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Presidents’ Message
Fall 2009
Chers collègues,
It is that time of year when we are all back in school. We wish you the best for a productive and eventful year.
The officers and members of the Executive Council have been busy planning the AATF 2009–2010
program of activity for the academic year. We know that you will find the programs to be of
interest to you, and we hope for a great turn-out. We are also looking forward to the forthcoming
83rd annual AATF convention that will be held next summer in Philadelphia at the Sheraton/Society
Hill Hotel. We are very fortunate to be welcoming members of the AATF throughout the USA to
Philadelphia.
AATF CONGRÈS 2010
July 4–7
PHILLY FUN!
CELEBRATE THE FOURTH
WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS
IN THE CITY WHERE IT ALL BEGAN!
We hope that you have been reading the weekly email messages highlighting our programs for the year. In addition, please consult our website for all pertinent information: http://www.aatfphila.org/index.html.
Please take the time to carefully read this newsletter. Do keep in touch with us and we welcome
your feedback. Many thanks to Emily Wagner, Chris Kimball-Kelly, and Joanne Silver who have sent
contributions to this newsletter.
Bonne année scolaire à tous!
Amitiés,
Rita Davis rdavis@agnesirwin.org
Susan Ledieu susanledieu@gmail.com
Listserv Notice
Our listserv is exclusively for members of both National and Philadelphia Chapter AATF, so be sure to include the $8.00 Chapter dues when you renew National membership in the fall. (If you paid $55.00, this did not include local membership.) We send reminders of meetings and other Frenchrelated events, as well as news to supplement the most recent newsletter.
The complete Listserv Policy is on our site, www.aatfphila.org . Members can request that open
French positions be posted. If you are not on the listserv and would like to be included, please send a message to BEACHLLOYD@erols.com. And of course, if you would like to have your e-mail removed or changed, please let Joanne know.
National French Week, November 4-10 2009
A wealth of information can be found on the web at www.frenchteachers.org. There are many
helpful ideas, tips, suggestions and topics for members and non-members alike who are looking for
ways to promote the French language and culture in their schools and communities. Members can
benefit from promotional materials, some covered by their dues, such as posters geared specifically
toward National French Week. Members’ students are encouraged to participate in poster and
essay contests for prizes.
Some ideas that came out of our local chapter include:
- FWUIE (French Words Used In English), a contest where students can ask their parents
for help in creating a list of as many French words as they can think of that have been
incorporated into the English language,
- posters in French of the school lunch menu for that week,
- a soccer match between faculty and students,
- guest speakers from your local community who have a connection to the French
language/culture or to a current political situation in the francophone world,
- pictorial definitions of French words such as cul de sac that could then be displayed
throughout the school,
- pviewing French movies and then discussing, for example, the idea of the French sense of
humor,
- getting local mayors/governors to make proclamations for National French Week,
- trivia contests open to the entire school with maybe a question a day during daily
announcements and a prize to be awarded at the end of the week for most correct answers,
- teaching your students a French song/dance that can then be performed, possibly during a
lunch period or for another class or to be videotaped and shown at a later date,
- a puppet show that could be performed for elementary classes within the district or at a
senior home,
- a fashion show/poster utilizing as many cognates as possible,
- contacting a local community business such as an ice cream shop or coffee shop and see if
they would be amenable to displaying student art work/posters, possibly related to that
business (think ice cream cones labeled in both French and English).
As always, the ultimate goal is to extend and demonstrate the influence of French language and
culture beyond the classroom.
According to the AATF, “the focus of every activity should ultimately be out of the classroom and
on specific target groups: counselors, administrators, other teachers, parents, potential students
and their parents, school boards and other elected officials, or the community at large. Unless
they (National French Week activities) target these external groups, they will not meet the
objectives of National French Week.”
Many people have asked why this event doesn’t coincide with La Semaine Internationale de la
Francophonie in March. With both the Grand Concours and spring break also occurring in March, it
was felt that a different month would be more conducive to maximizing the number of participants
by allowing more time to be devoted to this one event. Plus, the positive and fun energy generated
in November can serve to influence students who will be selecting their courses in January.
Le Grand Concours
Please check the website: www.frenchteachers.org/concours or www.aatfphila.org for details.
The dates for administering the Concours in your respective schools will be from March 3–March 9,2010. FLES dates are February 15–26, 2010. For more information, you may also contact Sister Mary Helen Kashuba, our local administrator at 215-248-7124 or email: kashubam@chc.edu.
In order to keep the Contest affordable, we will maintain the same costs as last year: $5.00 for
each student of AATF members; $7.50 for non-AATF members. There is a $10.00 charge for
mailing exams. CDs are $6.50, and you will need one for each level. You should submit your orders
by January 25, 2010. You can always add small numbers after that. It is important that we assure
you that your order will be sent on time. You will receive the forms by e-mail before Thanksgiving.
Programs for the year 2009-2010 are the following:
AU CAFÉ : October 3, 2009, 9–11:30 a.m.
The Agnes Irwin School, Rosemont, PA
Paris Granville has taught 5,000 students aged 2 through 72 on both coasts and in the
Midwest. Early in her career, she was chosen the Iowa FLES educator. Ms. Granville
has been presenting for over ten years at national and regional conferences and for
individual school districts. She was one of 28 teachers appearing in the Annenberg-
WGBH television series on the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning. She
currently directs a publishing company that produced thematic units in French and
Spanish. She was recently appointed the editor of Learning Languages, the referred
journal of the National Network for Early Language Learning (NNELL).
(2 hours Act 48 credit available; bring your PDE number, please)
National & local AATF members, no charge; all others $10
(if your dues for were $55 for the calendar year, you have National membership only)
RSVP to susanledieu@gmail.com so that we can get a sense of numbers.
* * * * *
BLEU, BLANC, ROUGE, NOIR :
La France et ses soldats de couleur
January 23, 2010, 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon
Strath Haven Middle School
Back by popular demand, Professor Michael Kline of Dickinson College will speak about
the role of soldiers of color who fought for France, their treatment, and their fate after
the wars. The topic includes colonialism, French notions of égalité, and the French need
to come to grips with collective memory, particularly concerning Algeria. This is a
wonderful opportunity for teachers to revisit this important aspect of French history and
bring ideas back to the classroom to enhance their lessons. In preparation, it is
recommended that participants read Guy de Maupassant's short story “Tombouctou” to
provide background for the presentation. Check it out at
PICASSO AND THE AVANT-GARDE IN PARIS
March 20, 2010, 9–10:15 a.m.
Chestnut Hill College
The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French,
in conjunction with the Modern Language Association of Philadelphia & Vicinity
invites you to its spring conference:
Internationally recognized as one of the most innovative and influential artists
of the twentieth century, Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973) was at his most
ferociously inventive between 1905 and 1945. Picasso and the Avant-Garde in
Paris surveys his work during these crucial decades, when he transformed the
history of art through his innate virtuosity and protean creativity.
Please join your colleagues at this informative session in which an educator
from the Philadelphia Museum of Art will explain how teachers and students
may better appreciate the Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris exhibit that
will be at the museum from mid-February to mid-April, 2010.
(1 hr. Act 48 credit available; please bring your PDE #)
National & local AATF members, no charge; all others $10
(if your dues for were $55 for the calendar year, you have National membership only).
* * * * *
National Convention in San Jose
Some of our members attended the AATF National Convention in San Jose and several presented
workshops and programs. Chris Kimball-Kelly, vice president of our chapter and a teacher at
Strath Haven Middle School, was a first-time attendee. She thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
In attending the many varied and diverse sessions, she came away with new ideas to implement in
the classroom and an overall sense of invigoration. The sessions widely ranged from upper level
classes to middle school, as evidenced in:
- L’homme qui plantait des arbres, a wonderful humanitarian story that is then linked to
environmental issues and could be cross-taught with science class.
- La simulation globale pour améliorer les compétences écrites, a fascinating approach where
students have researched and are presenting a plan to build a hotel or apartment building in
a French speaking town or city, complete with climate details, cost of living, community
plusses, proximity to ports and transportation and then going one step further: who will now
inhabit the hotel or apartment building, what type of clientele are you trying to lure, what
will their physical traits be, moral characteristics, age range, income range, outside
interests, etc.
- Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and Other Miracles: The Kindness of Stangers, yet another ideal
opportunity to show French being used in the “real world” by tying this historical event into
the 8th grade Social Studies’ curriculum. It coincides with the study of World War II and
the Holocaust.
Of course participating in a traditional French Dictée is an experience not to be missed! She highly
recommends the experience and encourages all to attend the conference next year right here in
Philadelphia. The following members also presented.
Sister Mary Helen Kashuba, Chestnut Hill College: Building Interpersonal Communication in
Advanced French Classes. The presenter shared her methods and materials for improving
interpersonal skills at these levels, using interview techniques with the teacher and with characters
in literature.
Joanne S. Silver, Beach Lloyd Publishers, LLC: Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and Other Miracles: The
Kindness of Strangers. Materials for teaching language in the context of World War II rescue of
refugees, and the different types of resistance were presented, organized into a suggested unit
sequence. Screening of Weapons of the Spirit.
Barbara P. Barnett, Head of Modern Languages at the Agnes Irwin School and winner of the
2009 AATF Dorothy Ludwig Excellence in Teaching Award at the secondary school level, presented
a session entitled Lucie Aubrac : Héroine de la Résistance. Mme Barnett shared clips of the
personal interviews she conducted in Paris with this extraordinary woman as well as a list of books
and DVDs available on the topic of Lucie Aubrac and the Resistance.
* * * * *
Other Conferences:
On September 24, Joanne S. Silver, Secretary-Treasurer of the Philadelphia Chapter, Chevalier
dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques, and founder of Beach Lloyd Publishers, LLC, presented
an illustrated talk at West Chester University, under the sponsorship of the Departments of
Languages and Cultures and Holocaust Studies. Entitled “Courage and Transformation: The Human
Thing to Do," the topic included historical background, references and examples of how ordinary
people became extraordinary through individual and collective actions of rescue and assistance
during World War II. A discussion period followed, including the impact of related
pedagogical materials in foreign languages and English.
AATF Dues
For 2010, AATF national membership dues will be $55.00 for regular members and local dues will be
$8.00. Membership renewal invoices and national election ballots were mailed out several weeks
ago. Membership is from January 1–December 31 of each year.
Calendar of Events
Saturday, October 3, 9–11:30, The Agnes Irwin School
Paris Granville, Au Café: Weaving culture into the French Curriculum.
2 hours Act 48 credits available.
October 16 and 17, Gettysburg PA.
PSMLA and Millersville Fall conference- website: http://www.psmla.org/
November 4–10
National French Week
November 20–22
ACTFL in San Diego
Saturday, January 23 9:30–12 noon, Strath Haven Middle School
Michael Kline, Bleu, blanc, rouge, noir: La France et ses soldats de couleur.
2 hours Act 48 credits available.
Saturday, March 20, 9:00-10:15, Chestnut Hill College (AATF and MLAPV offering)
Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris.
1 hour Act 48 credit available.
Thursday, March 25 (Alliance Française and AATF)
Barbara Pope: Women, Art, and the Law in Cezanne’s Quarry.
Location and details to follow.
March 25–27
NECTFL at the New York Marriot Marquis
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