Students from Jean Zay Elementary Public School in Paris, France and Nature’s Way Montessori School in Knoxville, TN met “face-to-face” for their first Classes Duo* video conference on Friday, January 12. The meeting was an outstanding success!
The students, aged 7-10 years, are connecting through the life and art of the Knoxville-born, Paris expatriate painter, Beauford Delaney. They will explore multiple themes through this lens, including modes of travel, the U.S. Civil Rights movement, artistic styles and movements, and math- and science- based concepts in artistic creation (lines, shapes, patterns, oil versus water-based paints…).
In preparation for their first virtual encounter, students from both sides practiced introducing themselves and stating their ages in the language of their video pals. They exchanged e-mail to share information about their grade levels and to introduce the educators that will teach them about Delaney and supervise the video sessions. Because the French students were selected several days before the American students, they had the opportunity to begin learning about Delaney’s work. They created several portraits and self-portraits inspired by Delaney’s portraiture and shared images of their work in their first e-mail.
During the January 12 meeting, French and American students took turns introducing themselves and then (through translations by the adult supervisors) asked each other several questions about their lives. The French students showed two posters that they created with small portraits and a photo of Beauford Delaney. Both posters bore Delaney’s name, acknowledging the man whose legacy is binding the students together.
The leader of the Jean Zay students, Juliette Blache, reported that on the Monday following the event, the first thing the students asked her was:
When is the next time we get to do it again ?!
This session was the first of seven that have been scheduled for Spring Semester 2018. The next one will take place on February 9. In the interim, the students will prepare their first lesson, which is about travel.
Big thanks to WIF board member Tom Reeves for photographing this inaugural session. Images will be posted soon.
*Classes Duo is part of the Déclic Langues project conceived by the City of Paris to arouse the curiosity of young children about foreign cultures and to give them the desire to discover other countries, interact with the children who live there, and learn foreign languages.
