Art; Art and Literature;
Poetry, Comics, Music and Visual Arts;
Interdisciplinary Themes
For the past five years, I have selected useful sites, verifying their address, then arranging each Internet resources by theme, often with specific suggestions for their use at different levels of FL study. Each page of my 2-part site at Putnam Home Page contains many clusters of sites and the project pages are no exception. Before researching specific sites, please scroll down the entire length of each page to note the entire offering of themes and topics. When in doubt or in Web distress, it helps to scroll to the bottom. En avant, courage et du succes!
Go to EA's Modern Language Home Page
Putnam's Projects on Government, Food, History and Interdisciplinary Themes
C. B. Putnam Home Page
Go to C.B. Putnam's Online Technology Course for FL Teachers
Go to EA's Modern Language Home Page
Putnam's Projects on Government, Food, History and Interdisciplinary Themes
the Search Engine Global Excite has a menu of countries in which to search, including
Excite France and Excite Germany.
Yahoo has many international sites, including
Yahoo France,
Yahoo Canada
Yahoo
Germany.
Click on Alta Vista and Hot Bot
for a pull-up menu of countries in which to search.
Click on Magellan site then on countries to bring up countries beyond the US.
Click on
Lycos for information relating to other places, including foreign travel, government and a mega number of specific topics.
Voila : Moteur de Recherche an excellent search engine from France with a wide range of topics and themes for class use.
A Visit to the Barnes Foundation, Merion PA.
A Visit to the Cézanne Exhibit, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Any of the following suggested projects:
Web Museum Paris: select artist of choice by name, period or style. At special exhibitions click on Cezanne for ample information.
Louvre: follow the floor plan to masterpieces of the Louvre museum, Paris.
Museums of Paris:: click on 31 museums in Paris for details on locations and collections.
Le Louvre: this summary page of the Louvre Museum lets you pull up practical information, its program of cultural activities, and the museum's database of holdings as well as its collections. You may access information and floor plans for the Louvre, and read about le Grand Louvre and connected links at Partenaires.
Home page of Mlle Colozzi: Click on the ici icon to access French 4 student-prepared projects using Web art sites. Scroll down for useful French vocabulary and for requirements, checklists and steps-to-follow for Mlle. Colozzi's students'digital portfolio. Further down is a link to a general paper detailing guidelines for Digital portfolios by David Niguidula, Coalition of Essential schools.
Dictons sur La Météorologie: select 10 sayings in French about weather then illustrate by way of on-line art works or your own creations.
French Database for Artworks: enter information to pour through extensive catalog of art works and objects housed in 60 French Museums.
French Database for Architecture: search specific architectural sites using a database of 120,000 documents dealing with famous monuments in France.
Baker's Page on Cézanne, Monet and van Gogh: click on biographies, exhibits, collections of each artist and more sites. This site links to Web version of Cézanne's exhibit coming to Philadelphia.
Les Arts: search for artists and their works in this French site.
Ministère de La Culture: click for exhibitions including Modern Art in Lyon; Paris passages; Limousin medieval artwork.
René Magritte: examine the works of Belgian artist Magritte.
French Ministry of Culture: search in French for specific artists or collections.
L'Impressionisme: find a discussion in French of painters and their works here.
Le Cubisme: search for Cubist painters and a discussion in French of their works.
Art History on the Web: find sites and links with images, in English.
Bayly Art Museum Exhibit of African Art: search the exhibit "African Art: Aethetics and Meaning." to connect with Barnes' visions.
Smithsonian: access the museums of the Smithsonian.
M.C Carlos Museum: find African , Near Eastern, and Asian Art among offerings.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory: search for images of planets, and other celestial objects and read backround information in English.
Getty Art History Information program: click for databases of terms and illustrations for art and architecture terms in English.
ArtServe: sift through 10,000 images from the Australian National University for works from mediterranean cultures.
On-Line Books Page: The primary site for thousands of on-line books and other documents and for repositories of on-line books and printed material. Scroll down to Specialty or Foreign language repositories (including French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Greek and Latin) and click on sites of interest. You may also search by author or title as well as by subject listing at top of page.
1. Read the activities below in the Art and Literature Projects for French Classes and slot in examples from your language of choice. Send suggestions to Putnam @ ea.pvt.k12.pa.us for inclusion at individual language site.
2. Literary Selection Swap:
Students or teacher: pull up a particularly rich example of a description,or select a recitation in the past or future or find a short selection using a tense such as the past perfect in your language. Xerox and bring copies to class to have other students underline or adapt. For example, ask others to list 4 or 5 actions in the past noted in a selection, then starting with the most recent past tenses, have students transpose section to the past Perfect. have others selct a passage with a sharp description to sketch out or to act out while being read aloud. Find a short piece of poetry that evokes strong images, moods and atmosphere to bring to class for a swap and discussion. For each project, make a list of relevant works, authors and poets to help narrow the scope of each hunt. Pull up authentic passages to have students underline grammatical aspects in an interesting context. Please forward with passages that work your name and address and school and class level where used to me at putnam@ea.pvt.k12.pa.us for inclusion in a Teaching Corner site at this address.
Athena:OnLine books The mega-site with links to online French language literary collections, specific texts and textual studies. Scroll to the French Books link for a extensive source of online texts in French by authors from around the world. An excellent Swiss site by Pierre Perroud.
Un peu de poésie française: select 3 poems from this extensive list of poetry in French and illustrate or set a mood through on-line art or your own creations.
Catalogue Critique an emerging online repository from Projet Cyberfox of Luxembourg offers summaries and critiques of French contemporary and classic literature. Select by author such as Flaubert or Mauriac or title (Mme. Bovary ou Noeud des Viperes/ Therese Desqueyroux) then assign specific works to individuals in your language class. Students would then reconstruct the critiques orally and in writing. For Advanced classes, have students write their own in the same general format. Teachers and critics are invited to contribute to this page. I hope to see additional offerings online since I believe this to be an ideal use of the Internet.
Philagora: Bienvenue les Enfants a collection of online poetry sites in French all geared to youngsters.
Test de litterature francaise follow the lengthly access route to arrive at this super site from Projet Cyberfox of Luxembourg with its online tests on literature. First click on the Cyberfox then on francais before scrolling down to access Test de litterature francaise with tests focusing on the Modern Ages, the 16th, 19th and 20th century. It is possible to send students a few at a time to test themselves on a given century but for class use, I recommend downloading this site on to diskettes.
Germinal en ligne a "don't miss" site for the study of Germinal, also from the superlative Projet Cyberfox.. To access, start at the Cyberfox then click on francais then on Germinal. Access Debutfor a facsimile of an 1885 edition; then go to descriptif for a short overview of the online Germinal course. The Bio et Bibliographie has a clear time line of Zola's life along with key world events of his era. Additional links offer un lexique du mine, genese de l'oeuvre et Zola sur le Web. Ideal for the study of Zola and 19th century France.
Florilège poetry: select 3 of your favorite poems in French and illustrate or set a mood through on-line artwork or your own creations.
Bonnet's favorite poems: select from Rimbaud and illustrate or set mood through your own or on-line artwork.
Fables de La Fontaine: select one fable from La Fontaine and illustrate for a young audience; adapt the theme and write and bind in book form your own variation in French for children about 9 years old. With a partner, record your works in French and English and donate to the library.
Write your Variation on Queneau: select from lines in French to create your own poem. type yours up in font of your choice and mount on fancy paper for a class book of poetry.
Journal des Enfants: poésie: click on Blagues/Poemes then copy and illustrate 2 poems and 2 jokes from French magazine for youth for a group collection. Write a poem in English in keeping with the tone of one of the French poems.
Premier Pas Sur L'Internet read main menu of this premier site for young people (including FLES age students) for a wealth of exciting topics. Select from among sections on interactive stories, jokes, comptines,games, keypals and more!
Comptines from Momes: select category of children's comptines and short poetry to listen to then to illustrate.
Carambar: online jokes at the Carambar candy site just like the blagues you've come to look for on the candy wrapper. If only Carambar virtuel could recreate our alltime favorite carambar au caramel, life would indeed be sweet!
Journal des Enfants: click here to check out the joke of the week in French at this online newspaper for young people. Forward your own blague à faire rire to add to the merriment.
Premier Pas Sur L'Internet read main menu of this premier site for young people (including FLES age students) for a wealth of exciting topics. Select from among sections on interactive stories, jokes, comptines,games, keypals and more!
Comptines from Premier Pas Momes: select category of children's comptines and short poetry; ask a French speaker to record; present to students; students to listen to selections, then read selections and illustrate.
Putnam's FL Form Poetry Projects offer FL teachers suggestions and sample plans for class Form poetry projects, including stair poems, cinquaines and name poems. Samples of beginning level Middle School French students.
Poemes de L'Ecole Bizu primary age children from a school in France put their poetry variations online. Pull up the "si" or Si J'avais" poems and have your beginning and intermediate FL students create their own variation. Email the results back to the online poets by clicking on the home page link.
Fables de La Fontaine: select one fable from La Fontaine and illustrate for a young audience; adapt the theme and write and bind in book form your own variation in French for children about 9 years old. With a partner, record your works in French and English and donate to the library.
WebCards: scroll down to select a card design for a choice of occasions. After selecting a cover, click on the card to open. Write a message in your language for a charming electronically delivered wish.
Média Port's Portrait des Mots: click on 100 MOTS link to pull up 100 words with definitions in French and fascinating photographs to illustrate each concept. Have students in pairs or alone select 5 words (friendship; ambition etc.) to illustrate with artworks of their choosing. Have advanced-beginning and intermediate students add to list of 100 words, replicating the format of artful illuminating works. Use this project as a springboard for email class projects to share online and by snail mail
A fun yet edifying topic: food: describe the contents of the top 2 shelves of your refrigerator). Generate queries about who has frigs; size and patterns of daily use etc. Illustrate basic/high quality diet/ junk food eating patterns/holiday and special events menus, using visual selections as well as written definitions of items. In addition, greed/ambition/ aspirations and fears is another excellent concept cluster to elaborate on.
Vocabulaire Critique: Romans/Poésies/Pièces: select French terms, write up a few sentences in French and make collages to illustrate vocabulary. For dénouement, write up a paragraph in French telling the ending of AP class stories or English class works. Write up resumes of French novels, plays and fiction. Find examples of a jeu de mots and mots utiles to group together.
Cinopsis:Magazine Belge du cinéma International: click on ridicule for a photo gallery; research Pagnol films that we watch in our France Culture course; click on sites favoris for sites in French from Canada, France and elsewhere on French cinema; and find ample sites for spoofing the visual arts.
Ecran Noir:le Ciné Zine: an informative online magazine in French with articles about the French film industry that appeal to our students. Scroll down to topics such as Depardieu, Deneuve, and les stars françaises aux USA. Click on archive for short sketches in French of recent films from many countries. Go to sortis en salles for a menu of current offerings in France, Belgium or Québec. Each site lists in French the film; the star; and 3 lines about the film. Print and xerox a page for projects and class discussions. Compare what's playing in each country here, and within France (list at bottom).
Ressources de l'Internet liées aux études cinématographiques et audiovisuelles: a vast source of databases and thematic resources about multimedia and cinemagraphic studies based within the French Imaginet site. The central place to research for all movie and media topics.
Index of Imaginet sites: y compris Musique, Voyages, Cyberculture, Entreprises et 1001 sites d"Imaginet: click here for additional ideas in a range of categories. Assign student pairs to generate a list of possible topics in each category. Research each general area to identify specific topics for further research.
Boite a Chansons for a list of song lyrics, choose from the menu to the left then scroll down to the list of singers by name. The rap section has a useful number of lyrics on line.
la Culture Francaise: C'est Chouette! to pre-plan your project, click on Musique et chanson francaise as a backround source for many useful sites about French-language singers and their songs.
Chanson'Net For a list of French-language singers by name and by title of works click on nouveautés then scroll to the bottom of the page. It's worth the scroll to access a long list of singers by name or by music title.
Page des Chansons Françaises \ Select from the menu for a collection of chants de Noel, chansons traditionnelles, pour les enfants and chansons historiques. Each song category includes words and the possibility to access sound. Online ordering is available also.
Québec Info Musique a useful site to access biograghical inforamtion about French language singers. Click on the last letter of the singer's name for information about their lives and careers, all in French.
French Music database click on the icon A-Z at top of page to access an extensive menu including: artistes de A a Z: many with words to songs. Assign a study of a particular singer to individuals or to pairs from this list. Then scroll to Top 50 singles in France; TOP 20 De Quebec and top albums in France. Scroll down for additional links.
Passion Chansons a colllection of 726 popular contemporary songs from the French-speaking world, each with guitar arrangements. Search the alphabetized menu, by artist then by song.
Chants de Noel en français a delightful and thorough list of words for French Christmas songs. Enjoy and sing!
FRI Musique RFI music site with searches by name and nationality offers succinct biographies of artists on the left and highlights of their career on the right.
Paroles /Chansons Folkloriques Francophones this growing list includes words to French folktunes. A very useful site for those who know the melody to each song.
Le Petit Répertoire de La Chanson Française:Paroles des Chansons Françaises an extensive site for finding words to songs in French. Scroll down for sections with a list of words; a list of available titles and titles for each singer.
Chansons Françaises more useful links to the words of French-language singers.
FNAC Site choose links for videos, records, CD Roms and books for up-to- the-minute offerings.
French Yahoo Music site scroll down for an extensive list of French-language singers. select a group or singer for more links to albums. many include words of selected songs.
Putnam's Sports Project select from a dozen sports in French (each with rules online) for a fun and informative class and exchange project.
Média Port's Portrait des Mots: click on 100 MOTS link to pull up 100 words with definitions in French and fascinating photographs to illustrate each concept. Have students in pairs or alone select 5 words (friendship; ambition etc.) to illustrate with artworks of their choosing. Have advanced-beginning and intermediate students add to list of 100 words, replicating the format of artful illuminating works. Use this project as a springboard for email class projects to share online and by snail mail
A fun yet edifying topic: food: describe the contents of the top 2 shelves of your refrigerator). Generate queries about who has frigs; size and patterns of daily use etc. Illustrate basic/high quality diet/ junk food eating patterns/holiday and special events menus, using visual selections as well as written definitions of items. In addition, greed/ambition/ aspirations and fears is another excellent concept cluster to elaborate on.
Tennessee Bob's Famous French Links Tennessee Bob's Supersite for all French topics. His updated site encompasses more that 5000 sites, arranged by topics. A fabulous resource for projects and backround information on almost anything French.
The administrator of EA's Modern Language Page can be contacted at Celi Putnam