Are you searching for effective and meaningful French classroom community-building activities? As French teachers, we understand the importance of creating an environment where students feel connected, supported, and excited to learn French. I’m excited to share a curated collection of French classroom community-building activities that strike that perfect balance.
Before we get to French classroom community-building activities, let’s establish some basic points
Find a balance between firm and gentle
Teaching Core French in the secondary setting is so much fun. We get to do all sorts of engaging activities and fun projects. We focus so much on community-building and getting to know one another that sometimes too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.
Sometimes our students become a little *too* comfortable with us.
It is so important that teachers, especially new teachers, find that space between being firm and gentle. Both are really important.
If you are too gentle, you run the risk of having a super wild class. This can be super exhausting.
Or maybe you’re too firm and your students are afraid of you and this is impacting your classroom community.
Find the middle ground!
Setting and reinforcing strong boundaries is an essential French classroom community-building activity
Set very strong boundaries at the start of the school year.
So many teachers tell me that they like to co-create class expectations with their students and that works for them. Awesome!
I am a 5’1″, “young-looking”, female, Brown teacher. Unfortunately, I don’t exactly give off “authority” vibes like a tall male teacher would.
As a result, I have found that I need to be very explicit about my expectations. I don’t assume anything. Essentially, I spend all of September teaching and re-teaching routines and expectations.
Creating and reinforcing a safe space for EVERY single student
The French classroom needs to be a space space for every single student. There a few ways you can do this.
Everyone is welcome – create a safe space with posters
The Chaque enfant compte and La vie des Noirs compte are free downloads from my TPT. Tout le monde est bienvenue is from a set from Oui Madame Wee.
Follow up on unsafe actions and choices
Something I often hear from my students is that it really upsets them when one of their peers says something racist, homophobic, or anti-Semitic (a few examples) and the teacher does not follow up. They seem confused or unsure and they just don’t respond.
This is unacceptable. When you do not follow up on an unsafe action or choice, your student realizes that you are an unsafe adult. How are they supposed to learn from you when they don’t feel safe around you?
Interrupt the comment right away. Think about it for a bit while you finish teaching and then FOLLOW UP with all involved.
Here are some racism interrupters :
Embed anti-racism and representation into your French pedagogy
In 2020, so many teachers committed to unlearning and embedding anti-racism and representation into their pedagogy. I know that many French teachers made this commitment as well.
A classroom environment where all students feel safe isn’t just one where students are “kind” to one another. It is a place where the humanity of ALL students and all humans is recognized.
French classroom community-building activity #1 : My favourite routine of all time – question du jour
My favourite French classroom community-building routine is Question du jour.
This is a routine I have been doing with my Grade 11s since they were in Grade 8. Each class we begin with a question and get to know each other a little more.
The questions are sometimes silly, profound, and sometimes hilarious.
I have a full blog post on question du jour if you want to learn more about it and incorporate it into your routines!
French classroom community-building activity #2 : two truths and a lie
Another really fun French classroom community-building activity is Two Truths and a Lie.
You can either do this activity at the start of the school year or the semester or when teaching passé composé. P.s. if you’re looking for resources to teach passé composé, here’s a whole awesome blog post.
How to set up this French classroom community-building activity:
- ask your students to write 2 truths and a lie about themselves in French. Give them some examples of possible truths and lies. Provide them with helpful structures to decrease overwhelm.
- next, I always go over their truths and lie in the hallway to correct any major
- lastly, I take all of their truths and lies and create a slide per person.
- when we’re ready to present to the class, I ask the student to come up to the front of the classroom, read their truths and lie, and guide their peers through the voting process
French classroom community-building activity #3: French adjectives self-portrait
This activity is a low-stakes French classroom community-building activity. I actually discovered this awesome activity from Crayola’s Instagram account. So all credit goes to them!
This activity is all about French adjectives a student would use to describe their identity.
Please note that I do not force students to pick any adjective. They have the freedom to define their identity the way they want to and this includes adjectives that make them feel safe and comfortable.
I love putting these up in my classroom when students are up.
