Field Trip: Art in French

Standard 3.1: Students apply the language of study to discuss other content areas of study.

Omaha North High School French Teacher Margarita Fernandez de Blas shares an art project based on painter Robert Delaunay who assisted with the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Delaunay reproduced many paintings of the Eiffel Tower using techniques based Impressionism, Cubism, Fauvism, and Pointillism. The artist and his wife also created a style called “orphism” which uses the circle as a base of painting. In Fernandez de Blas’ classroom, students create a painting of the Eiffel Tower, cut it into five or six pieces, and then rebuild it in a free form. Then, using circles of various sizes, they create the background. Student artwork is displayed with a mural of the Eiffel Tower and artwork by the painter.

Standard 3.1 states that students will apply the language to discuss other content areas of study. According to the indicators, novice low learners can label colors and shapes. Intermediate low students begin to describe the painter and his influences. Skillfully using vocabulary specific to the subject, such as “orphism”, is exactly the use of language to reinforce and expand knowledge in all content areas.