Holiday
Skidamarink in French: Pre-K Valentine Song
I decided to translate the ever-popular “Skidamarink” into French for Valentine’s Day. I just taught it to my four year-old today. We do a little dance to “Skidamarink” and big TPR hand gestures to go with the verses. Click here for a FREE printable song sheet. Listen & enjoy . . . c’est amusant!
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Teach Colors in French, Spanish, ESL: Fishing for Hearts
This Valentine’s Day, teach kids colors in French, Spanish, and English by fishing for hearts. This is a favorite pre-k activity, but it can be adapted for older kids, too. First, you’ll need some colored paper hearts. Click hearts for a free pdf. Make a few copies, cut, and laminate. Place a paper clip on [...]
Learn French for Mardi Gras: Elementary Readers Theater
Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday.” How can a day be fat? And why all the French? Let’s look at a little history to learn about Louisiana’s French Connection:
A French King, Louis XIV, sent explorers to the Mississippi River. In 1682, one of these explorers reached the river’s mouth, claimed [...]
Cajun Music for Mardi Gras
The 2010 date for Mardi Gras is February 16. This has always been a favorite celebration in my French classroom. My students learn about a traditional New Orleans Mardi Gras, complete with beads, masks, King Cake, and jambalaya. All day long I’ve got great Cajun music playing in the background. A favorite tradition of mine [...]
Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in French and Spanish Class: Lessons and Activities
The third Monday in January is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This national holiday honors the life and work of our nation’s greatest civil rights leader.
Foreign language students are already broadening their horizons of cultural awareness–what better place than French or Spanish class to celebrate Dr. King’s ideals of justice, harmony, diversity and equality? Furthermore, [...]
Food Drive and Other Service Projects in French and Spanish
With the arrival of Thanksgiving, the holidays will officially be in full-swing! I’ve already been admiring the Christmas lights and contemplating the Black Friday sales. But it’s also a time to think of others. Consider some service projects in your French and Spanish classes over the holidays. Your students can help others while improving language [...]
Talking About Thanksgiving Foods and Preferences in French and Spanish
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November is the ideal time to teach French and Spanish learners about food. Tukey, stuffing, and pumpking pie . . . mmmmm! Get your K-6 language learners using the target language for authentic communication this Thanksgiving holiday. Find out what foods they like and what foods they don’t like through highly structured pair work/interviews.
Younger children need [...]
Handprint Turkey Printables and Finger Play in French
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I wrote a simple little turkey finger play in French for Thanksgiving last year. Check it out here on video:
Voici la dinde, dinde, dinde = Here is the turkey (hold up hand)
Elle a une tête, tête, tête = She has a head (wiggle thumb)
Et quatre plumes, plumes, plumes = And 4 feathers (wiggle 4 [...]
Halloween Counting Books: French and Spanish Writing Project
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Developing writing skills in novice-level language learners is always a challenge. Writing tasks must be clear, simple, and highly structured. I’d like to share a simple Halloween writing project I’ve done with 5th and 6th grade students. Working in pairs or small groups, students wrote and illustrated a 10-page book. The writing is a [...]
French Halloween Rhyme and Finger Play
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Driving in my car this morning, I got a great idea for a French Halloween finger play. (All of my best ideas happen in the car!) This one is a variation on the “Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Wall” rhyme. The different versions include Halloween vocabulary, backwards counting, and ways [...]
