All That Glitters is Not Gold: Bread and Power in 1789

Bread...  the staff of life.  In France in 1789, it accounted for approximately 70% of the French diet.  The average French citizen ate 2-3 pounds of it per day.  So, when harvests failed in France in the late 1780s, hunger spread quickly and so did anger.

This was the reality for the vast majority of France.  As beautiful as Versailles was, it was highly unlikely you were ever going to experience that level of excess.  More than likely, in 1789, you were going to be starving.

So, how do we, as teachers, convey that contrast to our students?  How do we connect that hunger to the system that sustained such inequality -a system that was literally rotting at the core.  And where am I getting all these facts on bread?  

This is where CLIL becomes especially powerful.  With the Internet, the potential for teachers to support academic curriculum and enrich student learning in a foreign language is virtually limitless.  Yes, the materials often have to be verified and adapted, but teaching a subject like history in a second language can develop students' critical thinking and project management like never before.

So teachers can compare and contrast the excess of Versailles to a loaf of bread they hold up and then point to this very informative video on The Women's March on Versailles.  Watch the video below and share how you might use contrast excess and scarcity to develop both language and historical awareness in your classroom: