Music and Movement to Teach French

Music and Movement to Teach French
Marian Rose
Some of the ways in which music and movement can help in learning a second language.
1. Language is an inherently rhythmic pursuit, and thus learning is greatly enhanced when combined
with rhythmic activities, especially those that require a variety of physical movements.
2. Musical skills such as intensive listening, pitch discrimination, imitation and improvisation are also
essential when we are learning a second language.
3. After we sing and move to a song, it continues to play in our heads, providing extra hours of effortfree practice.
4. Music and movement address diverse learner characteristics such as intelligence, aptitude, learning
styles, personality and motivation.
5. Humans are emotionally attracted to music, a fact which has proved beneficial to advertising, the
film industry and religious and patriotic interests. Why not L2 teachers?
6. Songs present a wide range of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions.
7. Music is intimately linked to culture and history.
Introducing a song
The ultimate goal in using music in the language class is to develop fluency by hearing and singing
the words many times. However, it can take awhile for the words to sink in, and children and adults
alike can be reluctant to sing if they are unfamiliar with the music. Therefore, I like to find ways for my
students to hear a song several times in different contexts before they are asked to sing.
Play the song in the background as you do other activities.
Use a recording of the song to do your warmups.
Give them a cut-up version of the song which they must put in the correct order.
Do a passing game with the song (see below)
Clap the beat and the rhythm of the words. Beat=pulse, rhythm=words.
Mouth the words.
Do exercises in dynamics: loud/soft, fast/slow, different styles
Call and response
Improvised Clapping Circle
This is an improvised exercise with the purpose of awakening the senses, learning to listen and
locking in with the rhythm of the music. Any music with regular 8-beat phrases will do; I like to use the
music of a dance or a song that I am planning to present later on.
The possibilities are endless and do require confidence on the part of the leader. A good place to
start is by trading 8-beat phrases, and then 4-beat phrases, working up to individual claps around the
circle in time with the music. You can also play with left/right, up/down, forward/back, turn left/turn
right. The goal is to say the words at the same time as the movement, while always staying with the
phrase of the music.
© Marian Rose
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1
SWATCA, CATCA, GETCA 2016
Rhythmic Passing Game
Everyone sits on the floor with one shoe (or other object) in front of them. While singing, everyone
makes the following rhythm: tap-tap-pass, tap-tap-pass, tap-tap-pass, etc. Continue until everyone gets
their own shoe back. Then try the opposite direction.
This game works for a large majority of children’s songs in 2/4 or 4/4 time, although you may have
to adjust the rhythm of the passing pattern a bit. If the song is in 3/4 time, your tapping rhythm will be:
tap tap tap pass (2,3) etc. This tends to feel much slower.
Songs in 4/4: Passe passé passera / Lundi matin / Sur le pont d’Avignon / C’est l’aviron /
Ah vous dirai-je maman
Songs in 3/4: Un Canadien errant / Fais dodo / Partons la mer et belle / La laine des moutons
La Cloche du vieux manoir / Sous le ciel de Paris / Isabeau
Vocal Warmups
Both speaking and singing require fine-tuned control of our vocal apparatus. It is worthwhile to take
the time to warm up the muscles of the face and neck.
Massage gently the neck, shoulders and face, especially the jaw and under the chin.
Neck rolls – gently, and don’t tip the head towards the back.
Stretch arms up, out, and around.
Bend over and breathe out. Roll up slowly.
Choir director: especially useful for tone and dynamics. Use your hands to indicate a low tone (close
to the ground), medium (waist height) and high (over your head). Hands together in prayer position
indicate silence. Open them to increase the volume. Play with this and encourage the students to
respond. You can use this to practice target sounds.
Concentration
Take turns naming things in a category such as numbers, ordinal numbers, days of the week, months
of the year, colours, animals, verbs, opposites etc. Try to always say the word as you snap. I use this as a
warm-up for the grammar or vocabulary lesson I have planned. This can also be done in pairs facing
each other. One partner calls out a word and the other person replies with the matching word.
© Marian Rose
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2
SWATCA, CATCA, GETCA 2016
Dans les Monts Valin
Dancers walk in pairs in promenade position counterclockwise around the circle, singing:
On the words Scie! Scie! Scie!, dancers change directions three times thus:
Keeping your hands joined, turn to face each other and continue turning until you are both facing in the
opposite direction from where you started. If you do this three times, everyone should now be facing
clockwise.
Repeat the entire dance, and everyone will (hopefully) be back in starting position.
Pomme de reinette
A linguistic twist on an old favourite, with a focus on phonological awareness.
Many variations are possible:
Stand up when you hear a word that begins with the letter P. The next time you hear word,
beginning with P, sit down. And so on….
Do the same thing with the letter R and the letter T
Teams – the P’s, T’s and the R’s
Same game, only you move every time you hear the letter, no matter where it is in the
word.
Try this exercise with Passe Passe Passera, La Cloche du vieux manoir, Fais dodo, La tourtière,
Mille après mille or any short song with words that repeat.
Note that sitting down and standing up can become quite vigorous, and may be difficult for some
people. A variant would be for each person to create an ‘up’ position and a ‘down’ position. Could be as
simple as lifting a finger or an eyebrow.
Poem – numbers and food
From 100 Comptines de Henriette Major. Done to ‘La Tourtière’ by La Bottine Souriante
© Marian Rose
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3
SWATCA, CATCA, GETCA 2016
Il court, le furet
This song is included in almost every French song collection and the classic children’s game that
goes with it exists in many cultures.
Players stand in a ring holding on to a string on which a ring has been threaded and which has been
tied to form a continuous loop. While singing the song, the players move the ring around the circle and
one person in the middle must guess where the ring is.
À bicyclette
© Marian Rose
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4
SWATCA, CATCA, GETCA 2016
Camille la Chenille
J’ai appris ce jeux de doigts d’Anaëlle Morin, une woofeuse / chanteuse / Bretonne.
Tout là-haut
based on the singing game Old King Glory
Holding hands, the circle turns clockwise while the leader walks counterclockwise around the
outside. The leader taps three consecutive people, who then join the outside line.
La Danse du Limousin
Formation: Circle, with hands loose.
As you sing, step sideways to the left. On the repeat, step sideways to the right..
Then one person says: “Et le petit Limousin a dit: tenez les mains.”
Each time you do the dance, hold on to a different body part (within reason).
© Marian Rose
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5
SWATCA, CATCA, GETCA 2016
Napoléon
Napoléon
avait
cinq cents
soldats
Marchant du même pas
hands in a V over head to make a hat,
right hand on left shoulder
left hand on right shoulder
clap twice
pat one thigh, then the other
two marching steps
March in place.
La Planète
based on the singing game Circle Round the Zero
Dancers stand in a hands-free circle. One person walks around the outside and on the word ‘arret’,
they stop and stand back to back with another person. Then they execute the moves in the song and the
new person becomes the leader.
© Marian Rose
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6
SWATCA, CATCA, GETCA 2016
Time ballet
Students show the time presented by moving their arms to the position of the hands of a clock. The
exercise as presented here assumes that your students know how to tell time on a conventional clock. I
use the William Tell Overture (starting at about 3:00 minutes) and play the powerpoint file, (see
resource section). You can easily adjust this to the level of your students.
Trois poules
This is sung to the tune of « Ah vous dirais-je maman / Twinkle Twinkle ». Three people stand
single file and take on the attitude of a chicken. The appropriate person stands up when their position is
named.
Quand trois poules vont aux champs
La première va devant
La deuxième suit la première
La troisième vient la dernière
Quand trois poules vont aux champs
La dernière passe par-devant
Faisons la ronde
In a circle, hands joined, circle to the left
Faisons la ronde pour contenter le monde
Les grands et les petits se quitteront ici!
Each person individually goes for a walk anywhere they please.
Faisons la ronde pour contenter le monde
Les grands et les petits...
On the words « se trouveront ici! », everyone arrives back in the circle.
The challenge is to keep the music going in your head so that everyone arrives back at the circle at
the same time. To extend the exercise, challenge your students to find other reflexive verbs that suggest
an action to do during the second part. Such as: se figeront / se tourneront / se marcheront /
s’accroupiront / se coifferont
Can you make the song work with a verb that is not reflexive?
© Marian Rose
[email protected]
7
SWATCA, CATCA, GETCA 2016
Promenons-nous dans le bois
You may know a more complex version of this game, but I prefer to keep it simple. It can be used
simply as a listening exercise – give the students the words cut up and have them arrange them in the
correct order while you sing the song several times.
The game: everyone walks randomly around the room, singing the song, while the wolf hides behind
something close by. At the end of the song, the children say ‘Loup y es-tu?’ and the wolf replies ‘Oui’.
.Que fais-tu?’ ‘Je lis (marche / me lave / joue) At which point there is nothing to worry about, so the
singing and dancing resumes. At some point, the wolf decides it is ready for dinner and says ‘Je
mange!’, and then tries to tag one of the dancers, who becomes the new wolf.
This is, of course a very simple version. The wolf can be much more erudite, depending on the level
of your students.
Dos à dos
Stand in a circle, partners back to back.
Dos à dos
Partners turn to face each other
Face à face
Partners do as the words say.
Donnez-moi les mains changez de place
Dancers then back up to stand back-to-back with a new partner and the dance begins again.
© Marian Rose
[email protected]
8
SWATCA, CATCA, GETCA 2016
Je ferme la porte
Clap hands together
Je ferme la porte, je la barre comme faut
Slowly hide the key behind your back
Je cache la clef derrière mon dos
Bring the key back into view
Je retrouve la clef encore une fois
Turn the invisible key
Et je tourne et je tourne et je tourne comme ça
Have your hands together by the time you say ‘door’
Ensuite, je rouvre la porte - AIEEE!
Jean Petit Qui Danse
There are dozens of recordings of this available in various collections. My hands-down favourite is
that of ‘Les Mandarines’ on their cd ‘Le Nouveau Bal De Mandarine’. See the Recommended Resources
at the end of this handout. With a group of strong singers, this could be led by one singer with everyone
else echoing.
Join hands in a circle and dance to the left
Jean Petit qui danse, Jean Petit qui danse (bis)
Stop and dance with the body part named.
De ses mains il danse, de ses mains il danse (bis)
De ses mains, mains, mains, de son doigt, tout petit doight
Ainsi danse Jean Petit.
© Marian Rose
[email protected]
9
SWATCA, CATCA, GETCA 2016
Rimes à conter et divers
Un petit cochon
Pendu au plafond
Tirez-lui la queue
Il pondra des oeufs
Tirez-lui plus fort
Il pondra de l’or
Pomme, poire, abricot
i ly en a une, il y en a une,
Pomme, poire, abricot
ily en a une de trop
(qui s’appelle Marie-Margot).
Belle pomme d’or
fais la révérence.
Il n’y a qu’un roi
qui règne en France.
Adieu mes amis!
La guerre est finie!
Belle pomme d’or,
tu es dehors!
Do, ré, mi, la perdrix
Mi, fa, sol, elle s’envole
Fa, mi, ré, dans un pré
Mi, ré, do, tombe à l’eau
Bateau, ciseau
La rivière, la rivière
Bateau, ciseau
La rivière et le canot.
Rondin, picotin
la Marie a fait son pain
pas plus gros que son raisin.
Son levain était pourri
et son pain tout aplati.
Tan pis!
Pipandor, chapeau d’épinette
Mon petit frère fait la pirouette
Ma petite soeur fait sa toilette
Pipandor, tu es dehors.
Pimpanicaille, le roi des papillons
en se faisant la barbe s’est coupé le menton.
Un, deux, trois de bois
Quatre, cinq, six de buis
Sept, huit, neuf, de boeuf
Dix, onze, douze de bouse.
Va-t’en à Toulouse!
À cheval, à cheval
jusqu’à Montréal
En auto, en auto,
jusqu’à Chibougamau
En taxi, en taxi
jusqu’à Saint-Élie
En avion, en avion
jusqu’à Saint-Léon.
© Marian Rose
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C'est la cloche du vieux manoir,
du vieux manoir
Qui sonne le retour du soir, le retour du soir
Ding, ding dong
Ding, ding dong
Le coq est mort, le coq est mort
Le coq est mort, le coq est mort
Il ne dira plus co-co-di, co-co-da
Il ne dira plus co-co-di, co-co-da
Coco cocodi cocodi, coda.
Ah ! vous dirai-je, maman
Ce qui cause mon tourment ?
Papa veut que je raisonne
Comme une grande personne
Moi je dis que les bonbons
Valent mieux que la raison.
10
SWATCA, CATCA, GETCA 2016
Mon Papa
Pairs of dancers scattered around the room
Facing your partner, place one hand (doesn’t matter which) palm up out to the side in a gesture
of resignation.
Mon papa
Place the other hand palm up on the other side
ne veut pas
With hands on hips, kick alternate feet out to the front
que je danse, que je danse
As above
Mon papa ne veut pas
kick as above, then point both fingers at your partner
que je danse avec toi
Hook right elbows with your partner and swing around once or twice. (8 beats)
Look for someone else and hook left elbows with them. (8 beats)
This new person becomes your new partner for the next time through the dance.
Il dira ce qu’il voudra
Moi, je danse, moi je danse
Il dira ce qu’il voudra
Moi, je danse la polka.
© Marian Rose
[email protected]
11
8 février 2016
Ah Si Mon Moine
This song is a good one to include when talking about French culture, especially about religion.
The dance is done in a circle, holding hands. In pairs, give the dancers a name:
A
1. capuchon
4. froc de bur
2. ceinturon
5. beau psautier
3. chapelet
6. bien d’autre choses.
All take three steps into the centre and back
Ah si mon moine voulait danser Ah si mon moine voulait danser
Again, take three steps into the centre and back
Un capuchon je lui donnerai, un capuchon je lui donnerai
B
Those who have been named (capuchon, ceinturon, etc..) go into the centre and
dance with their partner, while the rest join hands and circle to the left, singing:
Danse, mon moine danse, tu n’entends pas la danse
Tu n’entends pas mon moulin lon la, tu n’entends pas mon moulin
marcher.
C
As everyone sings an exaggerated AHHHHHH, those who were in the middle
must find their original place in the circle. The dance then recommences.
In each of the subsequent verses, replace ‘capuchon’ with one of the other
vocabulary words.
© Marian Rose
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12
8 février 2016
Termes de musique
chord – un accord
bow (to partner) – saluer
lyrics – des paroles
bow (of a violin) – un archet
key – une tonalité
bowing – un coup d’archet
beat – un temps
tuner – un accordeur
note – une note
to tune – accorder
scale – une gamme
in tune – juste
arpeggio – un arpège
out of tune – faux
support (air) – un appui
flat (out of tune) – en dessous
lick, riff – une ligne
sharp (out of tune) – au dessus
overtone, harmonic – une harmonique
transpose – transposer
a breath – une respiration
transcribe – transcrire
to breathe – respirer
pick-up (before bar 1) – une levée
tempo – un tempo
up an octave – à l’octave
loud – fort
triplet – un triolet
soft – doux
metronome – un métronome
duet – un duo
music (written down) – une partition
trio – un trio
sight-reading – la lecture à vue
quartet – un quatuor
fingering – un doigté
quintet – un quintette
interval – un intervalle
unison – un unisson
second – une seconde
third – une tierce
fourth – une quarte
fifth – une quinte
sixth – une sixte
C
do
D
re
E
mi
© Marian Rose
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seventh – une septième
diminué
augmenté
dominante
majeur
mineur
F
fa
G
sol
A
la
B
si
13
8 février 2016
Le vocabulaire pour
la danse traditionnelle québécoise
Général
tenez les mains
on se tient les mains
tout le monde par la main
partenaire / coin
gauche / droit(e)
la place de départ
sur place
du début
Figures / mouvements
avancer
reculer
en foulant
cercle à droit/gauche
« l’autre coté, vous
vous êtes trompés »
à la main
(droite/gauche)
deux mains en rond
quatre par quatre
crochet (droit/gauche)
on swing
d’abord
ensuite
au complet
la dernière fois
la prochaine fois
encore une fois
revenir
reprendre
étourdi (e)
changer de partenaire
étoile main d/g
le bouquet
le panier
la grande chaine
chaine des dames
couper par 6,4,2
au dessus / en dessous
dos à dos / dosido
fesse à fesse
faites le tour
plonger / la plongeuse
Instruments
le violon
la guitare
l’accordéon (clavier, diatonique)
le piano
la contrebasse
la flûte irlandaise
le tambour
Voulez-vous danser avec
moi?
Veux-tu danser?
Oui, bien sûr!
Avec plaisir!
Non, merci
. . . peut-être plus tard?
. . . j’ai mal au / à la
sautiller
les mains sur les hanches
un set carré
une quadrille
une valse
une contredanse
horaire, anti-horaire
sens (contraire) des
aiguilles d’une montre
le banjo
la mandoline
l’harmonica
la batterie
la guimbarde
la planche à laver
Musique pour la danse traditionnelle québécoise
www.trentesouszero.com chansons, violon, accordéon, danses .....
© Marian Rose
[email protected]
14
18 juillet 2015
Recommended Resources
Community Dance Project – Marian Rose (Quebec) www.marianrose.com
Step Lively: Dances for Schools and Families
Step Lively2: Canadian Dance Favourites
Step Lively 3: Primary Dances
Dansez en Français: French Dances for Classroom and Community
Henriette Major (Québec / France)
http://www.amazon.ca/100-COMPTINES-HENRIETTE-MAJOR/dp/2762120829
- 100 Comptines
(or anything else at all by Henriette Major)
France Bourque-Moreau (Montreal)
http://www.bourque-moreau.com/danse-mon-coeur-danse-2.html
Danse, mon coeur danse! : Danses et chansons du québec pour les enfants
Themes and Variations http://shop.musicplaytext.ihoststores.com/default.aspx
- great ideas for musical skills, in both English and French
Ballet de Sorcières (France) - Danser pas bête
http://www.franchesconnexions.com/ballet-de-sorcieres-1/ballet-de-sorcieres
Le Bal de Mandarine (France) – plusieurs CD’s
http://assomandarine.chez-alice.fr/disques.html
Danses enfantines (France) – Éditions Fuzeau
http://www.fuzeau.com/ecatalogue/#98
FrancoLad – highly recommended, although it is more adolescent/adult level.
http://francolab.ca/ . It has great Canadian content and exercises at various levels.
Alain le Lait
Passe Partout – a popular children’s program that aired from 1977 to 1998.
Génération Passe-Partout – a remake of the PP classics, done by young hip québécois singers.
TES Connect https://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/ This is where I found the time ballet.
TV5 Monde: http://enseigner.tv5monde.com/collection/paroles-de-clips
To find songs for teaching French, try these searches:
chansons apprendre francais / songs learn french
chanson passé compose (imparfait, etc.)
chanson conjugaison
comptines chansons
Marian Rose
www.marianrose.com
[email protected]
(581) 234-1614 (Quebec)
(604) 254-5678 (Vancouver)
© Marian Rose
[email protected]
15
5 juillet 2015
AATF 2015