this section.

❑ ‘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.

Respond with understanding 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. You say, e.g. “Je fais du mat chinois”. Children respond, “Oui” if it is the picture showing the Chinese pole. If it isn’t, pupils say “Non”.

❑ Give each pupil one of the pictures from the activity sheet. You call out an activity, e.g. “Je fais de la boule”; all the pupils with that card hold it up for everyone to see. Swap pictures every so often.

❑ Play “true or false?” 2

Show the pictures again, but this time pupils only echo your phrase when it matchesotherwise they remain silent.

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

as in... jonglerie, heard before in jour, orange

as in... jonglerie, heard before in crayon, pantalon

(Listen to the native speakers - try to copy their typically French sounds.)

Get used to more sounds: We do...

❑ Echoing: When pupils are ready, show the e-flashcards which represent what “we are doing” with sound and text ON. These show pairs or groups of children doing circus activities. Pupils echo, e.g. “Nous faisons de la boule”. Ask them to spot the verb in the sentence, and how it changes between ‘I’ and ‘we’..

❑ Play “True or False”

Show the “We do” e-flashcards with sound and text OFF. You say, e.g “Nous faisons du diabolo”.

Children respond, “Oui” if it is the picture

HOW FRENCH WORKS: Me and us

Quite often you and the class will want to talk about what WE are doing, so it’s useful to introduce this additional language:

“Je fais de la jonglerie...”

(I am doing some juggling)

Now you can also say:

“NOUS faisONS de la jonglerie...”

(WE are doing some juggling)

NOTE how the verb ending changes with “we”; with most verbs, it will end in “-ons”. See “ key sounds ” and help children pronounce the new verb authentically.

showing the pair of children doing the diabolo. If it isn’t, pupils say “Non”.

Try to catch pupils out e.g. say, “Je fais...” instead of “Nous faisons...”

❑ 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.

Spot silent letters

❑ Show examples of the “I do” and “We do” 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.

Watch film A3: Q and A

❑ In film A3 children answer questions about themselves and what activities they do at the circus school

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?

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)

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.

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.

As with the interviews in film A3, you can also ask questions that involve revisiting language learnt in earlier work.

...de l’équitation

...de la natation - ...horse-riding -...swimming

Je vais à l’école du cirque

I go to 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 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.

❑ “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.

Get used to the sounds: ‘he/she’

❑ Echoing: Show the ‘I/He/she’ e-flashcardssee “how French works 3”.

A4:

NEW WORDS

do

They do diabolo

*NOTE: ‘elles’ only used for all girls.

a boy on the trapeze. If it is a girl, or another act, pupils say “Non”. Try to catch pupils out!

Click here to change between I, HE and SHE

Pupils echo, e.g. “Il fait du monocycle”

n Spot the patterns

Ask children to compare words and sound on the e-flashcards - have sound and text ON. Note the small change between “il/elle fait de...” and “je fais de...”.

❑ Play “True or False”

Show ‘He/she’ on the e-flashcards with sound and text OFF.

You say, e.g “Il fait du trapèze”. Children respond, “Oui” if the picture shows

HOW FRENCH WORKS: Tallking about other people

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.

Get used to the sounds: ‘they’

❑ Echoing: When pupils are ready show the ‘they do...’ e-flashcards and show them initially with sound ON, text OFF. Pupils echo.

❑ Spot the pattern: Ask children to spot when “ils” is used, and when “elles” - see “how French works 3”.

Respond with understanding

❑ Now predict: Show the e-flashcards again, with text AND sound OFF. Now ask children to predict the phrase that goes with each picture - especially whether it is “ils” or “elles”.

KEY SOUNDS

Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?

as in... ils font

heard before in faisons, pantalon

as in.. fait, ils font, elles seen before in doigt, fais, nous

❑ 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), 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.

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 such as jugggling balls. You may also be able to find a specialist group that comes into schools to do circus skills training. It is unlikely that they would speak French, but the children could teach the visitors how to name the acts!

There are also some online video lessons on YouTube that teach skills such as juggling that children may be able to follow.

A l’école du cirque Je m’appelle .............................

Part B: What I like doing

Planning your lessons

Part B builds on pupils’ previous work on likes and dislikes in Early Start French 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

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 Early Start French 2.

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 (may be REVISION)

pourquoi?

pourquoi pas? parce que c’est difficile

c’est facile

c’est fatigant

j’y arrive!

je n’y arrive pas assez (facile)

très (difficile)

- why?

- why not?

- because

- it’s difficult

- it’s easy

- it’s tiring

- I’m getting there!

= I can do it

- I can’t do it

- quite (easy)

- very (hard)

Film B1: Maille: “J’aime faire de l’assiette chinoise.”

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.

KEY SOUNDS

Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?

as in... j’y arrive,facile, fatigant(e), dif f icile

heard before in jonglerie, piscine, six

as in... pourquoi, heard before in chinois oiseau,

as in... fatigant(e)

heard before in blanc, trente, temps

as in... assez

heard before in nez, ajouter, salé

as in.. pas, c’est, fatigant seen before in fait, ils font

Respond with understanding

❑ Play “true or false?”

Show the ‘Circus likes/dislikes’ e-flashcards with both sound and text OFF. You call out a phrase, e.g.“J’aime faire du rola bola”. Pupils say “oui” if “du rola bola” matches the picture and “non” if it doesn’t.

Click here to change between LIKE/ DISLIKE

❑ Play “Say the sentence”

Show the 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 smiley “J’aime faire...” and grumpy “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 a smiley or grumpy 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 French 2, Ch2.10, “Les passe-temps”, e.g.

“J’aime faire de la natation”.

❑ Show the ‘Circus likes/dislikes’ e-flashcards, with sound and text OFF.

Pupils call out the correct phrase.

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?

Watch film B2: ...difficult or easy?

❑ Watch film B2 in which children at the Circus School give reasons why they like or dislike particular activities.

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 “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 “Easy or difficult?” - this game could include circus acts, school subjects or hobbies. (You could explain beforehand that it is ok to imagine which circus acts they like doing as they might not have had a chance to take part in any at this point).

The children stand in a circle with you in the middle. Throw a soft ball to one of the children and ask, for example, “Que-est ce que tu aimes faire?” He/she replies, for example,“Du diabolo”. You then ask “Pourquoi?” (why?) He/she replies, for example, “Parce que c’est facile” (becaue it is easy). You could also ask, “Que-est ce que tu n’aimes pas faire?” so that children can say which activities they don’t like doing and why. Use your class puppet to demonstrate.

Part C: Preparing your own show

Planning your lessons

In this part, your class can prepare to turn a routine PE lesson into an enjoyable ‘French circus’ event. Use the films and play 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 the French circus so that children know why the modern circus has such strong links with France.

Activities

Warm up

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 section .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 et les mains, avec les jambes tendues...”

From the children’s response, they also may be able to work out what they are told to do.

Respond with understanding

❑ 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).

Watch film C2: “Jacques a dit...”

❑ Films C2 and C3 introduce more simple instuctions in French, that will be useful in PE lessons and in your own “circus show”

- see “How French works 4: giving spoken instructions”.

C1: NEW WORDS

Human centipede

Ils font... (le mille-pattes) They do... (the centipede)

Les filles contre les garçons Boys against girls

une course depêchez-vous! - a race - hurry up!

Les garçons ont gagné! The boys have won!

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 section 3.2, “Les parties du corps”)

This sequence re-visits parts of the body and introduces a new focus on instructions, using a few new verbs - see “C2-C3: New Words”.

Get used to the sounds

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.

Respond with understanding

❑ Play ‘Simon Says...’ (‘Jacques a dit’)

The class know this familiar game, not least from section 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 “C2-C3: New Words”

Film C2: “Jacques a dit... mains sur les genoux.”

KEY SOUNDS

Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?

as in... tournez, sautez, etc. heard before in nez, ajouter, salé

as in... lancez, échauffement heard before in fatigant, jambe

as in.. pas, c’est, fatigant seen before in fait, ils font

(Listen to the native speakers - try to copy their typically French sounds.)

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!

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.

4 asseyez-vous! - sit (down)!

HOW FRENCH WORKS: Giving spoken instructions

Children may be used to responding to your spoken instructions in French, e.g

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*)

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!

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!”).

C2 and C3: NEW WORDS

Instructions: Simon says, warm-up

l’échauffement (m)

tournez...(la tête)

courez..

sautez...

lancez...(la balle)

(le ballon)

attrapez...

- the warm-up

- turn (your head)

- run

- jump

- throw..(the ball1)

1 = a small ball e.g. tennis

- (the ball2)

2 = football or rugby ball

- catch

Examples of instructions

mains...(sur la tête) (en l’air) (sur les côtés)

sautez...(sur place)

(à cloche-pied)

Before you do something similar in your PE lesson, practise in the classroom the French instructions you intend to use.

Respond with understanding

accroupez debout stop!

- hands...(on head)

- (in the air)

- (by your sides)

- jump (on the spot)

- hop on one leg

- squat

- stand up

- stop!

❑

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”

Arranging the class

Mettez-vous... (en circle)

Put yourselves into... (a circle)

Film C3: Warm-up - “Tournez le pied.”

All these French instructions can be used to play more games of “Jacques a dit...”, which is a good PE activity.

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”.

C4: NEW WORDS

- show un spectacle

Balancing instructions in PE

Mettez-vous en équilibre sur... Balance (yourselves) on....

...les balles

...la tête

...une jambe

...le banc

l’équilibre

- ...the balls

- ...your head

- ...one leg

- ...the bench

- balance

Somersaults

les roulades

la roulade avant

la roulade arrière

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

❑ PE/ performance

ACTIVITIES

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.

- somersaults

- forward roll - 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

Voici Monsieur Loyal!

- ringmaster

- 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

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)

Rehearse the children so they can introduce each other in French and say what each performer is doing.

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!”

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:

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).

Georges Seurat’s painting “le cirque” (1891)

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.

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 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.

Part 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.

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!”

Film C5: “Docteur, je me sens tout drôle!”