Diwali, Halloween and Day of the Dead: Festivals of Light in Autumn!

The season of autumn is upon us and Madame Giraffe has many resources to share for this special time of year. Check out the Diwali slideshows with art lessons, as this celebration is a wonderful way to get students reading about different cultures, or even their own culture if the students are of Asian Heritage. Halloween is just around the corner, and there are several Halloween themed activities, games and slideshows for you. Finally, Day of the Dead is celebrated after Halloween and is a lively cultural event in South America. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-All-Saints-Day-and-The-Day-of-the-Dead-Traditions-ENGLISH-VERSION-7279649 

Check out the slideshows for the autumn season of celebration: celebrate light over darkness this fall and autumn season. Enjoy a pumpkin spice latte and cosy up with a warm sweater as we all settle into our colder weather routines in North America at this time. Cheers!

C'est février !

Winter has set in here in Canada with a big snow storm the past week. We are moving into our sixth month of virtual learning for some students in Ontario, for those who chose that option in September. Some students are starting to lose interest in online learning and are growing tired of all the screen time for school. 

I will encourage students this month by using themes of celebration to break up the cold winter blahs and get them excited about virtual learning again (some students will be learning online until June!).

For February I am going to focus on Black History Month biographies, celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Valentine's Day and celebrating the Lunar New Year. 

I've posted a free article about Terms of Endearment in French for the upper middle school and high school crowd. For younger grades and Core French classes, I've added a Cherche et trouve game: Valentine's edition. 

How will you beat the winter blues and spark interest in virtual learning for your students this February? 

A Back to School Like No Other

While school re-opening plans are being shared and openly debated in the media, teachers are preparing for a return to school in uncharted territory. Some considerations I have been making while planning for back to school include physical distancing, limiting group work, not sharing materials among classes, and planning lessons which will help to close gaps in learning. I am also working on including themes of anti-racism and cultural diversity into my long range plans. 

As a core French teacher I will be travelling from class to class instead of having students rotate through my classroom during rotary. I am going to be using the AIM program to increase student comprehension using gestures because I will be wearing a mask and possibly a face shield during instruction. This will mean teaching raps and games the first few days of school and slowly introducing students to the vocabulary that will be used in a short play. Instead of having the students perform the play in groups they will record their parts using an app like Flipgrid and create a video to tell the story. 

In a school board in Toronto I couldn't believe that part of their school re-opening plan involved cutting out French classes altogether. This was so that class sizes could be smaller because having no French classes would free up more homeroom teachers. The plan was rejected by the government, but it left me thinking that it is important now more than ever to remind students why it is important to learn French (or any other subsequent language). 

One of the lessons I will be teaching the first week back will involve discussing ten good reasons to learn French based on an article from the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. This will help answer that student question of "Why do we have to learn this?" and help to motivate students. Here is a link to this lesson on reasons to learn French. 

This will be a school year like no other, but it is important to embrace the new challenges and turn this into an opportunity to make lessons as engaging and culturally responsive as possible. 

Back to School: Icebreaker Games

One of the best parts about Back to School is getting to know your new students. I enjoy playing these icebreaker games to get to know my students.

Name Games

Have students come up with an action word or an animal that starts with the same letter as their name. For example, Sarah started with "S" and some action words in French that start with "S" are saute, serpent and ski. Once everyone has their action word chosen have students choose a physical action to do that shows what their word is. If Sarah chose saute, she could jump up and down. If she chose serpent she could slither like a snake. It might be useful to have an alphabetical list of example words to use handy so students don't spend a long time finding their word.

Once everyone has their word and action have students form a circle. The first person says their name and does their action. The next person in the circle has to first remember the first person's name and action and then say their own. For each turn, you first have to go through everyone else's name and action before you say your own. The repetition is great for remembering names!

The last person has the toughest job of remembering all the names and actions! This game can be just for fun so students can help each other remember the names and actions.

Human Bingo

Human Bingo is a little different than traditional bingo in that students are given a grid filled with spaces that need to be signed by other students in the class. For back to school you could use my human bingo card filled with icebreaker cues such as how many siblings someone has, their favourite sports and activities and best subjects in school. To win the game you have to be the first to get all the spaces filled on your card. You need to have a different student sign each space. It is a good idea to go over what the sentences mean in French first. Encourage students to only speak in French when playing this game. It is a fun way to get students up and talking.

Ratatouille

Have you watched the movie Ratatouille with your FSL or FI class? It is a great way to introduce the cultural component for the new French curriculum in Ontario. I have created Ratatouille : As-tu déjà? for you to introduce the vocabulary in the movie before watching it.You could print out one copy of it and show it up on the board and answer the questions as a whole class. This will help to preview the vocabulary in the film. You could also print a copy for everyone in the class and have them discuss their responses in partners or small groups. There is also a Ratatouille Graphic Organizer for getting to know the main characters. I think you will be able to fully engage intermediate and senior level students with these Ratatouille questions and ideas for assignments.   I also have a Ratatouille Paris themed colouring sheet to go with it if you are working with a younger crowd.  Ratatouille is such a fun movie to watch with your French class! Enjoy!

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!

Ratatouille

Recently I showed the Disney film Ratatouille in class in French. I found that the movie was a good springboard for talking about French culture because it takes place in Paris and features some French cuisine. I created a Ratatouille package that has worksheets to preview the new vocabulary in the movie and make a web that connects all the characters. It also has comprehension questions for specific sections of the movie if you want to break it down into 15 minute chunks for viewing. The students enjoyed the movie, and next they will make a menu and media project to show what they know about French food and culture. At the Madame Giraffe Store you can find a Ratatouille worksheet featuring the Eiffel Tower to give to students during or after watching the film.You can also find an outline for the menu project as well as rubrics for assessment. Bon travail!