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.

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.

Teaching about la francophonie is arguably the most important part of teaching French! Our students love learning about francophone countries & francophone cultures. Additionally, as French teachers we also want our students to think critically about the legacies of colonialism in the Francophone world. So, how do we balance celebrating francophone regions, but also teach about these legacies? I have found 10 excellent French activities to help you teach about la francophonie.

Before we begin – be sure to grab this freebie!

1. Teaching about the colonial legacies of la Francophonie – France’s Empire – Johnny Harris

Firstly, let’s chat about Johnny Harris! Johnny Harris is a very popular YouTuber. In this particular video, Harris discusses the French Empire and the fact that French colonies exist to this day.

In my opinion, Harris describes each of these colonies very well. Most importantly, he does not avoid discussing the tragic realities of colonialism.

For example, Harris mentions how France conducted nuclear tests in the French colonies in the 20th century.

It is important to discuss critically the former and present colonies. In fact, they are not only tropical destinations for tourists. These Francophone regions are home to people who live with the legacies of empire.

2. Spotlight on Francophone Africa – Conte-moi et TV5 Afrique (YouTube)

Secondly, we have a series of illustrated legends from la Francophonie. You can find illustrated tales from Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali and France.

These legends are ideal for advanced FSL students or intermediate-advanced French immersion students.

Moreover, each legend comes with free downloadable PDFs (teacher guides, student worksheets and more!)

Finally, you should subscribe to the TV5 Africa YouTube channel. Their YouTube channel contains excellent videos for the classroom on Francophone Africa!

3. Creative projects and assignments on la francophonie

If you are looking for prep-free Core French units and French projects on the Francophone world, I have got you covered!

You can find resources on :

• French slang (verlan) & racism in France
• a project on francophone celebrations
• French reading comprehension article on Francophone countries and regions
• a flag project on francophone regions and countries
• French reading comprehension article on breakfast in la francophonie

Looking for more ideas, tips and tricks? Read my blog post on 10 different ways to teach about Francophone countries.

4. Learning about Francophone Canada – Les visages de la francophonie

For those living outside Quebec/Ontario/New Brunswick and other Francophone communities, la Francophonie is not very visible.

I am from BC and there are not many opportunities to immerse yourself in francophone communities in my province. If you live in the US, that is probably true for you too!

Therefore, this is a fantastic video that illustrates what the French language means to francophones, especially those living in anglophone regions. Speakers also discuss the challenges they face and why they are proud to be Francophone.

Language level : beginning-intermediate

5. French reading comprehension worksheets on la francophonie

Are you looking for engaging and relevant French reading comprehension worksheets with pre-reading and post-reading activities? If you answered yes, these articles are for you!

I wanted to have engaging and appropriate texts for my middle students. As a result, I ended up writing these French reading comprehension worksheets for my students.

If you are looking for French reading comprehension strategies, I’ve got you covered on that as well. I have a whole blog post article dedicated to tips, tricks and strategies.

6. Francophone countries : 29 countries in 2 minutes

7. Conte-moi

This website contains many resources on the diverse Francophonie. You can find maps, tales in PDF format with illustrations and images.

8. On fête ensemble (TFO)

In our classrooms, we often talk about celebrations and how our celebrations and traditions differ from our origins. This website contains many videos about family celebrations.

Additionally, please note that these videos are a little dated. However, I still think they are a great tool for the class.

9. Réseau In-Terre-Actif – comprehensive PDFs

Here is another INCREDIBLE resource. This website offers you free PDFs on Francophone countries! These PDFs are very detailed.

10. Centre de la francophonie des Amériques

Finally, this last resource is a website of the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques. You can find many resources like posters, books and educational PDFs!

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If you have been to Québec in the spring, chances are you have heard of this Québécois tradition. You may have even attended a cabane à sucre! Today I am going to share with you how I teach about the traditions of cabane à sucre et le temps des sucres in French class!

I teach all about francophone traditions and celebrations in French 9 as it is a part of the BC curriculum. I always begin by having my students complete a reading comprehension activity on cabane à sucre before moving on to other francophone celebrations and traditions.

What are cabane à sucre et le temps des sucres?

Le temps des sucres translates to maple season in English. As you may have predicted, this tradition celebrates the harvest of maple syrup.

As a matter of fact, maple syrup is an important historical and cultural Canadian icon. Eurocentric historical narratives do not give credit to the origins of this sweet water. Maple syrup was in fact discovered by Indigenous peoples far before Europeans set foot in North America.

Historical background on the tradition cabane à sucre

Using this free text, your students will learn that the First Peoples harvested maple water and boiled it down into maple syrup long before colonization.

In fact, there are many Indigenous legends surrounding the discovery of maple syrup.

For example, in the legend Sweetwater Maiden: The Mi’kmaw Legend of Maple Syrup, a young maiden discovers the sap of a maple tree and boils it down to maple syrup.

As a French student myself who was studying in Quebec, I experienced first-hand a Cabane à sucre during the springtime and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my time in Quebec.

However, I only wish I had known the importance of le temps des sucres to Quebecois identity.

Due to this reason, I created a reading comprehension resource for my own students as part of their francophone celebrations unit. With this resource, students will learn all about the tradition cabane à sucre.

Using the resource, students will

• read about la cabane à sucre and le temps des sucres and their historical origins
• learn how maple syrup was first harvested by Indigenous peoples
• discover how the harvest of maple syrup has changed over the centuries
• learn 20 new vocabulary words connected to maple syrup
• discover how le temps des sucres is an important part of Québécois identity
• watch a series of videos on YouTube to further their understanding of the origins and importance of maple syrup to Indigenous populations and Québec

Supplementary videos to watch

This first video is a quick introduction to the history of maple syrup. This particular video is best suited for French Immersion students Grades 5 & up.

Next up is a video showing how the production of maple syrup has changed over the centuries. Since the reading comprehension article focuses on how maple syrup was originally distilled, this video shows how that process has evolved over time.

Video #3 is perfect as it explains a lot of the information in the first two videos, but in a more kid-friendly way.

Finally, this last video shows how maple water was originally harvested and distilled by local Indigenous populations in the lands now called Ontario and Québec.

This activity includes a pre-lecture, a reading as well as activities for post-reading. I have also included exit tickets and  6 supplemental resources such as YouTube videos and articles that you can show your students. 

To receive this resource for free, all you need to do is sign up below!

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