In October, Upper School French II collaborated with The Hayot Center for Innovation (HCI), to design, construct and build their maisons de rêve — dream houses!
Before stepping into the HCI, Class 9 French students learned vocabulary related to rooms, furniture and household chores. Through conversational practice in class, students described their own homes and daily routines, strengthening their vocabulary and confidence in speaking French while learning more about one another. For example, discussions about cooking dinner in the kitchen in French led to follow up questions such as, What appliances and kitchen tools do you use to cook? What does your kitchen look like? Where is your kitchen located in your home?
After a successful launch of this project last year, Upper School French teacher Lodz Pierre-Juanso refined the details and guidelines for this year. Each student was tasked with designing a home that included at least four rooms and 16 pieces of furniture, ensuring use of their new vocabulary. “With this project, students can choose what they want to share with me,” Ms. Pierre-Juanso explained. They were given the freedom to personalize their homes while applying what they’ve learned within class.
In the HCI, creativity and construction took center stage as students began bringing their dream homes to life.
Using Adobe Illustrator, the girls drafted their architectural models — some designing one-story homes connected by bridges to their classmates’ projects, while others created elaborate three- and four-story houses, featuring bedrooms, living rooms, rooftops and more.
“I found it to be fascinating,” said Ms. Pierre-Juanso. “Some students did not think they were interested in architecture, but this project showed them something new that they became really passionate about.”
Once their digital designs were finalized with accurate measurements and stability in mind, the students incorporated windows of various shapes and sizes to bring in natural light and individualize the outside of their homes. With guidance from the HCI interns, the students then used the laser cutters to etch and cut their designs from wood.
Next came construction. Students assembled their newly laser-cut pieces using glue to create sturdy, three dimensional structures. Some opted for open floor plans to showcase the interiors, while others built removable, stackable floors to reveal each level individually.
To complete their projects, students personalized their homes even further by adding furniture and home necessities like beds, ovens, dining room tables, bathtubs and sinks, to name a few. Some students took it a step further by adding staircases to connect floors within their homes and designing elements like rugs, posters, bookshelves and even a patterned table cloth on the dining room table.
The final stage — a gallery walk-through in the HCI — was an exciting culmination of their hard work as students presented their finished maisons de rêves entirely in French.
During their presentations, the students took viewers on a tour of their homes, sharing their design process, highlighting unique features in their homes and answering questions from their teacher and several other visiting French instructors.
“My main goal in all my classes is to focus on speaking,” Ms. Pierre-Juanso said. “I want them to feel comfortable, to be in the language, to go inside the language. This project makes speaking very realistic — giving a home tour to someone who speaks another language is a real-world experience.”
This project was a true blend of language learning, creativity and innovation!
