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!