Manuels Scolaires Professeurs Documentalistes Lycée - Infos et contenus

Sélection culturelle

Michael Morpurgo at Shakespeare and Co

The War Horse author is one of Britain's most popular children's literature writers, although his books are far from lightweight, tackling difficult emotional themes. Michael Morpurgo will host an evening at the legendary English-language bookstore Shakespeare & Co on Tuesday 18 December. The veteran author, now 75, has written more than 150 books for children and teens. He was honoured with an exhibition at the Museum of Childhood in London earlier this year. Morpurgo's latest books have a rather French flavour. He has published a new translation of The Little Prince by Antoine de St Exupéry, which he considers "one of the greatest stories ever written." In Flamingo Boy , he returns to two of his recurrent themes: human relationships with animals, and war. It is set in the Camargue in France, during World War II. A young autistic boy lives on a farm and has a talent for healing animals and the titular flamingos. But the German invasion will change his life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUZ_1xiCPqY And In the Mouth of the Wolf is again set against a backdrop of war, but is intensely personal as it tells the story of Morpurgo's uncles Francis and Pieter. Francis was a pacifist, but when his brother, an RAF pilot, was killed, he felt compelled to sign up. He was later honoured for his service, including helping the French Resistance. The book is illustrated by French illustrator Barroux. An Evening with Michael Morpurgo Shakespeare & Co, Paris Tuesday 18 December, 7 p.m.

06 Décembre 2018

WWI

WWII

animals

Food Banks Videos

A suggestion from a group of British teenagers is helping food banks serving people who live on the breadline. These two videos are good for discussing the social phenomenon in class.

06 Décembre 2018

citizenship

UK

Ken Loach

Go Scottish for St Andrews

St Andrew's Day, 30 November, is the Scottish national day. It's a time to wear some tartan, listen to some bagpipes playing "Oh Flower of Scotland", dance a Highland fling and eat some haggis and shortbread with a wee glass of malt whisky!

25 Novembre 2018

holidays

November

British culture

5

Ressources
complémentaires

Suffragettes Interview

2018 marks the centenary of the 1918 law which gave some British women the right to vote in parliamentary elections for the first time. Dr Helen Pankhurst has particular insight into this subject, not just as an academic but as the great-granddaughter and granddaughter of Emmeline and Sylvia Pankhurst, two of the leaders of the suffrage movement. An audio interview with Dr Pankhurst is the basis of this resource, which allows differentiated teaching with B1 and B2 groups.

19 Novembre 2018

Pankhurst

votes for women

audio

Working on Articulation

A few words are often more than enough to identify someone who has English as their mother tongue. But what is it exactly that makes someone sound like a native speaker – or otherwise?

19 Novembre 2018

pronunciation

phonologie

linguistics

Uluru to Close to Public

Uluru, the giant rock formation in the Australian desert is often used as a symbol of the country. To its Aboriginal traditional owners, it is sacred. After years of asking tourists to respect their beliefs and refrain from climbing the rock, it is to be closed in October 2019. The local people hope tourists will engage with their traditions instead of seeing a visit to the rock as a physical challenge.

19 Novembre 2018

Australia

sustainable development

Uluru

Rendez-vous

Marvel Superheroes Creator Stan Lee Dies

The Marvel-verse of superheroes are orphans. The man who created some of the most enduring characters in popular culture has died at age 95. Stan Lee created Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, Daredevil and the Fantastic Four: superheroes with a good dose of human frailty.

14 Novembre 2018

video

comic book

superhero

Talking about Superheroes

If you're working on the theme of heroes, why not take some advice from the late Stan Lee, co-creator of a dizzying number of superheroes for Marvel Comics from Spider-man to the Black Panther and The Fantastic Four.

14 Novembre 2018

video

comic book

Marvel

Sélection culturelle

A Talk About Mary Shelley

The British Council in Paris will be hosting a talk by the author of a recent biography of Mary Shelley on 13 December.

08 Novembre 2018

video

biography

British Council

Rendez-vous

Shock: an Election that Went as Predicted

Political pundits were very guarded in their predictions for the U.S. Midterm elections after the surprise victory of Donald Trump in 2016. Pundits and polling organisations also got their predictions wrong in the Brexit referendum and last U.K. election. So it was almost a surprise that the Midterm results were pretty much as expected.

07 Novembre 2018

elections

U.S. politics

Congress

Sélection culturelle

We Will Rock You

Queen is approaching its fiftieth anniversary, and has had one of the most successful careers in rock history. After a string of hits in the 70s and 80s, brought to a halt by the death of frontman Freddie Mercury, their jukebox musical "We Will Rock You" gave the band a second career. Now the remaining members of the band tell their story in an auto-biopic: "Bohemian Rhapsody".

05 Novembre 2018

Queen

biography

music

Rendez-vous

Saving the Magna Carta

On 25 October, a man was arrested in Salisbury Cathedral in England. He was trying to steal the cathedral’s copy of the Magna Carta, a major symbol of democracy. The Magna Carta (1215) is one of the most important documents in British, not to say world history. It represents the first time a British monarch was recognised as being subject to the law of the land, and its spirit lives on in the U.S. Constitution, English law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1215, there was civil war in England. A group of barons rebelled, infuriated by King John’s constant demands for taxes to fund unsuccessful wars. They captured London, and the king was forced to sign a document giving into some of their demands. Most of the clauses in the Magna Carta (the Great Charter in the original Latin) were about specific grievances at the time. But some of them lived on through revised versions of the charter to become embedded in English law. The most influential said that free men could only be judged by their equals and according to the law of the land. In other words, the monarch couldn’t arbitrarily imprison people or seize their lands. This right of habeas corpus is the basis of most justice systems around the world today. At the time, the rights in the Magna Carta were only applicable to “free men”, i.e. the aristocracy. The vast majority of the population were peasants, subject to lords. But as time went on, the rights would be extended to the entire population. The Magna Carta signalled the end of royal impunity in Britain, by introducing the idea of accountability. It paved the way for the first parliament a century later. The Salisbury Cathedral copy is one of only four in the world. It was unharmed, despite the suspect smashing holes in the glass case surrounding it.

31 Octobre 2018

human rights

British history

British culture

Teaching Democracy: The Magna Carta and Habeas Corpus

The Magna Carta is the foundation of British democracy, with its limitations of the power of the monarchy and the guarantee of habeas corpus, the right not to be imprisoned without a fair trial. Some simple resources from the British Library can introduce your pupils to this important cultural concept.

31 Octobre 2018

human rights

British history

British culture

5

Ressources
complémentaires

Remembering British WWI Soldiers

This A2+ level article is an opportunity to mention the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI and see how Anglophone countries commemorate their fallen soldiers. It can be used as additional input to what the students study in History. It can also raise the interest of some students to watch the archive film “They Shall Not Grow Old” by Peter Jackson.

31 Octobre 2018

conflict

war

commemoration

3

Ressources
complémentaires

They Shall Not Grow Old Film: Bringing WWI to Life

To mark the centenary of the end of the First World War, Peter Jackson has restored old black-and-white archive footage of British servicemen’s life in training and in the trenches. The title he gave to the film (They Shall Not Grow Old) refers to a poem by Robert Laurence Binyon, entitled “For the Fallen”. In this B2 sequence, students react to the poster and trailer of the film, before watching a report about the movie in which Peter Jackson briefly explains his intent. Then, in groups, they read and study the poem by Binyon or "Dulce est Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen.

31 Octobre 2018

conflict

war

commemoration

Rendez-vous

Billboards for Citizens

With the midterm elections approaching, the U.S.A. is being inundated with political advertising. But a group of artists wants to take back the country’s billboards for non-partisan, thought-provoking messages. Following a crowdfunding campaign they are putting up messages on billboards in all 50 states. For Freedoms was created in 2016 by artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman. Their name and their campaign are inspired by Norman Rockwell’s interpretation of Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms, painted 75 years ago, and in first place, the Freedom of Expression. The campaign fundraised to be able to display artists' work on billboards during the 2016 Presidential campaign, and this year have coordinated a campaign to put art on billboards across the nation. https://youtu.be/YteKV5BkI3A The group wants everyone to feel included in civil life. Their motto is, "We believe citizenship is defined by participation, not by ideology." As well as the billboard campaign, they have been organising townhall meetings, just as the political parties do, discussing the Four Freedoms defended by President Roosevelt and depicted by Rockwell: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Fear and Freedom from Want. They encourage participants to fill in lawn signs, another typical sight during U.S. election campaigns. The signs express participants hopes for freedom.

31 Octobre 2018

elections

human rights

civil rights

Sélection culturelle

British Short Films Galore in Rouen

The This is England short films festival is returning to the Omnia cinema in Rouen from 12 to 18 November. Fiction, documentary and animated films running from 2 minutes to half an hour, there's something for everyone. And special schools screenings every morning with accompanying teaching packs.

31 Octobre 2018

film

festival

British culture

Teaching with Short Films: Lycée

The This is England short films festival is returning to the Omnia cinema in Rouen from 12 to 18 November. The festival team includes several teachers and they have concocted a great programmes lycée classes every morning of the festival. Sign up now, and download the teaching pack to prepare for your visits.

31 Octobre 2018

film

festival

British culture

Sélection culturelle

I Am a Man: Civil Rights Photos in Montpellier

An exhibition in Montpellier shows the 1960s civil-rights movement in the U.S.A. through 300 photos, many never exhibited before. The exhibition takes its name, “I am a Man” from the slogan of the sanitation workers’ strike Martin Luther King, Jr was supposed to lead the day he was assassinated 50 years ago. The photos collected in Montpellier are so exceptional, the exhibition will move on to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American Art and Culture.

31 Octobre 2018

Martin Luther King

civil rights

exhibition

Students Against Bullying

Raise awareness about bullying in November. On the 8th, it’s Anti-Bullying Day in French schools. And it’s Anti-bullying Week in the UK from 12 to 16 November. We look at some student-produced anti-bullying videos and apps that are helping fight the problem.

31 Octobre 2018

citizenship

videos

EMI

Fighting Bullying

Raise awareness about bullying in November. On the 8th it’s Anti-Bullying Day in French schools. And it’s Anti-bullying Week in the UK from 12 to 16 November. Both campaigns are putting a focus on cyberbullying.

31 Octobre 2018

citizenship

EMI

bullying

Teaching with Short Films: Collège

The This is England short films festival education team has concocted a great programmes collège classes every morning of the festival. Sign up now, and download the teaching pack to prepare for your visit.

31 Octobre 2018

film

festival

British culture

Towards Human Rights

Seventy-five years ago, Norman Rockwell painted four iconic covers for The Saturday Evening Post depicting the Four Freedoms promoted by President Roosevelt: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Fear and Freedom from Want. The Freedoms would ultimately lead to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The iconic pictures, and other socially engaged paintings, will be coming to the Mémorial de Caen next summer.

30 Octobre 2018

U.S. culture

freedom of expression

painting

Sélection culturelle

Wide Open Spaces: American Wilderness

The Mona Bismarck American Center in Paris is hosting an evening on the theme "Into the Wild in the 1930s" in connection with the Dorothea Lange exhibition The Politics of Seeing. How did and does the Far West reflect American culture?

23 Octobre 2018

film

poetry

mystery

Sélection culturelle

Northern Irish Novel Wins 2018 Booker Prize

The winner of this year’s Man Booker Prize is a book about a divided society. Its author, Anna Burns, hails from Belfast, and the unnamed city in Milkman has echoes of the Northern Irish capital during the Troubles. But, as the chair of judges Kwame Anthony Appiah says, is about what happens in sectarian societies everywhere in the modern world. The main protagonist in Milkman is simply called "middle sister". Like all the characters, she is named more for her function than identification — like "nearly-boyfriend" or "first brother-in-law". She is 18 and doesn't really fit into the mould of her family or her close-knit community identified by religion. She loves reading — in fact she reads walking down the street, a strange trait that makes her stand out from the crowd. She further stands out when she attracts the interest of the milkman. He doesn't deliver milk, he is a local paramilitary. (The IRA used to deliver petrol bombs in milk crates during times of unrest.) The milkman, older and married, wants to have an affair with middle sister. Despite the fact that she resists his advances, the entire community is soon convinced that the affair is reality. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0WS8zaNFC4 Like in any small community, gossip and rumour are powerful tools that regulate community members behaviour. Burns, who has previously published two novels and a novella, may be writing about 1970s Belfast, but readers, especially women, from small communities all over the world can recognise middle sister's dilemmas. Despite the serious subject, the book has been praised for its humour. It was the unanimous choice of the Booker judges. The chair of judges, Appiah, was entranced by Burns' narrative voice. "It is an amazing voice," he said. Appiah, "Burns uses language in a way you haven’t heard before. You hear [middle sister's] voice in your head and you’ve never heard one like it before." Asked why she used not proper names in the book, Burns replied, "The book didn’t work with names. It lost power and atmosphere and turned into a lesser - or perhaps just a different - book. In the early days I tried out names a few times, but the book wouldn’t stand for it. The narrative would become heavy and lifeless and refuse to move on until I took them out again. Sometimes the book threw them out itself." Names are slippery things in Belfast. As middle sister says about her evening class in French, "I was downtown, which meant outside my own area, which meant outside my own religion, which meant I really was in a class counting people who really did have the names Nigel and Jason." Names are indicators of class and religion, limiting people to a role, a small space. Middle sister's habit of replacing proper names with functions lets her take back a little power in a world that contrives to keep her powerless. You can read a sample chapter on the publisher's site. Find a sequence on the Troubles in Speakeasy Files 3e : it looks at the period through the arts, with an extract of the film '71, poetry and murals.

19 Octobre 2018

literature

Man Booker

Speakeasy Files 3e

Multilingual Story Contest for Classes

If you teach in collège, you might like to sign your pupils up for an original multilingual story competition. It asks classes to write a story using elements of languages other than French. The winners will be revealed during the Semaine des langues vivantes in May. You need to sign up by 22 October 2018.

19 Octobre 2018

théâtre

competition

multicultural

Wrong Turn

Oops! That’s not the right answer. Go back and try again .

Rendez-vous

American Midterm Elections

For several months, the news in the U.S.A. has been dominated by the midterm elections. Depending on which survey you look at, these could mean a major revival for the Democratic Party, or a small bump on President Trump’s path to re-election. What are the midterms, and how important are they?

17 Octobre 2018

elections

voting

U.S. culture

Festival America: Reading Ideas for Literature Classes

If you are looking for some ideas for teaching L.E.L.E. or next year’s new spécialité Langues, littératures et cultures étrangères, we asked several teachers and authors who attended Festival America in Vincennes in September to give us their favourite picks amongst the authors and books they encountered. Whether you already feel like preparing next year’s lessons, or are seeking new inspiring novels for your students, or just for pleasure, you're sure to find something that appeals.

17 Octobre 2018

literature

L.E.L.E.

U.S. culture

Sélection culturelle

"The Verdun Affair", Love and Loss in WWI

In our series of interesting new books from the U.S.A., "The Verdun Affair" by Nick Dybeck. A novel about love and loss, forgetting and remembering, set immediately after WWI, in France and Italy, as well as against the more glamorous background of 1950s Los Angeles.

17 Octobre 2018

WWI

literature

love

Professeurs documentalistes Lycée

Michael Morpurgo at Shakespeare and Co

Food Banks Videos

Go Scottish for St Andrews

Suffragettes Interview

Working on Articulation

Uluru to Close to Public

Marvel Superheroes Creator Stan Lee Dies

Talking about Superheroes

A Talk About Mary Shelley

Shock: an Election that Went as Predicted

We Will Rock You

Saving the Magna Carta

Teaching Democracy: The Magna Carta and Habeas Corpus

Remembering British WWI Soldiers

They Shall Not Grow Old Film: Bringing WWI to Life

Billboards for Citizens

British Short Films Galore in Rouen

Teaching with Short Films: Lycée

I Am a Man: Civil Rights Photos in Montpellier

Students Against Bullying

Fighting Bullying

Teaching with Short Films: Collège

Towards Human Rights

Wide Open Spaces: American Wilderness

Northern Irish Novel Wins 2018 Booker Prize

Multilingual Story Contest for Classes

Wrong Turn

American Midterm Elections

Festival America: Reading Ideas for Literature Classes

"The Verdun Affair", Love and Loss in WWI