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? 

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!