Thanks to you, we have a new home for parachutes, romper

NEWSLETTER FALL 2015
Bravo to our Passport pioneers!
Thanks to the feedback we received over the
years we now offer an intensive dual-language
immersion that integrates students in Grades 1-6
into our academic program.
The Passport Program has gotten off to a successful start
thanks to the talent of our team of educators, French
teacher Viviane Derégnaucourt in particular. Viviane
employs a variety of techniques with the class to help our
twelve new French learners achieve impressive progress
while having fun. A lesson on prepositions, for example,
might take the form of a game of Simon Says.
They practice their language skills and build confidence
every morning by making morning announcements. A
different member of the class comes to the office each
day, introduces themselves, then gives the date and a brief
weather report.
What? You watched Seinfeld in
English class?
It’s all true. Parent and former writer for Saturday
Night Live and Seinfeld, Andy Robin, gave our
middlers a lesson on script and dialogue writing.
Andy is a physician, writer, and director who started
his television writing career at Saturday Night Live and
spent several seasons on NBC’s Seinfeld. He wrote for
“The Jimmy” and “The Fatigues,” which won the Writers
Guild Award for Episodic Comedy. Andy has also written
screenplays and co-directed a critically acclaimed
narrative film. The students learned about different stylistic
approaches to crafting dialogue learned about how writers
collaborate with producers and actors.
Do you want to make your mark?
Give to the First Fund today and
open a child’s mind!
“Our students enjoyed hearing about someone in our
community achieving success as a creative writer,” said
English Teacher Zahra Bond, who organized the lesson.
Scan the QR code for a video, or find a link on our website
here: http://tiny.cc/um8h6x
www.FASRI.org/giving
Thanks to you, we have a new
home for parachutes, romperstompers and bicycles
Your generous contributions to our
fund-a-need provided a place for
our youngest students to learn and
play outdoors.
On a crisp autumn morning Pascale Carpanèse led
her Moyenne Section class outdoors into the newly
improved outdoor playspace next to the school. They
divided the class in half and the first group got to grow
five inches as they stepped on their romper stompers.
They took turns walking the course making hollow
clomps as their classmates yelled encouragement.
The other group kids gathered around a large
multicolored parachute. Pascale structured the activity
in careful stages to reinforce language skills in addition
to the typical outdoor fun. The students followed a
sequence of instructions in French and were rewarded
as their combined actions created new movements and
shapes in the parachute.
Thanks to the generosity of our fund-a-need donors, a
total of $16,000 was raised to purchase Chromebooks
for the classrooms and to create our new outdoor
play space at our last Rendez-Vous event. Around
half of the total funds were used to enclose the new
area, purchase new playground equipment and
outside storage structures. Your generosity will have
a direct impact on bringing more fresh air and joy into
everyday experience of our young learners.
Thank you! Merci!
75 John Street
•
Providence, RI 02906
•
TheFrenchAmericanSchool.org
•
401 274 3325
•
[email protected]
One lesson; two
languages, page 2
Guest
author, page 2
The Dinosaur Train
stops here, page 3
From the FAS to
Harvard, page 3
Passport pioneers,
page 4
Sitcom in class,
page 4
A lesson on the City of Providence
in two languages
Congolese writer, Fiston Mujila
A science lesson with PBS Kids
personality Dr. Scott Samson
Alumni: Cybele Greenberg
Harvard University, Class of 2016
When the typical student in New England learns about
history they normally don’t delve into subjects like the
French monarchy.
How is it that our school can cover all this
material from both the French and English
curricula without making our students skip their
summer break or go to school on weekends?
The guidelines of the French Ministry emphasize the
mastery of skills in addition to content so there are many
areas where the American and French systems overlap.
This year, teachers at the French American School have
embraced cross teaching as a means for covering all
the subject matter and for fostering greater intellectual
agility. In history, for example, the English and French
teachers work closely to help students analyze an event
from multiple cultural and political perspectives and our
students switch nimbly back and forth between English
and French during class discussions.
French Teacher, Camie Steuer and English Teacher, Susan
Gaudemard collaborated recently on an in-depth study
of the city of Providence for their third grade geography
lesson. The activity presented them with questions in
French which they researched in English, then discussed
in two languages. The teachers guided the discussion in
their native language, stopping to point out distinctions
between words and to emphasize important concepts.
Scan the QR code with your smartphone to watch a video
or find the link here on our website: http://tiny.cc/vv8h6x
The French American School hosted Congolese writer,
Fiston Mwanza Mujila, author of Tram 83 this September.
He met with our students in the French and creative
elective classes about becoming a writer and how music
and oral traditions in African literature have inspired his
creative process.
The evening event drew a large group of local college
students, parents, alumni families, teachers, members of
the Rhode Island Congolese community and friends of
the school. The discussion of the author’s work was led
by French American School parent, Avishek Ganguly,
Assistant Professor in the Department of Literary Arts and
Studies at Rhode Island School of Design.
They explored the ways the author’s work is shaped
by culture, politics, and geography. The audience
got to experience the repetitive musicality of Fiston
Mujila’s work first-hand as he performed a jazz-inspired
improvisation based on one of his poems.
“This event is an important opportunity for
our school because it helps us highlight
the important, global nature of the French
language and create broader awareness about
who we are and what we do,” notes Head of
School Jean-Yves Carpanèse.
Scan the QR code with your smartphone to watch a video
or find the link here on our website: http://tiny.cc/o98h6x
A visit by internationally-acclaimed
You might have heard a pin drop during the science
lesson given by the host of the popular series
Dinosaur Train.
The visit came about when a member of our parent
community, Photographer Jesse Burke, won Dr. Scott’s contest
by posting one of his images online. “I didn’t even know I had
entered the contest until they contacted me that I had won a
school visit.” Jesse laughed.
“People know us as a French school but taking our lessons
outdoors has always been part of what we do,” observes
Audrey Talarico, Director of the Lower School. “We are one of
the few schools that brings children as young as first grade on
an overnight field trip to the environmental education center.
Experiences like that foster confidence and helps them learn
more effectively.”
Scott demonstrated a gift for inspiring children about nature
and science. After his presentation the students were highly
animated in the discussion about science and the ways that
can make their own discoveries in the natural world.
From Ra ï ssa in Admissions:
When it comes to choosing a school for
your child, the opinion of a friend is more
important than a front page ad. Tell a friend
about our next Open House!
Saturday, January 9, 10am–1pm
Why learn a language? This is an important
question for parents as they undertake
educational decisions. We asked Cybele
Greenberg, an early graduate of the French
American School, now a senior at Harvard
University, for her thoughts.
“Learning a language isn’t about utility any
more. A lot of my peers have studied Chinese
or Spanish to compete in an international
workforce, but the utility of language in
this environment diminishes as translation
technology improves and greater numbers of
people learn English for business. Learning a
language is about becoming part of another
culture and being inspired to learn about the
world.”
At Harvard, Cybele studies art history; a discipline
that requires historical research skills, cultural
literacy, visual analysis and multilingualism.
Cybele has also used her language skills during
her summer internships to help new immigrants
acclimate to this country. Working with the Dorcas
International Institute in RI and the Massachusetts
Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
she has had the opportunity to help people
overcome cultural and language barriers. “Many
of the families we served were from francophone
nations like Haiti, Ivory Coast, Senegal and
Rwanda,” she said. “They were pleased to find
someone who spoke French because Spanish
speakers are fairly common.”
Cybele would like to use her strong foundation
in the liberal arts in the public service realm, and
perhaps pursue a master in public policy.
A lesson on the City of Providence
in two languages
Congolese writer, Fiston Mujila
A science lesson with PBS Kids
personality Dr. Scott Samson
Alumni: Cybele Greenberg
Harvard University, Class of 2016
When the typical student in New England learns about
history they normally don’t delve into subjects like the
French monarchy.
How is it that our school can cover all this
material from both the French and English
curricula without making our students skip their
summer break or go to school on weekends?
The guidelines of the French Ministry emphasize the
mastery of skills in addition to content so there are many
areas where the American and French systems overlap.
This year, teachers at the French American School have
embraced cross teaching as a means for covering all
the subject matter and for fostering greater intellectual
agility. In history, for example, the English and French
teachers work closely to help students analyze an event
from multiple cultural and political perspectives and our
students switch nimbly back and forth between English
and French during class discussions.
French Teacher, Camie Steuer and English Teacher, Susan
Gaudemard collaborated recently on an in-depth study
of the city of Providence for their third grade geography
lesson. The activity presented them with questions in
French which they researched in English, then discussed
in two languages. The teachers guided the discussion in
their native language, stopping to point out distinctions
between words and to emphasize important concepts.
Scan the QR code with your smartphone to watch a video
or find the link here on our website: http://tiny.cc/vv8h6x
The French American School hosted Congolese writer,
Fiston Mwanza Mujila, author of Tram 83 this September.
He met with our students in the French and creative
elective classes about becoming a writer and how music
and oral traditions in African literature have inspired his
creative process.
The evening event drew a large group of local college
students, parents, alumni families, teachers, members of
the Rhode Island Congolese community and friends of
the school. The discussion of the author’s work was led
by French American School parent, Avishek Ganguly,
Assistant Professor in the Department of Literary Arts and
Studies at Rhode Island School of Design.
They explored the ways the author’s work is shaped
by culture, politics, and geography. The audience
got to experience the repetitive musicality of Fiston
Mujila’s work first-hand as he performed a jazz-inspired
improvisation based on one of his poems.
“This event is an important opportunity for
our school because it helps us highlight
the important, global nature of the French
language and create broader awareness about
who we are and what we do,” notes Head of
School Jean-Yves Carpanèse.
Scan the QR code with your smartphone to watch a video
or find the link here on our website: http://tiny.cc/o98h6x
A visit by internationally-acclaimed
You might have heard a pin drop during the science
lesson given by the host of the popular series
Dinosaur Train.
The visit came about when a member of our parent
community, Photographer Jesse Burke, won Dr. Scott’s contest
by posting one of his images online. “I didn’t even know I had
entered the contest until they contacted me that I had won a
school visit.” Jesse laughed.
“People know us as a French school but taking our lessons
outdoors has always been part of what we do,” observes
Audrey Talarico, Director of the Lower School. “We are one of
the few schools that brings children as young as first grade on
an overnight field trip to the environmental education center.
Experiences like that foster confidence and helps them learn
more effectively.”
Scott demonstrated a gift for inspiring children about nature
and science. After his presentation the students were highly
animated in the discussion about science and the ways that
can make their own discoveries in the natural world.
From Ra ï ssa in Admissions:
When it comes to choosing a school for
your child, the opinion of a friend is more
important than a front page ad. Tell a friend
about our next Open House!
Saturday, January 9, 10am–1pm
Why learn a language? This is an important
question for parents as they undertake
educational decisions. We asked Cybele
Greenberg, an early graduate of the French
American School, now a senior at Harvard
University, for her thoughts.
“Learning a language isn’t about utility any
more. A lot of my peers have studied Chinese
or Spanish to compete in an international
workforce, but the utility of language in
this environment diminishes as translation
technology improves and greater numbers of
people learn English for business. Learning a
language is about becoming part of another
culture and being inspired to learn about the
world.”
At Harvard, Cybele studies art history; a discipline
that requires historical research skills, cultural
literacy, visual analysis and multilingualism.
Cybele has also used her language skills during
her summer internships to help new immigrants
acclimate to this country. Working with the Dorcas
International Institute in RI and the Massachusetts
Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
she has had the opportunity to help people
overcome cultural and language barriers. “Many
of the families we served were from francophone
nations like Haiti, Ivory Coast, Senegal and
Rwanda,” she said. “They were pleased to find
someone who spoke French because Spanish
speakers are fairly common.”
Cybele would like to use her strong foundation
in the liberal arts in the public service realm, and
perhaps pursue a master in public policy.
NEWSLETTER FALL 2015
Bravo to our Passport pioneers!
Thanks to the feedback we received over the
years we now offer an intensive dual-language
immersion that integrates students in Grades 1-6
into our academic program.
The Passport Program has gotten off to a successful start
thanks to the talent of our team of educators, French
teacher Viviane Derégnaucourt in particular. Viviane
employs a variety of techniques with the class to help our
twelve new French learners achieve impressive progress
while having fun. A lesson on prepositions, for example,
might take the form of a game of Simon Says.
They practice their language skills and build confidence
every morning by making morning announcements. A
different member of the class comes to the office each
day, introduces themselves, then gives the date and a brief
weather report.
What? You watched Seinfeld in
English class?
It’s all true. Parent and former writer for Saturday
Night Live and Seinfeld, Andy Robin, gave our
middlers a lesson on script and dialogue writing.
Andy is a physician, writer, and director who started
his television writing career at Saturday Night Live and
spent several seasons on NBC’s Seinfeld. He wrote for
“The Jimmy” and “The Fatigues,” which won the Writers
Guild Award for Episodic Comedy. Andy has also written
screenplays and co-directed a critically acclaimed
narrative film. The students learned about different stylistic
approaches to crafting dialogue learned about how writers
collaborate with producers and actors.
Do you want to make your mark?
Give to the First Fund today and
open a child’s mind!
“Our students enjoyed hearing about someone in our
community achieving success as a creative writer,” said
English Teacher Zahra Bond, who organized the lesson.
Scan the QR code for a video, or find a link on our website
here: http://tiny.cc/um8h6x
www.FASRI.org/giving
Thanks to you, we have a new
home for parachutes, romperstompers and bicycles
Your generous contributions to our
fund-a-need provided a place for
our youngest students to learn and
play outdoors.
On a crisp autumn morning Pascale Carpanèse led
her Moyenne Section class outdoors into the newly
improved outdoor playspace next to the school. They
divided the class in half and the first group got to grow
five inches as they stepped on their romper stompers.
They took turns walking the course making hollow
clomps as their classmates yelled encouragement.
The other group kids gathered around a large
multicolored parachute. Pascale structured the activity
in careful stages to reinforce language skills in addition
to the typical outdoor fun. The students followed a
sequence of instructions in French and were rewarded
as their combined actions created new movements and
shapes in the parachute.
Thanks to the generosity of our fund-a-need donors, a
total of $16,000 was raised to purchase Chromebooks
for the classrooms and to create our new outdoor
play space at our last Rendez-Vous event. Around
half of the total funds were used to enclose the new
area, purchase new playground equipment and
outside storage structures. Your generosity will have
a direct impact on bringing more fresh air and joy into
everyday experience of our young learners.
Thank you! Merci!
75 John Street
•
Providence, RI 02906
•
TheFrenchAmericanSchool.org
•
401 274 3325
•
[email protected]
One lesson; two
languages, page 2
Guest
author, page 2
The Dinosaur Train
stops here, page 3
From the FAS to
Harvard, page 3
Passport pioneers,
page 4
Sitcom in class,
page 4