FRENCH FACTS ABOUT FRANCE BUNDLE #1

PRIMARY FRENCH YEAR 7 FRENCH FRANCE COUNTRY FACTS & ACTIVITIES 2 SETS @ £3.50 EACH eight topics areas: arts & culture; country/society; famous people; food; geography; history; landmarks and language

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The range of activities really do help to create a lively language learning environment for young beginner French students, and offer a popular alternative to more traditional, teacher-led ’information about France’ lessons. Students can develop their knowledge of the francophone and French-speaking world - and through guided whole-group discussion - their home / host country too, in a cooperative, communicative and interactive way, in part independently of the teacher. There is a bonus multi-focus on listening, speaking, pronunciation, reading, writing and spelling, and is a great way of introducing cross-curricular learning in your world languages classroom, aligning language learning with other areas of the curriculum, such as geography, history, and developing literacy skills in both French and English.

The bundle comprises the following non-editable files:

40 facts cards - there are four facts in each of the following topic groups: geography; arts & culture; country/society; famous people; history; landmarks; language and food. There are four cards per 8.5x11 (A4) sheet. The language on each of the cards ranges from fairly basic to more advanced, which challenges and enhances children’s English reading comprehension skills. There are blank templates for children to research and create their own facts cards for each other. This is a really successful way of building knowledge and learning together. As their knowledge and understanding of the French-speaking world grows, children should add to their facts cards, which eventually builds up into a fabulous facts bank, which they can use the entire school year, and beyond.

Facts recording sheet challenge level 1 - there are two options: either two or four fact recording boxes per page. Children read their selected facts, and copy the information in the boxes. Encourage children to be as accurate as possible with their spelling and punctuation, to pay particular attention to the spelling and accents of the French words that are included, and of course to make sure they are recording the facts in their best handwriting

Facts recording sheet challenge level 2 - there are also two options: two or four fact recording boxes in this challenge level. However, there is a more open-ended task: responding to the question “What did you learn?”. This requires children to read their fact card, process the information, and then recreate it in their own words, describing the fact in the context of what they have learned. Encourage children to look for lateral information, such as the existence of other countries where French is spoken, and to think about the continent where those countries are located.

48 question / comprehension cards - the questions have a differentiated range of challenge, and are based on the knowledge developed through the whole-group presentation and discussion, and the facts cards. There are some independent research questions, which I use as a springboard for further discussion based on children’s own developing interests about France. There are blank templates here too - creating questions is a great way to think about and apply knowledge and learning.

question / comprehension cards recording sheets: the recording sheet has four boxes per page. I encourage children to write their answer in full sentences, and to give as much relevant information as they can. They can also give more detailed responses than they can learn from the cards, engaging in further independent research. I like to combine this activity where possible with organised visits to the school library to gather relevant titles on France and La Francophonie, and do allow children to access pre-vetted websites.

2 x whole-group facts presentation & discussion - I’ve found this a really useful means of encouraging and stimulating classroom discussion. Children can reflect on what they may already know about France, and share it with their peers. Use the facts themselves to prompt discussion about the home / host country, for example “What is our capital city? Is it also our largest city?”, which really does create a successful cross-curricular learning environment.

The activities work really well across a series of lessons, rather than a single lesson. Print, laminate and cut out the cards - laminating is certainly worth the prep time, as the cards will last for many years. You can either give each small group of children a complete set of cards to choose from, or any particular number you think is appropriate. Decide how long you want the reading and writing activity to last for, and tell children how many cards you would like them to work with. This is quite a basic way of differentiating the activity. Children can then select random cards from their bowl. You can also select particular cards yourself if you prefer to differentiate by content, seating plan or learning groups for example.

Print out an appropriate number of recording sheets - you can also differentiate by quantity - for example, if you want to challenge children to complete 8 fact recording boxes or question / comprehension cards in a given time, it’s best to print the sheets double-sided. Choose which challenge level is more appropriate for each child, and whether they will feel more comfortable with two or four recording boxes per sheet. Over time, ensure that all children are given opportunity to complete Challenge Level Two - I’ve found that most children are more than able to make significant progress with their literacy across a period of time, and engage happily (and realistically) with Challenge Level Two. Remember to tell children how much time they have to complete their activity. The question/task cards and accompanying recording sheet are a really popular activity too, with a slightly different approach to reflecting on and applying knowledge. Children do like to discuss their favourite fact and what other things they might like to discover about France and the French-speaking world, so do given them the opportunity to do so over the school year. They should ideally stick the recording sheets into their workbooks, or keep carefully in their learning files or folders as both a reference resource and a record of learning, both for themselves and for you - it’s a great way of monitoring progress and assessing learning.

Have a browse in my store for more country facts activities, and a wide range of other French resources created for young beginner learners, with special offer bundles, resource boxes, and lots of freebies too - I’ve included a couple here for you to try.

MERCI BEACOUP ET BON VOYAGE !