For Any Grade French Cultural Activities

Looking for a fun way to spruce up your classroom for Christmas?! Look no further!

This resource will guide you in creating a balloon-popping advent adventure for your students in middle school. Featuring 21 activities to choose from, including explanations, materials, time frames and step-by-step instructions for set-up of the calendar and activities, your students will get jazzed every day for what they "pop!"

A mixture of "free" activities (i.e. paper, pencils, scissors and glue - at most!) and other options which involve purchasing (i.e. graham cracker gingerbread houses and marshmallow snowmen) will allow you the flexibility to choose the duration of this advent calendar, the frequency of the "popping" and will allow you to choose options within your budget and time constraints.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Hope you have fun!

Kaitlyn.

Are you a CI teacher that struggles with whether to teach tu and vous first? I like to pick one and stick with it for a time to avoid confusion. In the past, I have used the tu form because the end sounds are the same for je, il/elle/on forms. This kept everything simple and kept target structures limited. However, vous is a very important pronoun in French. I don't want to think about sending kids to France and being in the habit of using tu. While some francophones would be sympathetic, some might be offended.

So, I have discovered a way to teach both simultaneously with a clear visual cue. A CRAFTIVITY, if you will. All you need in the classroom are

1. copies of the crown (this resource)
2. royalty tax (this resource)
3. scissors,
4. glue/tape/staples,
5. maybe some markers or colored pencils.

How does it work?

• On day one, or early in the year, give students their crown. It's great for early in the year when there isn't much vocabulary accumulated to work with. Tell them to decorate their crown however they want. They can make it personal.
• After this, they cut them out and glue/tape/staple the bands on the ends of the crown only. They should not connect the strips to make the band. I recommend keeping them flat for easy storage until they are Royalty for the Day.
• Have students cut out their own royalty coins for royalty tax. You can decide on the number. I start with one per citizen. Royalty does not need a coin. Also, some of the coins are square because they are so much easier to cut out!!
• When it's their day to be royal, pull out their crown, have them connect the band so they can wear it on their head. During class, students must refer to royalty with the vous form and the rest of the class refers to each other in the tu form. Let them pick what day they want. Some will pick their birthdays while other families do not celebrate birthdays.
• The sentence Vous êtes royal(e)! is on the crown as a reminder.
• Remember that some students may need help understanding that using a formal form is very important to another culture!

What if someone forgets to use the vous form with royalty? They have to pay a royalty tax! This is included in the resource. The student who has still kept their royalty coin(s) because they remembered to use the vous form can get a prize or just bragging rights! You can even have the class interview the student about things they like, dislike, etc. so everyone can learn about their king, queen, or whatever royal title they prefer.

Accommodation: Some students don't like being the center of attention for the entire class. In this case, you can group students together. Three in a group is a good number but use whatever works for you. Each group has one royal student. The others in the group have to use the vous form with that student and the royal student uses the tu form with everyone else (except maybe the teacher).You can even rotate groups so several students get the chance to talk to each royal member. Of course, the member of royalty stays on their "throne" while others come to see them.

You can use this for whatever level you choose. While I like the idea of starting with level one, you could wait. Furthermore, you can use this activity every year you teach, no matter the level. Even though students may be comfortable with tu and vous before level one is over, letting someone have a special day is good. They will have the opportunity to practice both pronouns and their conjugations with new verbs and new tenses or moods.

Students will feel special and you will see them grow in their language and confidence. So little for us to invest with such a great return on investment!

Start the year off right with this bundle for French class! It includes what you need to get your students organized as well as working on their language skills right away. This is helpful for all levels. AND...There is even a lesson you can use to start day 1 off for French level 1.

Check out what's included!

1. Minimalist calendars in color AND black and white
2. Stripes and Plaid background calendars in color AND black and white
3. Dividers for Binders for Interactive Notebooks
4. Color Dividers for Binders for Interactive Notebooks
5. Black and White Dividers for Binders for Interactive Notebooks
6. Calendar Talk Presentation with handouts for students
7. Journals with handouts for calendar and weather discussions
8. A video describing how I do calendar talk