Holiday
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 it for France, [...]
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? [...]
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
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 [...]
Handprint Turkey Printables and Finger Play in French
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 [...]
Halloween Counting Books: French and Spanish Writing Project
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 pattern-practice [...]
French Halloween Rhyme and Finger Play
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 to say goodbye. It [...]
French and Spanish Halloween PowerPoint: Sabrina the Black Cat Story
Need a fun and simple Halloween story for a beginning French or Spanish learner? Look no further than Sabrina the Black Cat, a short storytelling/reading unit by Foreign Language House. Sabrina is a happy, little black cat who just happens to live in a haunted house with some sweet but spooky friends. The story is written [...]
Download the French National Anthem: La Marseillaise
July 14 is France’s Independence Day. Celebrate Bastille Day with a download of the French National Anthem–la Marseillaise! Use your own judgement when teaching children the words to France’s anthem. A wee bit violent, in my humble opinion. Here’s the first verse and chorus: Allons enfants de la Patrie, Arise, children of the Fatherland, Le [...]
