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.

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.

French picture books are an incredible tool to use in the Core French and/or French Immersion classroom. Particularly since 2020, teachers have recognized the role that diverse picture books play in providing mirrors and windows, and eventually sliding glass doors, for all of our students. Today I am sharing with you French picture books with Muslim and/or Arab characters. This blog post is the first in a series where I share some of my favourite French picture books with diverse characters.

Dear French publishers – this isn’t good enough

This blog post is very short and I am incredibly saddened by it. I have searched for French picture books with Muslim and/or Arab characters for a very long time. I am talking about years.

There are dozens and dozens of incredible books that are coming out in English with Muslim and/or Arab characters. These books, written by Muslim authors, are not just about trauma and war. As a matter of fact, they often have to do with celebratory messages and stories that Muslims and non-Muslims alike need to be exposed to.

The stories that tend to be translated into French are almost always about war and trauma. These stories are also incredibly important. However, only publishing picture books about war and trauma paints the false (and dangerous) narrative that the Muslim and Arab world only have one story – that of tragedy.

Since the death of George Floyd in 2020, there has been a lot of effort to ensure that there are diverse French picture books being published. There has been a ton of progress. However, we fall VERY short when it comes to French picture books with Muslim characters and Muslim representation.

Disclosure #2 – the Muslim world is very diverse

Before we proceed with this blog post, please understand that the Muslim world is incredibly diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, language, culture, and more. There is no single French picture book that could represent that diversity.

I am a South Asian woman who is friends with, and have always been friends with, Muslims from all over the world. I am very well aware of the diversity.

My dream is that this blog post will soon have French picture books with representation of a very diverse Muslim world.

Also, please note that I am fully aware that not all Muslims are Arab and not all Arabs are Muslim. I fully understand that there is so much diversity within the Muslim and/or Arab world.

I will continue to update this blog post with new French picture books with Muslim characters as they become available.

Do you have recommendations of French picture books with Muslim characters?

If you know of French picture books or graphic novels that exist out there with Muslim and/or Arab representation, please DO leave me a comment below! I’d love to add more French picture books to this blog post.

We need to explicitly counter dangerous stereotypes of Muslims and Arab people

Look, the Western world has carefully constructed the very dangerous narrative that Muslims are terrorists, especially Muslim men. The classroom is a radical environment in which we must deconstruct these narratives and humanize the Muslim world.

In the 21st Century, the West has also normalized the pain and suffering that Muslims have been forced to experience. If we are sharing stories of war and tragedy in our classroom, we must balance the narrative by also sharing stories of joy.

Muslim children deserve to live and experience joy and happiness. End of story.

Where should you buy these French picture books from?

I really encourage you to purchase from your local independent bookstores. One of my favourite bookstores is located a block away from my school.

I will be linking all of these books through Les Libraires which is an independent bookstore in Québec.

Zaha Hadid par María Isabel Sánchez Vegara, illustré par Asun Amar

Zaha Hadid is the true story of a little girl from Iraq who knew she wanted to be an architect at the age of 11.

When Zaha was a little girl, she loved both art and math. She loved exploring with unique shapes and forms to create unique art.

Zaha’s story is an inspiring story of a woman who broke through the glass ceiling. In 2004, Hadid not only became the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, but she was also the first Muslim woman to win such a prize.

Themes: art, math, careers, women’s history

Year published: 2019

French level: Intermediate. mostly in passé composé/imparfait

Le plus beau des Aïds par Zeba Talkhani et Abeeha Tariq

Eid, or aïd en français, is the celebration that occurs post-Ramadan. In this book, we meet little Safa who is beyond excited about Eid!

In this book, we learn all about the traditions and customs that Safa and her family partake in on Eid.

Traditions include wearing new clothes, decorating one’s hands with henna, getting together with family, praying, and so much more!

Safa learns at the end of the book that a really important part of Eid is the act of giving selflessly. Thus, Safa and her mom take sweets and gifts to all of their (very diverse!!) neighbours.

In my opinion, every single classroom in Canada needs to have this book. Children need to be exposed to celebrations other than Christmas since our classrooms are very diverse places.

Themes: celebrations, Eid, traditions, and customs

Year published: 2022

French level: high novice. Present tense.

Le Bibliobus by Bahram Rahman, illustrations by Gabrielle Grimard

In Bibliobus, we meet Pari and her mom who are Afghan. Pari and her mom live in a rural Afghan village nestled in the mountains. They live a short drive away from a UNHCR refugee camp.

Pari’s mom drives the Bibliobus to the refugee camp every day to ensure that the girls who live at the camp have access to free books.

Pari’s mom teaches her daughter about the importance of being educated and how their liberty (from war and violence) is intricately connected to their education.

Themes: education and the importance of access to education, girls and women’s rights

Year published: 2020

French level: high novice to intermediate French

While the story is evidently set during the United States’ war on Afghanistan post-9/11, there is no outright mention of violence and war. The author subtly alludes to the consequences of this war, such as the illustrations of the UNHCR refugee camp. As such, this story is suitable for elementary years.

Most importantly, this story is about courage, perseverance, and the heroism of Afghan teachers.

Dounia by Marya Zarif

Le Monde de Dounia takes place in Aleppo, Syria. Dounia is our main character. In the beginning of the story, we see what Aleppo was like before the Syrian war.

We see and learn about the beautiful streets and historical landmarks.

Then, the first bombs begin to fall on Aleppo and we see the world beginning to crumble around Dounia and her family.

Dounia, her grandmother, and her grandfather embark on a dangerous journey seeking shelter and safety. Upon their arrival in Greece, they are treated poorly by the soldiers.

Eventually, Dounia and her grandparents arrive in a wintery Canada and are finally safe.

Themes: Syrian war, the challenges refugees face on their journey

Year of publication: 2021

French level: high novice (all in present tense)

Salma et les saveurs de la Syrie by Danny Ramadan, illustrations by Anna Bron

This story is set in Vancouver, Canada. Salma and her mom live in a shelter for refugees in Vancouver awaiting the arrival of Salma’s baba.

Salma notices that her mother no longer laughs. She decides that she is going to make one of her favourite Syrian dishes Foul shami in order to make her mom smile.

Salma embarks on a grand adventure to make her favourite Syrian dish. However, it’s not easy. She stumbles upon many obstacles that almost prevent her from making her dish.

The generosity and kindness of every individual at the shelter eventually help her finish her dish just in time for dinner.

Themes: culture shock, allusions to depression as a result of war, kindness, generosity

Year published: 2020

Level of French: high intermediate. It’s almost entirely in present tense, however, there is very little repetition of vocabulary which might make it challenging.

Just like Bibliobus, Salma et les saveurs de la Syrie alludes to war, but there are no explicit statements. Salma et les saveurs de la Syrie is about the culture shock, PTSD, and transition children who are refugees have to experience.

Salma’s story is beautifully written as it gives the reader an inside perspective on some of the feelings and experiences that children who are Syrian refugees may be experiencing.

I will be honest – I cried my eyes out in the last quarter of the book and at the simple, but heartwarming ending.

In my opinion Salma et les saveurs de la Syrie is a must-read.

Bonus : Le courage d’Amal

Here’s a novel recommendation for French Immersion teachers looking for a diverse French read-aloud option.

Le courage d’Amal is about 12-year-old Amal. Amal lives in a rural village in Pakistan. She is the eldest in her family and adores her sisters.

You’ll probably have stereotypes of Pakistan in your head because of the mainstream media. However, it’s worth noting that the family is middle class, like most of her village. Life for this family and community is simple, but they’re all happy.

Amal loves to read, learn, and go to school. In fact, it’s everything she dreams of doing. Amal dreams of being a teacher so that she can pass on her love and passion for education to others.

However, an event at the village market changes the course of Amal’s life. Because of this event, Amal discovers that a small group has the most power in the community. This group’s power comes from wealth.

Subsequently, Amal leaves her family to become a maid for the richest and most powerful family in the village.

What follows is a chain of unjust events. Amal discovers that she must find the courage to face up to the injustices of powerful and dangerous characters.

Themes: girls and women’s rights, social classes, activism, bravery

Year published: 2018

Did you find this blog post on French picture books with Muslim characters useful?

If you have found this blog post on French picture books with Muslim characters useful, please do leave a comment below.

Let me know which of these French picture books you intend to use in the classroom. If you have recommendations of French picture books with Muslim characters not listed in this blog post, please do let me know below!

In solidarity,

Pav

The post French picture books with Muslim characters appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

If you teach novice French classes, you know the struggle of finding relevant and engaging French reading comprehension texts. There is no in-between. You either find engaging texts that are waaay too difficult or boring texts that are at the right level. I am here to tell you that we can have both, fellow French teachers! Here are novice French reading comprehension articles on engaging and relevant cultural topics.

Who are these articles for?

These French reading comprehension articles are ideal for beginner French students. I have written these for my own novice Core French students in Grade 8.

But what are effective French reading comprehension strategies for beginner French students?

“but….Madame, I don’t speak French. I can’t read this!” was something I used to hear often the first few years of my career!

That and my students looking down at my reading comprehension text and not understanding a SINGLE word. Does this happen to you, fellow French teacher?

Chances are that you are making some crucial mistakes when structuring your reading comprehension activities with your students!

With my beginner French students, I teach a very specific set of French reading comprehension strategies. I have written a blog post where I break down each strategy.

All five of the articles mentioned below follow the structure and strategies mentioned in that blog post.

Looking for posters with helpful reading comprehension strategies?

I have created a set of posters that I have up on my whiteboard at the front of the classroom. They are so handy! They also go hand-in-hand with all of the novice French reading comprehension articles mentioned in this blog post.

When students forget their strategies, I simply remind them to look at the board.

Click here for this helpful visual tool

Why are these French reading comprehension worksheets ideal for novice French students?

For all 5 of the articles, I have chosen high-frequency structures and vocabulary that beginner French students learn in class. I have also purposefully chosen tons of cognates to further facilitate comprehension.

French reading comprehension topic #1 – Kylian Mbappé

So many of my novice French students not only love soccer, but they also love Kylian Mbappé. I felt that it only made sense to learn about Mbappé’s background.

High-frequency vocabulary & structures highlighted: French sports vocabulary, French nationality/ethnicity adjectives, French ER verbs, family vocabulary

French reading comprehension topic #2 – Le Louvre

The next novice French reading comprehension article is on the famous Parisian museum – le Louvre.

In this article, students are exposed to some past tense structures such as “était”.

We learn a little about the history of the Louvre and we also read about some interesting facts about the museum.

High-frequency vocabulary & structures highlighted: French adjectives, French art vocabulary

French reading comprehension topic #3 – Marseille

The third French reading comprehension article is all about the French city of Marseille!

In this article, French students will learn basic information about the city and people of Marseille.

High-frequency vocabulary & structures highlighted: French travel vocabulary, weather, French adjectives, il y a, être

French reading comprehension topic #4 – les Antilles

I strongly believe that you shouldn’t have to wait until your French students are at an intermediate level to expose them to la Francophonie.

This one in particular is filled with cognates. You can expose your Core French students to les Antilles françaises at a high novice level with the help of this article!

High-frequency vocabulary & structures highlighted: travel vocabulary, French adjectives, il y a, French irregular verbs

Reading comprehension topic #5 – le petit-déjeuner

Last but not least we’ve got one of my favourites! Le petit-déjeuner autour du monde.

In this article, students will learn about what kinds of breakfast dishes are eaten around the world.

High-frequency vocabulary & structures highlighted: French food vocabulary, country names in French, ER verbs

Grab these engaging beginner French reading comprehension texts

Each of these articles comes with structured pre-reading activities and strategies and reading comprehension questions in English and in French!

Grab your copy of these cultural reading comprehension articles

The post 5 novice French Reading Comprehension Articles for Beginner French appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

Whether you teach Core French or French Immersion, brain breaks, and movement breaks are essential for every program and grade level. You have got to incorporate French Four Corners games into your French routines! Four Corners are interactive French vocabulary games that combine French vocabulary, movement, and interaction!

What is Four Corners?

Four Corners is a digital French game. You simply project a slide on your whiteboard. The slide has a question in the center. The slide is divided into four areas. Each area has a different potential answer.

Students see all of the potential answers and identify the one that resonates most with them.

They then get up and move to that corner.

Why are these interactive French vocabulary games awesome?

I LOVE these games for a bunch of reasons.

They are community-building French games

There’s this one in particular that I play with my students at the start of the school year or the new semester. My goal is for all of us to get to know each other more in a light-hearted manner.

Teach new French vocabulary or revise previously learned vocabulary

You can create games on any topic or theme you are learning in class. For example, if you are teaching a French food unit, you can introduce new vocabulary with a Food-themed four corners game.

Who can play these interactive French vocabulary games?

These games are ideal for middle or high school-aged students in Core French and/or French Immersion. Since there is visual support, beginner French students can for sure play these games.

Let’s dive into some potential themes

I spent several weekends creating these French vocabulary games for my classes. If you do not have the time or resources to do so, these are available for purchase in my TPT.

You are absolutely welcome to create your own!

Here are the themes I’ve created

La rentrée scolaire

Some of the questions are basic get-to-know-yous like “quelle est ta collation préférée?” and others are questions that will and should result in a class discussion like “what are the qualities of a good teacher” or “how do you feel about homework”.

I chose these types of questions because I truly believe that a classroom community requires transparency and communication.

If you teach intermediates, this is an ideal French vocabulary game for revision at the start of a new school year.

Les animaux + le comparatif

The theme of this French Four Corners game is les animaux!

 This French game is the perfect way to review or learn about animals in French and get comfortable with the French comparative words of PLUS and MOINS.

French Hobbies, Pastimes, Activities Four Corners Game

The theme of this French Four Corners game is les passe-temps, les loisirs, les sports, et plus. ! 

This French game is the perfect way to review or learn or learn about vocabulary related to French hobbies, pastimes, sports, and more. 

French Food Four Corners Game – La NOURRITURE

French Summer-themed Four Corners Game

In this game, students will learn and/or review French summer and vacation vocabulary.

This game is great for French vacation units!

The post Four Corners : Interactive French vocabulary games appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.

In 1960, there were 3.9 million chickens in the whole world. In 2014, we had 21.41 billion. Crazy right? Teaching about Earth Day and the environment isn’t just something that should occur in Science class. French class is most fun when the learning is relevant to real-world issues. Here are 6 French Earth Day activities and resources for Core French & French Immersion teachers.

French Earth Day Infographics & Research Project

The following project is one I created myself! I am very passionate about informing my students about the harmful effects of our habits. For example, the fast fashion industry is one of the most harmful industries in the world. However, most students do not know how or why that is.

This resource includes 5 infographics on the following topics :

1. Fast fashion
2. Overconsumption of meat
3. Banana and avocado farming
4. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
5. The harmful effects of consumption during Christmas

Finally, for their final assignment, students will conduct research on one or many harmful consumption habits. They will then create a booklet presenting their research.

French Earth Day trivia game for intermediate to advanced students

Le jour de la terre isn’t just an opportunity for cute crafts. It’s an opportunity to engage your Core French and French Immersion students in critically thinking about all of our behaviours as a society and how harmful they are for the planet. This French Earth Day resource is a French reading comprehension game to be completed with the whole class.

What kinds of topics do you cover?

This French game touches on fast fashion, deforestation, heating/air conditioning, Himalaya glaciers, polar bears, recycling (what really happens to it), polyester, food packaging, and more!

Free French Earth Day printables

Looking for an engaging and meaningful French Earth Day resource for your Core French or French Immersion students? The goal of this jour de la terre activité is to engage your students in vocabulary-building and reflective activities regarding les changements climatiques. This activity can be used hand in hand with my other French Earth day activities that teach students about the harmful consequences of our habits as consumers and as a society.

What does this Jour de la terre freebie include?

• Mots-cachés
• coloriage par code
• 10 faits importants
• 4 changements que je vais faire dans ma vie à partir de maintenant

French Earth Day Resource #1 – Fiches pédagogiques sur l’environnement – Le Réseau In-Terre-Actif

First off is Reseau In-Terre-Actif. This is an awesome website where you can find reading comprehension activities on many different subjects.

You can find French Earth Day resources on the following topics :

• Déforestation planétaire
• L’accès universel à l’eau-potable
• La surpêche
• Désertification
• Les énergies renouvelables
• Cuba ; les énergies renouvelables au service du développement international
• Sri Lanka ; les fours solaires
• Bolivie ; l’eau, bien commun de l’humanité
• Mali ; lutte contre la désertification
• Cuba ; l’impact de l’éléctrification par l’énergie solaire

YouTube Playlist – videos & documentaries on écologie

Next is a YouTube playlist of some of my favourite videos and documentaries on climate change. You can find videos on topics such as :

• l’impact de la viande sur l’environnement
• le Nord face aux changements climatiques
• 4 conséquences inattendues du réchauffement de l’Arctique
• Norvège : Svalbard, sentinelle du climat
• Découverte | Le Gulf Stream, ce système régulateur du climat

For now, I will leave you with my favourite video on fast fashion!

Bio Genus

This next resource is an awesome, interactive French Earth Day resource on Quebec’s fauna & flora. The website is friendly for beginner French language learners and it is all written in the first person! The website is divided into :

1. Animaux
2. Végétaux
3. Champignons
4. Habitaux

Drôle de planète

Lastly, Drôle de planète is a fantastic French Earth Day resource from Belgium. It comprises of printable websites, onsite reading comprehension and even a web series you can watch! How cool is that? They even have really detailed labs and experiments to try in the classroom!

You should for sure bookmark this French Earth Day resource!

Consequently, I hope that you found these French Earth Day resources to be helpful! I would love to hear in the comments French Earth Day resources you’ve tried and loved!

Save the pin below to your Pinterest board so you can easily find these resources next year.

The post French Earth Day Activities & Resources appeared first on FLE Avec MmeD.