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.
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!
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
