Love love love everything about Le Petit Prince and Antoine de St. Exupéry. Amazing. Brilliant. Applicable to everyday life. And how do we bring this masterpiece of life to our students who have just 14-17 years of life experiences – in the target language no less?
The first time I taught Le Petit Prince in my French 4 class, I was just trying to get me and my students to the end of the book without giving up. I doubted my ability to help them understand the French vocabulary, the depth of the ideas, and its connection to our lives today. Oof – my delivery was rough but my enthusiasm was high and my students and I did arrive at the end of the novel in French. Whew. I’m not sure who felt more satisfaction – them for completing it or me for having taught it for the first time.
After teaching Le Petit Prince more than 15 times over the years, I realize that teaching any novel is about baby steps. Learning what to stress and what to let go of. I’ve circled back to trying to answer the question “How does each chapter relate to an American teen-ager? Where can I help guide that connection?
One of the famous quotes from Chapter 9 of Le Petit Prince | The Little Prince is along the lines of “I need to put up with a few caterpillars if I want to see the butterflies.” In this blog, I run through three different areas to connect Chapter 9 and that quote to our teen-age students. Of the three areas, I will give specific ideas for you to try – and the language in which you teach the book is not relevant to these thoughts.
#1 – Book to Me
We’ve heard variations of that quote growing up: “You have to kiss a few toads to find your Prince Charming” and such but the quotes don’t always have to circle back to people and romantic relationships. The quote, in my opinion, is about patience. Short-term pain/patience for long-term gain/benefit.
After reading chapter 9, our classroom discussion revolves around patience and short-term gains vs long-term gains. Students come up with fabulous scenarios:
- hating to study for a test in advance but it pays off with a good grade
- not spending money on fancy clothes but the savings can add up to buying a new phone
- going to Grandma’s house (no cable tv) over and over again but consider the memories that you are gathering
Make a “T” chart and write what you go through to wait on the left side (short-term) and what you gain on the right side (long-term). Work in partners or small groups to ease the burden of generating the left-side and right-side ideas. Prepare to be amazed.
Discuss the patient (or funny or painful) moments that finally lead to the satisfying result. The discussion and / or follow-up speaking or writing doesn’t have to be formal and perfect. Focus on meaning before form (the message the student wants to convey instead of the perfection of the message). Scaffold the language that your students will need to get them through their ideas because relating the chapter to their lives will keep them more engaged.
#2 – Book to Book
“Is there another book that you have read where the character goes through short-term pain or challenges to arrive at a long-term goal?” Again, their answers will amaze you. A summary of the other book they choose to compare / contrast is not needed. Rather, have students make another “T” chart with their book on the left side and Le Petit Prince on the right side.
At a minimum, I ask students to put all their “T” charts in one area of their notebook so they can easily reference these Book-to-Book comparisons as we progress through the chapters. Maybe you wait for a few chapters worth of “T” charts and then ask students if there is one book that keeps showing up on the Book-to-Book “T” chart? This is where a deeper discussion could be facilitated to compare / contrast several chapters of Le Petit Prince to a book they have read. How you follow up with speaking or writing about this “T” chart is a matter of how much time you have and your end goals for the overall unit.
#3 – Book to the World
“Where in our school / local community / state / country / world could we have more patience as a whole to arrive at a collective long-term goal for the greater good of all?”
- Less technology or more?
- More study halls or fewer?
- More required classes for graduation or fewer?
- More homework or less?
- More politics or less?
- Take notes everyday for Madame or just listen to group discussions?
These discussions can be a partner, small group, or whole group activity depending on the proficiency level of your students. I rarely ask them for a formal spoken or written form of this Chapter 9 idea but I do require them to take notes on the discussions. Notes will help students review the overall book and begin to identify a thread or theme that persists throughout a novel.
This pattern of three real-world connections per chapter is consistent for me throughout Le Petit Prince when I teach. If you would like the above three discussion topics for Chapter 9 as well as general comprehension questions and task cards, please take a look at my TpT store.
My name is Lisa and I am happy to be your new French colleague. How can I help you tomorrow?
