If you’re a Core French and/or French Immersion teacher looking to diversify how you teach la Francophonie in your classroom, I’ve got you covered! This blog post consists of dozens of ideas, activities, and resource recommendations to teach about Francophone countries in your French class.

Before we begin, let’s discuss some guiding principles.

When teaching about la Francophonie, we must:

• Explore why French speakers speak the language outside of mainland France. To understand this, we must delve into the concepts of power, identity, and the legacies of colonialism. Discuss that the status of French in these countries is constantly changing, and there are complex reasons for this.
• Center Francophone perspectives and voices where possible.
• Not romanticize. Explore complexities.
• Not just explore the good stuff like food and music. Ground your teaching in critical thinking. Teach about the tough topics like oppression, resilience, and activism.

Explore the Roots of la Francophonie

With my classes, I always begin with why there are places outside of mainland France that speak French.

I don’t sugarcoat.

If you’re looking for a fun way to introduce French-speaking places to your classes, this is a fun trivia game.

After the trivia game, your students will be ready to learn about the complex origins of la Francophonie.

If you’re on my email list, you can also download map activities (and more) from my Free French resource library.

French Music

French music is such a beautiful and diverse way to explore la Francophonie.

Here are some different ways you can do this:

• Try out a routine like Chanson de la semaine
  • Here’s a free resource to help you start this routine with your students
• Create an inspiring bulletin board with posters of French musicians
• Explore the historical and sociocultural origins and importance of musical genres from French-speaking places
  • Zouk – Martinique/Guadeloupe
  • Mbalax – Sénégal
  • Kompas – Haïti
  • Raï – Algérie
  • Chanson québécoise – Québec
• Study different French musicians in class
  • Use my free reading comprehension text to learn about Aya Nakamura
• Try Manie Musicale – Manie Musicale is a yearly event where French teachers organize a bracket-style contest. The teachers who organize Manie Musicale are very intentional about diversity. Tons of cultural learning moments also occur during this competition! There couldn’t be a better way to center la Francophonie in your classroom than with Manie Musicale!

Francophone Fact of the Week

Francophone Fact of the Week is a weekly French routine that combines intercultural awareness, reading, and responding to questions in French.

Integrating Francophone Fact of the Week into your routines ultimately supports this intention behind teaching and learning French.

Click here for the novice version.

Access the intermediate version.

Click here for the advanced version.

Watch a TV Show or Movie

TV shows and movies are a great way to understand values and social issues in other parts of the world.

TV5Unis.ca is a free tool that allows you to watch TV shows and movies in your class. The Canadian government sponsors this website to promote the French language.

They have an abundance of excellent TV shows and movies! The only downside is that there are no English subtitles.

Easy French YouTube Channel

Easy French is an excellent YouTube channel. It is one of my favourite listening tools in the Core French classroom.

Pros of Easy French:

• They create videos about a wide variety of cultural topics. You can find videos on various issues, including food, habits, travel, and slang. You can easily find videos on any topic you’re teaching.
• All videos have subtitles in French & English
• They’re so engaging!

Cons of Easy French:

• Given that they are based in Paris, most of their videos tend to focus on Paris and its culture.

Study a Specific Francophone Country or Region

Studying specific Francophone countries or places is such a great way to understand a place, its culture, and its people.

Here are some ideas:

• Teach about a unit on Sénégal
• Teach a unit on Vietnam
• Teach a unit on Morocco
• Teach a unit on Belgium

Podcast: French Duolingo Podcasts

Duolingo Podcasts are one of the best listening tools out there! These podcasts feature stories of resilience from all over the Francophone world. Most of the episodes are in intermediate French, and some I would consider advanced!

• Read this blog post to discover my favourite intermediate episodes.
• If you’re on my email list, you can download the handouts I’ve created, which serve as scaffolds for the podcast episodes. They can be found here. Please note that the password is exclusively available to those on my email list.

Discover Francophone Trailblazers

Learning about the contributions diverse Francophones have made to society is such a great way to learn about the Francophone world. These are the posters I’ve created. They come up with editable descriptions in English and French.

Access the posters here.

Map Talks

Map talks are one of my favourite activities for highlighting a specific country. I learned all about Map Talks from Benjamin Tinsley from Afro Franco. The first time I did a map talk with my class, I was blown away by how engaged my students were!

Ben co-authored this blog post on on the Comprehensible Classroom. Ben has tons of map scripts in his TPT. I highly recommend purchasing these map scripts as they are an accessible and no-prep way to try out this activity.

Watch these two examples of Map Talks:

• Ben Tinsley’s map talk on Mayotte
• Elodie Channa’s map talk on Lebanon

Explore Holidays & Celebrations in la Francophonie

Teaching about holidays and celebrations is very popular among French teachers for very good reasons. In my experience, French teachers are making a great effort to teach about the celebrations of their students in the classroom, alongside Francophone celebrations.

Here are some ideas and resources to start:

• Read picture books about Ramadan & Eid. Explore my favourites here.
• Learn about the celebrations of your students with this bundle
• Cécile Lainé also has a series of presentations co-authored with teachers from different backgrounds. These are accessible here.

French Slang + Where Verlan Originates From

Verlan is one particular type of French slang. It was created by French youth of religious, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. These children didn’t quite fit into French culture entirely (they were of a different racial and religious background) and they also did not fit into their parents’ cultures perfectly.

Therefore, they created a third space for themselves. This third space is Verlan. Verlan serves as a bridge between their parents’ culture and French culture. Therefore, Verlan is empowering for these youth.

Every Tuesday, my Grade 10s learn two slang expressions. Every week they look forward to learning “cool” French slang terms!

This is one of my favourite ways to incorporate la Francophonie into the classroom.

Read more about how I structure this routine here.

With my Grade 10s (third-year Core French), I do a whole unit on the origins of French slang.

My Core French students learn about les banlieues & the lives of French youth of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.

At the very end of this unit, they create a One-pager project on everything they have learnt during the unit.

I have a whole blog post dedicated to how I plan and teach this unit. You should go read it.

Stories & Texts on la Francophonie

Lastly, stories and texts are the best way to hear Francophone perspectives. The best part is that there are numerous resources available to help you accomplish this.

Here are resource recommendations:

• Read French picture books with Muslim, Black, or Asian representation.
• Listen to legends from Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, and France on TV5.
• Réseau-In-Terre Actif is a phenomenal resource. They create classroom resources on various social issues.
• Read a CI Novel in your class about a Senegalese graffiti artist named Zeinixx

The post How to Bring la Francophonie to Life in Your French Classroom appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

If you’re a Core French teacher looking to incorporate a brand new weekly routine, Francophone Fact of the Week is for you! Let’s explore why this French classroom routine is one of the best ones out there.

What is Francophone Fact of the Week?

Francophone Fact of the Week is a weekly French routine that combines intercultural awareness, reading, and responding to questions in French.

If you’ve been following me, you know that I love teaching Core French with a range of daily and weekly routines. It’s super effective for me and my students love it as well! To learn more about how and why I integrate diverse routines in my teaching, click here.

What are the benefits of incorporating Francophone Fact of the Week into your French routines?

Building Intercultural awareness into your routines

Early in my career, I made it a goal to be very intentional about teaching French through an anti-oppressive lens. I wanted my students to understand that the French are not the only ones who speak French!

Now that I am almost a decade into my career, I can target intercultural awareness in a million ways. However, having a routine that teaches about the diversity of the French world every single week at every level is still very useful!

If you’re like me, you sometimes struggle with how to do this in a novice-level French class. I have created facts for absolute beginners, so it’s a no-brainer to ensure that we hit this competency every week!

Teaching about diverse Francophone cultures through “fait francophone de la semaine” strengthens the understanding of “why we learn French.”

We don’t learn French to memorize grammar and vocabulary.

We learn French because it serves as our entry point to discovering the diverse cultures, identities, and lived experiences of French speakers.

Integrating Francophone Fact of the Week into your routines ultimately supports this intention behind teaching and learning French.

Novice Francophone Fact of the Week

These Novice Francophone Fact of the Week slides were created for beginners learning the French language.

My own students love these. I love seeing the spark of curiosity in their eyes and the confidence that they actually understand what the fact means!

They’re engaging, accessible, and eye-opening.

Intermediate Francophone Fact of the Week

Next up, the Intermediate Francophone Fact of the Week resource targets all of the same skills as the novice version.

They’re just a little more complex than the novice versions.

Advanced Francophone Fact of the Week

Lastly, the advanced Fait francophone de la semaine is my favourite!

There are so many unique, empowering, and resilience-demonstrating stories out there. It was such an honour to write about some of these stories for advanced French students!

Foster intercultural awareness and strong reading skills with the Fait francophone de la semaine routine for French class

Grab your copy now

Grab your copy now

Grab your copy now

The post Francophone Fact of the Week: The Must-Have Routine for Culturally-Rich French Lessons appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Today I am sharing French films and short films with Muslim representation for the Core French classroom. You can show these in the French Immersion classroom as well.

These films and short films are a great way to humanize Muslims, especially Francophone Muslims, and foster empathy among our students.

Students need to see and hear stories about Muslims because it helps humanize their experiences, fosters empathy, and challenges stereotypes, allowing students to see the richness and diversity within Muslim communities. This kind of representation is essential for building a more inclusive and understanding world.

I also have a blog post with French picture books (that I love and adore) with Muslim characters. You can read it here.

À pleine voix – Saida Ouchaou-Ozarowski (ONF/NFB)

The first documentary is a 52-minute film featuring the stories of four Muslim Canadian women. They share their personal experiences of being Muslim in Canada and discuss how they navigate stereotypes and generalizations from society and the media.

Three of the women are Francophone and one is Anglophone.

The stories of these women are both compelling and highly relevant to today’s society, especially when it comes to the humanization (or lack thereof) of Muslims. In my opinion, it’s a must-watch.

À pleine voix, Saida Ouchaou-Ozarowski, offert par l’Office national du film du Canada

Au secours! Clichés de la Terre entière. Des filles et des règles.

This is a really fun series on TV5Unis. This particular episode is all about periods, a relevant and taboo topic.

This would also be a great episode for International Women’s Day or Women’s History Month!

Banlieusards on Netflix (Street Flow in English)

Banlieusards is the story of a Senegalese family living in a French banlieue. This is hands down one of my favourite French films because of the way it weaves the story of young people living in Banlieue and the immigrant experience in France. I showed this film to my Grade 10s last year and they were obsessed!

Please do note that there are some swear words in the film.

If you know any other French films or short films with Muslim representation, please leave them in the comments below!

The post French Films and Short Films with Muslim Representation for the Core French Classroom appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

If you are a French teacher, you are likely more familiar with French festivals in France over Canadian French festivals. Many French teachers teach about celebrations such as Mardi Gras and la Toussaint in their classrooms. However, Canada is home to many awesome French festivals, many of them being Canadian winter festivals. Here are four yours students can learn about in French class!

Why should you teach about these classic Canadian French festivals in your French classroom?

First of all, Canadian French students need to be familiar with Canadian history, and specifically Canadian Francophone history.

Many of these Canadian French festivals and celebrations are linked to the relationships between French-Canadian settlers and Indigenous communities. For example, Festival du Voyageur celebrates Métis and Indigenous heritage in Manitoba. Tintamarre celebrates the resilience of the Acadian people who were deported due to their kinship with the Mi’kmaq and the refusal of the Acadian people to submit to English rule.

Maillardville is intricately connected to BC history. It is specifically connected BC and Canada’s history in needing Asian labour and then discriminating against those very workers. If you’re located in the Lower Mainland, I take my Grade 10s to Mackin House museum where they learn about this very important history.

Therefore, it is incredibly important that Canadian French students learn about Canadian French history and the histories tied to these celebrations.

How can you teach about these Canadian French festivals in your Core French and/or French Immersion classroom?

I’ve written French reading comprehension articles on each of these Canadian French festivals and more! Each of these French texts includes pre-reading and post-reading activities.

There are also tons of documentaries available on the Internet for you to view with your students.

Canadian winter festival #1 – Festival du voyageur

Let’s begin with one of the least well-known Canadian French festivals – le festival du voyageur!

Le Festival du Voyageur takes place annually in Saint-Boniface, Winnipeg. It typically takes place in February. 

Le Festival du Voyageur celebrates the French-Canadian and Métis cultures that are integral to Manitoba’s history. The festival activities include traditional music, dance, and food. Festival attendees can engage in a variety of historical and cultural activities such as snow sculpting and historical reenactments. 

For French students, exploring the Festival du Voyageur provides a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in Francophone and Indigenous heritage. For Canadian students, they are normally not very familiar with Francophone communities outside of Quebec. 

Canadian winter festival #2 – Festival du bois

Next up, we have a French Canadian festival from Maillardville. Maillardville was the only French settlement west of Saint-Boniface.

If you are in BC, learning about the history of Maillardville is essential.

Festival du Bois takes place in Maillardville, Coquitlam annually in March. It celebrates local Fench-Canadian history and culture in British Columbia.

The celebration is deeply connected to Maillardville’s history in the logging industry. During the Festival du Bois, you can take part in live music, traditional dances, and tons of delicious foods.

Canadian winter festival #3 – Carnaval d’hiver à Québec

Most Canadian French festival students are the most familiar with this one. C’est le Carnaval d’hiver au Québec!

This one takes place in Québec City and it’s all about bringing light and fun to a very cold and dark time of year – a Canadian winter.

Canadian French festival #4 – Tintamarre

Lastly, we have Tintamarre which is the celebration marking the resilience of the Acadian people.

Tintamarre takes place on August 15, the day of National Acadian Day. This day is really important because it celebrates the resilience and cultural pride of the Acadian people. Tintamarre actually means “loud din” and it’s when Acadian people make as much noise as possible to say “we are still here”.

There’s a huge parade, music, colourful costumes, and more.

The post Canadian French Festivals to Explore in the Classroom appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Are you a French teacher looking to go beyond typical classroom Christmas activities and lessons? Here are five Francophone Christmas traditions to teach in French class! All five of these Francophone Christmas traditions from different parts of the Francophone world. We’ve got representation from Provence (France), Haiti, les Antilles, Quebec, and Switzerland.

Why teach about Christmas traditions in the Francophone world?

French classes have traditionally focused significantly on France. I’ve discussed in detail why this is extremely harmful to French language learners as it intentionally ignores the diverse peoples, cultures, practices, dialects, and perspectives of all French-speaking people.

Teaching about Francophone traditions is one way to de-center France.

Francophone Christmas Tradition #1 : les 13 desserts de Noël (Provence, France)

When creating this resource, I really wanted to focus on a lesser-known French Christmas tradition.

Full disclosure – I am a Punjabi/Sikh teacher. If you are Christian, you may of course be more familiar with these traditions than I am.

The 13 Christmas Desserts is a tradition from Provence, France.

The resource I’ve created briefly explains each of the 13 desserts and what they represent.

Francophone Christmas Tradition #2 : Le chanté Nwèl aux Antilles

The second Francophone Christmas tradition to teach about in French class is Chanté Nwèl from the French Antilles.

In fact, Chanté Nwèl is connected to the history of slavery in this region. This Christmas tradition represents solidarity and a culture of sharing among the Antillian community.

I’ll be honest, this one was my favourite to learn about!

Francophone Christmas Tradition #3 : la Tourtière au Québec

The third Francophone Christmas tradition is a beloved dish from le Québec! C’est la tourtière!

In this part of the lesson, students will learn about when les Québecois eat tourtière. They will also watch a historical video and learn about what ingredients are typically found in tourtière.

Francophone Christmas Tradition #4 : le Krémas en Haïti

The fourth Francophone Christmas tradition is a delicious drink called Krémas which is consumed in Haiti.

Many students may even make comparisons between Krémas and the popular Christmas drink of eggnog!

Francophone Christmas Tradition #5 : le marché de Noël de Bâle, Suisse

The last Francophone Christmas tradition is le marché de Noël de Bâle, Suisse.

Did you know that this is the largest Christmas market in the world?

Over a million people visit this Christmas market every year.

Want a ready-made resource to teach Francophone Christmas traditions?

The post 5 Francophone Christmas Traditions to Discover in French Class appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Planning a Francophonie unit can be both exciting and overwhelming.If you are anything like me, you mostly learnt about the Francophone world independently. However, you are not alone, fellow French teacher! I am going to share with you a bunch of the activities and resources I use as part of my Francophonie unit.

Please note that this is the unit I use to introduce my French language learners to the history of the Francophone world.

That being said, Francophone cultures are infused into every single French classroom routine and lesson. Sometimes Francophone cultures are infused minimally in the lesson and other times they are a significant part of our class that day.

Why teach a Francophonie unit in French class?

Learning a language isn’t just grammar and vocabulary lists.

Language is people. Language is culture.

My first language is Punjabi. I cannot separate Punjabi from the food, the music, the history, the recipes, customs and practices, and so much more.

Language is a vehicle for culture. We absolutely cannot separate these two!

So yes, it is not only very important to teach about why French is spoken throughout the world and to learn about the people who speak it, but it also makes French classes so much more engaging.

STOP! Before you scroll – download these Francophonie maps activities for free.

Who are these activities ideal for?

These activities are ideal for high novice to intermediate French students.

Francophonie unit overview

In this Francophonie unit, students will :

• learn basic information about the French Empire, colonization, and the current French-speaking world
• explore current statistics about Francophones and Francophone places
• research and describe a Francophone country or region for their flag project

Activity 1 : start your Francophonie unit talking about WHY French is spoken around the world

This two-page reading comprehension article is designed to teach your students about the history of the Francophone world.

This part of the unit is crucial. We absolutely do not want to glorify the French-speaking world.

We have to remember that colonization is the reason why countries in Africa, Asia, and North & South Americas speak French.

It is crucial that we understand that former colonies have complex relationships with the French language and it is okay for them to define their relationship.

This article does just that. No romanticizing. No glorifying.

Discover some fast facts about the French-speaking world with your class

Start a discussion with your class with this graphic organizer.

It is the perfect way to begin a Francophonie unit!

How many French speakers are there throughout the world? How many countries are part of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie?

Who were the founders of the OIF? Where is the OIF located?

What are most populated Francophone cities in the world?

Tip : before you read this page with your students, have them guess these questions as a class!

Francophone city capitals, new vocabulary, and flags of Francophone countries

I’ve come up with tons of activities that complement your Francophonie unit objectives.

A creative summative project – individual Francophone country research project

End your unit with this creative summative project.

Students will research a Francophone country or region of their choice.

They will then decorate this flag with information they have found.

50 different templates have been provided for you!

Play this game : où est le pays francophone ?

This is a really fun game to play at the start of the unit.

Divide your class into two teams. Have 1 representative from each team come up to the board.

Reveal the Francophone country of the round. Both participants must correctly circle the country on the map.

This game reveals how much students know or do not know about the geography of Francophone countries.

French reading comprehension activity idea : quel pays francophone suis-je ?

This a reading comprehension activity where students read a description of a Francophone country.

The objective is to correctly guess which Francophone country is being described!

After reading a few of these together, I have my students write their own descriptions for an assignment. This is a great little mini assignment for a Francophonie unit.

What other supplementary resources to support this unit?

• Teach about France’s current empire with this YouTube video
• Play a Francophone trivia game
• Read about diverse Francophone dishes
• Try a Map Talk (learn about map talks from Afro Franco)

The post Teaching about the Francophone world: Francophonie Unit Ideas appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

So you’re a French teacher looking to teach French slang in the language classroom. Maybe you’re looking to spice up your French classes. Or perhaps you’re trying to get your teenage French students to see that French can be cool too. I am going to teach you exactly how to do that! Today we are going to learn about teaching French slang to Core French and/or French Immersion students.

Step 1 – what slang terms do French youth use?

To begin, what slang expressions do French youth employ in their day-to-day lives?

Like most French students, I did not learn these expressions at school. I created my own list of French slang expressions after watching tons and tons of popular French TV shows and movies.

It took me months to create a solid list of relevant expressions.

Step 2 – understanding the social, political, and historical origins of French slang vocabulary

As French teachers, I think we would be doing our French students a massive disservice if we didn’t also teach about the social, political, and historical origins of French vocabulary.

Verlan is one particular type of French slang. It was created by French youth of religious, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. These children didn’t quite fit into French culture entirely (they were of a different racial and religious background) and they also did not fit into their parents’ cultures perfectly.

Therefore, they created a third space for themselves. This third space is Verlan. Verlan serves as a bridge between their parents’ culture and French culture. Therefore, Verlan is empowering for these youth.

Verlan words are formed by inversing syllables in a word. Sometimes syllables are removed to make the word easier to pronounce. Other times syllables are added for the same purpose.

There is also a ton of French colloquial expressions that are not Verlan.

Teaching two French slang terms a week

I used to teach French vocabulary by simply handing out a list to my students. I would then ask them to translate that list.

No, no, no.

I am much more intentional now as a seventh-year teacher.

I teach two French slang expressions per week. The idea is that by focusing on two week, we can actually employ them immediately.

During these weekly lessons, I have my students compare the standard and colloquial forms of the expression.

I also teach about the origins of the expression.

Teaching French slang should be fun. My students love these weekly lessons.

Students record the weekly French slang expressions on a recording sheet.

Each week I also the new expressions to our word wall so that students can refer to them that week and the following week.

After we have learned all 40 expressions, students create a poster where they illustrate the French slang expression,

Don’t be afraid to teach about the social, political, and historical origins of French slang

With my Grade 10s (third-year Core French), I do a whole unit on the origins of French slang.

My Core French students learn about les banlieues & the lives of French youth of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.

At the very end of this unit, they create a One-pager project on everything they have learnt during the unit.

I have a whole blog post dedicated to how I plan and teach this unit. You should definitely go read it.

If you are interested in teaching French slang and you want ready-to-go resources, I have got them for you!

The post Embracing French Slang in the Language Classroom appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

You’re a Core French or French Immersion teacher and you’re looking to teach about Francophone countries, or maybe even Francophone Belgium. However, you’re at a roadblock. What DO you teach about? And how? Worry not fellow French teacher, here are tons of ideas for you if you’re looking to teach about Francophone Belgium in the French classroom!

Why should you teach about Francophone Belgium in your French classroom?

Personally, I love to teach about Francophone cultures. I find that in terms of European Francophone countries, students are already significantly exposed to French culture. Therefore, I like teaching about Belgium, because Core French students tend to know very little about this specific Francophone country.

Of course, I also teach about tons and tons of non-european Francophone countries, including Haiti, Senegal, Morocco, and more!

Which grades are these activities ideal for?

These activities are ideal for intermediate to advanced Core French or French Immersion students.

Before you teach about any specific Francophone country, ensure that your students have learned about the French Empire, colonization, and the legacies of Empire

Before you learn about individual Francophone countries like Belgium, make sure your Core French and/or French Immersion students are well acquainted with the history of the Francophone world.

Click here to check out this resource.

Activities and resources for teaching about Francophone Belgium

Go on a virtual tour of Francophone Belgium (and non-Francophone Belgium tbh)!

French Virtual Trip table of contents :

Students will explore (76 slides total) :

• Basic facts and geography
• the Atomium
• Chichons au gratin
• la ville de Bruges
• Belgian chocolate
• Parc du cinquantenaire
• Grand-Place

Interactive elements include :

• Google Earth visits
• QR codes
• Videos and comprehension questions
• Discussion questions
• Trivia questions on cultural elements
• Links to YouTube videos (French & English for each concept)

Go on a virtual visit to the Atomium – a unique Belgian monument

When you’re teaching your students about a Francophone country, you always want to bring the country to life in a way where students will feel like they’re standing in that country in that moment.

Well, teleportation doesn’t exist yet. Google Earth and Google Map tours are the closest thing to virtual trips that I can do from my classroom.

Have your students read all about the history, geography, and culture of Belgium

I wanted to create a resource that would help my students learn some basic information about Francophone Belgium. Since I teach in Canada, I know that most of my students know very little about Belgium.

Overall, I am really proud of how this article turned out!

It follows the same structure as my previous French reading comprehension articles. This means that there are built-in pre-reading and post-reading activities to build student confidence and facilitate comprehension.

Complete a tour of some of Belgium’s most famous sites

Tour some of Belgium’s historic monuments and well-known cities with this guided tour! I love that it’s all in French too! It can be so rare to find the perfect resources in French.

Get your students to make a brochure on Belgium

At the very end of our studies on Francophone Belgium, I have my students make a brochure with all of the information they have learned from the unit.

Visit the historic town of Bruges

Forget Brussels and discover the historic town of Bruges!

Explore the geography of Belgium with a map activity

Here’s the deal, geography is REALLY important in French class.

The purpose of this activity is to locate Belgium’s major rivers, cities, geographic zones, and neighboring countries.

Understanding Belgium’s geography is an important step to understanding demographics, the economy, natural resources, and more of Belgium.

Learn all about the famous chocolate industry of Belgium

Okay, no unit on Francophone Belgium can be complete without a tour exploring Belgium’s chocolate industry!

And more activities to explore Belgian history, geography, culture, etc.

Resource table of contents for the French Unit

• Link to suggested videos
• Vocabulary page (student and teacher)
• Fast fun facts sheet
• Belgium reading comprehension (5 pages)
• Belgium map activity
• Les gaufres belges exploration activity
• Bruxelles neighbourhoods virtual trip
• La cuisine belge research activity
• Les belges célèbres activity
• Les expressions idiomatiques de la Belgique
• Is this a real law in Belgium?? True or False activity
• Final brochure project

Test your knowledge of Francophone Belgium with this trivia game!

A game-style reading comprehension activity where students will test their individual and collective knowledge on climate change. It includes :

Check out the Francophone Belgium bundle on TPT

The post Exploring Francophone Belgium: A French Unit for French class appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

I am a HUGE fan of teaching all about Francophone cultures in the French classroom. One of the best ways that I love to do this is to combine Francophone cultural knowledge, fun French games, and French reading comprehension. French trivia games do just that. French trivia games are a fun & engaging way to learn about Francophone cultures in the French classroom.

Who should play these French trivia games?

These games are ideal for intermediate-advanced French students, either in French Immersion or in Core French. I’ve specifically made these for high school Core French students.

Sidenote, if you’re looking for French games that are NOT trivia games, go read this blog post with tons of different ideas and suggestions.

How do you play these French trivia games?

Simply project these on your whiteboard and play!

What kinds of Francophone topics can you learn about with these games?

Honestly, the world is your oyster. However, here are some ideas from my own classroom.

Learn about Francophone countries and places around the world

I created this French trivia game to test my students’ knowledge on cultural, geographical, and historical facts about Francophone countries and regions around the world.

Teach about les changements climatiques with this powerful French trivia game

Whether you’re looking for a French Earth Day activity or you need a game to teach about climate change any day of the year, this French trivia game is for you!

Explore the celebration of Diwali in French class

I am a teacher in Canada and therefore I have the responsibility of increasing the representation of the cultures of my students in my classroom.

I made this French trivia game so that my own students could learn about Diwali in French.

In the BC French 9 curriculum, students compare their own cultures with francophone cultures. This game is perfect for that!

Take a virtual trip to Belgium with this French trivia game

Next up, we go on a virtual trip to the Francophone country of Belgium in this French trivia game. We learn cultural, historical, and geographical facts about Belgium!

Discover the beautiful country of Morocco

I LOVE teaching about Morocco! I find the history, geography, and culture of Morocco to be so unique and beautiful. This French trivia game is a great opportunity to learn about a Francophone country in detail while playing a French game!

Laissez les bons temps rouler and celebrate Mardi in your French classroom with this French game!

Mardi Gras is a Francophone (and non-Francophone) celebration that French teachers LOVE to teach about. Why not combine learning about Mardi Gras with a fun game? It is the best of both words.

Let’s break down the French trivia games!

A variety of different types of questions

Multiple choice, true or false, short answer — many different types of questions to get your students’ thinking about the topic they’re learning about

What is the right answer?

Check right away to see if your students were correct!

Learn all about the correct answer

The learning doesn’t stop there! Dig deeper into each answer and learn more about that particular question.

Check out the French trivia games bundle here

The post French Trivia Games for Increasing Knowledge and Engagement in the French Classroom appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

As French teachers, it’s important to not only teach students about the French language and amazing cultural aspects of the francophone world but also its complex and often painful history. Colonial injustices continue to have a lasting impact on many francophone countries and peoples. It is essential that we educate our students about this history. By exploring the legacies of colonialism and the history of resistance, we can help students develop a deeper understanding of how truly complex “la francophonie” is.

In this blog post, I’m sharing French reading comprehension articles written for Core French or French Immersion articles. Each article delves into one such colonial injustice in the francophone world.

Disclaimer** – I sometimes hear from French teachers that French class isn’t “socials class”. Dear French teacher – the French language cannot be separated from geography, culture, art, and history. A language, especially a colonial language such as French, does not exist in a vacuum. Teaching French in all of it’s complexities, including colonial injustices in the francophone world, is doing the language and the diverse peoples justice.

A quick disclaimer before we begin

Many of the articles in this bundle touch on very sensitive subject matter. Please ensure you know your students, their backgrounds, and their needs before reading some of these with your students.

Before we begin, why is the structure of the French reading comprehension articles ideal for learners?

All of the articles in this series follow a very specific structure. I have designed these strategies to build confidence among my Core French learners in the knowledge that they already have. You can read about these French reading comprehension strategies in this blog post.

Each article comes with :

• pre-reading activities
• 2-page article
• reading comprehension questions (English & French options)
• One extension activity per article
• Answer keys

Nuclear testing in French Polynesia

This French reading comprehension article aims to educate French students of when France conducted Nuclear testing in la Polynésie française.

What was it? France conducted a series of nuclear tests in French Polynesia between 1966 and 1996. The testing took place primarily on the atolls of Mururoa and Fangataufa in the South Pacific.

How does it continue to impact people today? The nuclear tests had a major environmental impact on the region. They have also exposed Polynesians to radiation. Unfortunately, many Polynesians now suffer from radiation-related health issues and diseases.

Why should students learn about it? French Polynesians continue to deal with the health and environmental ramifications of nuclear testing. This is not an issue that is over. We must not only teach students about the richness of Polynesian culture, but also the devastating consequences of nuclear testing in the region.

Chlordecone crisis in Martinique and Guadeloupe

This next topic is one I have been hearing about in the media and also on social media. This article aims to educate French students on a major public health and the environmental crisis unfolding in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

What was it? The Chlordecone crisis is a public health crisis currently occurring in Martinique and Guadeloupe. Chlordecone was a pesticide sprayed on banana crops from the 1970s to the 1990s. France authorized the use of chlordecone in Martinique and Guadeloupe despite the substance being banned in the West.

How does it continue to impact people today? Chlordecone is a persistent organic pollutant that remains in the soil and water, and continues to contaminate crops, seafood, and drinking water. Unfortunately, it takes 700 years to break down in the environment. Exposure to Chlordecone has been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, infertility, and developmental delays in infants.

Why should students learn about it? French students need to learn about the Chlordecone crisis because it is a very current environmental and public health crisis occurring in the French Overseas Departments of Martinique and Guadeloupe. The habitants of the islands are currently fighting for justice as we speak.

Les enfants de la Creuse – the stolen children from Réunion

Les enfants de la Creuse is a heartbreaking event that is little known or studied in the Francophone world. Canadian students can also compare this colonial injustice in the francophone world with the 60s Scoop in Canada.

What was it? The Enfants de la Creuse refers to a group of children from the French overseas department of Réunion who were forcibly removed from their families. They were sent to be raised in mainland France in the 1960s and 1970s.

How does it continue to impact people today? The Enfants de la Creuse experienced severe trauma from the forced separation from their families and the abuse they suffered with their new families.

Why should students learn about it? Students should learn about the Enfants de la Creuse because it is an important part of French colonial history. Unfortunately, this event is also little known and studied in the francophone world.

The Paris massacre of 1961

Many French teachers are quite familiar with the Algerian War of Independence. The Paris massacre of 1961 took place in the context of the Algerian War.

What was it? The 1961 Paris Massacre was a violent attack by French police against Algerian protesters who were demonstrating against French colonial rule and the Algerian War. It occurred on October 17, 1961.

How does it continue to impact people today? The impact of the 1961 Paris Massacre is still felt today as it represents a dark chapter in French history and highlights the ongoing legacies of colonialism, systemic racism, and police violence. Many families of the victims are still seeking justice and recognition for the violence committed against them.

Why should students learn about it? Students should learn about the 1961 Paris Massacre because it is an important part of French history that is often overlooked or forgotten. By understanding this event, students can also reflect on contemporary issues related to racism, police violence, and human rights abuses.

The exploitation of Vietnamese people in rubber plantations

Last but not least, French students will learn about the exploitation of Vietnamese during the colonial era rubber plantations.

What was it? The Vietnamese rubber plantations were established by the French during their colonial rule in Vietnam. These plantations were used to exploit Vietnamese labor and natural resources to meet the growing demand for rubber in Europe and North America.

How does it continue to impact people today? The legacy of the Vietnamese rubber plantations continues to impact people today, particularly in terms of environmental degradation, economic exploitation, and social inequality. Many communities in Vietnam and other rubber-producing countries continue to face the harmful effects of the rubber industry, including land grabs, pollution, and poor working conditions.

Why should students learn about it? Students should learn about the Vietnamese rubber plantations during colonial rule because it represents an important example of how colonial powers used natural resources and labor from colonized countries to fuel their own economic growth. Understanding this history can help students reflect on contemporary issues related to global trade, environmental justice, and labor rights.

The post Teaching Colonial Injustices in the Francophone World appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.