Maybe a little jar of jam (un petit pot de confiture) could help the situation?
Drawing together the topics of family and breakfast, I had the idea to get my students researching the French jam company ‘Bonne maman’ so they could better understand the meaning of this affectionate, old-fashioned French word for Granny.
I also discussed with my students how we name our grandmother: grand-mère, mémé or mamie in French, while we use grandma, granny or nanna in Australia. ‘Which one is more affectionate?’ I probed.
I let the class talk about the relationship they have with their grandma and why they love her and what she has done for them - perhaps cooking their favourite recipe, reading stories, taking them to exciting attractions or events, etc.
It is important to acknowledge the role grandmothers play in their grandchildren’s lives and usually students have fond memories of their ‘nana’, as they say.
My students then launched into their research into the brand ‘Bonne maman ‘and discovered it was launched in 1971 by the food company Andros in Biars-sur-Cère, France.
The brand is generally credited to Jean Gervoson, co-founder of Andros, who created Bonne Maman as a premium jam brand with a homemade appearance. The iconic glass jar is famous for its red-and-white checkered lid, and very often French women reuse it when they make their own jam.
Next up my students completed a questionnaire about their breakfast habits, and it showed that many of them don’t have breakfast in the morning and rush to school with an empty stomach. Their favorite fruit flavour happened to be ‘la fraise’, which is strawberry.
Jam is not always a favorite morning staple with teenagers as they prefer toast, eggs and bacon, cereal or other popular Australian breakfast foods.
And yet, my students received a little jar of jam after this productive session and they were eager to create something with it.
My students did not notice is was Period 4, and neither did I! The mood in the class was engaged and creative.
I happened upon the idea for this lesson when I was passing by a shelf of jams at my local supermarket and thought my students might be keen to discover more about this French product.
For a French native speaker, the sight of ‘une tartine de confiture’ brings back so many childhood memories. Building a lesson around this also shows your students that their teacher was a young person once too.
