Fifty years ago Edith Piaf died

Born on December 19, 1915 in Paris, Édith Piaf lived a short but particularly intense life. "The" kid "will never have been able to heal herself from the wounds of childhood and the disillusions of love. She dedicated her life to her audience, her most faithful and sincere relationship. The heritage left by Piaf is immense and many of these songs like "La vie en rose", "The hymn to love" or "No, I regret nothing" still remain in the unconscious. collective. Piaf is undoubtedly the female artist who will have most marked the 20th century, both by the grandeur of her voice and by her most tragic fate. "
Source: The Internet user
The following activities will allow you to get to know this great lady of French song better.
 

Goals

At the end of the activities, the student will be able to:
- Discover information on Edith Piaf's life and summarize it in a diagram;
- Analyze a musical piece by Piaf and interpret the meaning of the work;
- Identify the constituent elements of a Piaf song;
- Communicate his point of view concerning his appreciation of Piaf's work;
- Write a review of the film Through rose-colored glasses.
 

Suggested Activities

ACTIVITY 1: The life of Edith Piaf

Before starting the activity, ask students what they know about Edith Piaf.
Then, in teams, the pupils will have to research Piaf in order to know more about his life, while completing the diagram below (or making a new one):

Click on the image to enlarge.
Download the source file in Inspiration (.isf) format

ACTIVITY 2: Appreciate musical works by Piaf

Several musical pieces by Piaf have become classics of the French-speaking repertoire. Have students discover the following works:
Accordionist (1940)
Ode to love (1950)
No, I do not regret anything (1960)
Individually, students must choose a room from the above and then analyze it. They must identify significant elements and refer back to the time of the work in order to understand the historical context in order to finally establish links. Also, they must interpret the meaning of the work by interpreting expressive and symbolic elements to finally establish a relationship with the effect felt.
Then, the students who have worked on the same piece should come together to exchange the results of their analysis and discuss their interpretation. Also, each student must share their appreciation of the work by communicating their point of view.
Finally, still in teams, they must synthesize in a mind map the main points discussed during their meeting. Here is a beginning of a diagram that they can use.
 

Click on the image to enlarge.
Download the source file in Inspiration (.isf) format
Download the file in PDF format (.pdf)

For further

Watch the film Through rose-colored glasses (2007) which traces the life of Edith Piaf. Based on what the students have discovered in the previous activities, does this film appear to be true to reality?
Finally, have students write a review of this film. If there is a video store near your school, send them your text or share it in the school newspaper or blog.
 

More about the magazine

Edith Piaf
Wikipedia article
Edith Piaf
Biography on the website The Internet user
The kid
Official website of the film Through rose-colored glasses