The Circus

[Marnie Seymour]

Hello all,

I was just wondering if anyone had done 'The Circus' as a topic area and if they had managed to integrate French into it?

Thought it might be fun but am now seeking some inspiration so any ideas gratefully received!

Thanks!

Marnie

[Lorraine]

Never tackled it before.But each clown has his own unique make-up registered to him so 'parts of the face vocab.' using Il a (new extension of phrase il y a which they will hopefully have met before) springs to mind. They could then design their own clown face make-up.

Colours would also come into this so adjectives & agreements.

Lots of lovely verbs which they could practise in pe lessons.They could mix up actions to make 'silly sentences' or play a simple version of consequences.

[Jo Rhys-Jones]

Salut Marnie! How are you? Never done this either but it sounds great fun so let me know how you get on.

Meanwhile thought the following YouTube clips might be useful to start:

•  Un éléphant song (counting) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib3zBfCY3AE&feature=related or this version of un éléphant qui se balancait http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMbiGIMqiiQ&feature=related (there is also a clapping game that goes with this song on YouTube somewhere).
• Here is a cirque du soleil trailer (the song is in Spanish but it gives a flavour of the amazing acrobatics of Cirque du soleil) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB8kSKyeIz4&feature=related
• As for lions - well there is always the French version of 'In the Jungle' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bSDEEWxHAk as a karaoke perhaps?
• And also on an animal theme there is Saint Saens carnaval des animaux so maybe some musical links and adjectives in French http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjaBGAfWGSU
• There is a nice news report in French about the Circque du Rome with lots of images for children to discuss/work out and maybe note the days/times of the shows at the end? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MZg_4u4BF4&feature=related

 

What about.....

• Clowns - juggling - colours & numbers? Magic tricks - maybe Nigel Pearsons magic tricks for French which I think are on CiLTplus? Also there is a nice little sounds matching game presented by a cartoon magician on the new BBC site http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguages/french/sounds/games/m...
• You can print out a circus book in French on enchanted learning http://www.enchantedlearning.com/books/french/circus/
• Maybe some posters to advertise the circus (days and times and key nouns)? A tour plan of cities in France they will be putting on the show in? Shopping lists of food/equipment for all the animals/people in the circus? Make and sell tickets?

 

[Jo Rhys-Jones]

Found a couple more:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/le-cirque/1796.html - from BBC Learning Zone Class Clips - more ks3 possibly but an able class might be able to tackle this with teacher guidance.

 

Also have you seen this Canadian primary school immersion program based on le cirque? http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/2713.html

[Jo Rhys-Jones]

Coincidentally just today my youngest has just persuaded me to buy her a 'diablo' as 'everyone' has got one at school apparaently and they are advertising them on the Belgian circus school website http://www.funambule.be/accueil2.html