Grade Five Canadian Government Unit

I have created a unit for teaching the Grade Five Social Studies Canadian Government unit. It is an integrated unit which includes social studies, language arts and visual arts. I have taught this unit in an English-language Grade Five class, as well as in an Extended French Grade Five class. It has gone over really well in both years in which I taught it. If you have any questions about the unit feel free to comment. Here is some artwork produced by my Grade Five students:

End of the Year Projects

May and June are sometimes the busiest months of the entire school year. To help you with your end of the year planning, I have several projects available at my Teachers Pay Teachers online store. The first project I would like to share with you is a French Menu project. For this project students create their own menu for a restaurant and then they will apply their learning by presenting their menu as part of a script. The next project I would like to share with you is a pilot episode for a tv show. In this project students are creating a script and then presenting it. I have done this project with a group of grade 10 students and some of the students chose to record their pilot episode and they show their video to the class. Other students decided to present their script as a play in front of the class. Both projects include rubrics for assessment and evaluation.

In terms of what is coming up next for Madame Giraffe, I have plans in the works to create new food units for Core or Immersion French classes. I have been teaching in several schools lately where students have participated in a French cafe where students order food in French. Another idea I have is for students to learn to cook different recipes such as crepes, pizza or cookies and apply their language learning skills.

Claude Monet

Sometimes there is a heavy emphasis on oral communication and writing skills in a French class. Don't forget about the reading part! I have come up with a new idea for a reading task in French. It is a Claude Monet reading comprehension activity. With this activity students are able to read instructions in French and make a drawing based on what they have read. Their understanding of what they are reading will come through in what they have drawn. The work of art being described just so happens to be a famous work of art by Claude Monet. Can you guess which one it is? Give this lesson a try! Students who have completed this assignment in my class in the past have really enjoyed it. We used it as part of our French artwork display in the gym. At the end of the lesson I showed the work of art by Claude Monet and the students were so happy that their works of art looked similar to his famous work of art. Have fun with this art project!

Here is a video lesson on Claude Monet:

À la rentrée !

© Dreamstime Stock Photos

La rentrée  : The most wonderful time of the year! After a long, adventurous and enjoyable summer, aren't we all looking forward to that first day of school, the crisp autumn air and seeing all of our students, friends and colleagues again? The excitement that fills the air on that first day back is unbeatable, even for teachers. As a new teacher I spent a lot of time planning those first few lessons and making sure that I was setting the tone for an amazing school year ahead.

On the first day back I find it especially important to get to know your students to promote a respectful and friendly classroom environment. After going over the classroom rules and important basic vocabulary for a Core French or French Immersion classroom, I will then have several icebreaker games or name games planned to get to know my students. One of these activities is Human Bingo or Bingo Humain, where students are each given a Bingo card with squares filled with personal facts or information. For example, some of the squares might say "J'aime faire de la natation" or "J'ai lu les livres de Harry Potter par J.K. Rowling" and the students have to find one person in the class to sign each square. The first student to get all their squares signed wins the game (and often a small prize!). The game allows the students to use some basic vocabulary to ask questions and get to know the other students.

What activities do you do in the classroom to get to know your students and set the tone on the first day back?

Les poèmes biographiques

Bio poems are a fun way to learn more about the new students in your classroom and introduce the topic of poetry at the same time. They are 11-line poems that highlight important qualities about an individual, such as beliefs, hopes and accomplishments. At the Madame Giraffe TPT Store you can find a bio poem template that will make your bio poem lesson a breeze. It includes the formula for creating an 11-line bio poem, and example and a creative space for students to write their own bio poem in French. Students will enjoy reflecting on who they really are and teachers will enjoy reading all about their students. You can make them into shape poems for a bright and colourful bulletin board idea. Here is a shining star example:

La Pizza

Have you heard Charlotte Diamond's song "Je suis une pizza"? If you haven't I'm sure you will have this catchy song stuck in your head until the end of the school day. Here is a fun video featuring her song:

A fun lesson that I like to do with students in kindergarten through to grade two is centred around the theme of making pizza. The students learn the song in French, and then I put up a poster with all the pizza ingredients and we look at the vocabulary and which words are masculine and feminine. Then they are ready to draw and create their very own pizza! Here is a link to the Madame Giraffe store where you can find a free la pizza drawing activity.

I had the students draw what their pizza would look like and then write out the ingredients on their pizza.

Then everyone made their own pizza out of play doh! So much fun!

This student's pizza really illustrates the song "Je suis une pizza"! Magnifique!

Les Crêpes françaises

One of my very favourite lessons of the year is a lesson on les crêpes françaises, where the students learn about the language rules around reading and writing recipes in French, play charades to learn the steps to make crêpes and finally have tons of fun in the classroom or kitchen making their very own crêpes. First I would introduce the class to a recipe for crêpes, like this one provided by Recettes du Québec. The students would learn the vocabulary words for cooking measurements, such as tasse and cuire a thé or cuire a soupe as well as the names of the ingredients. Next, I will have prepared index cards with each the instructions and a picture illustrating the action. The students would play charades to act out the steps to consolidate their learning. This would be a good time to introduce a project where students write out their own recipe for their favourite food. Finally, the students are ready to make their own crêpes! In the past, I have assigned ingredients as well as toppings (ice cream, jam, nutella, fruits etc.) and plates, napkins and cutlery to each student in the class. I brought a few extras of the main ingredients in case anyone forgot. The cooking lesson worked the best when I had the students work in the staffroom's kitchen, but if a stove is not available for you to use in the school you could take a hot plate to the classroom and make your crêpes there. It would be a good idea to prepare colouring sheets or a writing activity for students to compete as not everyone can make their own crêpe at the same time and there is some waiting time. Here are some links to activities you could have going on at the table or students' desks while making crêpes:

Crêpe Suzette colouring sheet provided by Frenchteacher.com

Crêpe Suzette cd to listen to some fun French music while cooking

A video on making crêpes provided by Crêpes de France

Quizzes on French culture found at Livebinders.com

Hope you get a chance to try making les crêpes françaises in your classroom this school year!

Bon appétit!